Starlink Cost in 2026
By Axis Intelligence Research
Co-author: Alex Rivera | Last updated: October 1, 2026 | License: CC BY 4.0
Prices verified on October 1, 2026 against Starlink’s June 2026 price notice as reported in dated coverage, and SpaceX’s Form S-1. Starlink prices vary by address; your checkout at starlink.com/residential is the final word.
Quick Answer: How Much Does Starlink Cost in 2026?
Starlink costs $55 to $130 a month for US home internet in 2026, plus a $349 Standard Kit. After June 18, 2026, Residential 100 Mbps runs $55, Residential 200 Mbps $85 and Residential MAX $130. Axis Intelligence Research calculates the true 3-year cost at $64.69 to $139.69 a month once the kit is spread over 36 months.
Key Findings
- Starlink raised US Residential prices by $5 to $10 a month for existing customers billed on or after June 18, 2026, the first broad residential increase since March 2022.
- Axis Intelligence Research finds the cheapest Starlink home plan costs $2,329 over 36 months ($349 kit + $55 × 36), an effective $64.69 a month.
- Measured on the Axis Starlink Effective Monthly Cost (SEMC), entry-level Starlink is 42.7% cheaper over three years than at its October 2020 launch ($112.86 SEMC), in nominal dollars.
- Standby Mode doubled from $5 to $10 a month in June 2026, so keeping a dish alive costs $120 a year without full service.
- SpaceX’s S-1 shows Starlink’s average revenue per subscriber fell to $66 a month in Q1 2026, from $99 in 2023, which sits between the $55 entry plan and the $85 mid-tier list price.
Starlink Monthly Cost by Plan (US, October 2026)
The June 2026 notice moved every consumer tier except Roam 300GB. The table below is the post-increase lineup that new and existing US customers now pay.
| Plan | Monthly price | Previous price | Advertised download | Verified on | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential 100 Mbps | $55 | $50 | up to 100 Mbps | 2026-10-01 | Starlink customer notice, via The Next Web |
| Residential 200 Mbps | $85 | $80 | up to 200 Mbps | 2026-10-01 | Starlink customer notice, via Basenor |
| Residential MAX | $130 | $120 | up to 400+ Mbps | 2026-10-01 | Starlink customer notice, via Basenor |
| Roam 300GB | $80 | unchanged | portable, 300 GB | 2026-10-01 | The Next Web |
| Standby Mode | $10 | $5 | low-speed keep-alive | 2026-10-01 | The Next Web |
The Next Web reported that new customers paid the higher rates immediately in May, while existing subscribers saw them from June 18, and that the only consumer plan spared was Roam 300GB at $80. In Starlink’s notice, the company argued that most residential pricing had not moved for several years.
The read: the increase is $5 on the two cheaper tiers and $10 on MAX, so the gap between entry and flagship widened from $70 to $75 a month. Starlink is pushing price discrimination by tier, not raising the floor dramatically.
Starlink Equipment Cost: What the Kit Costs in 2026
The Standard Kit lists at $349, according to Notebookcheck’s March 2026 report on Starlink’s promotions. That price includes the dish, router and cabling. In select US areas during that promotion, Starlink offered the kit as a $0-a-month rental alongside a $39 introductory Residential 100 Mbps rate for six months, a deal that ended March 31, 2026.
Hardware matters less than it used to. Over 36 months on the $55 plan, the $349 kit is 15% of the total bill. In 2020, the $499 kit was 12% of a 36-month bill at $99 a month, but the absolute outlay was $150 higher.
Starlink Price History: 2020 to 2026
| Date | Monthly | Kit | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2020 | $99 | $499 | Public beta launch | SpaceNews |
| Mar 2022 | $110 | $599 (new orders) | Inflation-driven increase | SpaceNews |
| Aug 2025 | — | — | Free pause replaced by $5 Standby Mode | Notebookcheck |
| Mar 2026 | $39 promo (6 mo) | $349 | Pre-IPO promotion, select areas | Notebookcheck |
| Jun 2026 | $55 / $85 / $130 | $349 | Tiered increase, Standby to $10 | The Next Web |
SpaceNews documented the March 2022 move: service rose 11% to $110, and the terminal rose 20% to $599 for new buyers, with SpaceX citing inflation.
