Sales tool comparisons
Instant Expert vs Sales Navigator: InMail or a paid invitation?
Compare LinkedIn Sales Navigator’s search, alerts and InMail with Instant Expert’s paid calls and replies, including current US starting prices.
Choose Sales Navigator when LinkedIn is part of your ongoing sales work. Choose Instant Expert when you want to offer someone payment for a specific call or reply. If a colleague can introduce you or the person is already happy to talk, start there.
What Sales Navigator helps you do
Sales Navigator lets you search LinkedIn with detailed filters, save leads and see updates such as job changes. InMail lets you message people outside your network. Higher plans add team and CRM capabilities; direct lead creation in a CRM is an Advanced Plus feature. Sales Navigator product details
That is useful when you want to follow an account over time. You can notice that an existing contact has moved to a target company, find a relevant colleague and approach them with that context.
Instant Expert is built around an invitation with a price attached. You find someone or import a known profile, choose a call or a reply, write the request and inspect the offer before sending. The recipient chooses text or voice when answering a reply request.
An InMail is a way to deliver a message. A paid request offers compensation for someone’s time. Neither establishes that the person wants to participate.
What does Sales Navigator cost?
LinkedIn’s US starting prices, checked September 26, 2026, are:
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing |
|---|---|---|
| Core | $119.99 per license | $1,079.88 per license |
| Advanced | $159.99 per license | $1,799.88 per license |
| Advanced Plus | Custom quote | Custom quote |
The listed plans include 50 monthly InMail credits. LinkedIn describes the prices as estimates; taxes, promotions and checkout can change the amount. Official plan comparison
Instant Expert prices individual requests. Compare the offer in your draft with the importance of that conversation, rather than treating it as another LinkedIn subscription.
A useful way to choose
Imagine you want to talk with a partnerships lead about changing a partner program. If you plan to build a sales relationship over the coming months, saved leads, alerts and LinkedIn messages may be enough.
If you need a focused account of work they have done, make a paid research request specific:
I’m researching changes to software partner programs. Would you take a paid 30-minute call about a program redesign you worked on, particularly how partner incentives were decided?
Read their profile for relevant experience, then establish their actual involvement in the conversation. A job title does not tell you whether they designed the incentives or joined after the decision.
Already found someone on LinkedIn?
Import their known LinkedIn profile URL into Instant Expert. You can also import an email or name plus company. You do not need a Sales Navigator export for that step, and it is not a native Sales Navigator connection.
Review the person and request price before sending. If you are inviting them to see your product, describe the product introduction plainly. Start a request in Instant Expert when you have a clear reason for asking for that person’s time.