The premise everyone gets wrong
Search this question and every result assumes the same thing: that Sales Navigator is the professional way to get LinkedIn data out. Read those pages carefully and you will notice that many are published by vendors whose own product requires a Sales Navigator seat to function.
Here is the fact that collapses the premise. LinkedIn Help article a102031, fetched 5 September 2026, says this about the product people are told to buy:
"LinkedIn currently doesn't offer the option to export account and lead information from Sales Navigator into a CSV or XLS file."
The only alternative that page offers is CRM Sync, restricted to Advanced Plus, which has no public price. Import is no better: Help article a1378574 states that "CSV uploads can only be used for account lists, not lead lists", that the feature "is only available with Sales Navigator Advanced and Advanced Plus", and that there is a cap of "the limit of 1,000 accounts".
So the subscription is not the thing that makes a spreadsheet. An extension reading a rendered results page is, on every plan. Sales Navigator changes which page you read. It does not add an export button, because there isn't one. You are not choosing between a legitimate route and a hack. You are choosing which search interface to point the same extension at.
What Sales Navigator actually costs
Verbatim from business.linkedin.com/sell/sales-navigator/compare-plans, fetched 5 September 2026. The per-month equivalents on annual billing are our arithmetic, not LinkedIn's.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Annual, per month (computed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | US$119.99; 120,99 EUR | US$1,079.88/year; 1 088,88 EUR/an | US$89.99; 90.74 EUR |
| Advanced | US$159.99; 148,21 EUR | US$1,799.88/year; 1 693,88 EUR/an | US$149.99; 141.16 EUR |
| Advanced Plus | No public price | No public price | Quote only |
Fetched from LinkedIn's compare-plans page on 5 September 2026, English and French. LinkedIn describes the annual rates as "a 25% savings with annual billing" on Core and "a 6% savings" on Advanced, and adds that "prices listed above are estimates and may exclude Value-Added Tax (VAT)... Pricing is subject to change." Both are priced per licence, and self-serve is capped at "up to five... Advanced plan licenses online."
One thing we deliberately will not tell you is when Core moved to US$119.99. That figure circulates with a specific 2026 effective date, and we could not verify it: compare-plans carries no "last updated" stamp and no LinkedIn page states an effective date. The price is confirmed live. The date is not, so we publish the price and leave the date out.
What you lose the day you cancel
Almost no page in this category covers this, and it is the part that costs people real work. LinkedIn Help article a102026, fetched 5 September 2026:
"Currently you don't have the option to save critical information and data associated with the account, such as messages, saved leads, and saved accounts. This data is removed as soon as you cancel, and you won't be able to access it."
The same article adds that "If you purchase Sales Navigator again in the future, you'll start over with a new account" and that "If prices have changed since you last subscribed, your current pricing will be lost."
Put the two Help articles side by side. The product has no export, and cancelling it destroys the lists you built inside it. A year of curated saved leads exists only while you keep paying, and the only way to take it with you is the same extension-and-CSV route you would have used on a free account anyway. That is not a reason to avoid Sales Navigator if the filters earn their keep. It is a reason to get a CSV out on a schedule rather than on the day you stop paying.
The method, step by step, on a free account
Step 1. Use the account you already have
A free LinkedIn account runs people search. You do not need Premium and you do not need Sales Navigator. What you do need is an account with a real history, because the commercial use limit is calculated from your activity, and a brand new profile running hundreds of searches is the worst possible starting point.
Step 2. Build the query with Boolean, not just filters
This is the step people skip, and it closes most of the filter gap. LinkedIn Help article a524335, fetched 5 September 2026, documents AND, OR, NOT, quotation marks for exact phrases and parentheses for grouping, and states that "You can run a Boolean search on LinkedIn.com by entering your Boolean string directly into the main search bar at the top of the page." The article names no subscription requirement anywhere.
So instead of hunting for a seniority filter you do not have, put the seniority in the string: ("head of growth" OR "growth lead" OR "VP growth") NOT recruiter does the job a paid filter would, in the search bar of a free account.
