What are social selling tools?
Social selling tools are the apps you use to do on LinkedIn what LinkedIn's Social Selling Index (SSI) scores. LinkedIn's SSI page describes the score as a metric from 0 to 100 for how well sellers establish a professional brand, find the right prospects, engage with key insights and build relationships. For a founder or small B2B team that means four jobs: post regularly, find the right people, notice when they are ready to talk, and start conversations.
Buy tools for those jobs; the score itself is a weak target. The same LinkedIn page says: "A high SSI score doesn't always represent the efficacy of a sales person or correlate with measurable sales outcomes." If you still want the number, our guide shows how to check and raise your LinkedIn SSI score.
Which social selling tools for LinkedIn do what, and what do they cost?
The table gives each tool's main job and the price on its own page, checked 4 November 2026, in US dollars as each page lists them. It covers LinkedIn's own plans, two posting tools and, in the last row, our own agents.
| Tool | Main job | Pricing basis and starting price | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn, free account | Post scheduling, people search, connection requests | $0 | Schedule posts 10 minutes to 3 months ahead; a personal note on up to 3 connection requests a month; people searches count toward a monthly commercial use limit |
| Buffer | Scheduling posts to LinkedIn and other channels | Essentials: $5 a month per channel, billed yearly ($60) | Free plan: up to 3 channels, 10 scheduled posts per channel |
| Taplio | LinkedIn scheduling and analytics (Starter); AI post writing and faster replies and comments (Growth); automated lead outreach (Pro) | $39, $69 or $199 a month, billed monthly; the yearly option shows 25% off | 7-day trial of Pro features, with limited AI usage |
| LinkedIn Premium Business | Profile views beyond your network, advanced search filters, 15 InMail credits a month, who viewed your profile with up to 365 days of viewer data | US$69.99 a month or US$539.88 a year per licence; Duo, for two people, US$118.98 a month or US$917.98 a year | LinkedIn offers a trial to members who qualify |
| Sales Navigator Core | 50+ search filters, Account IQ and Lead IQ, alerts on job changes and new content, 50 InMail credits a month | US$119.99 a month or US$1,079.88 a year per licence | A trial if you have no paid LinkedIn plan and have not used a LinkedIn trial in the past 365 days |
| Sales Navigator Advanced | Core plus Buyer Intent, TeamLink, Smart Links and team reporting | US$159.99 a month or US$1,799.88 a year per licence | Same trial rule as Core |
| Siela (Lead Finder and LinkedIn Presence) | Finds people with a reason to reach out now, including people engaging with keywords and competitors you track on LinkedIn and X, and contacts them within your daily goals; posts, likes and comments in your voice | No plans or seats: prepaid credit, $50 to $2,000 per top-up | $10 of credit once, after onboarding |
Read the small print before comparing rows. LinkedIn calls its prices estimates that may exclude tax; its Sales Navigator prices were updated on 27 September 2026 and Premium Business on 20 April 2026. Taplio's Pro plan lists automated DMs and automated connection requests, and Lead Finder sends messages on its own within your daily goals once you press start; the section on LinkedIn's rules below covers both. Signal-tracking tools are priced separately in our signal-based selling stack under $200 a month.
What can a free LinkedIn account do before you pay?
It can schedule posts, search for people and add a note to a few connection requests each month. Three limits decide when free stops being enough, all from LinkedIn's help pages, checked 4 November 2026:
- Posting. LinkedIn's own post scheduler lets you schedule a post between 10 minutes and 3 months ahead, from the Clock icon in the Create a post window on desktop (the Share post window in the app). It doesn't schedule events or jobs. A paid scheduler earns its fee when you post to several accounts from one calendar.
- Searching. People searches, browsing People Also Viewed and viewing profiles on a Page's People tab count toward the commercial use limit. You should see a warning as you approach it, though LinkedIn says it may not appear if you use up the searches too quickly. The allowance resets at midnight PST on the 1st of each month, and LinkedIn says it can't show how many searches you have left or lift the limit on request. Searching by name in the top search box and browsing your 1st-degree connections don't count.
