The limit
XING does not limit how many contact requests you send per day; it limits how many may sit unanswered at the same time. The figure depends on the account.
| Account | Open contact requests | Per day |
|---|---|---|
| Basic and Premium | at most 100 | no published figure |
| TalentManager licence | 500 | no published figure |
XING gives the reason itself: “Nobody likes spam.” Someone with 100 requests open and nobody responding looks to XING like a mail merge. That is why the same article tells you to delete unconfirmed requests after a while so you can contact further members.
Which limit it is
Five situations look the same from the outside: nothing goes out any more. The notice in the XING account names the affected action, and the next step hangs on that.
| What you see | What it is | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Many older requests are open, new ones do not go out | Open requests at the limit | Withdraw old requests, described below |
| Actions slow down or pause, no limit reached | XING throttling the rate | Pause, read the notice, do not retry |
| A message to a non-contact does not go out | Message quota used up | Wait for the end of the month or review the package |
| XING asks for a sign-in, a code or verification | Account protection | Answer directly in XING, then continue |
| Only ZingBot reports a problem, XING works normally | Connection | Enter your credentials in ZingBot again |
Withdrawing requests
The path in XING: Network, “View all contact requests”, the “Sent requests” tab, the three-dot menu next to the request, “Delete request”. The other person is not told, just as with a decline.
Two XING rules, both from the help article on deleting sent requests:
- Requests older than seven days can always be deleted, as many as you like.
- For requests from the last week: 20 withdrawals within 5 days, otherwise XING blocks deleting for seven days.
So: the old ones first. Anything unanswered for two weeks can go; whoever has not reacted by then rarely still does. After that most accounts sit well under 100 again and the next list runs.
Messages to non-contacts
The second limit, often confused with the first: messages to people who are not yet a contact. That is not the request pile but a monthly quota, depending on the package.
| Package | Messages to non-contacts |
|---|---|
| Basic | none |
| Premium | 5 per calendar month |
| TalentManager Core | 200 a month, 300 for staffing agencies |
| TalentManager Pro | unlimited; XING reserves a review above 1,000 a month |
For recruiters with TalentManager that means: you do not need a contact request to reach out. The message goes straight to the non-contact and your limit is the package’s quota. Anyone sourcing on Premium has exactly five such messages a month and otherwise works through contact requests, which the pile of 100 caps. That is the sober reason serious sourcing on XING hangs on TalentManager.
Security checks and passwords
When XING asks for a code, a verification or a fresh sign-in, that is not a limit but account protection. A person answers such a check, directly in XING. ZingBot stands still meanwhile and does not try to get past it. The same after a password change: ZingBot still has the old password, the sign-in fails, the workflow stops until you enter your credentials again. Both affect only your account; the steps are in the ZingBot help article on sign-in and security checks.
Staying under the limit
- Smaller, better lists. Twenty fitting profiles reply more often than two hundred roughly fitting ones, and only unanswered requests fill the pile.
- Tidy up once a week. Withdraw the unanswered requests of the last two weeks before the limit withdraws them for you.
- Message directly with TalentManager. A message instead of a contact request; then the quota counts, not the pile.
- No double contact. At import into ZingBot, skip profiles you or anyone on your team has already contacted.
- Stop on reply. ZingBot sends no further follow-up to someone who has answered; that is the rule that saves the most complaints.
What else XING throttles, checks and suspends, and what ZingBot does about it, is in Is XING automation safe?.
Questions about the XING contact request limit
How many contact requests can I have open on XING?
100 sent and still unconfirmed requests with a normal profile, 500 with a TalentManager licence, per XING's help centre and the TalentManager feature overview. Once the limit is reached, no new requests go out until you withdraw old ones.
Is there a daily limit on contact requests?
XING does not publish one. What XING publishes is the limit on open requests and the rule for withdrawals. If your account slows down without a limit being reached, XING is throttling the action rate; XING names no figure for that.
How do I withdraw sent contact requests?
In XING, under Network open "View all contact requests", then "Sent requests", and use the three-dot menu next to a request to delete it. The other person is not told.
How many requests may I withdraw?
For requests sent in the last seven days: 20 withdrawals within 5 days, then a seven-day pause. Requests older than seven days can always be deleted. So clear the old ones first.
Are new requests available immediately after I delete old ones?
As soon as you are under the limit, yes. If the notice in the account stays, the cause is not the request limit but a rate throttle or a security check.
Is a message to a non-contact the same as a contact request?
No. Messages to non-contacts have their own quota: basic members none, Premium 5 a month, TalentManager Core 200 a month, Pro unlimited. According to XING, the normal message limits do not apply to TalentManager users; the package's quota does.
What do I do about a XING security check?
Stop everything, open XING directly and answer the check yourself. A security or verification check is a job for a person; ZingBot neither automates nor bypasses it.
Can ZingBot raise or get around the limit?
No. ZingBot works in your own XING account within the rules XING sets for that account. It stops as soon as someone replies and skips profiles you or your team have already contacted; it does not make more requests per account possible.
Why does nothing go out in ZingBot while XING itself works?
Then it is not a limit but the connection: a changed XING password or an open security check. Enter your credentials in ZingBot again, answer the check in XING, carry on.
How do I avoid reaching the limit at all?
Smaller, better-fitting lists; once a week, withdraw the recent requests nobody answered; with TalentManager, message non-contacts directly instead of sending a contact request first. Then the message quota is your limit, not the request pile.