Step 3. Apply the filters that do exist on free
Switch to the People tab and use what is there: connection degree, location, current company, past company, industry, school, and the first name, last name, title, company and school keyword boxes. LinkedIn's Premium comparison grid labels the free tier "Basic search filters" against "Unlimited search" on paid plans, fetched from premium.linkedin.com/small-business/compare-plans on 5 September 2026. Basic is the right word. It is not nothing.
Step 4. Run the extension on the results page
Open your search results and start the extraction from the results page itself. The extension reads the same rendered page you are looking at, in your own logged-in session, and writes each row into a list. With Leadsforlinked the flow is identical whether that page is free LinkedIn search, a post's commenter list, an event attendee list or a group member list.
Step 5. Slow it down, because the limit is invisible
LinkedIn Help article a526164, fetched 5 September 2026, is explicit about the risk most guides ignore: "If you use any browser plug-ins or other third party tools to search or view LinkedIn profiles, your limits may be impacted. These tools may run searches and view profiles in the background, which can cause you to surpass the limit without actually seeing any of the incremental warnings."
The warning system can fail silently while a tool is running. That is a policy argument for pacing rather than a marketing one. Our extension draws its delays from a normal distribution rather than a fixed interval, waits several seconds between pages, and scrolls each element into view and pauses before clicking. On the free tier, leads are released 20 at a time every hour instead of in one burst. Nobody can promise you an outcome here and you should be sceptical of anyone who does, us included. Pacing is simply the part inside a tool's control.
Step 6. Export, then check the columns before you trust them
Export the CSV, open it, and count the rows you would genuinely contact. That number, not a feature table, tells you whether a list is worth anything. Deduplicate before importing anywhere. And treat emails as a separate job: LinkedIn does not expose a work email on a public profile, so no tool reads one from a profile on any plan. Anything you are handed was guessed from a company pattern or bought from a database, and both carry a bounce rate. See finding emails for exported LinkedIn leads.
Try the whole sequence on a free LinkedIn account.
100 leads free on signup, no card. Released 20 at a time every hour, and the credits never expire. Run one search, export the CSV, and judge the data yourself.
Start free, no cardWhere a free account is genuinely worse
We build an extraction tool, so treat the above with the scepticism it deserves. Here is the honest version of the trade.
Sales Navigator's filters are better, and it is not close. Company headcount, seniority level, department, years in a current position, recent job changes and company growth are real filters a free account does not give you. Boolean approximates some and cannot replicate others. If your target is genuinely "operations directors at 200 to 500 person manufacturers who changed roles in the last ninety days", Sales Navigator builds that list in a minute and a free account does not build it at all. Evaboot's decision to require a seat is not arbitrary: it is built on exactly those filters, and the lists it exports are correspondingly tighter. Saved lead and account lists with alerts are a second real workflow that free LinkedIn has no equivalent for.
The counterweight is the two Help articles above. You are renting those filters, you cannot export from them, and the lists evaporate when you stop paying. If you buy Sales Navigator, buy it for the filters, use it hard, and get a CSV out regularly.
The number LinkedIn refuses to publish
Nearly every guide on this topic quotes "20 to 25 profile views a day" or "100 invitations a week". We fetched and parsed LinkedIn's Help articles directly on 5 September 2026. LinkedIn publishes no such number, and states in writing that it will not give you one. Help article a564226, verbatim:
"You'll see a warning as you approach the limit. Your free monthly usage resets at midnight PST on the 1st of each calendar month. We are not able to display the exact number of searches or views you have left and we also cannot lift the limit upon request."
What that article does tell you is useful. Profile search on web and mobile counts toward the limit, as do "People Also Viewed" and the People tab of company Pages. Name search, browsing your own first-degree connections and job search do not. Cancelling a paid plan does not reset it: "your limit will not be reset upon cancellation."
On invitations, Help article a550555 confirms limits apply to everyone: "All LinkedIn members, including those with Basic and Premium accounts, are subject to these limits." The only integer LinkedIn publishes nearby is a different one, "a personalized message to five connection requests per month" on free accounts, and restrictions "typically last one week".
