Starlink Cost Per Month: Every Plan, Fee & Hidden Charge

Starlink splits its lineup into two buckets: Residential, tied to a single address, and Roam, built for people who move around. Every plan is month-to-month with no contract, and every price below moved upward this spring — figures from older blog posts and comparison sites are no longer accurate.

Most of what circulates about Starlink pricing, senior pricing, and government assistance is either stale or flatly incorrect. The answers below reflect the current 2026 picture, including a few corrections to claims that show up constantly in search results.

• 1
  How much does Starlink cost per month in 2026? $50–$250/month depending on plan · Most households land between $80 and $130/month · Spring 2026 brought the first across-the-board increase in years

  Residential 200 — the plan most homes settle on — now runs $80 to $85 a month for up to 200 Mbps, up from a flat $80 just a few months ago. The lighter Residential 100 tier sits at $50 to $55 a month but isn’t offered everywhere; Starlink restricts it to lower-demand areas. Residential Max, the priority tier for heavier households, climbed from $120 to somewhere between $120 and $130 a month this spring. On top of whichever tier you pick, expect state and local taxes of $5 to $15 a month and a one-time hardware purchase, typically $349 for the standard dish. Every number shifts by ZIP code, so the only reliable price is the one Starlink quotes after you enter your actual service address.
• 2
  What does the hardware actually cost? Standard kit: $349 typically, as low as $89 in low-demand ZIP codes · Mini: $249 · Professional install: $199

  The Standard Kit — dish, router, cable, mounting hardware, and power adapter — runs $349 in most places, a steep drop from its original $599 launch price. In ZIP codes where Starlink has more network capacity than demand, that same kit has shown up for as little as $89. The portable Starlink Mini, built for travel, costs $249 on its own. If you’d rather not climb on a roof, professional installation runs $199 plus whatever mounting hardware your specific roof or wall needs. Most self-installers finish in well under an hour using the in-app setup guide, which scans the sky through your phone’s camera to find the clearest spot.
• 3
  Is there a senior discount, and can Lifeline help pay for Starlink? No age-based discount exists · The FCC’s Lifeline benefit currently can’t be applied to a Starlink bill

  Starlink doesn’t offer any discount tied to age, retirement, or AARP membership — pricing is identical for every customer. The bigger source of confusion is Lifeline, the federal program that knocks $9.25 a month off a qualifying household’s phone or internet bill ($34.25 on Tribal land). Lifeline only works through a provider holding ETC (Eligible Telecommunications Carrier) status with the FCC, and for ordinary residential signups, Starlink isn’t currently one of them — so the discount has to be used with a phone line or a different, Lifeline-participating internet provider rather than stacked onto a Starlink invoice. For seniors specifically trying to lower a Starlink bill, the realistic lever is the Residential 100 tier where it’s available, paired with the 30-day return window to test real-world performance before committing.
• 4
  How fast is Starlink, really, and is gigabit speed actually coming? Real-world: roughly 60–170 Mbps typical, up to 400 Mbps on Max · Latency around 25–60ms · Gigabit-class speeds rolling out gradually, remote areas first

  Independent speed tests put typical Starlink performance in the 60 to 170 Mbps range, with Residential Max users seeing up to 400 Mbps in uncongested cells. The number that actually separates Starlink from older satellite providers is latency — roughly 25 to 60 milliseconds, versus 600-plus on HughesNet or Viasat — which is why video calls and online gaming feel normal rather than sluggish. Starlink began rolling out gigabit-class speeds in 2026, starting in its most remote service areas, and says existing Performance Kit owners won’t need new hardware to get the upgrade once it reaches them. Evening hours, roughly 6 to 11 p.m., remain the slowest window in congested cells.
• 5
  Is 5G home internet cheaper or faster than Starlink? Usually both, where it’s available · T-Mobile and Verizon run $35–$70/month · Starlink only wins where no tower reaches

