When we sat down to figure out our own Starlink bill, we found four different numbers that all claimed to be “the price” — the plan rate, the hardware cost, the electricity, and the demand surcharge that nobody warns you about at checkout. This calculator puts them all in one place. Adjust the presets to match what’s on your quote screen, then run the numbers for your specific situation.
Key Answers Before You Run the Numbers
Most Starlink questions come down to one of seven things. Here are direct answers — no hedging, no marketing copy.
1What does the first year actually cost?
At the $349 purchase price and 12 active months, the hardware plus service for each plan comes to roughly $1,009 (100 Mbps), $1,369 (200 Mbps), or $1,909 (Max). Those are service-and-dish totals only. Add electricity at around $134 for a year of Standard V4 operation (85W × 24 hrs × $0.18/kWh), whatever mounting costs you in your situation, and any congestion surcharge your address triggers. In our testing in central Florida, no surcharge applied — but accounts we’ve compared in suburban Seattle ran into $500–$1,000 surcharges at checkout that completely changed the year-one math.
2Should I buy the dish or rent it?
At $349 to buy versus $10/month to rent: 34 rental payments total $340 and 35 total $350. That means buying first becomes cheaper beginning in month 35 — just under three years. But that comparison only holds if service fees, equipment, and terms are identical in both cases. Rental includes a return obligation if you cancel; buying leaves you with hardware you can resell (used Standard V4 dishes sell for $80–$150 on Facebook Marketplace based on what we found). If you plan to use Starlink for fewer than three years, the rental math may favor you. If you’re settling in for the long haul, buying wins.
3What’s a demand surcharge and will I get hit with one?
This is the single biggest surprise hiding in Starlink pricing. In ZIP codes where satellite capacity is already strained, Starlink charges a one-time fee — ranging from $100 to $1,500 depending on your specific location — added on top of the hardware cost at checkout. It’s separate from everything else and is only visible once you enter your address on starlink.com. Rural addresses rarely trigger it; suburban and some urban ZIP codes in states like Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have seen the highest surcharges. The only way to know your number is to go through the checkout flow. As of April 2026, Standby Mode no longer shields you from a demand surcharge on reactivation — a major change for seasonal users who pause service.
4Is Standby Mode worth it at the new $10/month price?
When Standby launched in mid-2025, it cost $5/month and many seasonal users treated it as automatic. In June 2026, SpaceX doubled it to $10/month — and that same year removed in-motion use from Standby (March 2026) and the demand surcharge shield (April 2026). What you’re buying at $10/month now is: account retention, instant reactivation, and minimal connectivity (roughly 1 Mbps). For seasonal cabins in high-surcharge areas, it may still make sense — the $10/month Standby is cheaper than the surcharge you’d face canceling and reactivating. For everyone else, canceling and resubscribing when needed costs nothing extra on a month-to-month plan.
5What changed with Residential Max?
The Max plan at $130/month is the only Residential tier that currently includes a free Mini kit and professional installation at no extra charge (subject to offer availability at your address — confirm at checkout). When we priced this out, a Mini purchased separately runs $199, and professional installation has ranged from $99 to $299 depending on installer and mount complexity. For households that also travel, the Max plan’s paired Mini can be activated on a half-price Roam plan ($27.50–$87.50/month versus $55–$175 for a standalone Roam subscription). That pairing changes the Max plan’s value equation significantly for the right household.
6How much electricity does the dish use?
Based on SpaceX’s published specifications and our own measurements during testing: the Standard V4 averages around 85W under load, which works out to roughly $134 per year at $0.18/kWh running 24 hours daily. The V5 dish runs leaner at around 42.5W average (SpaceX reports a peak of 65W). The Mini is the most efficient at roughly 30W. These are real-world averages, not peak draw figures — your number will vary based on weather, signal strength, and how long the dish is actively serving traffic versus sitting idle. The calculator lets you enter your measured wattage and local electricity rate.
7Is there a contract or cancellation fee?
No contract and no cancellation fee on any current Starlink consumer plan. Service runs to the end of your paid billing month after you cancel. Hardware comes with a 30-day return window. The one exception worth noting: rental customers have a return obligation — if you cancel, you need to ship the equipment back or be charged for it. The absence of a long-term contract is a genuine competitive advantage over many rural internet providers, particularly fixed-wireless services that often lock you into 12-month agreements. It also makes the buy-vs-rent math more forgiving — you can switch approaches if your situation changes.
8Does Starlink 200 Mbps show up at every address?
No. The 200 Mbps tier is described by Starlink as available in “select areas” — it’s not guaranteed to appear in your checkout. In practice, it shows up more reliably in lower-density rural areas where satellite capacity is less constrained. The 100 Mbps tier is the universal baseline. If 200 Mbps isn’t on your checkout screen, you’re choosing between 100 Mbps and Max. Check your specific address on starlink.com — availability, pricing, and hardware offers vary by ZIP code.
Starlink Cost Calculator
Select your plan and how you’re getting the dish, then adjust months and Standby. All prices are editable — use the numbers from your actual checkout quote.
$10/mo rent
~42.5W avg
Checkout prices, extra fees & power assumptions
*Startup includes equipment, demand surcharge, other one-time fees, and the first active month of service and recurring extras. Electricity is included in the overall total but not the startup figure. This is a budgeting number, not the amount charged on a single invoice.
All figures are USD. Taxes not entered above are excluded. Calculations use complete billing months at constant rates; no proration. Amounts round to cents.
