Xing vs. LinkedIn vs.

Glassdoor

INTRODUCTION

Xing and LinkedIn and Glassdoor are all business (or professional) networks. These are similar to social
networks in every way but provide a platform to network, share events and have discussions mainly on a
professional basis instead of private life connections. Business networks try to replicate onto an online
platform what is happening in the offline real world to simplify and quicken networking processes.

Xing
Xing is a German business network founded in 2003. It is listed on the German stock market DAX with a
revenue of
€73.3 million (2012). 519 employees are working in the company (2012). It is part of Burda Digital GmbH
as of December 2012.
Xing focuses on providing services mainly in the DACH region (German, Austria, Switzerland), where it
also has significantly the most members. It has about 14 million members in total 808’000 paying
members or 5.8% of the total. In the DACH region Xing has 7 Million members.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a US American business network founded in 2003. It is listed on the NYSE with a revenue of
$972 million (2012). About 4’800 employees are working in the company (2012). The company has
acquired various companies working in the social networking field. Reid Hoffman, its founder also takes
part in multiple Web 2.0 companies such as PayPal, Mozilla and Flicker.
LinkedIn focuses on providing services mainly in North America and Asia. It has about 259 million
members in total. In the DACH region LinkedIn has 4 million members. However, there is no reliable
source on how many paying members the network has. Considering the revenue of $972 million in 2012
is made up entirely of subscriptions fees – which is mostly unlikely – divided by the minimum annual
subscription fee of $95.40 and the maximum subscription fee of $5999.40 the amount of paying
members ranges from 10’189’000 (3.9%) to 162’000 (0.06%).
These numbers are unreliable, but they show that even with the best possible solution, LinkedIn still has
significantly less paying members than Xing.

Glassdoor
Glassdoor is a website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. Glassdoor
also allows users to anonymously submit and view salaries as well as search and apply for jobs on its
platform. In 2018, the company was acquired by the Japanese firm, Recruit Holdings, for US$1.2 billion.
[3]
 The company is headquartered in Mill Valley, California, with additional offices in cities around the
world, including Chicago, London and São Paulo.

XING vs LINKEDIN groups [12]. discussion

groups.
General Assets Outdated functionality Outdated functionality
Xing LinkedIn compared to other compared to other
Over 50’000 discussion
Less, but growing
 social networking social networking and more
sites (Facebook, sites (Facebook, understandable.
Google+). Google+). No business news. Business news on the
Mobile compatibility, butMobile compatibility, but home page.
limited functionality. limited functionality. Media is not yet fully Media such as photos
Only second option for Is the main focus for supported. and videos are
startups. startups [13]. supported.
More detailed, but More superficial, but Only the profile pictures Whole profile of visitors is
more difficult to simpler and of visitors are visible to every
quickly understand the clearly arranged visible. member.
main functions. layout. Easier/better search Main focus on
Slowly growing Quickly growing functions for entrepreneurs instead
(20.5% from 2011 – (97.7% from 2011 – headhunters and of recruiters.
2013, 2013, recruiters.
8.8% from 2012 – 38.5% from 2012 – Messaging supported with More functionality in
2013) 2013) limited functionality. messaging
[14]. [15]. (archiving,
flagging, trash).

Premium Features
Xing LinkedIn
€6.25 – €9.95 per $7.95 – $499.95 per
month month [8]
See who watched the See who watched the
own profile. own profile.
Write to 20 non-contacts3 – 25 messages to non-
per month. contacts per month
Advanced searching Advanced searching (no
(position, detailed
interests…) description)
enabled. enabled
Company profiles Company profiles enabled
enabled. for free.
No automatic Automatic searches with
searches. predefined search
terms 10 times per
Basic Features
day.
Xing LinkedIn
Event organizing is Event organizing is LINKEDIN vs GLASSDOOR
possible and possible. The
encouraged. The operability is
operability is generally more
generally simpler difficult.
 SUMMARY
Though it is difficult to compare platforms that work in different geographical regions, it is still possible to
draw conclusions about similarities and differences.
The main interesting fact is that both companies still go strong within their regions. The specialization works
for all the platforms as the numbers of the website ranking show. Another revelation is that both
networks provide similar functionalities – at least in the paid version – but with a very different layout
and style. Whereas Xing targets business owners, managers or employees in the DACH region and
provides great search functions for recruiters, LinkedIn seems a bit more of a social networking and
communication site with media integration, news and more free functions. LinkedIn and Glassdoor
have excellent track records when it comes to finding candidates in every industry. You may want to
list your company on Glassdoor for the review feature (which may bring your business additional
exposure) or you may prefer a professional profile on LinkedIn. It's really all up to you. We recommend
looking closely at all of the features of each platform to determine which one you like the best