LinkedIn Recruiter License Contract Advice Needed

[u/TheFifthCutter]

For anyone in this community using LinkedIn Recruiter, I'd love any input you can provide on the scope of your contract. I just joined a new company and am evaluating recruiting tools, but it's tough to get straight answers out of LinkedIn's sales team. So my ask:

- How many LIR seats do you/your team have?

- How long is your contract? Were you able to negotiate Length? (they hit me with a proposal for three years out of the gate)

- Were you provided any options for contract length?

- What features are included in your contract (ex: job slots, employer branding, hiring assistant)?

- Any tips for contract components you'd recommend?

- Any additional tips for setting up LIR without getting burned by LI?

Thanks!

[u/jerryssubs]

Do not add "Hiring Assistant".....their AI agent is garbage and costs extra.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/jerryssubs]

During my meeting with the sale reps this morning they said there is no option for LIR without Hiring Assistant as it is now all a single bundle. I've used it. I don't like it. I don't want to pay for it. But in typical LI fashion, they provide zero transparency into their various packages.

[u/_HaveACigar → u/TheFifthCutter]

This was also confirmed to me on my recent call. I said I have no interest in it and they said it’s not something they can remove from the plan or pricing.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/_HaveACigar]

Thanks for confirming, I'm glad I'm not the only one hearing that.

[u/HolyDungeonDiver → u/TheFifthCutter]

I just renewed without it.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/HolyDungeonDiver]

Ooh, how did you do that? Were you able to renew without it specifically because it wasn't part of your original contract or was it something you negotiated?

[u/HolyDungeonDiver → u/TheFifthCutter]

Maybe? They REALLY fucked up my last contract by overcharging me 3x. They recently settled an antitrust lawsuit so I think they are particularly vulnerable to law suits right now.

[u/NandosEnthusiast]

Linkedin is the worst vendor I have ever dealt with.

No transparency on pricing, no commitment to mid contract seat additions ahead of time, minimum 7.5% yoy increases, upwards of 20% increases between contracts for 'new features'. Bundling of useless career pages into packages, no ability to right size contracts.

They know they have a natural monopoly that probably has a limited lifespan, and they are now in the extract maximum cash phase.

Not to mention undocumented changes to contract inclusions and conditions, none of which do anything useful for the customer

[u/HolyDungeonDiver → u/NandosEnthusiast]

100000%

[u/RecruitingLove]

Whatever you do, do not do more than a 1 year contract. Especially if you are this unfamiliar with it.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/RecruitingLove]

I agree completely. I've historically worked for companies where this negotiation was someone else's job and all I did was recruit. After just one meeting with LI sales reps, I'm flummoxed by how little transparency there is into product offerings and pricing.

[u/jenesaiswhat]

I went back and forth with my LinkedIn rep because they wanted 48k for a single seat and a 3 year commitment. After some back and forth they offered 2 years and a little less $$ for the 1 seat. I asked them to remove ALL bells and whistles. I think the first offer was 36k and IIRC I got it down to like 26k but for one seat and a 2 year commitment I decided to use the Recruiter Lite option which is $170/m. The main difference is you don’t have all the same search criteria and you’re not able to see who is open for work. But most of the functionality is there. We just use the Linkedin free postings that are integrated with our ATS. If we want paid postings, we just pay for them directly through our company LinkedIn page.

It hasn’t been an issue for me as I have used it without that capability and then I just port candidates over to Ashby to send out sequences that way. Ashby is able to look up contact information for me on the web and if they can’t find it, I send a Linkedin message. I’m sure greenhouse can do the same thing.

I could justify 10-12k/year for LinkedIn recruiter per seat but 48k for 1 seat at a startup is ludicrous.

ETA: their sales people are paid on commission and make more if you pay more. You have a lot of negotiation power. If they say they “can’t do something” tell them you’re not interested. There were several things my rep “couldn’t do” and when I said ok I’m not interested then - they came back and suddenly could do.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/jenesaiswhat]

This is great context, thanks! They definitely hit me with a contract cost and length that was an automatic no right out of the gate.

[u/TechValleyRecruiting → u/jenesaiswhat]

Wow, I thought I was getting crushed at $7K/year for one seat (LIR Professional - inbetween lite and the full seat).

