LinkedIn InMail: what it is, how credits work and when it's worth sending

This guide is for sellers, founders and recruiters who want to message people on LinkedIn they aren't connected to. It explains what InMail is, how many credits each plan gives, exactly when credits come back, the character limits, who can't receive InMail, and how to work out what each message really costs. Every rule comes from LinkedIn's help center, checked on 30 October 2026. For ready-to-use wording, see the LinkedIn InMail templates.

What InMail is, and what it isn't

InMail lets you message a LinkedIn member who isn't one of your connections, and each message costs you one credit. Four other kinds of message look similar:

If the person is already a connection or shows the Open Profile option, don't spend a credit.

InMail credits by plan

The rules that catch people out:

• Credits expire. LinkedIn says InMail credits expire after 90 days. Sales Navigator carries unused credits forward, but they "must be used within 90 days".
• You can't buy more. LinkedIn says it isn't possible to buy InMail credits outside your monthly allotment, and no plan has unlimited InMail.
• Credits don't travel. Cancel and your balance drops to zero. Upgrade and the credits don't transfer. Premium credits can't be used in Sales Navigator or Recruiter.
• Free accounts can't send InMail at all. You need a paid plan.

How credits come back

This is the rule that decides what InMail really costs.

• On Premium and Recruiter Lite, every InMail that is accepted, declined or replied to within 90 days of sending is credited back. Quick Replies count as a response. A pending message counts as neither.
• On Sales Navigator, you get a credit back for every InMail that receives a response within 90 days. The recipient's quick responses all count: "Interested" and "Maybe later" are recorded as accepted and "Not interested" as declined, and each returns the credit immediately.
• Deleting doesn't help. In Sales Navigator, you can edit or delete a message only within 60 minutes of sending, and deleting an unanswered InMail returns nothing.
• Follow-ups cost. LinkedIn sends the recipient an automatic reminder within three days. Its pages disagree about a second InMail before a response: one Premium page says you can't send one, and the Sales Navigator page says a second InMail uses another credit. Either way, don't chase with InMail.

So the cheapest InMail is one that gets a quick answer, even a no. That's why the best InMails end with a question that takes one line to answer.

What a credit buys you

Because responses return credits, you can send more InMails in a month than your allotment:

Sends a month ≈ monthly credits ÷ (1 − response rate)

Illustrative. This assumes responses arrive within the month. In practice some come weeks later, so the extra credits arrive late and carry over.

How to send an InMail, step by step

1. Check whether you need a credit. If the person is a 1st-degree connection, send a normal message. If their profile offers a free message (Open Profile), use that.
2. Check your balance. The compose window shows how many credits you have left. On Premium, the My Premium page shows your renewal date too.
3. Open a new message. On LinkedIn, go to their profile, click More, then Message. In Sales Navigator, click Message on their lead page, unlocking the full profile first if it's locked.
4. Write a subject line. Up to 200 characters. Name their situation, not your product.
5. Write the body within the limit. Up to 2,000 characters on LinkedIn and 1,900 in Sales Navigator, where your signature (up to 150 characters) counts toward the total. Aim far shorter: under 500 characters is plenty.
6. Send it on its own. Sales Navigator doesn't allow bulk InMail and has no InMail templates, and LinkedIn's User Agreement bans bots that send messages.
7. Watch the right inbox. Messages sent from Sales Navigator stay in the Sales Navigator inbox and don't appear in your LinkedIn inbox.
8. Wait at least four days before any follow-up, and make the follow-up a different channel, such as email or a call.

Who can't receive your InMail

Any member can switch InMail off: in Settings & Privacy, under Data privacy, then Messages under "Who can reach you", they set "Allow others to send you InMail?" to No. LinkedIn says you can't message a member who has chosen not to receive InMail. The same Messages page controls Open Profile messages for Premium members.

Two things follow. InMail can't reach everyone, so keep another route ready (see how to find someone's email on LinkedIn). And people who leave InMail on still judge it like any cold message: LinkedIn's Sales Navigator help warns that messages recipients mark as spam can get your account restricted.

When InMail is worth a credit

Worked example: Premium Business or Sales Navigator for InMail?

Illustrative example. The companies, people and rates are fictional, to show the method.

The seller: Sam, founder of Ridgeway Telematics (ridgeway.example), sells fleet tracking to regional distributors and wants to reach fleet managers he isn't connected to. He expects about a 25% response rate from well-researched InMails.

The arithmetic, using the "from" prices on LinkedIn's comparison page and the formula above:

If Sam only needs a handful of InMails a month, Premium Business is cheaper overall. Past about 20 a month, Sales Navigator costs less per message and adds the search filters to find the right people.

One of his InMails (25-character subject, 411-character body):

Subject: Your new Fort Worth depot

Hi Dana, I saw Lone Star Supply opened its Fort Worth depot in September. When distributors add a site, fleet managers usually lose sight of idle time and fuel across both yards for a few months.

I'm with Ridgeway Telematics. We give distribution fleets one view of every truck, by depot.

Is cross-depot fleet reporting on your list this quarter, or already handled? A one-line answer either way is fine.

Sam

Why it's credit-efficient: the subject names her situation, the first line proves it isn't a mass message, and the closing question can be answered in a sentence. Even "already handled" returns the credit and tells Sam to move on.

The depot opening was the hard part to find. Doing that research for every account is what slows InMail down at volume; Bebop researches each account and drafts the first message, so you review and send instead of starting from a blank page.

Self-check before you spend a credit

• The person isn't a connection and doesn't offer a free Open Profile message.
• You have one specific, checked reason to write to them now.
• The subject line names their situation.
• The body is under 500 characters and ends with a question they can answer in one line.
• You haven't sent them an unanswered InMail already.
• You're sending it yourself, not through an automation tool.

Common mistakes

• Chasing with a second InMail. It costs another credit and rarely helps. LinkedIn already sends a reminder within three days.
• Hoarding credits. They expire after 90 days, and Sales Navigator stops banking at 150.
• Deleting unanswered messages to recover credits. Deleting returns nothing.
• Pitching in the first line. Your title and company history give the reader nothing to answer.
• Sending near-identical messages in volume. It invites spam reports, which LinkedIn says can restrict your account.

Next step: pick wording for your situation from the LinkedIn InMail templates.