  Where fixed 5G is sold, it generally beats Starlink on both price and speed. T-Mobile’s tiers run from $35 a month (with autopay and a qualifying phone line) up to $70 for its fastest plan, with real-world speeds commonly landing between 90 and 500 Mbps. Verizon’s 5G Home plans run a similar $35 to $70 a month bundled, advertising up to 1,000 Mbps on its top tier, though actual performance depends heavily on tower distance. Neither carrier requires buying any hardware. The decision almost always comes down to availability rather than preference: 5G home internet needs a nearby tower, and its coverage maps look far more generous than the service turns out to be once you actually try to order it. Check both T-Mobile’s and Verizon’s address-lookup tools before paying for a Starlink dish.
• 6
  What’s the Starlink Mini, and what does it cost month to month? $249 hardware · Standalone Roam plan: $50–$55/month · Add-on to an existing Residential account: roughly $25–$30/month extra

  The Mini is Starlink’s backpack-sized dish, built for travel rather than whole-home use, and it runs off any USB-C power source rated for 65 watts or higher, including a portable battery pack. You can put it on its own Roam plan for $50 to $55 a month, or, if you already have a Residential plan at home, add it as a second dish for roughly $25 to $30 a month on top of your existing bill — useful as a grab-and-go backup during travel or a power outage. Its tradeoffs: an older Wi-Fi standard than the full-size router and a smaller indoor coverage radius, so it’s a poor substitute for a family’s primary home connection.
• 7
  Is Starlink actually worth the price compared to cable or fiber? If fiber or cable already reaches your address, almost never · If neither does, usually yes

  Fiber, where it’s sold, typically runs $50 to $100 a month for speeds from 300 Mbps to a full gigabit, with latency near 10 milliseconds and zero weather sensitivity — a flatly better product than Starlink at a comparable price. Cable lands in a similar range, often $40 to $80 a month for 100 to 500 Mbps. Federal filings suggest roughly 94% of U.S. addresses have access to at least one broadband provider, though independent audits that actually attempt to order service at sampled addresses have found the real unserved population runs noticeably higher than that official figure, since providers sometimes report coverage they haven’t fully built out. For addresses genuinely left out — rural counties, mountain towns, properties past the end of the cable line — Starlink at $80 to $130 a month is usually a legitimate upgrade over HughesNet, Viasat, or 5 Mbps DSL, and the 30-day return policy makes it a low-risk way to find out.
• 8
  What hidden fees catch people off guard? Congestion surcharge: $500–$1,500 one-time in high-demand ZIP codes · Taxes: $5–$15/month · Ethernet adapter: $25 · Mounting hardware: $35–$65

  The advertised monthly price never includes state and local taxes, which typically add $5 to $15 depending on where you live. The bigger surprise is the congestion surcharge: in ZIP codes where Starlink’s local network capacity is tight — several pockets of the Southeast among them — new signups can be hit with a one-time charge of $500 to $1,500 before the dish even ships, on top of the regular hardware cost. If you want a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi only, the Ethernet adapter is $25 extra; roof or pole mounting hardware runs $35 to $65. On the upside, there’s no data-overage billing, no early termination fee, and no contract — cancel or downgrade through the app at any time.
• 9
  Does Starlink offer a military or veteran discount? No official discount from Starlink or SpaceX itself · A handful of installers advertise their own labor-only discount · Real savings come from other carriers or programs

  Despite a few aggregator sites and installer ads claiming otherwise, Starlink and SpaceX do not currently offer any military, veteran, or active-duty pricing tier — every customer pays the same published rate. A small number of independent installation companies advertise their own $50 discount on labor for veterans, which is real but has nothing to do with the Starlink equipment or service bill. Veterans and military families looking for genuine savings on home internet generally do better elsewhere: Verizon bundles Fios with a qualifying wireless plan for $20 to $30 a month off, and anyone receiving VA Pension, Medicaid, or SNAP can qualify for Xfinity Internet Essentials or a similar low-cost wired plan in areas where cable is available. Before trusting any site that claims a “Starlink military discount,” it’s worth calling Starlink support directly to confirm — as of 2026, none exists.

Generic “best plan for everyone” advice misses the point. The right move depends on whether you’re choosing between providers, trying to stack government benefits, running a business out of a spare bedroom, or about to put money down on land you haven’t even checked the internet situation for yet. Here’s how it plays out across six common situations.

Use the buttons below to find Starlink retailers, check internet providers in your area, locate a VA benefit office, or find tech support near you. Always verify Starlink availability and pricing at starlink.com before purchasing.