Summary: what do LinkedIn ads cost in the Netherlands in 2026?
LinkedIn ads have no fixed price. You set your own budget and LinkedIn decides in an auction what a click or impression costs. In 2026 Dutch agencies quote an average of €5.50 per click, €38 per 1,000 impressions and €75 per lead. That is about 8 times the cost per click of Facebook. The minimum is €10 a day per campaign, but for a serious test agencies quote €1,500 to €2,500 a month. Management by a freelancer or agency costs €500 to €5,000 a month. At Game-changers a social media advertising partnership starts from €500 a month excluding VAT, with no set-up fee.
→ Ad budget
You decide and pay it directly to LinkedIn. At least €10 a day per campaign. Searchlab names €1,500 a month as the minimum that works.
→ Cost per click
€3 to €8 per click, €5.50 on average (Searchlab and The Success Agency, 2026). Up to €18 to €25 for C-level audiences.
→ 1,000 impressions
€25 to €60, €38 on average according to Searchlab. Merkelijkheid measured a median of €73.83 for B2B campaigns in 2025.
→ Cost per lead
€30 to €150, €75 on average. With LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms €30 to €90, through your website €60 to €150.
→ Management by a freelancer or agency
€500 to €1,500 a month for a freelancer, €1,000 to €5,000 for an agency, on top of your ad budget.
Below you can read where each figure comes from, what we found when we checked the Google top 10, how much budget you really need and what business campaigns delivered for three Game-changers clients.
Why are LinkedIn ads more expensive than Facebook ads?
On LinkedIn you pay more because you reach business decision-makers by job title, industry, seniority and company size. There are fewer users and more advertisers who want to reach the same people. LinkedIn has 5.8 million users in the Netherlands, against 9.9 million for Facebook. The number of users grew by 1% last year, but daily use rose by 17% (Metricool, based on the Newcom Dutch National Social Media Survey 2026).
→ About 8 times the cost per click and per lead
Searchlab quotes an average of €5.50 per click and €75 per lead for LinkedIn. For Facebook Searchlab quotes €0.72 per click and €8.50 per lead. Per 1,000 impressions LinkedIn costs about 4 times as much: €38 against €9.40.
→ Prices are rising
According to Merkelijkheid the median price per 1,000 impressions went from €25.92 in 2023 to €73.83 in 2025, a rise of 185% (The Success Agency, based on the Merkelijkheid CPM benchmark).
→ But you pay for who you reach
A click from a buyer or director is worth more than a random click. LinkedIn suits products and services with a high customer value, such as software, business services and recruiting professionals.
What do you pay for with LinkedIn ads?
With LinkedIn ads you pay for four things: the ad budget to LinkedIn, the management, the ads themselves and the page or form where a lead comes in. Ask about all four in every quote.
→ 1. Ad budget, to LinkedIn
This money goes straight to LinkedIn. You choose a daily or lifetime budget and can stop any day. The minimum is €10 a day per campaign, and at least €100 with a lifetime budget (Searchlab). You pay per click, per 1,000 impressions or, for messages, per message sent.
→ 2. Management, to the agency or freelancer
Strategy, audiences, campaigns and weekly optimisation. Searchlab quotes €500 to €1,500 a month for a freelancer, €1,000 to €3,000 for a traditional agency and €1,500 to €5,000 for a specialist LinkedIn agency. Some agencies charge 10 to 20% of the ad budget. The Success Agency quotes €800 to €2,500 a month.
→ 3. Ads and content
Images, videos, carousels and copy. According to Searchlab your own video costs from €500 for a simple animation to €5,000 or more for a professional production. The Success Agency plans €500 to €1,500 a quarter for content.
→ 4. A page or form that converts
With LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms people submit their details without leaving LinkedIn. If you send them to your own site, The Success Agency quotes €1,000 to €3,000 one-off for a good landing page.
→ Set-up fee
Some agencies charge a one-off fee to set up your account, the Insight Tag and the campaigns. Ask about it. At Game-changers there is no set-up fee. Request a free analysis.
