How much does Starlink cost? $55 to $175 a month, plus a $349 kit

Starlink costs $55 to $130 a month for home internet in the US, and $55 to $175 a month for Roam, the plan you can take on the road. The Standard kit costs $349, or $0 a month to rent in some areas.

Last updated: 9 October 2026. Prices change often, and we update this page when they do.

How much is Starlink per month?

In the US, it depends on two things: Where the dish lives and how fast you want it.

Prices from Starlink's plan page and SatelliteInternet.com, October 2026. The $55 and $85 home plans are only sold in some areas.

The bill is usually flat. Owners online say Starlink charges "exactly" the plan price each month. One owner pays $125, which is $120 for his old Max plan plus $5 for a Mini on standby.

How much does Starlink cost in each country?

This is our Starlink price tracker. It lists the figures we could trace to Starlink's own pages, the press or owners, with the date each one was true. We update it as prices move.

Sources: Starlink plan pages (US, UK, South Africa), SatelliteInternet.com, EcoFlow, Tech in Africa and Starlink owners. Prices exclude tax and shipping.

Rest of World found Starlink is now cheaper than many leading internet providers in Africa. Owners say the Mini can cost about half the Standard kit in some poorer markets, while in the US it is sold mainly for Roam.

What does Starlink cost in the first year?

Add 12 months of service to the kit and you get the true cost of year one in the US. It runs from $660 for the cheapest home setup to $2,449 for Roam Unlimited with a bought kit.

$660.00Res 100, rented kit

$809.00Roam 100 GB + Mini

$1,009.00Res 100 + bought kit

$1,909.00Res Max + bought kit

$2,449.00Roam Unlimited + kit

See the numbers

Res 100, rented kit	$660.00
Roam 100 GB + Mini	$809.00
Res 100 + bought kit	$1,009.00
Res Max + bought kit	$1,909.00
Roam Unlimited + kit	$2,449.00

12 months of the plan price plus the kit price. Before shipping, tax and mounts. Prices from Starlink and SatelliteInternet.com, October 2026.

In South Africa, a Residential plan at R950 plus a R6,800 kit comes to R18,200 in year one. The Mozambique Roam route at R1,260 a month comes to R24,120 with a R9,000 imported kit, or R27,120 from a reseller.

What is the cheapest Starlink plan?

The cheapest US home plan is Residential 100 Mbps at $55 a month. Many owners say it feels the same as Max.

One long-time user switched from Max to the 100 plan and says he still uses up to 10 TB a month. Another dropped his family of five adults to the 200 plan "without saying anything", and nobody noticed. A third runs 42 smart-home devices and all the household TV on the $55 plan.

Be careful with the name. Roam 100 GB also costs $55, but it has a data cap. One user says once you hit 100 GB, "it really slows to a crawl". Residential plans have no cap.

Photo: Wikideas1 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0

How much is the Starlink dish?

The Standard kit costs $349 in the US, says SatelliteInternet.com, which updated its review on 6 October 2026. The kit holds the dish, router, power supply and cables.

In many areas you can skip that cost. Starlink now rents the Standard kit for $0 a month to Residential customers in select regions. You pay shipping, and you send the kit back if you cancel. One user warns the "free" rental could one day become about $10 a month.

Other hardware prices from the same review:

• Starlink Mini: $149, or $12.41 a month for 12 months. In the US it only works on Roam plans.
• High Performance: $1,999, for businesses and boats.

You can also buy a kit at shops like Best Buy or Home Depot, owners say. You then activate it on Starlink's site.

What is the difference between Standard 4 and Standard 4X?

The dish is the same. Only the router and power supply differ.

A buyer in the Philippines saw the Standard 4 at about $135 and the 4X at about $510, both with a Residential Max plan. Experienced owners told him the antenna is identical in both kits. One installer ran speed tests on both and saw no difference.

The 4X comes with Starlink's bigger Gen 3 router. The Standard 4 has a small Router Mini and a power supply with two network ports. If you want to use your own mesh Wi-Fi, owners say the cheaper kit is the better buy.

Are there hidden fees with Starlink?

Most owners say no. A few costs still catch people out.