The True Cost of Starlink: Axis Starlink Effective Monthly Cost (SEMC)
Monthly price is the number every pricing page shows. It is also the wrong number for a buying decision, because Starlink charges an upfront kit and has no contract, so your real cost depends on how long you keep the service.
SEMC — Starlink Effective Monthly Cost is Axis Intelligence Research’s measure of what Starlink actually costs per month once hardware is spread across the period you own it.
Formula: SEMC = (kit price + monthly price × months) ÷ months
Inputs are the $349 Standard Kit and the post-June 2026 monthly prices above. Promotions, taxes, shipping and regional demand surcharges are excluded so plans compare on list price.
SEMC at 12, 36 and 60 Months
| Plan | 12-month SEMC | 36-month SEMC | 60-month SEMC | 36-month total outlay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential 100 Mbps | $84.08 | $64.69 | $60.82 | $2,329 |
| Residential 200 Mbps | $114.08 | $94.69 | $90.82 | $3,409 |
| Residential MAX | $159.08 | $139.69 | $135.82 | $5,029 |
Source: Axis Intelligence Research calculation, October 1, 2026.
Two things jump out. First, a one-year Starlink customer on the entry plan pays an effective $84.08 a month, 53% above the sticker. Short tenure is expensive. Second, the curve flattens fast: going from three to five years saves under $4 a month on any tier. The kit is a year-one problem.
Starlink Cost per Mbps: Which Plan Is the Best Value?
Divide the 36-month SEMC by each tier’s advertised download speed and the value ranking flips.
| Plan | 36-month SEMC | Advertised speed | SEMC per advertised Mbps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential 100 Mbps | $64.69 | 100 Mbps | $0.65 |
| Residential 200 Mbps | $94.69 | 200 Mbps | $0.47 |
| Residential MAX | $139.69 | 400+ Mbps (400 used) | $0.35 |
Source: Axis Intelligence Research calculation. Uses advertised maximums, not measured throughput.
Per advertised megabit, MAX is the cheapest Starlink plan, at roughly half the cost per Mbps of the entry tier. That only matters if your household uses the bandwidth. A two-person home streaming one 4K feed does not need 400 Mbps, and for them the $55 plan stays the rational buy.
Is Starlink Cheaper Than in 2020?
On SEMC, yes for the entry tier and no for the flagship.
| Pricing era | 36-month SEMC (nominal) |
|---|---|
| Oct 2020 launch ($99 + $499 kit) | $112.86 |
| Mar 2022 ($110 + $599 kit) | $126.64 |
| Oct 2026 Residential 100 Mbps | $64.69 |
| Oct 2026 Residential MAX | $139.69 |
Source: Axis Intelligence Research, from SpaceNews price history and June 2026 notice.
The cheapest way into Starlink is 42.7% cheaper over three years than at launch. The flagship costs 23.8% more than the 2020 single plan, but buys a speed tier that did not exist then. Starlink did not get cheaper; it got segmented.
Why Starlink’s List Price and Its Revenue per User Don’t Match
SpaceX’s Form S-1 reports Starlink Subscriber ARPU of $66 a month in the quarter ended March 31, 2026, down from $86 a year earlier and from $81 for full-year 2025. ARPU was $99 in 2023, according to the same filing’s disclosures.
Set against the US price card, that $66 is $11 above the cheapest home plan and $64 below MAX. The S-1 defines a subscriber as a service line on a Starlink.com account without a negotiated sales agreement, so ARPU blends lower-priced international markets, Roam lines and promotional months. For subscriber growth and revenue context, see our Starlink statistics page.
What this means for buyers: falling ARPU alongside rising US list prices is consistent with Starlink using cheaper overseas and promotional pricing to grow volume while charging US households more for the top tier. Expect promotions to keep appearing, and do not expect list prices to fall.
What Moves the Price of Starlink
Your address. Starlink prices regionally, and the 200 Mbps tier is offered only in some areas. Congested cells can carry a demand surcharge at checkout.
Promotions. The $39 six-month offer in early 2026 and kit rentals show Starlink discounts aggressively where it has spare capacity. Promotional pricing reverts to list when it ends, and changing plans or cancelling forfeits it.
Your tenure. As the SEMC table shows, a 12-month customer pays $19.39 more per month than a 36-month customer on the same plan.
