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LinkedIn Limited Listings vs Promoted Jobs

Free gets listed. Paid gets seen.

LinkedIn gives you four ways to put a job in front of people. Two are free, two you pay for. Here's where each one lands and when it's worth your budget, from a recruitment marketing agency that runs job ads for employers with lots of locations.

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Last reviewed November 2026 · Every rule linked to its source

Short answer

  • Limited ListingsFree. LinkedIn pulls them in from your applicant tracking system (ATS) and shows them in job search, after paid jobs. They can't be sponsored unless you claim the job on LinkedIn.12
  • Promoted jobsPaid. Top of search and job recommendations, billed per view up to a daily or total budget you set.34
  • Our takeList every open job for free. Promote only the roles LinkedIn suits, and test one before you fund more.

The routes

Four ways onto LinkedIn.

One free route you post yourself, one free route through your ATS, and two you pay for. LinkedIn and your ATS may call them different things, so here's the plain version.

  • No feeYou post it

    Free job post

    One open at a time, and a limited number in any 30 days.5 LinkedIn pauses it after 14 days and closes it after 30 unless you promote it.5 Once it hits the free applicant limit, typically 10 to 30, it drops out of search.3

    Best forOne occasional opening.

  • No feeFrom your ATS

    Limited Listings (Basic Jobs)

    LinkedIn pulls these in from your ATS, a job board or your careers site, and charges nothing to take them in or host them.2 Its developer docs now call them Basic Jobs.6 Some ATSs, such as Greenhouse, still say Limited Listings.1

    Best forEvery open job, as a free baseline.

  • PaidPer click

    Promoted job

    A job post you pay to push. You set a daily or total budget, and LinkedIn bills per click.4 On a daily budget it runs until you close it, for up to 6 months. On a total budget it pauses when the money's spent.7

    Best forA few hard-to-fill roles at a time.

  • ContractPrepaid slots

    Job slots and job wrapping

    Job slots are LinkedIn's contract option for hiring at scale.4 The number of slots you buy sets how many jobs you can post.8 Job wrapping, a LinkedIn Recruiter service, picks which jobs from your ATS or careers site go into them.910

    Best forRoles you hire for all year.

Side by side

Limited Listings vs promoted jobs.

Plus the free post and job slots, in one table. The small numbers link to each source.

Route
Where it shows
How it bills
Budget control
Best for
Free job post34No fee
Where it showsLinkedIn job search. Paused after 14 days, and hidden from search at the free applicant limit.
How it billsNo fee. One open at a time.
Budget controlNone. To keep it running past day 14, promote it.
Best forOne occasional opening.
Limited Listings (Basic Jobs)12No fee
Where it showsLinkedIn job search, after paid jobs, and your company Page's Jobs tab. Not in recommendations.
How it billsNo LinkedIn fee. Can't be sponsored.
Budget controlNone. For paid reach, claim and promote the job, or use slots.
Best forEvery open job, as a free baseline, if your ATS supports it.
Promoted job347Paid
Where it showsTop of search with a Promoted tag, job recommendations and mobile notifications.
How it billsPay per click, and LinkedIn counts views as clicks. An algorithm sets the price.
Budget controlA daily or total budget. LinkedIn won't charge above it. Close the job to stop a daily budget.
Best forA few hard-to-fill roles at a time.
Job slots, with job wrapping24810Contract
Where it showsPromoted placement for whichever job sits in a slot. Job wrapping can fill slots from your ATS.
How it billsPrepaid slots on a contract. Billed up front, quarterly or monthly.
Budget controlSet up front by the number of slots. Rotate jobs in and out.
Best forEmployers with roles to fill all year.

Checked November 8, 2026. LinkedIn changes these terms often. Check the sources before you set a budget, and ask your LinkedIn rep what your own contract includes.

Billing

What LinkedIn promoted jobs cost.

There's no list price. What you pay depends on the budget you set and the views your job gets.

You pay per view. A view is a click.