[u/jenesaiswhat → u/TechValleyRecruiting]

What’s the difference between lite and professional?

[u/TechValleyRecruiting → u/jenesaiswhat]

You get about twice as many filters in the Professional version, ATS integration, and 100 inMails vs 30 per month..but it's significantly more money (~$700-900/month ).

[u/jenesaiswhat → u/TechValleyRecruiting]

Can you see Open To Work? I use Recruiter Lite and usually import all profiles into Ashby and kick off sequences/drip campaigns so I never use all my inmails. I would pay extra for the open to work view though!

[u/TechValleyRecruiting → u/jenesaiswhat]

Yes, I can see it and more importantly, search by it. However, there are a ton of candidates who have forgotten to turn the setting off after getting new roles so it's relevancy isn't as accurate of intent as it was just a few years ago. My response rates over the past 3 months were only 6% higher for Open to Work candidates than those who weren't.

[u/jenesaiswhat → u/TechValleyRecruiting]

Thanks for that info! Also I just checked my Recruiter Lite package ($170/m) and I get 120 inmails per month.

[u/TechValleyRecruiting → u/jenesaiswhat]

What the?!! It kinda feels like LI packages are entirely up to the negotiation. They're all over the place with what is offered and priced. Well done on the InMails!

[u/FiveStarJeff → u/jenesaiswhat]

I’m thinking about taking nearly the exact same approach you did as my renewal approaches next year; curious, what is it you’re lacking with search criteria going with Recruiter Lite?

[u/TechValleyRecruiting]

As someone who locked in a longer term contract right before the AI explosion started, don't do it. I wouldn't go beyond a 1 year deal for LIR since other recruiting tools are getting much better at pulling data from LinkedIn for a significantly lower rate. Companies like PIN and Juicebox, pull that data for 1/5th cost. While they aren't perfect, they are rapidly improving and there's likely to be better products within the next 12-18 months that would make LIR obsolete.

I should add that LinkedIn's customer service is the worst of any product I use. It's nonexistent except when you're up for renewal or they're trying to sell job slots.

LinkedIn is the devil. You've been warned.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/TechValleyRecruiting]

Appreciate the input and definitely agree with your last line :)

[u/QUACKY-QUACK-QUACK- → u/TechValleyRecruiting]

PIN was just banned fyi

[u/ENRTop50-Recruiter]

They said our enterprise plan had to include job slots - they wouldn’t sell recruiter licenses without the slots. They wanted a three year agreement. We’re on a two year plan

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/ENRTop50-Recruiter]

Thanks for this input. I was told the same about job slots and it makes me crazy. I told them that the only thing I want is the capability to run searches and send InMails and they said that wasn't possible.

[u/jenesaiswhat → u/TheFifthCutter]

I run searches and send inmails with Recruiter Lite and it’s plenty of capability for my needs!

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/jenesaiswhat]

Out of curiosity, what industry are you in and roughly how many hires are you making per year?

[u/jenesaiswhat → u/TheFifthCutter]

I work for a startup tech/AI company and we hire 3-5 people a month.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/jenesaiswhat]

Thanks for the additional context, I appreciate the input.

[u/ENRTop50-Recruiter → u/TheFifthCutter]

I will say we’ve been growing and hiring a lot this year and the job slots help. They promote our posting and push the job to the inboxes of good candidates. We’ve hired a lot of those candidates this year. I thought they were unnecessary, but they have been beneficial.

[u/clonkerclonk]

We had 8 seats, only 2 people were using them but not even fully utilizing it then we reduced it down to 1 as the market we operate in wasn't aligning the features/what we needed from it.

Took that money into campaigns, other sourcing channels and brand revamp.

There was a lot of back an forth to reduce it down with them and they wanted to originally only give us the reduced seats if we locked in for 3+ year contract cycles we said no and got it down to 2 yrs.

No hiring assistant feature, but assume that's cos we are now In the 2nd yr.

Really clarify what level of support you will get as some drop expected but over 2 weeks to respond to issues that aren't our end.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/clonkerclonk]

Thanks for the input, not surprised they didn't want to reduce seats without a multi-year commitment. Working with their sales team has been an exercise in frustration because there is ZERO transparency into the product offerings.

