What Is LinkedIn Sales Navigator? Plans, Limits and What It Lacks

The short answer: if one person prospects on LinkedIn and wants the sales filters and 50 InMails a month, Core at US$119.99 a month, or US$1,079.88 a year, is the whole product for that job; a team that needs shared lists, Buyer Intent and TeamLink is on Advanced at US$159.99 a month or US$1,799.88 a year, and CRM sync sits only on Advanced Plus, priced by quote (plan comparison, checked on 5 November 2026). Sales Navigator finds people and companies on LinkedIn and messages them there. It does not hand you their email addresses.

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Before you pick a tier:

1. Price the seats you will fill, not the ones in the demo. For example, 4 sellers on Advanced on monthly billing is 4 x US$159.99 = US$639.96 a month; paid yearly it is 4 x US$1,799.88 = US$7,199.52, which LinkedIn's FAQ calls a 6% saving, against 25% on Core (plan comparison).
2. Decide where the leads will live. Nothing exports to CSV or Excel; the only native way out is CRM Sync on Advanced Plus (export help page). The record of who was contacted is your CRM, or a sheet.
3. Pick the number you will report. An InMail answered within 90 days returns its credit (InMail credits), so replies per 50 credits is a measure LinkedIn keeps for you.

What the seat buys

Search first. Lead filters cover function, seniority, title, job changes in the last 90 days and posts in the last 30; account filters cover headcount, its growth over 12 months, department headcount, annual revenue and technologies used (filter definitions). Up to 50 lead searches and 50 account searches can be saved, each alerting you to new matches (saved searches). Premium Business, from US$69.99 a month, stops at basic filters and 15 InMails (Premium versus Sales Navigator).

Core saves up to 10,000 leads and accounts per user into custom lists of 1,000 each; Advanced adds Buyer Intent, TeamLink, Smart Links and shared lists (account types, auto-save article). Every plan gets 50 InMail credits a month, holds at most 150, and loses an unused credit after 90 days; no bulk sending, no templates (InMail credits, InMail help). Account IQ summarises a company on every subscription (Account IQ); Message Assist drafts a first InMail on Advanced and Advanced Plus, 50 a month (Message Assist FAQ).

Who it fits

A founder or a sales team whose buyers answer on LinkedIn, and a marketing lead who builds named-account lists for sales. Less so a team that runs email sequences from a contact database: the emails are not here, and nothing leaves as a file.

Plan prices

Checked on 5 November 2026 on the plan comparison, per licence, before tax:

LinkedIn calls the figures estimates that can exclude VAT. The trial covers Core or Advanced, is closed to anyone who used a LinkedIn trial in the past 365 days, takes a card and sends one reminder seven days before it ends; its length is not stated (plan comparison). The trial is built to end in a paid seat: the card goes on file before the first search, and that single reminder lands in the inbox that also receives the saved-search alerts, so renewal happens by default and cancellation by appointment.

How it compares

Sales Navigator decides who. These decide how to reach them off LinkedIn, at prices their vendors listed on 5 November 2026.

Apollo. A contact database with sequences, free with 900 credits per seat a year, US$49 per seat a month billed annually on Basic (Apollo pricing).

Lusha and Hunter. Enrichment by credit: Lusha charges 1 per email and 5 per phone number (Lusha pricing); Hunter's Starter is US$49 a month for 2,000 credits (Hunter pricing).

Clay and ZoomInfo. Clay calls many providers from one table, from US$185 a month on monthly billing (Clay pricing); ZoomInfo publishes no prices.

Getting started

How to use LinkedIn Sales Navigator builds a target-account list, maps the buying committee per account and hands it to sales.

FAQ

Does Sales Navigator show email addresses?

Only what a member chose to show (lead pages); Contact Creation writes an email to the CRM only when it is public on the profile (contact creation).

Can InMail credits be bought?

No, and they do not transfer if you cancel or change plan (InMail credits).

Can a Core user share a list with sales?

No. Shared lists and saved searches start on Advanced (account types).