Recruiting on LinkedIn in 2026 is all about automation. Manual efforts limit productivity, but tools like Closely, HeyReach, and Dripify help recruiters manage hundreds of prospects efficiently. These tools automate repetitive tasks, improve engagement, and ensure compliance with LinkedIn’s limits, making them essential for scaling outreach. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Closely: Combines LinkedIn automation, email outreach, and AI personalization. Plans start at $49/month, ideal for multichannel campaigns.
- HeyReach: Focuses on multi-account management for agencies. Pricing begins at $79/month, great for handling multiple profiles.
- Dripify: Offers a visual campaign builder and cloud-based operations. Pricing is per seat, tailored for teams of all sizes.
Quick Comparison:
| Tool | Key Features | Starting Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closely | AI personalization, multichannel outreach | $49/month | Solo recruiters, small teams |
| HeyReach | Multi-account management, ChatGPT integration | $79/month | Agencies, large teams |
| Dripify | Visual campaign builder, cloud-based safety | Contact for pricing | Teams of all sizes |
Choose the tool that aligns with your team size, budget, and recruitment strategy to save time and boost results.
LinkedIn Automation Tools Comparison: Closely vs HeyReach vs Dripify for Recruiters 2026
Unlock the Power of LinkedIn Automation for Recruiters
1. Closely
Closely transforms how recruiters manage workflows on LinkedIn, offering tools to streamline candidate sourcing and multichannel engagement while improving efficiency.
Features for Recruitment
Closely simplifies recruitment by pulling candidate data directly from LinkedIn Recruiter, Sales Navigator, LinkedIn Search, Groups, and Posts – no more manual copy-pasting [4].
Its AI sales agents take personalization to the next level by analyzing a candidate’s company and crafting tailored messages. These messages reference specific job roles or recent updates, leading to a 52% increase in engagement rates on LinkedIn [4]. When LinkedIn outreach is paired with email in multichannel campaigns, reply rates double, and overall engagement jumps by 70% compared to single-channel efforts [5].
The platform’s unified recruitment inbox brings together LinkedIn DMs, InMails, and email replies, making communication seamless. It also includes team collaboration tools to avoid overlapping outreach, flagging potential "collisions" before they occur [6]. Real-time data enrichment further enhances efficiency by verifying business emails and phone numbers, reducing bounce rates [6].
Behavior-based triggers add another layer of automation. For instance, if a candidate views your profile or interacts with a post, Closely automatically initiates the next step in your outreach sequence [5]. This feature contributes to users reporting three times more connections with qualified decision-makers [4].
Pricing and Plans
Closely offers flexible pricing to accommodate different recruiting needs.
- Starter plan: At $49/month, it supports one LinkedIn account, unlimited email outreach, and 1,000 monthly credits (enough for 250 emails or 50 phone numbers) [7].
- Growth plan: Costs $127/month, covering three LinkedIn accounts and 3,000 monthly credits (750 emails or 150 phone numbers) [7].
- Essential plan: Priced at $205/month, this plan supports five LinkedIn accounts and 5,000 credits (1,250 emails or 250 phone numbers) [7].
- Custom plan: Designed for agencies, it costs $350/month and supports 10 LinkedIn accounts with customizable credit allocations [7].
Annual billing offers up to 40% savings, with the Starter plan dropping to $29/month, Growth to $87/month, and Essential to $145/month when paid yearly. All plans include whitelabel features like custom branding, making it a great choice for agencies [7]. On average, users save 10 hours per week on manual prospecting tasks [7].
Scalability and Multichannel Support
Closely’s Smart Sequences allow recruiters to combine LinkedIn actions with unlimited email outreach. The Smart Inbox centralizes all candidate interactions, making it easier to manage communication across channels [7]. This multichannel strategy boosts response rates by 35% and increases pipeline opportunities by 45% [7].
The platform integrates seamlessly with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, and GoHighLevel, ensuring that all candidate interactions – from LinkedIn DMs to InMails – sync directly into your recruitment pipeline [6]. Its Job Change Signals feature flags candidates who have recently switched roles, identifying those who may be open to new opportunities [4].
Safety and Compliance
Closely prioritizes safety and compliance to protect LinkedIn accounts and ensure uninterrupted outreach. It uses dedicated residential proxies vs VPNs and cloud-based infrastructure, avoiding the risks associated with browser extensions [4]. Each LinkedIn account operates with a separate IP address, and smart daily activity caps adjust automatically to stay within LinkedIn’s limits [3].
An automated warmup feature gradually increases activity when a LinkedIn account is first connected, helping users avoid triggering LinkedIn’s security measures [4]. Additionally, all data enrichment tools comply with GDPR and CCPA regulations, maintaining detailed compliance logs for HR audits or legal requirements [6].
