LinkedIn InMail credits
An InMail credit lets you send one InMail to someone you are not connected to. Premium Career gives 5 credits a month, Premium Business 15, Premium All-in-One 30 and every Sales Navigator plan 50. Unused credits roll over up to a cap, and a reply within 90 days returns the credit. That is LinkedIn’s own help center, checked 21 September 2026.
PortifyLead saves LinkedIn contacts to your CRM and, when you have a one-to-one conversation with someone, including an InMail thread, can turn it into an AI Sales Brief. So we read LinkedIn’s InMail rules for what they mean to a seller: how many conversations you can start, and what happens to the ones that reply.
| Plan | Credits a month | Most you can hold | Credits renew | Price (US, monthly) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium Career | 5 | 15 | First day of your billing cycle | US$39.99 |
| Premium Business | 15 | 45 | First day of your billing cycle | US$69.99 |
| Premium All-in-One | 30 | 90 | First day of your billing cycle | US$89.99 |
| Sales Navigator Core, Advanced, Advanced Plus | 50 | 150 | 1st of each month, UTC | US$119.99 (Core), US$159.99 (Advanced), quoted (Advanced Plus) |
| Recruiter Lite | 30 | 120 | First day of your billing cycle | Not published |
How many InMail credits do you get on LinkedIn?
It depends on the plan: 5 a month on Premium Career, 15 on Premium Business, 30 on Premium All-in-One, 50 on any Sales Navigator plan, 30 on Recruiter Lite and 150 per Recruiter licence. A free LinkedIn account gets none. It can receive InMail but not send it.
Sales Navigator is the odd one out: Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus all give the same 50. If InMail volume is the reason you are looking at Sales Navigator, Core gives you as many as Advanced. Our guide to what LinkedIn Sales Navigator costs covers what the pricier plans add instead.
When do LinkedIn InMail credits renew?
Premium and Recruiter Lite credits renew on the first day of your billing cycle, which is set by the date you first signed up. Sales Navigator credits renew on the 1st of every month in UTC, whatever day you subscribed. LinkedIn says to contact support if Sales Navigator credits have not arrived by the 2nd.
Do LinkedIn InMail credits roll over?
Yes, up to a cap. Unused credits carry into the next month until you hold three months’ worth: 15 on Premium Career, 45 on Premium Business, 90 on All-in-One and 150 on Sales Navigator. Anything above the cap is lost. Sales Navigator adds that a carried-over credit must be used within 90 days.
How do you get InMail credits back?
When the person responds within 90 days, the credit comes back to you. On Sales Navigator, any response counts, and clicking “Not interested” counts as a decline that still returns the credit, right away. A pending InMail, or one you delete before a reply, returns nothing.
Can you buy more InMail credits?
Not on Premium or Sales Navigator. LinkedIn says you cannot buy credits beyond the monthly allotment on either, and it has no plan with unlimited InMail. Recruiter Lite can buy extra credits in packs of 10, up to 70 more per seat, and Recruiter customers can buy more through LinkedIn’s sales team. LinkedIn does not publish a price for those packs.
What does LinkedIn InMail cost?
There is no price per InMail. You pay for the plan and get its monthly credits: Premium Career is US$39.99 a month for 5, Premium Business US$69.99 for 15, and Sales Navigator Core US$119.99 for 50. Annual billing lowers each of those. Because credits cannot be bought on their own on Premium or Sales Navigator, the plan price is the InMail price.
Can you message someone on LinkedIn without an InMail credit?
Yes, if they have Open Profile turned on. Members who turn on Open Profile can be messaged by anyone for free, without using a credit, though LinkedIn limits how many of those messages you send. Anyone else you are not connected to needs a credit.
What happens to InMail credits when you cancel or change plans?
They do not move with you. LinkedIn says credits are not transferred when you upgrade, change subscription type or cancel, and Premium credits cannot be used in Sales Navigator or Recruiter. Use them before you switch.
What we see in the field: an InMail reply is the start of a conversation you will want in your CRM
PortifyLead does not send InMail or any other message. What it does is read the one-to-one conversation you already have with a person when you capture them, to prepare an AI Sales Brief you review before it is saved. LinkedIn can hold more than one thread with the same person, a regular message and an older InMail thread, and the capture checks them newest first. So when an InMail gets a reply, that thread is something the brief can use.
Before a reply, there is nothing to summarise. With no one-to-one conversation, PortifyLead saves the contact’s profile details only and says there is no conversation yet. It works the same from a regular LinkedIn profile or a Sales Navigator lead page.
Questions
How many InMail credits does LinkedIn Premium give?
Premium Career gives 5 a month, Premium Business 15 and Premium All-in-One 30. Unused credits roll over up to three months’ worth.
How many InMail credits does Sales Navigator give?
50 a month on Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus alike. You can hold up to 150, and credits renew on the 1st of each month in UTC.
Do unanswered InMails use up a credit?
Yes. The credit is spent when you send, and comes back only if the person responds within 90 days. Deleting an unanswered InMail does not return it.
Can I send a second InMail to someone who has not replied?
On Premium, no: you have to wait for a reply before sending another. On Sales Navigator you can, and it uses another credit.
How long can an InMail be?
On Premium, up to 200 characters in an optional subject and 2,000 in the body. On Sales Navigator and Recruiter, the subject is required, with up to 200 characters, and the body is up to 1,900.
Can I save the people I InMail to my CRM?
Yes, with a Chrome extension. PortifyLead saves the person from their LinkedIn profile or Sales Navigator lead page, and once they have replied it can add an AI Sales Brief from the conversation. It has a Free plan with 15 saves a month, 5 of them with a brief, and Pro is $15 a month.