Pauses. Standby Mode at $10 keeps the dish on at low speed. For a seasonal home empty five months a year, Standby costs $50 against $275 on the $55 plan.
Which Starlink Plan Should You Buy?
Rural household of one or two, mostly streaming and video calls: Residential 100 Mbps. Its $64.69 SEMC beats almost every satellite alternative on cost, and the bandwidth covers HD streaming comfortably.
Family with several simultaneous 4K streams, gaming or remote work: Residential 200 Mbps where available. The $30 jump over the entry tier buys double the advertised ceiling at a lower cost per Mbps.
Heavy-usage home office or households that need top network priority: Residential MAX. Cheapest per Mbps, most expensive per month. Starlink pairs it with free professional installation.
Seasonal property or backup line: keep the kit on Standby Mode and switch up when you arrive.
Disclosure: Axis Intelligence may earn a commission on some links. Plan rankings follow the SEMC math above and are independent of any commercial relationship.
Starlink Cost Questions, Answered
What is the cheapest way to get Starlink in 2026?
The cheapest full-service Starlink home plan is Residential 100 Mbps at $55 a month plus a $349 kit, an effective $64.69 a month over three years per Axis Intelligence Research. Watch for regional promotions, which have cut the monthly rate to $39.
Why did my Starlink bill go up in June 2026?
Starlink raised Residential prices by $5 to $10 and doubled Standby Mode to $10, applying the new rates to existing customers from June 18, 2026. Promotional pricing already locked in stayed until the promotion ended.
Is Starlink Residential MAX worth $130 a month?
Only for bandwidth-heavy homes. MAX has the lowest cost per advertised megabit, $0.35 on the Axis SEMC basis, but households that never use more than 100 Mbps pay $75 a month for headroom they won’t touch.
How much does Starlink cost per year?
Year one on Residential 100 Mbps costs $1,009 including the kit; each following year costs $660. On Residential MAX, year one is $1,909 and later years $1,560, before taxes or surcharges.
Does Starlink still charge $599 for the dish?
No. The $599 kit price dates from March 2022. The Standard Kit listed at $349 in 2026, and Starlink has offered it as a $0 monthly rental in select promotional areas.
How much does it cost to pause Starlink?
Standby Mode costs $10 a month since June 2026, up from $5 when it replaced the free pause option in August 2025. It keeps a low-speed connection live so you can reactivate instantly.
Will Starlink prices go up again?
Starlink has changed pricing or plan structure several times in 2026 alone. SpaceX’s S-1 shows ARPU falling as Starlink expands into lower-priced markets, but that trend has coincided with higher US list prices, not lower ones.
Methodology
Axis Intelligence Research assembled this page on October 1, 2026. Starlink’s live checkout pages render prices client-side by address, so US plan prices were taken from Starlink’s June 2026 customer notice as reported in dated news coverage, cross-checked across at least two independent outlets per figure. Historical prices come from SpaceNews’s contemporaneous reporting. ARPU and subscriber figures come directly from SpaceX’s Form S-1 filed with the SEC on May 20, 2026.
The SEMC is computed as (kit price + monthly price × months) ÷ months, in nominal US dollars, excluding taxes, shipping, surcharges and promotions. Cost per Mbps divides 36-month SEMC by each tier’s advertised maximum download speed; it does not reflect measured throughput. All inputs and outputs are in the downloadable dataset.
Download the Data
Download starlink-cost.csv — 36 rows, plan prices, price history, S-1 ARPU and every SEMC calculation with sources. License: CC BY 4.0.
Cite This Page
APA: Axis Intelligence Research. (2026, October 1). Starlink cost in 2026: Every plan, hardware price and the true monthly cost over 3 years. Axis Intelligence. https://axis-intelligence.com/starlink-cost/
MLA: Axis Intelligence Research. “Starlink Cost in 2026: Every Plan, Hardware Price and the True Monthly Cost Over 3 Years.” Axis Intelligence, 1 Oct. 2026, axis-intelligence.com/starlink-cost/.
Chicago: Axis Intelligence Research. “Starlink Cost in 2026: Every Plan, Hardware Price and the True Monthly Cost Over 3 Years.” Axis Intelligence, October 1, 2026. https://axis-intelligence.com/starlink-cost/.