What does a click, 1,000 impressions or a lead cost on LinkedIn?
In 2026 a click on LinkedIn costs €5.50 on average, with a usual range of €3 to €8. 1,000 impressions cost €25 to €60 and a lead €30 to €150 (Searchlab, The Success Agency). The lowest bid you can place is €2 per click or per 1,000 impressions (Leadbouwers). What you really pay depends on four things.
→ Who you want to reach
The more senior the role, the higher the price. For C-level audiences The Success Agency quotes €18 to €25 per click.
→ How big your audience is
A small audience costs more per impression. Merkelijkheid measured a median of €107.85 per 1,000 impressions for fewer than 1,000 people and €61.18 for more than 10,000 people (via The Success Agency).
→ Your ad format
With Lead Gen Forms a lead costs €30 to €90, through a landing page €60 to €150. Inbox messages (Message Ads) cost €0.40 to €0.90 per message sent (Searchlab).
→ Your industry
Software and financial services pay the most, manufacturing and recruitment the least. See the table below.
LinkedIn costs per industry (Searchlab, March 2026):
Our research: the top 10 for "linkedin adverteren kosten" checked
On 9 November 2026 Game-changers read all articles in the Google top 10 for "linkedin adverteren kosten" (LinkedIn advertising costs). That is searched 50 to 210 times a month in the Netherlands, "adverteren op linkedin" 480 to 1,300 times (DataForSEO, Ahrefs and Semrush, November 2026). Positions 1 and 2 are pages from LinkedIn itself. The LinkedIn pricing page gives no amounts. This is what the other eight say:
→ The most expensive click is 8 times the cheapest
The quoted click prices run from €1 to €8. An average says little about your own campaign.
→ Newer articles quote higher prices
The two articles dated 2026 quote €5.50 per click on average. The two from 2023 and 2024 quote €1 to €4. That fits the 185% rise in the price per 1,000 impressions that Merkelijkheid measured.
→ We found no date on four of the eight
At Leadbouwers, Digital Layers, Brainpink and Frank Husmann a reader cannot see when the figures were written.
→ The advised budget differs by a factor of 8
The advice runs from €300 to €2,500 a month. Those who say €300 work with the €10 daily minimum. Those who say €1,500 or more count on enough leads to learn from.
→ Two mention management fees
Only Searchlab and The Success Agency say what an agency or freelancer costs. The rest say nothing about it, so always ask.
“LinkedIn is expensive per click, but you pay for who you reach. So work back from a customer: if one new business client is worth €20,000, a lead can easily cost €100. If you sell a €50 product, LinkedIn is usually not the right channel.”
How much budget do you need for LinkedIn at minimum?
The technical minimum is €10 a day per campaign, about €300 a month. A budget that works is higher: Searchlab names €1,500 a month as the effective minimum and The Success Agency €1,500 to €2,500 for a serious test. With less budget you get too few leads to see what works.
→ LinkedIn's own minimum and advice
LinkedIn states a minimum of 10 dollars a day and 100 dollars for a lifetime campaign, and advises new advertisers to start with about 25 dollars a day (LinkedIn, Making the most of your budget). That is about €22.39 a day at the ECB rate of 6 November 2026 (1 euro = 1.1165 dollars). In euros LinkedIn uses €10 a day.
→ Rule of thumb
Budget per month = the number of leads you want × your cost per lead. If you want 20 leads to learn from at €75 per lead, that is €1,500 a month.
→ What do you get for €300, €1,500 and €3,000?
With Searchlab's averages €300 buys about 55 clicks or 4 leads. €1,500 buys about 270 clicks or 20 leads, €3,000 about 545 clicks or 40 leads.
→ Less budget?
Then pick one audience and one campaign, so your budget doesn't get spread too thin. Use Lead Gen Forms, which bring cheaper leads than your website. Or start on Meta and use LinkedIn only for the roles you can't find there.
