Is Sales Navigator part of LinkedIn Premium?
Yes. LinkedIn's help page on the difference between free and Premium accounts, shown as updated four weeks before we checked on 4 November 2026, lists Sales Navigator as one of its Premium subscriptions, alongside Premium Career, Premium Business, Premium All-in-One, Recruiter Lite, Premium Company Page and LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn's Sales Navigator vs Premium comparison, updated 1 August 2026, says: "A Sales Navigator subscription includes access to Premium Business features." It adds that all three Sales Navigator plans, Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus, include them.
So you don't need both. Three things change when you move up:
- You get a second tool. The help page's comparison table ticks the Sales Navigator interface, custom lead and account lists, and real-time updates and alerts for Sales Navigator Core only. Premium All-in-One's getting started page says that plan doesn't include the Sales Navigator interface either.
- Credits don't cross over. LinkedIn's InMail credits page says Premium InMail credits can't be used to send InMail on Sales Navigator, and that credits aren't transferable when you upgrade. Our guide to sending InMail from Premium or Sales Navigator covers where each kind is sent from.
- The InMail allowance grows. Premium Business gives 15 credits a month and Sales Navigator 50, which the comparison page calls the most of any LinkedIn product.
What's the difference between LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator?
The difference is prospecting tools. Premium Business adds profile and networking features to a free account, and Sales Navigator adds a separate sales tool with 50+ search filters, lead lists and alerts on top of those same features. The three plans a founder is most likely to weigh, from LinkedIn's own pages, checked 4 November 2026:
| What you get | Premium Business | Premium All-in-One | Sales Navigator Core |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price from (US list price) | US$69.99 a month or US$539.88 a year | US$89.99 a month or US$899.88 a year | US$119.99 a month or US$1,079.88 a year |
| InMail credits a month (most you can hold) | 15 (45) | 30 (90) | 50 (150) |
| LinkedIn's rating of the plan's sales search filters | Limited | Limited | Advanced: 50+ filters |
| Function, seniority and company size filters | Not included, per LinkedIn's filters help page | Listed: function, seniority, location, headcount, years of experience | Included |
| Lead lists and alerts | Not listed | Lead recommendations and saved leads, without the Sales Navigator interface | Custom lead and account lists, real-time alerts |
| Who viewed your profile | Past 365 days | Past 365 days | Past 365 days |
| Custom button on your profile | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Post boost and hiring credits | No | US$50 a month each, or US$600 each upfront on an annual plan | No |
| CRM integration | Not listed | Not listed | No; Advanced Plus only |
| Who LinkedIn says it's for | Business leaders and owners building their brand and network | Small-business generalists who hire, advertise and sell | Sales professionals and teams finding prospects |
Sources: the Premium Business, Premium All-in-One and Sales Navigator plans pages for prices, LinkedIn's comparison page and help-centre table for features, and the InMail FAQ and credits page for credit limits. LinkedIn says its prices are estimates that may exclude VAT, GST and promotional discounts.
Both plans raise the free account's search allowance. LinkedIn's commercial use limit page says upgrading to Premium Business, Recruiter Lite or Sales Navigator increases the number of profile searches and views, and the Premium Business page promises people and company search with no limits.
Which should a founder or small B2B team choose?
Choose by how you find buyers. If an ordinary people search finds them, Premium Business or a free account is enough; if you sort buyers by function, seniority or company size every week, Sales Navigator Core is the plan LinkedIn's filters help page points to. The deciding facts below come from LinkedIn's pages, checked 4 November 2026.
| If this is you | Choose | The deciding fact |
|---|---|---|
| You mostly post, comment and network, and write to a few new people a month | Premium Business, or stay free | 15 InMail credits a month, a custom profile button and 365 days of profile viewers; LinkedIn rates its sales filters as limited and lists no lead lists |
| You sort buyers by function, seniority or company size | Sales Navigator Core | LinkedIn's filters page puts those filters in Sales Navigator and Recruiter |
| You write to more than 15 people outside your network a month | Sales Navigator Core | 50 credits a month, up to 150 held; LinkedIn says extra credits can't be bought on Premium or Sales Navigator |
| You also hire and want to boost posts | Premium All-in-One, if LinkedIn offers it to you | US$50 a month each in post boost and hiring credits, and 30 InMails; LinkedIn says it is still testing the plan |
| Two founders both want Premium | Premium Business Duo | Two licences on one shared subscription, listed from US$118.98 a month |
| You want new leads to sync to HubSpot or Salesforce | Sales Navigator Advanced Plus | CRM integrations and lead creation are ticked only for Advanced Plus, which has custom pricing |
| You want buyer intent signals or TeamLink | Sales Navigator Advanced | Ticked for Advanced and Advanced Plus, not Core; Advanced starts at US$159.99 a month |
If you go with Premium Business, our weekly routine for Premium's small-business tools shows how to use it. If the slow part is knowing who has a reason to buy now, rather than filtering by title, Siela's Lead Finder looks for signals such as a role change, hiring for the work you automate or a funding round, and scores each lead hot, warm or cold with a one-line reason.