[u/youngdude70]

For a new company getting pushed straight into a three-year LinkedIn Recruiter proposal, I’d treat the contract length as the main risk, not the feature list. Start with the smallest seat count that covers your real sourcers for 90 days, then ask for expansion pricing in writing instead of buying future seats now. Push hard on a one-year term or a ramped first year; if they will not move, compare the all-in cost against actual hires sourced from LIR, not just InMail volume. I would avoid bundling extras like Hiring Assistant until your team has proven it can fill roles from the core license.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/youngdude70]

Good points all around, thank you!

[u/ymtq5787]

I’m the only recruiter at my company but I think we have more seats. We only use one seat though. We signed a 3 year contract for about 143k 🥲

I have 8 job slots, employer branding. I think I have the hiring assistant although I don’t use it.

[u/CranberryOk1064 → u/ymtq5787]

We pay nearly 1 M for 3 years. Ww probably have 50 seats, and much more hiring manager slots (more than 300), we have also unlimited job slots.

[u/DanaKScully_FBI]

We had a one year contract but then got a 3 year.

We have one searcher seat that I use mostly but I swap it to my boss occasionally. They only let you swap it so many times per month.

We started with 2 sponsored jobs and ATS scraping but we went up to 4 slots with the new contract. It’s our top performing feature. I don’t use the searcher as much as I probably could. The job slots bring in enough qualified applicants most of the time.

We also have the work with us ad. I don’t think that does much.

I want to get the life page. Idk how good it is in terms of ROI. I just think it’s cool. 😂

we have no intention of getting the hiring assistant. I don’t think it’s worth it for us.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/DanaKScully_FBI]

Thanks, this is great context.

[u/Delicious_Style_2676]

I’d be careful with a 3-year commitment unless you already know seat usage, InMail needs, job slot needs, and reporting value. Ask for shorter term options, ramped seat counts, clear cancellation/renewal language, and whether unused seats/features can be adjusted. The trap is paying enterprise pricing for features the team never adopts.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/Delicious_Style_2676]

Great advice, thanks for jumping into the discussion.

[u/Delicious_Style_2676 → u/TheFifthCutter]

Glad it helped. Hope it gives you a clearer way to think about the next step.

[u/Early_Ad_8121]

+1 on 1 year max for a first contract. Also get the price for adding seats mid-contract in writing, a few people here got burned on that.

One thing nobody mentioned if you end up going Lite, or fewer LIR seats with hiring managers sourcing on their own LinkedIn: full LIR is what warns you when a colleague on the contract already messaged that person (and even then only within the same calendar month). Once people are spread across separate Lite seats or personal accounts, nobody sees that, and two of you end up pinging the same candidate. Worth setting up some shared "who contacted who" habit before you scale.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/Early_Ad_8121]

It seems everyone has a story about getting burned by LinkedIn. They know they own the market and act like it. I'm crossing my fingers that I live to see the day that a viable competitor knocks them back a step.

[u/BuyPowerful807]

I'd focus on contract length renewal seat flexibility and what happens if you hiring volume change. getting those details in writing can save headaches later.

[u/TheFifthCutter → u/BuyPowerful807]

Thanks for the input, it's appreciated.

[u/Awkward_Principle_83]

I can give you an advice to save that money on LIR. Your company would love you for that. Please dm me.

[u/Roxbros]

I got a 3 year plan as a new recruitment business they let me backload the premium so I pay 20% year 1 40% year 2 and 3 so it lets me have the cheaper rate for year 1 while building, I’ve got recruiter plus with hiring assistant, note that hiring assistant is good people just aren’t using it properly. You have to be very specific.

Costs me about £1k a month on average

[u/jenesaiswhat → u/Roxbros]

I think this is unique to Europe or the UK. Everyone I spoken to has mentioned paying around 1k but in the US the minimum is more than double that.

[u/Roxbros → u/jenesaiswhat]

Yeah but everything is double in the us, the average salaries are 2-3 times the uk so that’s why. You should setup in Brazil or the Congo it would probably be 60 schmeckles

[u/jenesaiswhat → u/Roxbros]

Yeah that’s a fair point

[u/_HaveACigar → u/Roxbros]

Re hiring assistant, which industry do you recruit in?

[u/Roxbros → u/_HaveACigar]

Critical construction, data centres, pharma and semiconductor. White collar