"Closely is a powerful tool for anyone looking to enhance their sales engagement. The platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it accessible even for those who are not tech-savvy." – Antonio D., Digital Strategist & Coach [4]
2. HeyReach
HeyReach takes LinkedIn outreach to another level with its focus on multi-account management, making it a go-to solution for agencies juggling multiple recruiter profiles. It provides a centralized system to streamline operations, all from one dashboard [3].
Features for Recruitment
HeyReach simplifies recruiter workflows with its Unified Inbox (Unibox), which brings together conversations from all connected LinkedIn accounts into a single, easy-to-manage view [3]. To stay within LinkedIn’s usage limits, the platform uses a load distribution feature that spreads outreach actions across multiple accounts automatically [3]. Each account is capped at 40 actions per day to ensure compliance with LinkedIn’s rules [8]. Plus, its anti-duplicate system ensures candidates receive just one coordinated message, avoiding overlap [3].
In a nod to modern automation, HeyReach has integrated tools like ChatGPT and Claude, enabling recruiters to craft personalized, AI-powered messages for candidates [8]. These features highlight the platform’s focus on using cutting-edge technology to make recruitment smoother and more effective. With flexible pricing options, HeyReach caters to agencies of all sizes.
Pricing and Plans
HeyReach’s pricing model is based on the number of LinkedIn accounts (or "senders") you manage. Here’s how it breaks down:
- Growth Plan: Starts at $79/month for one account or $395/month for five accounts ($79 per seat). Managing 10 accounts costs $590/month ($59 per seat).
- Agency Plan: Covers up to 50 accounts for $999/month.
- Unlimited Plan: For over 50 accounts, costs $1,999/month.
Opting for annual billing saves around 25%. For example, the single-account Growth plan drops to $59/month when paid yearly [3]. These plans are designed to scale effortlessly with your recruitment needs.
Scalability and Multichannel Support
HeyReach uses cloud-hosted dedicated proxies to ensure account safety while scaling operations, staying within LinkedIn’s limits. Its unified dashboard and load distribution tools make managing multiple accounts more efficient. For smaller-scale operations (1–15 accounts), the Growth plan is a good fit. Larger teams managing 50+ accounts will benefit more from the Agency or Unlimited plans [3].
HeyReach has earned high praise, with a 4.7 out of 5 rating on G2 (from 65 reviews) and a perfect 5.0 on Capterra. Its robust features and user-friendly design make it a powerful tool for boosting recruitment efficiency in today’s competitive hiring environment.
sbb-itb-8725941
3. Dripify
Dripify offers a visual campaign builder and operates on a cloud-based infrastructure, making it a solid choice for recruiters aiming to automate workflows without dealing with technical hassles. Since the platform runs campaigns continuously on remote servers, you don’t need to keep your computer on or leave browser tabs open for uninterrupted outreach [1].
Features for Recruitment
Dripify’s tools are designed to simplify recruitment efforts. With its drag-and-drop sequence builder, recruiters can create detailed workflows that include actions like profile visits, follows, connection requests, messages, InMails, and endorsements – all through an easy-to-use visual interface [11, 10]. It also supports multichannel outreach by combining LinkedIn campaigns with email sequences, so you can follow up with candidates across platforms within the same campaign [3]. To make communication easier, the Smart Inbox consolidates all LinkedIn conversations in one place, helping recruiters manage replies more efficiently [9].
Pricing and Plans
Dripify offers flexible pricing plans to cater to different recruitment needs. Whether you’re part of a small team or running large-scale campaigns for an agency, there’s a plan that fits. For detailed pricing information, you’ll need to request a demo or get in touch with their team directly.
Safety and Compliance
One of Dripify’s standout features is its approach to safety. By running campaigns on remote servers instead of using browser extensions, it minimizes detection risks [1]. The platform’s Safe Mode further enhances security by automatically adhering to LinkedIn’s daily activity limits and adjusting based on your account’s history and usage [12, 11]. This human-like activity simulation helps protect your account while maintaining consistent outreach. Dripify combines effective recruitment tools with built-in safety measures, making it a reliable solution for streamlining your hiring processes.
Comparison: Pros and Cons
Each tool brings its own strengths and trade-offs to the table. Closely stands out with its ability to combine LinkedIn automation, email outreach, and AI-powered personalization. This makes it a great option for recruiters running multichannel campaigns. However, its credit-based system means you’ll need to carefully manage your monthly allocation of emails, phone numbers, and AI personalizations to get the most out of the tool.
