Short answer: an Open Profile is a LinkedIn Premium setting that lets any LinkedIn member message you, even if you are not connected and they have no InMail credits. Only Premium subscribers can switch it on. LinkedIn's help center describes it as letting members "message you for free, without using InMail messages". Senders on a free account can still write to Open Profiles, but only a limited number each month, and LinkedIn does not publish that number.
What changes when a profile is open
| Standard profile | Open Profile | |
|---|---|---|
| Message from a 1st-degree connection | Free | Free |
| Message from anyone else | Needs an InMail credit or a connection request | Free, no InMail credit used |
| Who can have it | Only Premium subscribers can turn Open Profile on | |
Open Profile changes who can reach you, not who can see you. What people see on your profile is still set by your public profile and visibility settings.
How to turn it on or off
- Open your own profile and click Edit intro (the pencil icon).
- In the Premium section, find the Open Profile toggle.
- Switch it on or off and click Save.
LinkedIn moves these settings from time to time; if the toggle is not there, search the settings page for "Open Profile". Turning it off does not affect your subscription, and it is separate from the Premium badge setting.
Should you switch it on?
Switch it on if you want to be easy to reach: freelancers, consultants, founders raising money, anyone hiring or looking for work. Leave it off if your inbox already gets more vendor pitches than you can read, because an Open Profile is exactly what outbound teams look for.
How to tell if someone else's profile is open
Look at someone who is not a 1st-degree connection. If you can write to them with the Message button without being asked to spend an InMail credit or upgrade, their profile is open, which also tells you they pay for Premium. If LinkedIn pushes you to InMail, the profile is not open. More on reading those signals in how to tell if someone has LinkedIn Premium.
If you are prospecting: Open Profiles are a small share of any list, and the free-account monthly cap limits how many you can message. Email is the channel that scales. Scrupp exports the people from a LinkedIn or Sales Navigator search and looks up their work emails and phone numbers, so you can reach the whole list, open or not. It does not mark which profiles are open. You pay 1 credit per exported lead, plus 1 credit for a found email and 2 for a found phone, with 100 free credits every month.