The direct RapidAPI LinkedIn API alternative
A direct LinkedIn API, not a marketplace gateway.
How CrustAPI compares
The most popular RapidAPI LinkedIn listings, the largest being RockApis (sold as linkedin-data-api, also as UltraAPIs), are a marketplace gateway over a stored corpus of saved profiles.
A direct API that reads the live page changes three things: freshness, the ids you join a database on, and whether the credits you paid for survive the month.
| Compared on | Access | Data source | Credits or plan | Billing | Usage terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RapidAPI LinkedIn API RockApis / linkedin-data-api | A marketplace gateway listed on RapidAPI, one quota per plan | A stored corpus of saved profiles | Subscriptions do not roll over | Roughly $2.50 to $3.50 per 1,000 profile calls on the RapidAPI tiers | Restricted to internal business purposes, with competing scraping infrastructure barred |
| CrustAPI | A direct API at crustapi.com, no marketplace in the middle | The live, logged-out page read on each request | Prepaid credits that never expire | One credit per successful call, inaccessible profiles free, about $1.96 per 1,000 | Build your own product on the JSON you get back |
Two more differences do not fit in a table. The RapidAPI listing carries an explicit disclaimer that it does not check whether a source allows scraping; CrustAPI reads only the public, logged-out version of a page and leaves anything behind a login out.
And every accessible profile carries the numeric ids a database actually joins on: memberIdentifier, plus companyLinkedInId and schoolLinkedInId when you opt in. All figures above are the two providers' own published pricing and terms as of August 2026.
A real response, not a mockup
This is the exact JSON the curl above returned for Melanie Perkins, Canva's co-founder and CEO, trimmed for width. It came back in 1,202 ms, cost 1 credit, and carries the numeric ids a stored corpus rarely hands you cleanly.
Three fields worth noticing. companyLinkedInId and schoolLinkedInId are LinkedIn's numeric ids for the org and the school, the values you join records on instead of matching text names.
memberIdentifier is the member's permanent numeric id, and it survives name and vanity-URL changes. accessible tells you whether a public page exists at all; when it is false, profile is null and the call is not charged.
What data do you get?
The whole public record, structured. Same shape on every call, so your parser is written once, whichever profile you point it at.
The numeric ids are opt-in on the company and school side: add companyId=true and schoolId=true and each entry carries companyLinkedInId and schoolLinkedInId. memberIdentifier comes back on every accessible profile.
The email field is opt-in too: add email=true and the response appends workEmail and emailStatus (verified, pattern-likely, or unknown). Keep the confirmed addresses and treat the rest as guesses.
Fields that only exist behind a login stay out, on purpose. A connection list, mutual connections, or who viewed a profile never appears on the logged-out page, so none of it is in the response. That keeps the API free of accounts and risk to you. Tools on your own session can pull logged-in fields, at that account's risk.
How much does the LinkedIn API cost?
Every successful call is one credit, whatever the type. A private or empty profile returns a null result with a note and is not charged.
| Pack | Price | Per 1,000 calls |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier, 3,000 credits every month | $0 | No card needed |
| 25,000 credits | $49 | $1.96 |
| 100,000 credits | $149 | $1.49 |
| 500,000 credits | $549 | $1.10 |
| 2.5 million credits | $1,999 | $0.80 |
Packs continue up to 250 million credits for $100,000, which is $0.40 per 1,000. Prices ex-tax.
Credits are prepaid and never expire, so nothing you buy disappears at the end of a cycle. There is no marketplace tier and no per-marketplace quota sitting between you and the endpoint.
How do you get started?
- 1
Create a free account. You get 3,000 credits a month, no card needed.
- 2
Copy your key from the dashboard. It goes in the x-api-key header, no marketplace signup in between.
- 3
Run the curl above with any profile URL. The public profile lands as clean JSON with the numeric ids.
Who uses this API?
- Enrichment and sales teams. Turn a list of profile URLs into current titles, companies, and opt-in work emails.
- Recruiting tools. Refresh candidate records against the live page instead of a stored corpus that drifts stale.
- Data teams. Join records on memberIdentifier and companyLinkedInId instead of fuzzy-matching text names.
- SaaS builders. Ship a product on the JSON you get back, with no marketplace terms barring it.
Related: LinkedIn API · Proxycurl alternative · Bright Data LinkedIn alternative · Scrape LinkedIn without login
Common questions
The popular RapidAPI LinkedIn listings, the largest being RockApis (linkedin-data-api), are a marketplace gateway over a stored corpus, with a quota per plan. CrustAPI is a direct API at crustapi.com that reads the live, logged-out page on each request, returns numeric ids, and bills one credit only when data comes back.
No. Subscriptions on those RapidAPI listings do not roll over, so anything you paid for and did not use is gone at the end of the cycle. CrustAPI credits are prepaid and never expire, and the free tier resets to 3,000 calls a month with no card.
No. CrustAPI is a direct API you call at crustapi.com with your own key, so there is no marketplace gateway, no per-marketplace quota, and no extra layer between you and the data.
Those listings serve a stored corpus of saved profiles, and the listing itself notes it does not check whether a source allows scraping. CrustAPI reads the public, logged-out version of the page on each request, so what you get reflects the page as it is now.
Read the terms of whatever you use. The RapidAPI listings restrict use to internal business purposes and bar building competing scraping infrastructure. CrustAPI returns one clean JSON schema you can build products on, including numeric ids like companyLinkedInId, schoolLinkedInId, and memberIdentifier for joining records.
We read only public, logged-out pages and never use fake accounts or logins, and fields that exist only behind a login are deliberately excluded. A site's own terms may restrict automated access on their side. What you receive is data that is public for anyone to see.
Clay
Point it at a profile and see
Start on the free 3,000 credits a month, no card needed. One GET returns the public profile as clean JSON with the numeric ids you join on, an inaccessible profile costs nothing, and no account of yours is ever part of the request.
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