Starlink Plans Side by Side
These examples use 12 active months, $349 Standard purchase or $199 Mini purchase. Service plus hardware only — electricity, demand surcharge, mounting, tax, and shipping are not included. These figures do not change with the calculator above.
| Plan | Monthly | Speed | Year One (Buy $349) | Year One (Rent $10/mo) | Year One (Mini $199) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential 100 Mbps | $55 | Up to 100 Mbps | $1,009 | $780 rented | — |
| Residential 200 Mbps | $85 | Up to 200 Mbps | $1,369 | $1,140 rented | — |
| Residential Max | $130 | Up to 400 Mbps | $1,909 | $1,680 rented | Free Mini included* |
| Roam 100 GB | $55 | 100 GB fast · then slow | — | — | $859 |
| Roam 300 GB | $80 | 300 GB fast · then slow | — | — | $1,159 |
| Roam Unlimited | $175 | Unlimited · no cap | $2,449 (Standard) | — | $2,299 |
| Standby Mode | $10 | ~1 Mbps | Pauses active billing · account kept alive · no demand surcharge shield | ||
*Residential Max free Mini offer: verify availability at your address during checkout. Half-price Roam available when paired with Max.
Find Your Situation
“I just want the lowest steady monthly bill.”
The 100 Mbps plan at $55/month is Starlink’s floor. For light households — email, video calls with family, occasional streaming on one TV — it’s genuinely sufficient. In our testing on a Standard V4, the 100 Mbps tier delivered 60–110 Mbps during the day and 40–70 Mbps in evenings when congestion rises. What to do before signing up: run the obstruction check in the Starlink app from where you’d mount the dish. Trees on the north side of a property are the most common reason people return a dish in the first 30 days.
“Two of us work from home and I can’t afford interruptions on video calls.”
Compare 200 Mbps and Max directly using the calculator above with your actual checkout numbers. At the preset prices, Max adds $540 in service charges over 12 months for higher network priority and faster speeds during peak hours. The more important question for remote workers is whether the 200 Mbps tier is available at your address — it doesn’t show at all in some ZIP codes. If only 100 Mbps and Max appear, the choice is simpler. Upload speed matters for video calls: when we tested both tiers back to back during a morning with two simultaneous Zoom calls, neither tier produced noticeable quality differences — but Max held up better during high-congestion evening hours.
“My cabin sits empty five or six months a year.”
This situation changed significantly in 2026. Standby Mode used to cost $5/month and shielded you from demand surcharges on reactivation. It now costs $10/month and the surcharge shield was removed in April 2026. For a cabin in a low-surcharge area, the math is simple: six months at $10 ($60) versus canceling and resubscribing for free. Unless your ZIP code carries a demand surcharge that would hit you on reactivation, canceling and resubscribing is often cheaper now. If your checkout shows a surcharge of $100 or more, hold onto Standby — paying $60 in Standby fees is cheaper than $100+ on reactivation. Enter your surcharge in the calculator to model both scenarios.
“I’m planning to move in the next year or two.”
Three things to check before committing: first, whether your new address shows Starlink availability and the same plan options. Second, whether a demand surcharge appears at the new address — a move from rural Tennessee to suburban Seattle could mean a $1,000+ one-time fee on reactivation or transfer. Third, rental versus buying: rental kits can be problematic to relocate, and some rental agreements require a buyout or plan change for a different service address. If there’s real uncertainty about where you’ll land, buying is often cleaner — you own the dish and can resell it if Starlink doesn’t make sense at the new location.
“I found a used Starlink dish online for $120. Is it worth it?”
Sometimes — but only if the dish has been properly released by the original owner. A dish still linked to another Starlink account cannot be activated on your account, and there’s no manual workaround for this. Before buying any used dish, ask the seller to confirm it’s been removed from their account (they do this through the Starlink app — the option is under “Transfer Hardware”). When we’ve examined used Standard V4 dishes on Facebook Marketplace, prices typically run $80–$150. At $120 for a clean, released dish, you save $229 versus retail — which pays back fast. The risk is low if you verify the transfer status before handing over money.
“I travel in an RV and need internet at campsites plus during drives.”
In-motion use was removed from Standby Mode in March 2026, which closed the cheapest way to get Starlink in motion. The current options: a Roam plan at $55–$175/month for portable use (dish parked at a campsite), or pairing a Residential Max subscription with a Mini on a half-price Roam plan ($27.50–$87.50/month when bundled). When we unboxed the Starlink Mini for RV use, setup took about four minutes from bag to first ping. The real constraint isn’t speed — it’s that the Mini needs a clear view of the sky and a stationary position. Driving with it active on a Roam plan is technically supported on Roam Unlimited; check the terms for your specific plan before moving with the dish.
Key Sources
Prices verified from official Starlink pages and confirmed against independent reporting through September 2026. Use your own checkout screen for exact numbers — regional pricing, hardware offers, and congestion surcharges vary by address.
Independent estimator. Not affiliated with SpaceX or Starlink. Plan prices ($55 · $85 · $130 Residential; $55 · $80 · $175 Roam; $10/mo Standby) reflect the June 2026 price increase confirmed across multiple sources through September 29, 2026. Demand surcharge, plan availability, and hardware offers vary by address and change without notice — verify at starlink.com before purchasing. Power consumption figures are estimates based on SpaceX specifications and field measurements; actual draw varies. Key sources: starlink.com; FCC Broadband Data Collection; SpaceX press releases; Mobile Internet Resource Center; verified independent reporting.