Short answer: the only sure sign is the gold Premium badge next to the person's name, on their profile and in search results. The badge is optional. Members switch it on or off in their profile settings, so a badge proves a subscription, but a missing badge proves nothing. The second clue is an Open Profile: if you can send a message to someone outside your network without being asked to spend an InMail credit, that person has Premium, because Open Profile is a Premium-only setting. LinkedIn has no search filter, public field or list that reveals who pays for Premium.
Check the badge
Open the person's profile and look right next to their name. A Premium member who has the badge switched on shows the gold LinkedIn logo there, and the same logo appears beside their name in search results. The badge only says that the person pays for some Premium product. It does not tell you which one: Premium Career, Premium Business, Sales Navigator and Recruiter subscribers can all display it.
The badge is a choice, not a default you can rely on. LinkedIn's help page "Manage your LinkedIn Premium profile visibility" describes it as an option a Premium member can display or hide.
Test for an Open Profile
Pick someone who is not a first-degree connection and look at the main button on their profile:
- A plain "Message" button that lets you write without spending an InMail credit means they have turned on Open Profile. LinkedIn's help page "Manage your Open Profile settings as a Premium subscriber" places this setting inside Premium, so the person is a subscriber.
- A prompt to use InMail or to upgrade tells you nothing. Many Premium members never switch Open Profile on.
Do not run this test on your own connections: you can always message a first-degree connection, so the button looks the same whether they pay or not. What an Open Profile is and how to find more of them is covered in our guide to LinkedIn Open Profiles.
What does not work:
- Search filters. Neither LinkedIn search nor Sales Navigator has a filter for Premium members.
- Profile quality. A long summary, a custom banner or lots of posts are free features. They say nothing about a subscription.
Can people see that you have Premium?
Only if you let them. If your badge is on, anyone who opens your profile or sees you in search results sees it. To change it on desktop:
- Click Me in the top bar, then View Profile.
- Click the pencil icon on the right of your profile.
- Click the gold LinkedIn logo.
- Switch Profile Premium Badge on or off and click Save.
In the mobile app the steps are the same: tap your photo, View Profile, the pencil icon, the gold logo, then the toggle and Save. Hiding the badge does not cancel or pause your subscription, and Open Profile is a separate setting with its own switch.
If you are checking because you want to contact them
Usually the real question behind "does this person have Premium" is "can I reach them without InMail". An Open Profile is one way. The other is to skip LinkedIn messages altogether and email them. Scrupp exports people from a LinkedIn or Sales Navigator search and looks up their work email and phone number. It does not tell you who has Premium or an Open Profile; it gives you a way to reach people that does not depend on either. Pricing is per lead: 1 credit for each exported lead, plus 1 credit when an email is found and 2 when a phone is found, with 100 free credits every month.