What is InMail on LinkedIn?
InMail is a message you can send on LinkedIn to a member you are not connected to. You need a paid subscription, and each InMail uses one credit. How many credits each plan gets, and when they renew, is on our LinkedIn InMail credits page.
We read LinkedIn’s help pages on InMail, messages, invitations, Open Profile and Sponsored Messaging on 9 October 2026, and link each one beside the claim it supports.
This table compares the four ways to write to someone on LinkedIn. It shows who you can reach, whether it uses a credit and the limits LinkedIn states.
| Type | Who you can reach | Credit and limits |
|---|---|---|
| InMail | Any member who has not turned InMail off | Uses a credit. 200 characters in the subject, 2,000 in the body |
| Message | Your connections only | No credit. No limit on the page we read |
| Connection note | A member you invite to connect | No credit. Free accounts: 200 characters and a limited number a month |
| Open Profile message | A Premium member who has turned Open Profile on | No credit. Free accounts can send a limited number a month |
What is the difference between InMail and a message?
A message goes to someone you are already connected to, and an InMail goes to someone you are not. LinkedIn’s help says you “can only message your connections” and defines InMail as a way to message a member you are not connected to (messages, InMail).
A connection note sits between them. It travels with your invitation, so you can say why you are asking before the person has accepted. Free accounts can add a note to only a few invitations a month, and LinkedIn’s own pages disagree on how many, so check the number in your own account. Our connection message examples cover the note.
Open Profile is the free way round a credit. A Premium member who turns it on can be messaged by anyone without an InMail credit. Free accounts can send only a limited number of these a month.
Who can send an InMail?
You need a paid LinkedIn subscription. LinkedIn says a free account must upgrade to Premium to use InMail, and Sales Navigator and Recruiter come with their own allowances. The number of credits depends on the plan. We keep that in one place, so see LinkedIn InMail credits for counts, renewal and rollover, and Sales Navigator cost for prices.
Anyone can receive one unless they have turned InMail off in their message preferences. LinkedIn also says that if the member has Open Profile on, you can message them for free.
How do you send an InMail on LinkedIn?
Open the person’s profile and use the message option in their introduction section. These are the desktop steps in LinkedIn’s help, read 9 October 2026:
- Open the profile of the member you want to write to.
- Select More in their introduction section.
- Select Message followed by their name.
- Type a subject. LinkedIn marks it optional.
- Type your message and select Send.
On mobile, open the profile, tap Message, write the subject and body, and tap Send. The subject can be up to 200 characters and the body up to 2,000 (LinkedIn Help). Sales Navigator has its own compose screen. If the member has Open Profile on, the same message goes free.
What does a good InMail look like?
A good InMail is short, names a reason for writing to this person and asks for one small thing. The three examples below are our own, written for prospecting, with brackets where you fill in a real detail. They are illustrations, not tested wording, and we quote no response rates for them.
Example 1, a reason from their work
Subject: Your post on [topic]
Hi [Name], I read your post on [topic], especially the point about [detail]. I help [type of team] with [task]. I have one question about how you handle it today. Is a short reply here easier than a call?
Example 2, a clear offer with an easy exit
Subject: [Task] at [Company]
Hi [Name], I help [role] with [task]. If it is on your list this quarter, I can send a two-line summary of how it works. If not, no need to reply.
Example 3, finding the right person
Subject: Who owns [area] at [Company]?
Hi [Name], I am trying to reach whoever owns [area] at [Company]. If that is you, I would like to share one idea. If it is someone else, a name would help. Thank you.
For more on the wider approach, see our guide to LinkedIn prospecting.
Is InMail on LinkedIn spam?
It can be, and the person who receives it decides. LinkedIn’s help describes InMail as a premium feature that uses credits, and a message nobody asked for is still unwanted. Our view is to write the one you would answer yourself.
The recipient has two controls, both in LinkedIn’s help:
- Turn InMail off. Go to Me, Settings & Privacy, Data Privacy, then Messages under Who can reach you, and set “Allow others to send you InMail?” to No (steps).
- Report the message. Select Report under “This message may contain unwanted or harmful content”. LinkedIn moves the conversation to the spam folder and stops notifications for it (steps).
Is Sponsored InMail the same thing?
No. Sponsored InMail was the 2016 name for a self-serve advertising format, which LinkedIn’s help now calls Sponsored Messaging (TechCrunch, 9 November 2016). It is not paid for with InMail credits. LinkedIn’s help describes message ads as a targeted message with a single call-to-action button, and says ad sets are charged on a cost-per-send basis (Sponsored Messaging ads). An advertiser pays LinkedIn to send it. A member pays for credits to write their own InMail.
What we see in the field
PortifyLead saves a LinkedIn contact to your CRM, and an AI Sales Brief can add what a conversation covered. Contact capture works without a conversation, and an AI Sales Brief needs one. When you capture someone, the extension looks for your one-to-one conversation with them, newest first. A code comment names the case of a normal message and an older InMail thread for the same person, so both are checked. That is from reading the code, not from testing InMail against a live account.
Questions
Can you send an InMail with a free LinkedIn account?
No. LinkedIn says a free account must upgrade to Premium to use InMail. You can still message your connections, add a note to a connection request, or message a member who has Open Profile on, within the limits above.
How long can an InMail be?
LinkedIn’s help for sending an InMail gives up to 200 characters in the subject line and up to 2,000 in the body. The subject is optional.
Can I stop getting InMail?
Yes. Set “Allow others to send you InMail?” to No under Data Privacy, Messages. You can also report an individual message.
Is InMail better than a connection request?
They do different jobs. An InMail can reach someone you are not connected to and uses a credit. A connection request is free, and you can message the person once they accept.
