LinkedIn InMails offers a targeted way to connect with candidates, but due to becoming increasingly expensive, hiring managers are thinking of an alternative
Meanwhile, email remains a traditional yet cost-effective and efficient way to reach candidates at scale.
In this blog, we’ll break down the real cost of InMails, why email still wins, and how modern tools like Kula are flipping the script with smarter, more scalable recruiting.
What are LinkedIn InMails?
LinkedIn InMails allow users to send direct messages to other members without connecting with them. To use InMail messages, users must upgrade to a Premium account.
It helps professionals reach out to candidates or employers in a more personalized and targeted way.
LinkedIn members are allotted a specific number of InMail credits based on their subscription plan. For every InMail sent, one credit is charged. And if the person replies, LinkedIn gives your credit back.
The Problem with LinkedIn InMail Pricing
LinkedIn InMail pricing depends on the type of LinkedIn membership, such as:
- Premium Career: 5 InMail credits for $39.99/month
- Premium Business: 15 InMail credits for $59.99/month
- Sales Navigator Core: 50 InMail credits for $99.99/month
- Recruiter Lite: 30 InMail credits for $170/month
Each additional InMail credit typically costs around $10, depending on your location. On the other hand, email outreach costs somewhere around $0.10 to $0.30 per email.
The cost feels steep when companies want to use it to scale hiring campaigns.
Instead, hiring managers can use email for candidate outreach at scale, as it is not just cost-effective but also offers a better response rate.
Why email is critical to your scaling hiring needs
1. Better open and reply rates, especially for personalized messages
Email campaigns have an open rate of 42.35% and a reply rate of 36.5%. This is because people still consider their email inboxes as a high-priority space and work as a primary source of communication for professional work.
LinkedIn Inmail is a growing tool, and people are adapting to it, but not all LinkedIn registered members are active users of the platform, which clearly affects the open and response rate.
2. Have more features and feel more personal
Emails allow for more creative freedom. You’re not restricted by LinkedIn’s formatting, message limits, or platform notifications.
In emails, you can customize subject lines, add signatures, embed relevant links, or even send helpful resources, making the message feel like a thoughtful one-on-one note, not a generic pitch.
On Inmail, there is basic analytics, i,e, read receipts, while on email, you can track advanced analytics such as open rate, click-through rates, reply rates, bounce rates, etc. It helps optimize your messaging accordingly, contributing to a better success rate with your fury email campaigns.
Recommended read: Candidate Relationship Management: The Definitive Guide for 2024
3. Easier to automate and scale
Email easily integrates with most sourcing and recruiting tools.
Whether you're using HubSpot or Apollo, it’s easy to create automated outreach sequences, manage follow-ups, and track candidate engagement at scale.
With CRM integration, recruiters can maintain detailed candidate profiles and never lose context between messages.
💡A quick note: Where to use LinkedIn Inmails?
LinkedIn Inmails work more effectively for 1-on-1 outreach with the members who are visibly active on the platform.
In such cases, InMails act as a personal message and feel more intentional when reaching out to someone who recently posted, updated their profile, or engaged with industry content.
LinkedIn Inmails are also a solution in cases where you are unable to find verified email addresses.
In short, InMail works best when you're focused on quality over quantity.
Recommended read: How to Recruit on LinkedIn: 9 Strategies to Find Top Talent
The Email Enrichment Issue
While email outreach seems to be the smarter for scaling needs, there’s a hidden catch: email enrichment.
Email enrichment is finding and adding all important information from LinkedIn profiles, including:
- A verified work or personal email address
- A phone number
- Job title, company, and location
- Social media profiles or public data
Recruiters often depend on their ATS for email enrichment, but most platforms limit how much contact information you can access, many charge per contact, require separate credits, or push you into higher pricing tiers just to unlock more enrichment capabilities.
You’re forced to either upgrade your plan, use clunky plug-ins, or integrate third-party enrichment APIs. That adds to both your budget and your workflow friction.
Enter Kula: Free, Unlimited Email Enrichments Built In
Kula’s email outreach feature can be accessed via a Chrome extension.
You can download the Chrome extension and use it to extract information from LinkedIn profiles, automating the sourcing process.
There’s also a built-in enrichment feature in Kula. It uses data from over ten vendors, making it pretty accurate.
Kula enrichment tool provides recruiters with the candidate’s email address, removing the need to purchase a separate tool for enrichment, such as Apollo or ZoomInfo.
From there, you can add candidates to your automated outreach Flows and personalize the communication steps. These include LinkedIn connection requests, in-mails, and email outreach.
When creating a Flow, you can also use the built-in AI writer to craft a connection message or compose one manually.
Once your Flow is set up, you can track engagement metrics—such as open rates, replies, and levels of interest. This helps you fine-tune your messaging strategy for better results.
In short, here are the key advantages of using Kula:
- Easy-to-use Chrome extension
- Unlimited email outreach
- Unlimited enrichment with Kula
- Built-in AI writer for crafting LinkedIn messages and emails
Get firsthand experience of how Kula can simplify your outreach. Schedule a personalized demo today.
Final Thoughts
LinkedIn InMails are useful, but you should use them in tandem with a well thought-out email strategy.
LinkedIn InMails work best for nurturing a small pool of candidates who are very active on the platform.
Use email campaigns to scale, as they offer higher open rates, deeper personalization, and better automation.
Yes, enrichment has been a pain point, but not anymore.
Tools like Kula are redefining what sourcing looks like. With free, built-in email enrichment and seamless outreach workflows, recruiters no longer have to choose between quality and efficiency.
Yes, but selectively. InMails are ideal for reaching active, high-intent candidates on LinkedIn. If you spot recent activity like posts or job updates, it’s worth the spend. For wider outreach, email delivers better ROI, scale, and engagement, without burning through your budget.
Kula offers unlimited, free enrichment built right into the sourcing workflow—no extra tools, plug-ins, or hidden costs. Unlike most platforms that charge per contact or limit usage, Kula lets you enrich, source, and message from one place. It’s fast, frictionless, and built for scale.
Positively. Emails often see higher open and reply rates than InMails, especially when personalized. Plus, with email, you can automate follow-ups, track engagement, and reach candidates where they check messages daily. Just make sure to enrich well and keep your messaging relevant and human.