- Notes. A free account can add a personal note to up to three connection requests a month, each up to 200 characters (Personalize invitations to connect). Premium members can add notes to all of them, though connection request limits may still apply.
Our rule of thumb: stay free until the commercial use warning appears before the middle of a month, or until three notes a month blocks conversations you would otherwise start. LinkedIn's help page names Premium Business, Recruiter Lite and Sales Navigator as the upgrades that raise the search allowance.
Premium Business or Sales Navigator: which does a small team need?
Premium Business if you mostly post and send a few InMails; Sales Navigator Core if you search by filters every week and want alerts; Advanced only when two or more people sell to the same accounts. The deciding facts come from LinkedIn's plan pages, checked 4 November 2026; the monthly figures in brackets are our arithmetic on the yearly prices.
| Deciding fact | Premium Business | Sales Navigator Core | Sales Navigator Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person, billed yearly | US$539.88 (US$44.99 a month) | US$1,079.88 (US$89.99 a month) | US$1,799.88 (US$149.99 a month) |
| InMail credits | 15 a month | 50 a month | 50 a month |
| Search | Advanced search filters; unlimited profile views beyond your network | 50+ advanced search filters | 50+ advanced search filters |
| Timing signals | No alerts listed; insights on company growth trends and hiring activity | Alerts on job changes and new content | Alerts, plus Buyer Intent: when buyers show interest in your company |
| Shared work | Duo: two licences on one subscription | Not in Core | Team seat management, TeamLink introductions through colleagues' connections, team reporting |
| CRM sync | Not on its plan page | Advanced Plus only, price on request | Advanced Plus only, price on request |
For a solo founder weighing Core, our guide to testing Sales Navigator for 30 days works out what each InMail costs and when free search is enough. LinkedIn also sells Premium All-in-One and Premium Company Page. Our guide to LinkedIn Premium for small business covers both.
What does a LinkedIn social selling stack cost a two-person team?
Between $0 and about $3,600 in year one, depending on the stack. Take an example team: Northwind Ltd, two founders who both sell, one of whom posts three times a week. Using the prices above:
| Stack | What it adds | Year-one cost | Arithmetic |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Free | LinkedIn's scheduler, search and three notes a month each | $0 | None |
| B. Posting tool | Taplio Growth for the founder who posts | $828 | $69 × 12 months, billed monthly |
| C. Premium for both | Premium Business Duo, billed yearly | US$917.98 | Two separate yearly licences would be 2 × US$539.88 = US$1,079.76, so Duo saves US$161.78 |
| D. Sales Navigator for both | Two Core licences, billed yearly | US$2,159.76 | 2 × US$1,079.88; monthly billing would be 2 × US$119.99 × 12 = US$2,879.76, or US$720.00 more |
| E. Team features | Two Advanced licences, billed yearly | US$3,599.76 | 2 × US$1,799.88 |
Stack C reads the Duo price as the total for both founders: LinkedIn's page lists it under pricing per license, but only the combined reading matches the lower combined price the page describes, so check the total at checkout. The step that needs the most thought is C to D. It costs US$1,241.78 more a year (US$2,159.76 minus US$917.98) and gives each founder 35 more InMail credits a month (50 minus 15), plus alerts and the Sales Navigator filters. Over a year that is 840 extra credits (35 × 2 people × 12 months), or about US$1.48 each (US$1,241.78 ÷ 840). If Northwind can't name 35 more people a month that each founder would message, C is enough.
This week: run stack A for the rest of the month. Write down the date the commercial use warning appears, if it does, and count the notes or InMails you wanted to send and couldn't. Those two numbers tell you which row to buy.
Are LinkedIn automation tools and extensions allowed?
It depends on what the tool does. LinkedIn's prohibited software page (last updated about two years ago) says LinkedIn doesn't permit third-party software, including bots, browser plug-ins or browser extensions, that scrape, modify the appearance of, or automate activity on its website. Members who use such tools, it says, risk having their accounts restricted or shut down.
