Starlink Residential Plans: Every Tier, Current Price, Speed, and What You Actually Get

Eight direct answers to the most-searched questions about Starlink residential plans — including the pricing details and comparisons most pages skip or soften.

• 1
  How much is Starlink internet per month? Current residential plans: $55/mo (100 Mbps) · $80/mo (200 Mbps) · $120/mo (MAX, up to 400 Mbps) · Prices recently increased · Always verify at starlink.com — rates vary by address

  Starlink’s three residential plans for home use are currently priced at $55/month for the entry-level 100 Mbps plan (available in select areas only), $80/month for the 200 Mbps plan available across most of the U.S., and $120/month for the MAX plan which delivers the highest speeds (up to 400 Mbps) and top network priority. These prices recently increased by $5–$10/month across all tiers — the first significant price increase in several years. On top of the monthly fee, factor in state and local taxes ($5–$15/month depending on your state) and the one-time hardware cost of $349 for the Standard dish kit. Pricing at your specific address can differ from national averages due to local demand and coverage density — always check starlink.com/address first.
• 2
  How much is Starlink equipment — what is the startup cost? Standard Kit (for all residential plans): $349 one-time · Includes: dish, Gen 3 Wi-Fi 6 router, cable, kickstand · Starlink Mini (for travel/Roam plans): $249 · Professional installation: $100–$300 if you don’t DIY · Hardware rental option available in select areas

  Every new Starlink subscriber needs the hardware to get started. The Standard Kit (Gen 3 / Standard 4 X Installation Kit) costs $349 and includes everything: the rectangular phased-array satellite dish, a Wi-Fi 6 Gen 3 router, a 75-foot cable, power adapter, and a kickstand for flat-surface placement. This is the only hardware option for residential plans — the $249 Mini is designed for the Roam portable plans, not for home residential service. In areas with lower demand, Starlink has offered hardware for significantly less through regional pricing promotions. A hardware rental option is also available in qualifying areas where you pay only shipping (~$20) and return the dish if you cancel. Most customers self-install in 30–45 minutes using the Starlink app’s guided setup — professional installation runs $100–$300 if you prefer it. Your total first-year cost ranges from approximately $1,309 (hardware + $80/month × 12) to $1,789 (hardware + $120/month × 12) plus taxes.
• 3
  What is the Starlink Residential Max plan and is it worth $120/month? MAX plan: $120/month · Speeds up to 400 Mbps · Highest network priority · Free Starlink Router Mini for home coverage · Free Starlink Mini dish rental for travel · 50% off Roam plans · Worth it for: heavy users, large homes, households that travel or have a second property

  The Residential MAX plan is Starlink’s premium home tier and represents genuine added value for the right household. Beyond the speed advantage (up to 400 Mbps versus 200 Mbps for the standard plan), MAX subscribers receive the highest network priority — meaning during busy evening hours when the network is congested, MAX connections are served first, producing noticeably more consistent speeds. For households that also travel, the MAX plan includes a free Starlink Mini dish rental for travel use, plus 50% off any Roam plan — which can save $82.50/month on Roam Unlimited if you travel frequently. A free Router Mini (a smaller Wi-Fi extender) is also included to boost coverage in larger homes. Whether the $40/month premium over the $80/month plan is worth it depends on your household: heavy streamers, remote workers, households with 4+ devices running simultaneously, and anyone who splits time between a home and a vacation property will find MAX clearly justified. Light-to-moderate users typically see little practical difference from the $80/month plan.
• 4
  Is Starlink Residential Lite worth it — what is the $50–$55 plan? Residential 100 Mbps (“Lite”): $55/month currently · Available only in select lower-demand areas · Lower network priority than 200 Mbps and MAX plans · Good for: 1–2 person households with light internet use · Not available everywhere — check your address

  The Residential 100 Mbps plan (formerly called Residential Lite) is Starlink’s most affordable home internet option at $55/month after the recent price increase — but it comes with important limitations. First, it is not available everywhere: Starlink restricts this lower-cost plan to areas with lower network demand, so many addresses will only see the $80/month and $120/month options when they check their address. Second, it carries the lowest network priority of all residential plans, meaning during peak hours (6–11 PM), speeds can drop more noticeably than on higher plans. For a household of one or two people who mainly use the internet for email, video calls on FaceTime or Zoom, streaming Netflix, and browsing — this plan is genuinely adequate. 100 Mbps can comfortably handle a 4K stream, a video call, and casual browsing simultaneously. The plan was briefly discontinued in late 2025 and relaunched in early 2026, so its long-term availability at this price point is not guaranteed.
• 5
  What is the difference between Starlink Residential Lite vs Residential plans? 100 Mbps plan ($55): slower speeds, lowest priority, limited availability · 200 Mbps plan ($80): mid-tier speeds, standard priority, available most areas · MAX ($120): fastest speeds up to 400 Mbps, highest priority, includes free Mini + travel perks · Key practical difference: network priority during peak evening hours