The absence is the finding. If a page quotes a daily cap with confidence, ask where the number came from, because it did not come from LinkedIn. For completeness, Help article a1341387 prohibits "any third party software, including 'crawlers', bots, browser plug-ins, or browser extensions that scrape, modify the appearance of, or automate activity on LinkedIn's website", with members risking "having their accounts restricted or shut down." It names no tool and publishes no statistic. We quote it because you should read it and decide for yourself.
Which tools require Sales Navigator
Roughly a third of the vendors writing about this topic need you to buy the seat. Every row below is the vendor's own wording, checked 5 September 2026.
| Tool | Sales Navigator required? | What the vendor says | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leadsforlinked | No | Runs on standard LinkedIn search, plus seven other sources including post commenters, reactors, event attendees and group members | 100 leads free, then packs from EUR 1.99 |
| Evaboot | Yes, required | "Yes. Evaboot exports the results of your own Sales Navigator searches, so you need an active Sales Navigator seat." | From US$9/mo for 100 credits |
| Scrupp | Yes, for Sales Navigator scraping | "For LinkedIn Sales Navigator scraping, you need any active Sales Navigator seat (Core, Advanced, Advanced Plus, or Recruiter)." | Free tier, then US$29/mo |
| Aimfox | Yes, for two named features | "In order to use Sales Navigator campaigns you need to have an active Sales Navigator subscription", and a Premium or Sales Navigator licence to send notes with invitations | US$49/mo per seat |
| PhantomBuster | Only for its Sales Navigator Phantoms | Sales Navigator inputs need a seat; the other Phantoms do not | Free tier, then US$69/mo |
| Kanbox | No | "No, all Kanbox features are fully functional without a Sales Navigator subscription." | EUR 25/mo |
| Octopus CRM | No | "You can use the software on free LinkedIn accounts without a problem" | US$9.99/mo |
| SalesRobot | No | "SalesRobot works smoothly with a free LinkedIn account." | US$59 per LinkedIn account/mo |
| Linked Helper | No | Every tier is listed as supporting "Free LinkedIn", "Premium LinkedIn", "Sales Navigator" and "Recruiter" | US$15/mo |
| Lix | No | Lix "supports LinkedIn Standard, Premium and Sales Navigator" | Free tier, then EUR 39/mo |
| Derrick | Optional | "Some features require Sales Navigator (importing leads from a Sales Navigator search), but most don't." | Free tier, then EUR 9/mo |
| Scrapingdog | No, and no LinkedIn account at all | "No, Scrapingdog's Profile Scraper doesn't use Sales Navigator, and it doesn't use your account or anybody's account for that matter." | Free tier, then US$40/mo |
Every quotation is from the vendor's own site or help centre, fetched 5 September 2026: evaboot.com, scrupp.com, aimfox.com, phantombuster.com, kanbox.io, octopuscrm.io, salesrobot.co, linkedhelper.com, lix-it.com, derrick-app.com and scrapingdog.com. Currencies are shown as each vendor prints them; several use "$" without stating USD. Leadsforlinked figures are from our own pricing page, checked 5 September 2026. Pricing here changes often, so check the vendor's page before you buy and tell us if something is out of date.
The cost, worked out
Nobody in this category normalises the cost, so headline prices get compared while the required subscription underneath sits off the invoice. Here is a fixed basket instead: 12,000 LinkedIn leads exported to CSV over twelve months, for one person.
Path A: Sales Navigator plus an exporter
- Sales Navigator Core, billed annually: US$1,079.88. On monthly billing it would be US$119.99 x 12 = US$1,439.88.
- An exporter sized at 1,500 credits a month lists at US$49 monthly, and annual billing on that pricing page is ten times the monthly figure: US$490 a year, covering 18,000 credits.
- Year one: US$1,569.88, which over 12,000 leads is US$130.82 per 1,000.