LinkedIn says "clicks and views are one and the same." Your cost per click is your total spend divided by the views your job got.4 An algorithm sets the price. It weighs where the job is and how many similar posts compete in that market.4

LinkedIn doesn't bill for47

  • Views of your own post
  • Repeat views from one person
  • Views from people who aren't signed in
  • Clicks from outside the job's country

Daily budget or total budget.

Runs until you close it

Daily budget.

You cap each day's spend. The job stays active and bills up to that cap until you close it, or for up to 6 months.7

In some locations you can pick Daily Average, which spreads spend evenly, or Daily Max, which spends more early.11

Pauses when it's spent

Total budget.

LinkedIn spends a fixed amount over about 30 days. When it's used up, the job pauses.11

Paused jobs aren't visible to job seekers, but you keep your applicant list.7

LinkedIn's own example

$10 a day for 30 days costs $300 or less.

That's the example on LinkedIn's pricing page,4 not a quote for your roles. Either way, LinkedIn says it won't charge more than your daily or total budget.7

When your card is charged.

On the self-serve option, charges build up weekly. Your card is charged at whichever of these comes first:4

  1. 48 hours

    after you close the job

  2. 30 days

    after you post it, if it's still active

  3. $500

    balance, in US dollars

Our rule

Close the job. Stop the spend.

So close it on LinkedIn the same day you close it in your ATS. It's the rule we run every ad by: job closed, ad paused.

Limited Listings

Limited Listings: the 2026 rules.

Free doesn't mean rule-free. Five things to know before you count on them.

  • Sponsoring

    They can't be sponsored. Unless you claim them.

    Greenhouse says Limited Listings "can't be sponsored across LinkedIn."1 LinkedIn's developer docs add a way through. If you work for the hiring company, you can claim an ingested job, then manage it as a free job or promote it.2

  • Where they show

    Search and your Page. Not recommendations.

    Greenhouse says Limited Listings appear only in LinkedIn's search, after relevant paid jobs, and not in recommendations.1 LinkedIn's docs say Basic Jobs show only in job search and on your company Page's Jobs tab. Jobs in slots also go out in the feed, recommendations and notifications.2

  • Since January 1, 2026

    A company email on every job.

    Greenhouse says that from January 1, 2026, LinkedIn requires a company email address on all Limited Listings.1 LinkedIn's partner rules say each job needs a valid email for the person who owns the posting, on a corporate domain.12

  • Run time

    No fixed run time.

    LinkedIn gives no fixed run time for Limited Listings. The 14-day limit you may have read about is the rule for free job posts.5 With job wrapping, Basic Jobs stay active until the job closes at the source, such as your ATS.9 LinkedIn reads ATS feeds every six hours and job-board feeds every 24 hours.2

  • Partner rules

    The partner rules got stricter.

    Its partner rules were last updated in December 2025.12 Among them:

    • Only verified, paying users of an ATS may use its LinkedIn link. Free and trial users don't qualify. Neither do accounts 30 days old or less.
    • The company name and job title must match the source listing. "Confidential" and other placeholder names aren't allowed.
    • Staffing agencies that can't name the employer need paid promotion instead.
    • The feed must not hold closed, expired or duplicate jobs.
    • LinkedIn "reserves the right to require promotion of jobs."

Troubleshooting

Listing gone? Ten checks.

LinkedIn says it won't promise to take every listing from a feed.2 And since August 2024, it says some jobs that come in from ATSs and job boards may not be visible at all.12 So when a Limited Listing disappears, work through these with your ATS admin before you open a support ticket. They come from LinkedIn's partner docs and Greenhouse.12912

Missing Limited Listing · 10 checks

Copy the 10 checks
  1. 1. Is the job still open in your ATS? Closed jobs drop out of the feed.
  2. 2. Are the company name, location, title and full description all complete? Do they match the listing on your careers site?
  3. 3. Is the description at least 100 characters long?
  4. 4. Does the job carry its owner's company email address?
  5. 5. Is your LinkedIn Company ID set in your ATS?
  6. 6. Did someone also post the job as a paid job? LinkedIn skips the copy.
  7. 7. Has your company opted out of jobs from third-party sites?
  8. 8. Is your ATS account paid, and more than 30 days old?
  9. 9. Is it a job LinkedIn may require you to promote, such as a staffing firm's job or a "Confidential" employer?
  10. 10. Does the description contain #LI-DNI? That tag tells LinkedIn not to post the job.