  Speed is the obvious difference — 100 Mbps versus 200 Mbps versus up to 400 Mbps. But the practical distinction that matters most in daily life is network priority. All three plans share the same satellite network. When that network is congested (typically evenings in populated areas), Starlink serves MAX subscribers first, then 200 Mbps subscribers, then 100 Mbps subscribers. This means during busy hours, a 100 Mbps subscriber may receive noticeably slower speeds than their plan headline suggests, while a MAX subscriber experiences more consistent throughput. For light daytime users who rarely stream in the evening, this priority difference is invisible. For a household that streams 4K TV between 7 and 10 PM every night, the priority tiers become noticeable. The 200 Mbps plan at $80/month hits a sweet spot for most households — fast enough for anything a typical family of four would do, standard priority that keeps evening speeds reasonable, and $40/month cheaper than MAX.
• 6
  What is Starlink Roam vs Residential — which do I need? Residential: tied to a fixed home address · Works only at your registered location · Roam: portable, works anywhere in the U.S. and North America · Roam 100 GB: $50/month · Roam Unlimited: $165/month · Hardware is the same ($349 Standard Kit) but Roam is priced for travelers, RVs, and boats

  The core difference is freedom of location. A Residential plan ties your service to a specific address — your dish must be set up and used at that location. Trying to use it elsewhere technically violates the service terms. Roam plans have no location restriction: you can take your dish to a campsite, a cabin, an RV park, or anywhere with a clear view of the sky and it will work. Roam 100 GB ($50/month) is designed for occasional travelers and weekend trips — after 100 GB of priority data, speeds slow during congestion but the connection continues. Roam Unlimited ($165/month) is for full-time RV living or anyone who needs unrestricted data everywhere they go. The hardware is identical: the $349 Standard Kit works for both. For people with a fixed home address who occasionally travel, Residential MAX’s free Mini rental plus 50% off Roam is often the most practical arrangement — keeping home internet fast while having a travel option without a separate full Roam subscription.
• 7
  How fast is Starlink residential internet in real-world use? Real-world typical: 60–120 Mbps for most subscribers · MAX plan: regularly reaches 200–300 Mbps, peaks near 400 Mbps · Latency: 25–50 milliseconds · Fast enough for 4K streaming, video calls, gaming, remote work · Evening hours typically slower due to network congestion in populated areas

  Plan headlines are best-case figures — what most subscribers actually see in day-to-day use is 60 to 120 Mbps on the standard and 100 Mbps plans, and 150 to 300 Mbps on MAX in uncongested conditions. What makes Starlink genuinely different from older satellite services is latency: at 25–50 milliseconds, Starlink allows real-time activities that HughesNet (600–800ms latency) makes miserable — video calls, cloud applications, online gaming, and remote work tools that need snappy responses all work reliably on Starlink. Speed is fast enough to stream 4K video on one TV, take a Zoom call, and browse on a phone simultaneously with no noticeable buffering on any plan. The primary performance variable is time of day: 6–11 PM tends to produce slower speeds in densely subscribed areas as more users are active simultaneously. Early mornings and midday typically provide the fastest experience of the day.
• 8
  Is Starlink residential worth the money — how does it compare to cable and 5G? Rural homes with no cable, fiber, or 5G: almost always worth it — transformative compared to HughesNet/Viasat/slow DSL · Homes with available cable or fiber: usually not worth it — cable ($50–$80/mo) and fiber ($55–$100/mo) are faster and cheaper · 5G Home Internet (T-Mobile, $50–$70/mo): check if it reaches your address first

  Starlink’s value proposition depends entirely on your alternatives. In rural and remote areas where the only other options are HughesNet (600ms latency, data caps, 2-year contracts) or aging DSL at 5–10 Mbps, Starlink at $80/month is a genuinely life-changing upgrade that arrives via a $349 dish rather than years of waiting for infrastructure investment. In suburban and urban areas where cable (Xfinity, Spectrum, Cox) offers 200–500 Mbps for $50–$80/month and fiber is accessible at similar prices, Starlink costs more for less — and is harder to justify. The step that most rural residents skip: check T-Mobile’s 5G Home Internet availability at your specific address before ordering Starlink. T-Mobile’s 5G home service runs $50–$70/month with no hardware purchase, and many rural customers are surprised to find it reaches their property — saving $50–$70/month versus Starlink. The FCC’s national broadband maps show that approximately 15% of U.S. households have neither cable nor fiber access — for those homes, Starlink at any price is almost certainly their best available broadband option.

Current U.S. pricing for all Starlink residential and mobile plans. Pricing shown reflects recent increases — always verify your specific price at starlink.com/address before ordering, as costs vary by location.

Use the buttons below to find Starlink retailers, compare internet providers in your area, or locate tech setup help near you. Always confirm your price and availability at starlink.com before ordering.