InMail credits are a monthly allowance tied to the LinkedIn subscription you bought, and there is no unlimited tier. LinkedIn states plainly that it does not "offer a subscription plan with unlimited InMail message credits," and that a credit comes back when a recipient accepts the message (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). The allowance itself depends on the plan.
How many credits each plan gives
LinkedIn's InMail FAQ lists the monthly InMail allowance by subscription:
| Subscription | InMail credits |
|---|---|
| Premium Career | 5 |
| Premium Business | 15 |
| Sales Navigator Core | 50 |
| LinkedIn Hiring Pro | 5 per job |
| Premium All-in-One | 30 per month, up to 90 total |
Those figures come from LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab). They match the wider Sales Navigator plan documentation, which lists 50 InMail credits per month per user on Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).
The numbers are worth checking against your own account rather than memorising. LinkedIn says you can see "the number of credits you currently have," your renewal date and your monthly grant on your My Premium page (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). Plan packaging changes, so that page is the current source of truth for your seat.
When credits renew
Sales Navigator allocates on a fixed calendar date. LinkedIn states you "receive a new allocation of InMail credits on the first day of each month (in UTC time)," and that the grant date is separate from the date you received your license or signed up (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).
Premium: My Premium displays your "InMail renewal date" and the number of credits you currently have. Check that displayed date and your available balance (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
For a team running several seats, check each sender's available balance before planning send volume.
How long credits last
Unused credits do not sit in your account forever.
For Premium, LinkedIn states "InMail message credits expire after 90 days" (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). For Sales Navigator, the same 90-day window applies with a cap on accumulation: "You can accumulate up to 150 total InMail credits; unused credits will transfer to the following month and must be used within 90 days" (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).
So a Sales Navigator seat that under-sends for a quarter does not build an unlimited reserve. It builds toward a ceiling of 150, and anything older than 90 days lapses.
How you earn a credit back
There is one way to get a credit returned: the recipient engages. LinkedIn states you receive a credit back "if a recipient accepts your InMail message" (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). In Sales Navigator, the rule is stated as a response within a window: you receive an InMail credit "for every InMail message that receives a response within 90 days of the date sent," and messages without a response do not return the credit (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).
LinkedIn also documents how Sales Navigator treats response types: auto replies count, "Interested" and "Maybe later" are treated as accepted, and "Not interested" is recorded as declined, with all three eligible for a credit back (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). In other words, the refund follows replies, not positive replies only.
What happens when you run out
Running out means waiting, because there is no separate top-up. LinkedIn states "it's not possible to purchase additional InMail message credits outside of the monthly allotment" (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). Sales Navigator says the same thing in its own words: "At this time, you can't purchase additional InMail credits. All Sales Navigator subscription types provide the same number of credits" (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).
The credits also do not follow you between products or plans. LinkedIn states that "you must have a Premium subscription to use InMail message credits and you can't transfer InMail message credits from one Premium subscription to another" (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). Sales Navigator adds that credits are not transferred if you cancel or change your subscription type (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). Premium credits and Sales Navigator credits are separate balances as well, since Premium credits cannot be spent on Sales Navigator or Recruiter InMail (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
Ways to get more usable credits
There is no shortcut here, only choices about how you spend the balance you have.
- Send from the cheapest route first. Open Profile members can be messaged for free, so those sends never touch the balance (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
- Let responses refill the pool. A replied InMail returns a credit, so wording aimed at a reply stretches the allowance (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).
- Match the plan to the volume. A 50-credit Sales Navigator seat and a 15-credit Premium Business seat are different budgets; pick based on monthly send volume, not on features alone (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
- Reset your expectations about buying more. Extra credits are not sold separately, so a busy month has to draw on the balance you already hold rather than a top-up (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
An illustrative monthly budget
Label this arithmetic as illustrative. Take a Sales Navigator seat with 50 credits a month and a target list of 120 people. If you spend up to 50 InMails and one in three draws a response, you would expect to earn back on the order of 17 credits over the following weeks, though the exact timing depends on when people respond (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). Sales Navigator documents that a response within 90 days returns the credit; Premium documents only that a credit comes back when a recipient accepts, so this example stays on the Sales Navigator rule rather than borrowing it for Premium (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). The lesson is not the number; it is that response rate, not send ambition, sets how far an allowance stretches.
The limit to keep in mind
Credits are not portable. Upgrade, downgrade or cancel, and the balance does not move with you, and switching product families strands the credits you already held (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)). Time a plan change at the end of a credit cycle so you do not pay for credits you cannot spend.
Once you know the allowance, the next question is what it costs you. The per-plan and per-reply economics are in how much a LinkedIn InMail costs. If you are comparing outreach tools, Visit Clapa.
FAQ
What is the InMail limit on LinkedIn?
It depends on the plan. LinkedIn lists 5 a month for Premium Career, 15 for Premium Business, 50 for Sales Navigator Core, 5 per job for Hiring Pro, and 30 a month up to 90 total for Premium All-in-One (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
When do LinkedIn InMail credits renew?
Sales Navigator grants a new allocation on the first day of each month in UTC time (Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)). For Premium, check the InMail renewal date and available balance displayed on My Premium (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
Do unused credits carry over?
They can, within limits. Premium credits expire after 90 days, and Sales Navigator credits transfer to the next month up to a total of 150, then must be used within 90 days (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab), Sales Navigator Help (opens in a new tab)).
How do I get more InMail credits?
You cannot buy them outside the monthly allotment. You earn credits back when recipients accept or respond, and you can move up to a plan with a higher allowance (LinkedIn Help (opens in a new tab)).
Sources
- LinkedIn Help, "InMail Messages FAQ": https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a554514 (opens in a new tab)
- LinkedIn Help, "InMail Messages": https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a543895 (opens in a new tab)
- LinkedIn Help, "Send an InMail Message": https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a546814 (opens in a new tab)
- Sales Navigator Help, "Understand InMail credits in Sales Navigator": https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a101030 (opens in a new tab)
- Sales Navigator Help, "Sales Navigator account types and features": https://www.linkedin.com/help/sales-navigator/answer/a104003 (opens in a new tab)