Fit

Where LinkedIn fits, by role.

LinkedIn tends to work hardest for office, professional and specialist roles. For hourly roles across many locations, it's rarely where paid budget should go first. Our view, not a LinkedIn rule

Roles
LinkedIn as a paid channel
Start with
Corporate and office
A main channel
Start withLimited Listings for every role. Promote the hardest few. Consider slots if you hire all year.
Healthcare specialists and managers
Useful for specialist roles
Start withPromote those roles only. Keep niche boards and search ads for licensed roles.
Skilled trades and maintenance
A small one
Start withLimited Listings. Test one promoted job before you fund more.
Warehouse and distribution
Rarely a paid channel
Start withLimited Listings, for presence at no LinkedIn fee.
Retail, restaurants and other hourly roles
Rarely a paid channel
Start withLimited Listings. One free post at a time won't cover many locations.

Many locations is where LinkedIn's limits bite. List for free, then spend where hourly people actually look.

You get one free post at a time,4 and you set a budget each time you promote a job.7 For hourly roles, the money usually works harder in Facebook recruitment ads and Google Ads for recruiting.

Test before you fund. Run one promoted job on a total budget for a set period. Then compare its spend per click that reached your live listing with your other channels for the same role. If LinkedIn costs more, move the money. Hiring for office and specialist roles too? Our recruitment marketing services cover corporate roles as well.

Hourly roles? Get loud where they look.

LinkedIn suits the office. For hourly roles at many locations, we run the channels people actually check, from one plan, only on open jobs.

Where they scroll.

Facebook and Instagram ads, built inside Meta's employment rules.

Where they search.

Google Search and Performance Max, near every location.

Where they apply.

Job sites, through distribution tech we built. Budgets on plan.

Get my free hiring planProgrammatic job advertising

Your free hiring plan: where your job ads run now and what to fix, a channel and budget plan for your hardest role, and a sample ad in your brand. In your inbox within 3 business days. No call needed.

Month-to-month, no long-term contracts.

Sample budget

A sample LinkedIn budget.

Hypothetical One group of office roles over a 30-day month, in round numbers. It shows how LinkedIn spend is planned and capped. It isn't a result, and it isn't a LinkedIn quote.

Office roles · 30 days

Cap $4,000
  • Promoted, daily budget · $600
  • Promoted, total budget · $500
  • Other channels · $2,900
Role
LinkedIn route
Budget setting
Most it can spend
Senior accountant
LinkedIn routeFree job post
Budget settingNone
Most it can spend$0Paused on day 14. Promote or close it.
Software engineer
LinkedIn routePromoted job
Budget setting$20 a day
Most it can spend$600If closed on day 30.
HR business partner
LinkedIn routePromoted job
Budget setting$500 total
Most it can spend$500Then it pauses.
12 other office roles
LinkedIn routeLimited Listings from the ATS
Budget settingNone
Most it can spend$0No LinkedIn fee.
LinkedIn, all routes
LinkedIn routeThree routes, one group of roles
Budget settingCap $4,000
Most it can spend$1,100Of the $4,000 cap.

The other $2,900 stays with the same roles, for search ads or programmatic job ads. On day 15, LinkedIn's plan to date is $550, half of $1,100. Check pacing for any budget with our budget pacing calculator.

Card charges won't line up with the month (see when your card is charged), and LinkedIn doesn't say whether the $500 point is per job or per account. So book LinkedIn spend from what your LinkedIn account shows, not from card dates.4

Tracking

Tag it. Then count what lands.

A LinkedIn view happens on LinkedIn. What matters is who reaches your live job listing. Where you control the link, tag it, so your analytics can tell LinkedIn apart.