Path B: free LinkedIn plus lead packs
- Free LinkedIn account: EUR 0. The cost here is the commercial use limit, not money.
- Leadsforlinked: first 100 leads free, then an 8,000 pack at EUR 49 plus a 4,000 pack at EUR 29 = EUR 78. Packs never expire, so unused volume rolls forward rather than resetting.
- Year one: EUR 78, which over 12,000 leads is EUR 6.50 per 1,000.
Those are two currencies and we will not pretend a conversion is precise, because the rate moves and LinkedIn prices EUR separately anyway (Core is 1 088,88 EUR par an on LinkedIn's French page, fetched 5 September 2026). The conclusion survives either way: one path prices a thousand leads in three figures, the other in single figures. If you prefer a subscription to packs, Leadsforlinked Basic is EUR 4.99 a month, EUR 59.88 a year, with unlimited scraping and unlimited CSV export, from our pricing page checked 5 September 2026.
What the arithmetic does not capture is the filter gap above. If Sales Navigator's seniority and headcount filters cut your list from 12,000 rough profiles to 2,000 exact ones, the per-lead comparison flips and the seat pays for itself. That is the right answer for some teams. It is not the answer for most people typing this question into a search bar, who want the right people in a spreadsheet this afternoon and do not have a four-figure line to spend getting there.
How this page was sourced. It carries three of the five things our page standard requires: reconciled dated vendor pricing across twelve tools, primary-source citations from seven LinkedIn Help articles, and two computed figures published nowhere else (cost per 1,000 leads and the twelve-month total on each path). Every figure names its source and the date checked, 5 September 2026. Next scheduled re-verification: December 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need Sales Navigator to scrape LinkedIn?
No. A free LinkedIn account runs people search, and a browser extension reads that results page and writes it to CSV. LinkedIn Help article a102031 confirms Sales Navigator cannot export to CSV or XLS at all, so it is not the component that produces the file. Checked 5 September 2026.
Can you export a CSV directly from Sales Navigator?
No. LinkedIn Help article a102031 states: LinkedIn currently doesn't offer the option to export account and lead information from Sales Navigator into a CSV or XLS file. The only alternative named on that page is CRM Sync, limited to the Advanced Plus plan. Checked 5 September 2026.
What happens to saved leads if I cancel Sales Navigator?
They are deleted. LinkedIn Help article a102026 states that messages, saved leads and saved accounts cannot be saved, that this data is removed as soon as you cancel, and that buying Sales Navigator again starts you over with a new account. Anything you want to keep has to leave LinkedIn before the cancellation date. Checked 5 September 2026.
How many profiles can I view on a free LinkedIn account each month?
LinkedIn does not publish a number, and says so. Help article a564226 states: We are not able to display the exact number of searches or views you have left and we also cannot lift the limit upon request. It adds that free monthly usage resets at midnight PST on the 1st of each calendar month. Any specific daily figure quoted elsewhere has no LinkedIn source behind it. Checked 5 September 2026.
Which LinkedIn scrapers require a Sales Navigator subscription?
Evaboot requires one. Its pricing FAQ answers Do I need a Sales Navigator account? with: Yes. Evaboot exports the results of your own Sales Navigator searches, so you need an active Sales Navigator seat. Scrupp requires a seat for Sales Navigator scraping specifically, and Aimfox for Sales Navigator campaigns. Kanbox, Octopus CRM, SalesRobot, Linked Helper, Lix, Scrapingdog and Leadsforlinked do not. Checked 5 September 2026.
What does a year of LinkedIn extraction cost without Sales Navigator?
For 12,000 leads over twelve months: a Sales Navigator Core seat billed annually is US$1,079.88, and an exporter sized for 1,500 leads a month adds about US$490 a year, so roughly US$1,569.88, or US$130.82 per 1,000 leads. On a free LinkedIn account with Leadsforlinked packs, the same 12,000 leads is EUR 78, or EUR 6.50 per 1,000, and the packs never expire. Two currencies, one conclusion: three figures per thousand leads against single figures. Checked 5 September 2026.