The User Agreement text quoted on that page rules out bots or other unauthorised automated methods used to add contacts, send messages, or create, comment on, like or share posts. Those are features, so check each one before you switch it on, from automated DMs and connection requests in a posting tool to an AI agent acting in your account. Our guide to what LinkedIn allows and what gets accounts restricted sets out the rules and the questions to ask any tool.
What do salespeople on Reddit say they use for social selling?
Mostly LinkedIn itself. We read three r/sales threads on social selling through a Reddit archive: Social selling has changed the game for me (July 2021), What's the deal about social selling? (September 2024) and How many more of you are having more success social selling now than cold calling? (August 2025), 161 comments that we could read. Sales Navigator was the only LinkedIn plan named, in two comments in the 2025 thread (one 2021 commenter mentioned InMails), and one 2024 comment praised an AI tool for managing customer interactions. Other sales software came up only as company names: one 2021 comment likened the original poster's approach to the Gong, Outreach, Salesloft and Clari playbook, and one 2024 comment said Gong's once-thoughtful content had gone stale. No comment we found named a posting scheduler.
The highest-voted replies were about content, with sceptics close behind. The top 2021 reply pointed out that the original poster built authority by posting useful material before selling, and added: "Social selling is not just shooting people messages on LinkedIn". In 2024 the top replies split between describing social selling as posting so often that prospects think of you first, and complaints about colleagues posting personal content; one commenter said they had never seen it succeed in 10 years.
Three threads is a small sample. What they show is commenters crediting their posts and connections, sceptics in both 2021 and 2024, and tools barely mentioned.
Frequently asked questions
What are social selling platforms?
They are the networks where social selling happens and the paid layers on top. For B2B that is mainly LinkedIn, whose own paid products, Premium Business and Sales Navigator, add search filters, InMail credits and alerts. Posting tools such as Buffer and Taplio connect to your LinkedIn account to plan, write and schedule posts.
Is Sales Navigator a social selling tool?
Yes. LinkedIn sells it to sellers and lists 50+ advanced search filters, Account IQ and Lead IQ, alerts on job changes and new content, and 50 InMail credits a month on every plan. As of 4 November 2026 Core starts at US$119.99 a month or US$1,079.88 a year per licence, and Advanced at US$159.99 or US$1,799.88.
Can you do social selling on LinkedIn for free?
Yes, within limits. A free account can schedule posts up to three months ahead, search for people until it reaches the monthly commercial use limit, and add a personal note to three connection requests a month. Comments, posts and replies cost nothing but time. Paid tools mainly add more searches, more notes and InMail, or save time on posting.
Is Taplio a social selling tool?
It covers the posting and engagement side. Taplio's pricing page describes an AI tool for growing your brand on LinkedIn: writing and scheduling posts, engaging with your network and tracking results. Plans cost $39, $69 or $199 a month billed monthly, as of 4 November 2026, and the Pro plan adds automated DMs and automated connection requests.
What is the cheapest way to schedule LinkedIn posts?
LinkedIn's own scheduler, which is free and takes posts from 10 minutes to 3 months ahead, though not events or jobs. If you want one calendar for several accounts, Buffer's free plan connects up to three channels with 10 scheduled posts per channel, and its Essentials plan costs $5 a month per channel, billed yearly.
Sources
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: From Social Selling Index (SSI) to AI (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Buffer: Pricing (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- Taplio: Pricing (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Premium: Premium Business (pricing last updated 20 Apr 2026) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Compare plans and pricing (pricing updated 27 Sep 2026) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Schedule posts (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Commercial use limit (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Personalize invitations to connect (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- LinkedIn Help: Prohibited software and extensions (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/sales: Social selling has changed the game for me (31 Jul 2021) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/sales: What's the deal about social selling? (23 Sep 2024) (checked 4 Nov 2026)
- r/sales: How many more of you are having more success social selling now than cold calling? (15 Aug 2025) (checked 4 Nov 2026)