How To Lower Your Starlink Bill

Lowering your Starlink bill is a challenge! Whether you use Starlink in your house or on the road, it’s an expensive service: Beaming internet down from the heavens ain’t cheap.

Through my research, I found the best way to decrease Starlink costs is to sign up for a lower-priced plan. That might mean using the Residential Lite option, switching to Starlink Mini service, or just using Starlink as a secondary, backup provider.

But in the end, you may not be able to lower your Starlink bill at all. Starlink internet deals are pretty rare. And at that point, you may just have to sign up for fiber or cable if you’re in a more densely populated area—or another satellite or 5G service if you aren’t.

Here’s my full list of ways to lower your monthly Starlink bill:

1. Switch to the Residential Lite plan.
2. Switch to Starlink Mini.
3. Try a backup internet plan.
4. Switch to a cheaper internet provider.

At-home Starlink users can save money by switching from a $120 Residential plan to an $80 Residential Lite plan.

Starlink’s plans are a little confusing, but basically, the Residential Lite plan is the same as the Residential plan—just cheaper, slower, and with deprioritized data.

While the Residential Lite plan is technically a downgrade, it’s a better value than the Residential plan. Besides, “unless you're a heavy internet user, you'd likely never notice the difference between these two plans,” says Chris Sherwood of Crosstalk Solutions, a business and YouTube channel dedicated to computer and internet tech.

“The lower-cost plan is probably going to be just fine, though you'll possibly have to deal with some latency at times … which is not great for something like competitive gaming, but totally fine for most use cases,” says Sherwood.

New Residential Lite users get a 30-day trial where they use the equipment temporarily for $1. For Starlink customers who already have the equipment, this deal likely doesn’t apply—but if you decide Residential Lite isn’t for you, you can easily switch back to Residential.

If you use Starlink on the go or are simply open to an unconventional home internet solution, you can try the Starlink Mini.

Starlink Mini connects you to the internet and fits in a backpack. You can use it on a hike, on a road trip, or even in your house. The best part? Starlink Mini plans start at $50 for the Roam 50GB plan—cheaper than either residential plan.

There’s a downside, though: 50GB isn’t a lot of data, especially if you engage in media-heavy activities. And once you reach your data limit, you have to pay $1 for every extra GB. That quickly adds up.

So if you’re chronically online, Starlink Mini may not save you any money. But if you’re more into offline life, then this is a potential hack to get Starlink service on the cheap.

Starlink’s trying a new retention strategy: It’s offering backup internet plans to former customers who already have the equipment. You can even get plans as low as $10 a month for 10GB.

Don’t get me wrong—10GB isn’t enough for a typical household. You’d also need another, more substantial internet plan. But in many cases, the backup plan and a cheaper regular provider would be less than a residential Starlink plan (as long as you don’t exceed that 10GB and incur overage fees).

In other words, you can cheaply keep Starlink around for emergencies while using a more affordable service for day-to-day needs. That’s the best of both worlds.

In the end, if you can’t get the value you need from Starlink, the best solution is to switch to a less expensive internet service provider.

If you specifically need a satellite provider, then Hughesnet is the only option that’s even somewhat cheap. But if you aren’t constrained by internet type, try these cheapest internet providers.

Unfortunately, not every affordable internet provider is available everywhere. To see which of these are available at your address, enter your zip code below.