On the other hand, Dripify takes a different approach with its workflow design and pricing structure. It features a visual campaign builder and operates on a cloud-based infrastructure, allowing campaigns to run continuously without needing an active computer session. Its drag-and-drop interface makes creating complex recruitment workflows straightforward, while the Smart Inbox keeps LinkedIn conversations neatly organized. However, its per-seat pricing model could drive up costs for larger teams, which is something to keep in mind.
When it comes to safety, both Closely and Dripify offer cloud-based architectures with dedicated IP addresses and remote servers, which make them less likely to be detected compared to browser-based tools. This is crucial because approximately 23% of users relying on traditional cold outreach automation face account restrictions within 90 days [10][2], and browser-based tools carry a 60% higher detection risk [2].
Scalability is another key difference between the two tools. Closely offers flexible pricing plans, starting at $49 per month for solo recruiters and going up to $350 per month for teams managing up to 10 LinkedIn accounts. Dripify, while robust, may become less cost-effective for larger teams due to its per-seat pricing structure. For recruitment agencies managing 20 or more accounts, specialized multi-account platforms with features like unified dashboards and account rotation might provide better value.
For solo recruiters focused on personalized outreach, Closely’s AI-powered multichannel capabilities are a strong fit. Meanwhile, teams looking for an easy-to-use, visual workflow may find Dripify’s interface and cloud-based reliability more appealing. Regardless of the tool, staying within LinkedIn’s weekly limits of 100–200 connection requests is essential to avoid account restrictions [2]. Ultimately, the choice comes down to finding the right balance between advanced features and cost, helping recruiters select the best automation tool for their needs in 2026.
Conclusion
Selecting the best LinkedIn automation tool comes down to your team size, budget, and recruitment approach. Based on the features and pricing outlined earlier, it’s important to pick a tool that aligns with your overall sourcing strategy across multiple channels.
For solo recruiters or small teams working with limited budgets, tools with easy setup and strong safety protocols are key. Closely’s Starter plan is a great option, offering multichannel outreach and AI-driven personalization while ensuring account security through its cloud-based system.
Mid-sized teams juggling multiple accounts will need tools that provide scalability and advanced features. Closely’s Growth and Essential plans cater to these needs, supporting three to five LinkedIn accounts and integrating LinkedIn and email outreach into one streamlined dashboard. As your recruitment efforts expand, these features can keep up with your growing demands.
Larger teams, however, require tools capable of handling multiple accounts at scale without exceeding LinkedIn’s usage limits. Efficiency and safety are crucial here.
When it comes to safety, cloud-based tools significantly reduce detection risks – by as much as 60%. Additionally, proper account warmup can lower restriction rates to around 5–10% [2]. Start cautiously with 10–15 connection requests per day and slowly increase activity over two to three weeks to establish a natural usage pattern.
With these precautions in place, the right tool can become the backbone of your recruitment strategy. For manageable, personalized multichannel outreach, Closely is an excellent choice. For larger-scale operations that demand handling dozens of accounts, look for platforms specifically designed for multi-account management. Ultimately, the best tool is one that complements your workflow while safeguarding your accounts. Long-term account health is the foundation of any successful recruitment strategy.
FAQs
How can I avoid LinkedIn restrictions when automating outreach?
To avoid restrictions on LinkedIn, it’s crucial to stick to smart practices. Keep your activity within reasonable limits – like sending 20–30 connection requests per day – to avoid raising red flags. Mix things up to prevent repetitive patterns, and always personalize your messages to make them feel genuine.
If you’re using automation tools, combine them with manual actions to better replicate natural behavior. Keep an eye on any account warnings or notifications from LinkedIn, as these can signal when you’re pushing boundaries. By following these steps, you’ll reduce the chances of LinkedIn flagging your activity and keep your account safe.
What’s a safe daily connection request limit for recruiters in 2026?
In 2026, recruiters should aim to send 20–30 connection requests per day, keeping their weekly total between 100–200 requests. These limits can vary based on your account’s reputation and activity history. Sticking to these numbers helps protect your account from potential restrictions.
How can I set up multichannel LinkedIn and email outreach without harming deliverability?
To maintain deliverability and avoid detection, it’s crucial to act naturally and respect platform limits. Here are some important tips to keep in mind:
- Limit connection requests: Stick to fewer than 80 requests per week to remain within safe boundaries.
- Prioritize engagement: Spend time on actions like commenting on posts and sending thoughtful replies to build genuine interactions.
- Introduce delays: Add random pauses between actions to steer clear of patterns that resemble automation.
- Warm up gradually: Slowly increase your activity over a 14-day period to help your account adjust.
- Spread the workload: If necessary, divide your outreach efforts across multiple accounts to stay well within platform restrictions.
These strategies can help you maintain a natural presence while protecting your account.