Lower cost per lead through better tracking and the right audience
LinkedIn learns from the leads and customers it can see. If your tracking misses part of them because of ad blockers, cookie banners or privacy settings, LinkedIn steers towards the wrong people and you pay more per lead.
→ Insight Tag and Conversions API
The Insight Tag measures what visitors do in the browser. With the Conversions API your website or CRM sends leads and deals straight to LinkedIn. According to LinkedIn this helps lower the cost per action (LinkedIn, Conversions API).
→ Server-side tracking
Conversions go through your own server, so fewer get lost. Read how we set this up on our Data & Tracking page. Or check your own tracking with our tracking and GA4 checklist.
→ Lead Gen Forms
A form inside LinkedIn, pre-filled with the profile details. Searchlab quotes a conversion rate of 10 to 15%, against 2 to 5% on a landing page (Searchlab). If you do send people to your site, check your page with our landing page checklist.
→ Video that explains
You sell a complex product with a short video that shows what it delivers. We make variants with AI content workflows, so you can test without an expensive production every time.
→ Not always LinkedIn
For recruitment Game-changers often starts on Meta. LinkedIn can be strong for specific professional roles, but Meta often delivers broader reach and a lower cost per candidate (see our Recruitment Marketing page). Also read what Instagram ads cost and what Facebook ads cost.
How we set up a LinkedIn campaign
LinkedIn is expensive per click, so every euro has to reach the right person. This is how we do it:
→ 1. First: does LinkedIn fit?
We work back from what a customer is worth to you. If that covers a €75 lead, we choose LinkedIn. If not, we honestly recommend Meta or Google.
→ 2. A sharp audience
We pick job titles, industries and company sizes that actually buy, and exclude existing customers and competitors. A smaller audience that fits beats wide reach without buyers.
→ 3. Video that explains what it delivers
Business buyers want to see quickly what your product does. We make short videos and variants with AI workflows, so we can test without expensive production.
→ 4. Leads that go back to LinkedIn
We connect the Insight Tag, the Conversions API and your CRM. Then LinkedIn sees which leads became customers, and optimises for those people.
→ 5. Follow-up within a day
A LinkedIn lead is a busy decision-maker. We make sure they get a quick response, because that is where most deals are won or lost.
What business campaigns delivered for our clients
What counts is not the price per click, but what a lead or customer brings you. Three examples from our own work. Jaicob is listed under LinkedIn Advertising on our Social Media Advertising page and on our SaaS page. Salios and Hedin are recruitment campaigns for professionals through social media.
→ Jaicob
4.3 times as many qualified demos, and 41% of the demos turned into a sale. We translated the complex features of their recruitment platform into video campaigns that show what it delivers.
→ Salios
On average 241 applicants for senior roles in 30 days, and about 31 days until the new employee started. We reached experienced managers before they started looking themselves.
→ Hedin Automotive
12.6 times as many qualified applicants per vacancy, from mechanics to fleet account managers.
What do LinkedIn ads cost at Game-changers?
At Game-changers you can start a social media advertising partnership from €500 a month excluding VAT. You hear the exact price after a free call and a free marketing analysis. It depends on the number of platforms, campaigns and ads you need. You always pay the ad budget directly to LinkedIn, so you see exactly what goes to ads.
→ Free 30-minute call
We get to know your business, your customers and your goals, and tell you honestly whether LinkedIn suits you.
→ Free 8-hour marketing analysis
We review your ads, funnel, website and tracking. You get a report, a strategy and an action plan.
→ Free starting period
You see how we work before you pay.
→ No set-up fee
We don't charge separately for setting up your account, the Insight Tag and the campaigns. Request a free analysis.
→ Partnership from €500 a month excluding VAT
Creative testing, AI content and tracking are part of how we work. Your ad account and your data stay yours, and your contact is always a senior partner or the founder.
Game-changers compared with the market:
Market prices: Searchlab (March 2026).
See our Social Media Advertising service or book a free call. Do you also advertise on Google? Read what Google Ads cost in the Netherlands.
How to compare two quotes for LinkedIn ads
Ask every agency or freelancer these questions before you sign.