• Sales tax. It depends on your state. One owner pays 15% on top. Others pay none.
• Shipping. You pay it even on a free rental.
• Mounts. The kit comes with a kickstand. A roof or wall mount costs extra.
• Installation. Starlink includes it with Residential Max. Owners who hired a pro paid about $100 to $125.
• A congestion charge. More on that below.

Why is Starlink more expensive in some areas?

Because some areas are full. Each Starlink "cell" covers a patch of ground, and each one can only carry so much traffic.

When too many people sign up, Starlink adds a one-time charge. SatelliteInternet.com says this congestion charge ranges from $100 to $1,500. Owners call it the Demand Surcharge.

Busy areas also lose the cheap plans. Many owners say their only home option is Residential Max. One wrote that his price went from $80 to $130, and support told him his area has no cheaper plan.

One owner shared a simple test. Enter your address on Starlink's site. If you see all three home plans, your area is fine. If only one plan shows, it is getting busy. If you also see a Demand Surcharge, it is very busy.

What is the difference between Roam and Residential?

Residential is for one fixed address. Roam works anywhere Starlink covers, even while you drive.

Residential gets higher network priority. Roam is pushed behind it when the network is busy, and its delay can reach 99 milliseconds. Roam's big plus is that you can pause it.

Photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Can you pause Starlink?

Yes, with Standby Mode. It keeps the dish online at a crawl, about 0.5 Mbps, so you can still send messages.

Owners say it costs $5 a month. SatelliteInternet.com lists it at $10. A rented kit usually cannot go on standby for the first 12 months, users say. One Canadian cottage owner pauses from November to April to save money.

Is Starlink worth it?

If you have no good wired internet, most owners say yes. One user called old satellite internet different shades of the same mess, and Starlink a game-changer. Another said that if Starlink is your only choice, "it's not expensive".

SatelliteInternet.com interviewed customers and found nearly all of them felt the cost was worth it. For most, satellite was their only option.

The complaints are about price rises. Residential Max went from $120 to $130 this year. Another owner warns: Expect the price to change every few months.

Is Starlink better than fiber or cable?

Not if fiber reaches your house. One owner put it plainly: He can get 1 Gbps fiber for $55 a month, the same price as Starlink's 100 Mbps plan.

Fiber also has less delay. SatelliteInternet.com puts fiber latency at 11 to 14 milliseconds, against 25 to 60 for Starlink. Old satellite services run up to 800.

5G home internet is the other rival. T-Mobile charges $35 to $55 a month and AT&T Internet Air $55, with no hardware to buy.

Starlink is also chasing your phone bill. SpaceX is buying airwaves to become a phone company.

Starlink wins on reliability where cables are weak. One mountain user says his fiber stayed up less than 95% of the time. His Starlink hit 99.95%.

Photo: Tim Reckmann from Hamm, Deutschland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

How much does Starlink cost in South Africa?

Officially, nothing. Starlink's South African plans page says "No plans currently available".

The regulator, Icasa, deems the service illegal, MyBroadband reports. Tech in Africa says the launch is held up by Icasa's rule that 30% of a licensed operator must be owned locally. MyBroadband reported this week that the ban is not stopping people. It leaves the service out of reach, legally, in the home country of Elon Musk, the man Trump called the new Edison.

South Africans connect through neighbouring countries. These are the prices in the clips:

Tech in Africa (January 2026) and EcoFlow (August 2026). No official South African price exists.

Over a year, that adds up to between R18,200 and R27,120, as our first-year figures above show.

The catch is that using these routes carries legal risk, says Tech in Africa. Load-shedding is the other cost. The dish draws 40 to 60 watts, so many owners add a UPS or a power station.

Is $55 a month the real price of Starlink?

For most American homes, yes. The cheapest real way in is $660 for a whole year. That is Residential 100 at $55 a month on a free rented kit.

So check your address first. If the $55 plan shows up, you get unlimited data, no contract and 30 days to change your mind. That is a far cry from the old satellite deals with data caps and two-year contracts.

One rural owner who dropped from Max to the 100 plan says he cannot tell the difference. In his words, it is one of the best bargains for the money right now.