LinkedIn link tags

UTM

  • Job posts: free, promoted, Limited Listings, slotsutm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=job_board
  • LinkedIn ads that link to a jobutm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=paid_social
  • Campaign: role group, role and monthutm_campaign=office-software-engineer-2026-11

Our UTM builder for job postings has a LinkedIn preset and runs in your browser. First check what source your ATS already records for LinkedIn, so one click isn't counted twice.

Then compare channels on the clicks that reach a live listing. Which units to compare, and which to skip, is in our guide to recruitment marketing metrics.

Quick answers.

Anything else about LinkedIn, or the channels around it? A person replies within one business day.

Ask us anything

  • One can be. LinkedIn lets you keep one free job post open at a time, and post a limited number in any 30 days. It's paused after 14 days, and hidden from search once it hits LinkedIn's free applicant limit. Limited Listings from your ATS carry no LinkedIn fee.

  • They're free listings LinkedIn pulls in from your ATS, a job board or your careers site. LinkedIn's developer docs now call them Basic Jobs. They show in LinkedIn job search and on your company Page's Jobs tab, after paid jobs. They don't show in recommendations, and Greenhouse says they can't be sponsored.

  • There's no set price. You choose a daily or total budget, and LinkedIn says it won't charge more than that. An algorithm prices each click, which LinkedIn counts as a view. It weighs the job's location and similar posts. LinkedIn's example: $10 a day for 30 days costs $300 or less.

  • In our view, rarely as a paid channel. Let Limited Listings carry hourly jobs at no LinkedIn fee. Fund a promoted job only after a test: its clicks to your live listings should cost no more than your other channels. With many locations, one free post at a time won't go far.

Let's fill your interview seats.

Tell us who you're hiring and where. We'll email you:

  • A sample ad for your hardest role, in your brand
  • Where we'd run it, and the budget we'd use
  • What to fix in the job ads you run now

In your inbox within 3 business days.

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Sources

Last reviewed November 2026. LinkedIn's help, pricing and developer pages and Greenhouse's help article were checked on November 8, 2026. Next review: February 2027.

  1. 1Greenhouse Support, LinkedIn Limited Listings, last updated May 15, 2026. support.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/206285655
  2. 2LinkedIn developer docs (Microsoft Learn), XML Feeds - Developer FAQ, updated June 18, 2025. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/talent/job-postings/xml-feeds-faq
  3. 3LinkedIn Help, Differences between free and promoted jobs, checked November 8, 2026. linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a519737
  4. 4LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Hiring Pro pricing overview (page title "Free vs Paid Job Posts Costs"), checked November 8, 2026. business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/jobs-101/pricing
  5. 5LinkedIn Help, Post a free job on LinkedIn, checked November 8, 2026. linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a517777
  6. 6LinkedIn developer docs (Microsoft Learn), Job Posting Announcements and Release Notes, updated October 21, 2026. An undated entry records the change from the "Limited Listings" name to "Basic Jobs". learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/talent/job-postings/job-posting-release-notes
  7. 7LinkedIn Help, Promoted job posts, checked November 8, 2026. linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a520820
  8. 8LinkedIn Recruiter Help, Manage your Job Slots in Recruiter, checked November 8, 2026. linkedin.com/help/recruiter/answer/a417111
  9. 9LinkedIn Recruiter Help, Job Wrapping FAQ, checked November 8, 2026. linkedin.com/help/recruiter/answer/a414344
  10. 10LinkedIn Talent Solutions, LinkedIn Job Slots, checked November 8, 2026. business.linkedin.com/hire/post-jobs/job-slots
  11. 11LinkedIn Help, Job post budget options on LinkedIn, checked November 8, 2026. linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a517548
  12. 12LinkedIn developer docs (Microsoft Learn), Third-Party Job Listing and Job Site Inclusion Guidelines, updated December 3, 2025. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/linkedin/talent/job-postings/xml-feeds-job-posting-guidelines