LinkedIn is a professional networking and recruitment platform with 900+ million users focused on career development and B2B business connections, while Slack is a workplace communication and collaboration tool with 750,000+ paying organizations designed for real-time team messaging and workflow integration.
LinkedIn vs Slack — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Professional social network and recruitment platform with 930M+ users.
Team messaging and workflow automation platform with video and screen sharing capabilities.
Primary Use Case. User Base Size. Core Feature. Free Plan Capability. Enterprise Pricing (per user/month). Time-to-Value. Geographic Reach
Choose LinkedIn if you're focused on professional networking, recruitment, job searching, or building your personal brand across industries and geographies. Choose Slack if you need an internal team communication platform with rapid deployment, extensive integrations with dev/productivity tools, and asynchronous collaboration features for distributed teams.
LinkedIn: 2-3x higher than Facebook | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: ~9% year-over-year | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: B2B and professional services | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Slower organic reach, algorithm-dependent | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: 1.3 billion members | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Smaller community | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Not publicly specified | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Standard engagement rates | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: 8x more engagement | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: 150% YoY growth, 450M+ subscribers | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: $5 billion quarterly | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: 930 average connections | Slack: N/A
Personal Profile Engagement vs Company Pages
LinkedIn: 8x personal > company | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Limited by visibility | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: High - optimized for recruiter sourcing | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Limited (integrated feature) | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Not primary feature | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: Microsoft (acquired 2016 for $26.2B) | Slack: N/A
LinkedIn: 930 million | Slack: 750 million
LinkedIn: 35+ major integrations | Slack: 2,000+
LinkedIn: Limited; 1st-degree network messaging | Slack: Unlimited external guests via workspace invite
LinkedIn: $40 (Premium individual) | Slack: $7.25
LinkedIn: 930 million | Slack: ~50 million (daily active)
Paying Organizations/Enterprise Customers
LinkedIn: ~67,000 (LinkedIn Sales Navigator customers) | Slack: 750 (in thousands = 750,000 paying orgs)
LinkedIn: Unlimited (via third-party APIs) | Slack: 10 maximum
LinkedIn: $9,950/month (recruiter flat rate) | Slack: $12.50/user/month
LinkedIn: Weeks to months (profile building) | Slack: Less than 1 hour
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $87 (billed yearly)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Up to 2,000 (with paid plan)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Limited (third-party connectors)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Slack AI (summarization, search, assisted writing)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Excellent - optimized search indexing
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $3,600 (Pro plan at $15/user)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 10,000 most recent
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $8.25 (Pro plan, min 3 users)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Unlimited (Slack Huddles for video limited to 50 participants)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Huddles for brief video, limited to 50 participants; requires external tool for full conferencing
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Not native; requires integration with Otter.ai or similar third-party services
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 5 out of 5 (core feature with channels, threads, and history)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 2 out of 5 (available via integration, not native)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 30+ (CRM tools, meeting summaries, automation, SlackBot enhancements)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Cloud-based SaaS only
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Compliant but data on Salesforce servers
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: No increases for 33 months
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Unlimited group chats
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Workflow automation, search enhancement
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Optimized with threads and archives
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Slack AI (optional on paid plans)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Limited (requires custom setup)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Advanced with conditional logic
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Advanced AI assistant, smart summaries, automation
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Requires 3rd party
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $150 (billed monthly)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 0 (not native feature)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Unlimited (slide deck view only)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: DMs only, Enterprise+ plan
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Slack AI (search, summarization, drafting)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $12.50 per user/month
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Advanced (Workflow Builder, automations)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $8-12.50 (Pro/Business+)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 10 years standard
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Channel-based threads (contextual loss in active channels)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Native iOS/Android with feature-parity
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Yes (Slack Huddles)
Paid Workspaces/Users (Enterprise Adoption)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 750,000+ paid workspaces
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Proprietary/closed
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $150/month ($1,800/year)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 2,400+ integrations
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 90-day limited access
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 750,000+ active workspaces
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Yes (Business+ plan required)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: $12.50/user (Pro plan)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 10,000 messages (free); unlimited (paid)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: No (requires integrations)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 50-100ms (instant)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 5GB (Free), varies by plan
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 1 GB shared workspace
Annual Subscription Cost (Pro, 100 users)
Maximum video call participants (free tier)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 90 days searchable
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 2,000+ apps (Slack App Directory)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Cost-effective until ~12 users
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: No: messaging-only, requires integrations
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 90 days (Free/Pro), unlimited with Enterprise
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 750+ million messages daily across 750k+ organizations
Monthly Subscription Cost (Pro/Standard)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: All messages indexed instantly
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: API-based (basic)
Maximum Video Conference Participants (Free)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Limited (typically 3-4)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 4.6/5 (12,400 reviews)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Full-text indexed across all messages
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Partial (DMs only, beta feature)
Cost Per User (Annual, Lowest Paid Tier)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Certified (SOC 2 Type II, GDPR)
Monthly Cost Per User (Standard Tier, Annual Billing)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 0 GB (integrations only)
Maximum Video Conference Participants (Standard Plan)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 10,000 (free tier); unlimited (paid)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: N/A (proprietary)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 750,000+ workspaces
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 10,000 (free), unlimited (paid)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 1-4 hours (Enterprise Grid)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Unlimited (90-day history)
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: No native feature
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Full-featured messaging
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Secondary feature
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: 21 million daily active
LinkedIn: N/A | Slack: Slack AI assistant included
How to choose between LinkedIn and Slack
LinkedIn vs Slack — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for LinkedIn vs Slack. Contains 253 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
LinkedIn vs Slack — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for LinkedIn vs Slack.