→ Is the ad budget separate from the management fee?
You want to pay the budget to LinkedIn yourself, on your own account. If the agency charges a percentage of the budget, work out what that costs at your budget.
→ Is there a set-up fee?
Ask what setting up the account, Insight Tag and campaigns costs.
→ Who makes the ads, and how many new ones a month?
On LinkedIn people quickly see the same ad too often. Without new ads your costs go up.
→ Is the cost of a lead or deal measured?
Ask about the Conversions API and whether closed deals from your CRM go back to LinkedIn.
→ Is LinkedIn compared with other channels?
A good agency tells you honestly when Meta or Google brings your customers in for less.
Frequently asked questions about LinkedIn ad costs
What do LinkedIn ads cost per month?
You set the budget yourself. The minimum is €10 a day per campaign, about €300 a month. For a serious test Searchlab and The Success Agency quote €1,500 to €2,500 a month. Management by a freelancer or agency adds €500 to €5,000 a month.
What does a click on LinkedIn cost?
€5.50 on average, with a range of €3 to €8 (Searchlab and The Success Agency, 2026). The lowest bid is €2. For C-level audiences a click can cost €18 to €25.
What does a lead from LinkedIn cost?
€75 on average, with a range of €30 to €150. With LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms €30 to €90, through a landing page €60 to €150.
Why is LinkedIn so expensive?
You reach business decision-makers by job title, industry and company size. There are fewer users and many advertisers for them. According to Merkelijkheid the price per 1,000 impressions rose by 185% from 2023 to 2025.
Is LinkedIn more expensive than Facebook?
Yes. Searchlab quotes €5.50 per click and €75 per lead for LinkedIn, and €0.72 per click and €8.50 per lead for Facebook. LinkedIn pays off when one customer is worth a lot.
Can you advertise on LinkedIn with €10 a day?
You can, it is the minimum. At €75 per lead you then get about 4 leads a month. That is usually too few to see what works.
What do LinkedIn ads cost at Game-changers?
A social media advertising partnership starts from €500 a month excluding VAT, with no set-up fee. You pay the ad budget directly to LinkedIn.
Sources
→ LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: LinkedIn advertising costs and pricing
Checked 9 November 2026.
→ LinkedIn: Making the most of your budget
Checked 9 November 2026.
→ LinkedIn (Microsoft Learn): Conversions API
Checked November 2026.
→ European Central Bank: euro to US dollar reference rate
6 November 2026, 1 euro = 1.1165 dollars.
→ Newcom: Nationale Social Media Onderzoek 2026
5 February 2026.
→ Metricool: Most used social media in the Netherlands
24 August 2026.
→ Searchlab: Wat kost LinkedIn adverteren in 2026?
17 March 2026.
→ Searchlab: Wat kost Facebook Ads in 2026?
17 March 2026.
→ The Success Agency: LinkedIn adverteren kosten 2026
May 2026. With figures from the Merkelijkheid CPM benchmark.
→ Leadbouwers: Wat kost adverteren op LinkedIn?
No date, checked November 2026.
→ Digital Layers: Wat kost adverteren op LinkedIn?
No date, checked November 2026.
→ Brainpink: Adverteren op LinkedIn (2026)
No date, checked November 2026.
→ Frank Husmann: LinkedIn adverteren, kosten en benchmarks
No date, checked November 2026.
→ Mediabirds: Wat kost adverteren op LinkedIn?
28 August 2024.
→ Anglers: LinkedIn adverteren kosten
12 October 2023.
→ Game-changers: Social Media Advertising, SaaS and Recruitment Marketing
Client results Jaicob, Salios and Hedin Automotive, checked November 2026.
→ DataForSEO, Ahrefs and Semrush
Google search volume, Netherlands, November 2026. Own measurement.
Over de auteur
About the author
Annefleur van Osta
Online marketing strateeg bij Game-changers. Schreef dit artikel en houdt de prijzen en bronnen actueel.
Online marketing strategist at Game-changers. Wrote this article and keeps the prices and sources up to date.