What does Sales Navigator cost over Premium Business? A worked example
US$50 a month more on monthly billing (US$119.99 minus US$69.99), or US$540 a year more on annual billing (US$1,079.88 minus US$539.88), which is US$45 a month. For that you get 35 more InMail credits a month (50 against 15), plus the filters, lists and alerts. If the extra credits were all you used, each would cost about US$1.29 on annual billing (US$45 ÷ 35) or US$1.43 on monthly billing (US$50 ÷ 35).
For a team of two, take Northwind Ltd, a sample company with two founders, paying annually at LinkedIn's US list prices on 4 November 2026:
| Setup for two founders | Cost a year | InMail credits a month | Sales filters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Both on Premium Business | US$1,079.76 (2 × US$539.88) | 30 | Neither |
| Premium Business Duo | US$917.98 | 30 | Neither |
| One on Sales Navigator Core, one free | US$1,079.88 | 50 | One founder |
| One on Core, one on Premium Business | US$1,619.76 (US$1,079.88 + US$539.88) | 65 | One founder |
| Both on Core | US$2,159.76 (2 × US$1,079.88) | 100 | Both |
Two Premium Business seats and one Sales Navigator Core seat cost almost exactly the same: US$1,079.76 against US$1,079.88, 12 cents apart. If only one founder prospects, the single Core seat gives 20 more InMail credits a month (50 against 30) and the sales filters for the same money, while the other founder stays on a free account. If you both mainly network, Duo is the cheapest way in the table to give you both Premium Business.
About the Duo figure: the Premium Business page prints it under a per-licence heading but describes Duo as two licences under one shared subscription at a lower combined price, so we have read US$917.98 as the price for both, or US$458.99 each (US$917.98 ÷ 2). Confirm it at checkout. Our look at whether Sales Navigator Core pays for itself for a solo founder works through the cost of each InMail at different volumes.
Can you switch between Premium and Sales Navigator?
Yes, on desktop, through the LinkedIn Admin Center. LinkedIn's upgrade help page, shown as updated four weeks before our check, gives these steps for moving Premium Career or Premium Business to Sales Navigator:
- Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage and select Premium features.
- Click Change plan on the left. LinkedIn sends you to the Admin Center, which shows the plans you can upgrade to; click Explore other plans if the one you want isn't shown.
- Click Upgrade plan on Sales Navigator and follow the prompts.
You should have access straight away. LinkedIn charges a prorated amount for the days left before your next billing date, then the full new price on that date. Before you click, check four things:
- Spend your Premium credits first. LinkedIn says InMail credits aren't transferable when you upgrade. Our explainer on how InMail credits renew and come back has the other credit rules.
- Bought through Apple. LinkedIn can't change a subscription bought through the Apple App Store. Cancel it there, wait for the billing period to end (up to 30 days), then buy Sales Navigator.
- On a free trial. Switching plans during a trial ends the original plan's trial benefits, and the new billing cycle starts the day you switch.
- Hoping for a Sales Navigator trial. LinkedIn's plans page says Sales Navigator free trials are available to members who aren't currently on any paid LinkedIn subscription and haven't used a LinkedIn free trial in the past 365 days. Read literally, a Premium Business trial taken now rules out a Sales Navigator trial for a year, so decide which one you want to test. Our guide to the Sales Navigator free trial covers eligibility.
Going the other way, LinkedIn's downgrade page says Sales Navigator Core, or Advanced with a single active seat, can be moved to a lower plan only on the desktop site: Premium features, then Subscription details, then Purchases and Switch plans in the Admin Center. The new plan starts immediately and your billing cycle restarts at its price. The comparison page warns that you lose Sales Navigator features such as sales-specialised search, real-time buyer alerts, TeamLink and CRM integrations. LinkedIn's Premium subscription FAQ, updated five days before our check, says subscriptions including Sales Navigator may be refundable within seven days of the charge if you haven't used Premium features.