Can I use LinkedIn and Slack together for professional work?
Yes, they serve complementary purposes. Use LinkedIn for external networking, recruitment, and job searching, and Slack for internal team communication and collaboration. Many organizations use both: LinkedIn for HR and sales functions, Slack for daily team operations. Slack can integrate with LinkedIn via third-party apps for sharing job postings or recruiting updates in Slack channels.
Which is better for a remote team: LinkedIn or Slack?
Slack is significantly better for remote teams. It's purpose-built for real-time internal communication with channels, direct messaging, file sharing, and 2,000+ integrations that connect your entire workflow. LinkedIn is not designed for team communication. Remote teams typically use Slack as their communication backbone and LinkedIn for external networking only.
What's the cost difference between LinkedIn and Slack at scale?
For a 100-person team: Slack Pro costs $1,250/month ($12.50 × 100 users) with unlimited message history. LinkedIn's tools are less comparable for team size, but LinkedIn Recruiter (which covers an entire recruiting department) costs $9,950/month flat. For most SMBs, Slack's per-user model is more cost-effective; for enterprise recruiting, LinkedIn Recruiter is a dedicated investment.
Can I search for job candidates on both platforms?
LinkedIn is the dominant platform for candidate search with Boolean search operators, recruiter-specific filters, InMail messaging, and talent pools. Slack is not designed for recruitment. However, Slack integrations can surface LinkedIn job postings or candidate profiles shared within channels. If recruitment is core to your business, LinkedIn's dedicated recruiter tools are far superior.
Which platform has better data privacy and security?
Both are SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant. LinkedIn offers more granular privacy controls for profile visibility and data sharing. Slack provides enterprise-grade security with SSO, SAML integration, data encryption in transit and at rest, and audit logs. For security-sensitive industries, Slack's Enterprise Grid tier offers additional compliance frameworks (HIPAA, FedRAMP). Neither has major recent security breaches.
How to Choose Between LinkedIn and Slack
Primary Use Case: LinkedIn has Professional networking, recruitment, job search, content sharing, while Slack has Real-time team messaging, project collaboration, workflow automation.
User Base Size: LinkedIn has 930 million monthly active users, while Slack has 750,000+ paying organizations (~50 million daily active users).
Core Feature: LinkedIn has Professional profiles, job postings, content feed, recruiter tools, while Slack has Channels, direct messaging, file sharing, app integrations (2,000+).
Free Plan Capability: LinkedIn has Full feature access (profile, messaging, content, job search), while Slack has Limited (90-day message history, 10 app integrations max).
Consider: Enterprise Pricing (per user/month)
Enterprise Pricing (per user/month): LinkedIn has LinkedIn Recruiter: $9,950/month (flat rate per seat), while Slack has Slack Pro: $12.50/user/month; Enterprise Grid: $15+/user/month.
Time-to-Value: LinkedIn has Weeks to months (building profile, establishing presence), while Slack has Minutes to hours (immediate team setup and communication).
Geographic Reach: LinkedIn has 200+ countries, supports 62+ languages, while Slack has 150+ countries, supports 10+ languages.