About XING

XING in one paragraph

XING began in 2003 as OpenBC in Hamburg and was renamed XING later in the decade. It has changed direction since: it dropped groups and events in January 2022 to focus on job placement, and job search is now its main function. Full listings have been visible to logged-out visitors since July 2024. ^{[1] [3] [2]}

What it is like to use as a member

Basic is free. You get a profile, job search and contact with people you already know. Premium adds messages to any member, full search fields and visitor names. ^{[4] [5]}

Renewals, unsubscribing and cancelling make up most complaints in recent Trustpilot reviews. The site scores 2.1 out of 5. ^{[7] [6]}

What it is like to use as a recruiter

TalentManager gives recruiters candidate search, AI recommendations and team tools, priced per seat. Job ads are sold one at a time. Both are priced in euros. Check the TalentManager minimum term and the 60-day window for each ad before you pay. ^{[9] [10]}

What people like, and what frustrates them

The praise is thin. Three or four reviewers from 2023 to 2025 say a paid product helped them get hired, and some find the AI job search useful. The frustrations are more numerous: renewals, cancelling, unsubscribing, recruiter messages after opt-out, and listings that are stale. Reviews from June 2025 on say networking has gone. ^{[6] [8]}

Who XING suits

XING suits people who want a free profile and German-language job listings, and recruiters with a budget for one role or a team seat. It suits less those who expect cancelling to be simple, or who want to message strangers without paying for Premium.