How much is 1 year of LinkedIn Premium?
From US$239.88 for Premium Career to US$1,799.88 for Sales Navigator Advanced on annual billing, at LinkedIn's US list prices as of 4 November 2026. The last two columns are our arithmetic: the annual price divided by 12, and twelve monthly payments minus the annual price.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Annual, per month | Saving over 12 monthly payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium Career | US$39.99 | US$239.88 | US$19.99 | US$240.00 |
| Premium Business | US$69.99 | US$539.88 | US$44.99 | US$300.00 |
| Premium All-in-One | US$89.99 | US$899.88 | US$74.99 | US$180.00 |
| Sales Navigator Core | US$119.99 | US$1,079.88 | US$89.99 | US$360.00 |
| Sales Navigator Advanced | US$159.99 | US$1,799.88 | US$149.99 | US$120.00 |
Sources: the Premium Career, Premium Business and All-in-One pages (pricing last updated 20 April 2026) and the Sales Navigator plans page (updated 27 September 2026). LinkedIn's own percentages match the arithmetic: it calls the annual saving 50% on Career, 36% on Business, 17% on All-in-One, 25% on Core and 6% on Advanced.
Cancelling an annual Sales Navigator plan takes effect at the end of the paid year, so pay monthly until you have used the tool every week for a month. The Premium subscription FAQ also says a quarterly billing cycle is being made available gradually and may not be offered to you yet.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need LinkedIn Premium if I have Sales Navigator?
No. LinkedIn says all three Sales Navigator plans include access to Premium Business features, so a Sales Navigator subscriber already gets the custom profile button and a year of profile viewer data. Paying for both would duplicate those features, and LinkedIn says Premium InMail credits can't be spent inside Sales Navigator anyway.
Which LinkedIn plan has the most InMail credits?
Sales Navigator. LinkedIn's comparison page says Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus each come with 50 InMail credits a month, the most of any LinkedIn plan. Premium All-in-One gives 30 and Premium Business 15. Sales Navigator lets you hold up to 150 unused credits, against 45 on Premium Business, and extra credits can't be bought.
Is Premium All-in-One the same as Sales Navigator?
No. All-in-One is a Premium plan for small business owners, with 15 daily prospect suggestions, 30 InMail credits a month and monthly post boost and hiring credits. LinkedIn's help page says it doesn't include the Sales Navigator interface, and that the plan is still being tested, so it may not be offered in your location yet.
Does Sales Navigator Core connect to my CRM?
Not on Core. LinkedIn's plan comparison ticks CRM integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics and Oracle, and creating leads or contacts in the CRM from Sales Navigator, only for Advanced Plus, which has custom pricing. On Core or Advanced, plan on adding leads to your CRM yourself.
Can I get a refund if I move back from Sales Navigator?
Possibly, if you act fast. LinkedIn's Premium FAQ says subscriptions, Sales Navigator included, may be refundable within seven days of the charge if you haven't used the Premium features. After that, a downgrade from Core to a lower plan is made on the desktop site, takes effect straight away and restarts billing at the new plan's price.
Sources
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Sales Navigator vs. Premium plans (updated 1 Aug 2026) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: compare plans and pricing (FAQ updated 27 Sep 2026) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Premium: Premium Business (pricing last updated 20 Apr 2026) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Premium: Premium All-in-One (pricing last updated 20 Apr 2026) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Premium: Premium Career (pricing last updated 20 Apr 2026) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Difference between free LinkedIn and LinkedIn Premium accounts (shown as updated 4 weeks ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Getting started with the Premium All-in-One subscription (shown as updated 4 weeks ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Premium search filters available in LinkedIn Recruiter and Sales Navigator (shown as updated 3 years ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: InMail message credits and renewal process (shown as updated 3 months ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: InMail Messages FAQ (shown as updated 2 months ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Commercial use limit (shown as updated 2 years ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Upgrade to Sales Navigator or Recruiter Lite as an existing Premium subscriber (shown as updated 4 weeks ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Downgrade your Premium Subscription plan (shown as updated 11 months ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: LinkedIn Premium subscription FAQ (shown as updated 5 days ago) (checked 4 Nov 2026)