How to Get LinkedIn Premium for Free: Complete Guide

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Use your school, employer, or military status for free LinkedIn Premium

Co-authored by Darlene Antonelli, MA Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: August 27, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Free Subscription Options
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• Getting a Free Trial
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• Getting a Discount
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• Video
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• Tips

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Did you know that LinkedIn has Premium features that can help you advance your career or grow your small business? Luckily for you, there are a few ways that you can sign up for a Premium account for free or get a discount. Read on to learn more about getting LinkedIn Premium for free.

How can I get LinkedIn Premium for free?

LinkedIn Premium can be accessed for free in several ways. New users can try a trial. Veterans get a free subscription via SheerID. Some users, such as students and Visual Studio users, can get a free subscription for a limited time. Journalists who are part of the LinkedIn Journalist group can also get free Premium.

Steps

Section 1 of 3:

Getting LinkedIn Premium for Free

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1. 
   1
   Sign up for a free trial. If you've already claimed your free month of LinkedIn Premium's free trial, you may not be able to sign up again for another 12 months.

   • You'll need to enter your credit card details to continue, but you won't be charged.
2. 
   2
   Get codes from employees. Every employee at LinkedIn gets a 6-month free subscription to LinkedIn Premium, but not every employee uses it. Instead, some offer a free subscription to others. You can find this by searching #linkedinpremium or #plusonepledge in the search bar at the top of the page.

   • Search the hashtag, sort the results by "Posts," and send DMs to those offering codes!
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3. 
   3
   Sign up as a military veteran. LinkedIn knows that it's not easy changing from military to civilian life, and as such, works with SheerID to verify veterans and get them free LinkedIn Premium subscriptions.

   • To sign up as a military vet, go to this link and fill out the form to verify that you were in the military.
4. 
   4
   As a student or graduate. This isn't available all the time, so check with your school to see if this partnership is active. If so, students and graduates can use LinkedIn Premium for free for 12 months!

   • You'll need to sign up with a school email (.edu) to get this benefit.
   • If the partnership isn't active, check other pairings. For example, if you have a student Amazon Prime account, you can use LinkedIn Premium for free for 6 months.
5. 
   5
   Using Visual Studio. If you're paying for and using Visual Studio from Microsoft, you also have a 1-month subscription to use LinkedIn Premium! All you need to do is create a Microsoft account, then go to Visual Studios Dev Essentials and click the Join or Access button.

   • Once logged in, click Activate next to the "LinkedIn Learning" offer to use LinkedIn Premium.
6. 
   6
   As a journalist. To be eligible for LinkedIn Premium Business, you need to be involved in the LinkedIn for Journalists group, and your profile must show your journalist career path. After you meet those 2 requirements, you need to attend a webinar. You can find more information about the webinar here.

   • Being in the webinar will allow you to use LinkedIn Premium Business.
7. 
   7
   Using Sales Navigator. If you use Sales Navigator, you are eligible for at least a 1-month free trial. However, if you refer enough people to Sales Navigator, you can get an additional 2 months for free!
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Section 2 of 3:

Using the LinkedIn Premium Free Trial

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1. 
   1
   Sign in to your LinkedIn profile. Go to linkedin.com and sign in.

   • If you don't have an account, create one.
2. 
   2
   Click your profile picture. It's in the top right corner of the page.

   • If you see the option, click Try Premium for $0. It should be at the top of your screen on the Home screen; if not, click your profile picture to open a menu.
3. 
   3
   Click Get 1 free month of Premium. You'll see it under "Account" in the drop-down menu.
4. 
   4
   Follow the on-screen instructions to find your plan recommendation. Answering these will prompt LinkedIn to refer you to the plan that's best suited for you. The available plans include:

   • Premium Career: This option is best for job-hunters. It lets you find jobs more easily and access salary information. You will also be a "featured candidate" when you apply to jobs and can use the Learn LinkedIn platform.
   • Premium Business: This plan is more tailored for professionals and businesses, with company insights, premium search features, and more.
   • Recruiter: This option is the best for recruiters, with 150 InMails, search filters so you can find applicants easily, and more.
   • Sales Navigator: This plan is suited best for sales professionals, as it has better leads and advanced search filters.
5. 
   5
   Click a plan that suits you and click Redeem 1 month for $0. You'll see this in two places: near the center of the page and floating in the top right corner.
6. 
   6
   Select your payment method. You need to enter a credit card to use a free month's trial. You won't be charged for the trial month, and you will also get a reminder in your email before the trial is over.

   • On the right side of the page, you will see more details about your purchase, including what date your next charge accrues. You'll also see the date to cancel before in order to avoid any charges on your credit card.
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Section 3 of 3:

Getting a Discount on LinkedIn Premium

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1. 
   Follow the steps to cancel your Premium subscription, and you might be offered a discount. Go to "Subscriptions & payments" on your LinkedIn profile, and you'll find your Premium subscription. Click Cancel subscription next to it to be redirected to a page that lists everything going away with Premium. Click Continue to cancel and choose the "It's too expensive" option to get a discount offer immediately.

   • If you're already using a discounted price for the subscription, you cannot get another discount.
   • You cannot get a discount on a free trial.

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Tips

• You'll have to cancel any subscriptions before you delete your LinkedIn account, since deleting the account will not cancel any active subscriptions.
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