Starlink charges $10 monthly hardware fee in move away from one-time purchases - Ars Technica
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Starlink has started charging a $10 monthly rental fee for hardware in a shift away from its longtime practice of selling hardware to customers for a one-time charge.
Starlink residential ordering pages now show an upfront hardware cost of $0 and a monthly kit fee of $10, similar to the hardware rental fees long charged by cable and telecom companies. Starlink hardware includes a terminal to receive satellite signals and a router to place in a user’s home.
The monthly kit fee is in addition to Internet service prices, which Starlink recently raised by $5 to $10 per month. Starlink is charging $55 a month for 100Mbps, $85 for 200Mbps, and $130 for the “Max” tier that can go up to 400Mbps. Starlink also provides a professional-installation service for a one-time fee of $199, or for no additional charge if you subscribe to the Max plan.
A Starlink support article said hardware rental is now “in select countries” and that “Starlink kits may only be rented for Residential service plans.” Customers who rent Starlink hardware instead of owning it will not be allowed to pause their service. PCMag reported today that the $10 rental fee “appears to be rolling out globally, popping up on Starlink.com for new customers in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Australia, and Mexico.”
We did not see any option to buy hardware in the Starlink sign-up page today, but the support article said it is possible to switch from renting to buying. “If you are a current Starlink customer with the rent Starlink option and would like to purchase your kit, create a support ticket,” the support article said. Starlink kits are also sold by retailers.
Starlink launched with $499 hardware fee
Starlink charged $499 up front for hardware when it launched in 2020 and has since changed the price a few times and offered various time-limited promotions and deals that were available only in certain regions. The price was raised to $599 in 2022, and in 2024, it was replaced with regional pricing of $499 or $299, depending on local network congestion.
Last year, Starlink offered the satellite dish and Wi-Fi router for free in parts of the US and other countries to customers who signed up for a 12-month commitment. There was a pretty big caveat, as a plan with free hardware cost $120 a month while the same plan paired with a $349 hardware purchase cost $90 a month. Another offer a couple of months ago also included free hardware in some areas.
We can’t predict how long the $10 monthly rental fee will stick around given Starlink’s history of changing prices, region-specific offers, and time-limited discounts. Starlink may continue to experiment with different prices as it tries to maximize revenue for SpaceX, which is set to go public on Friday. The Starlink division already accounted for $3.26 billion of SpaceX’s company-wide revenue of $4.69 billion in the first three months of 2026.
PCMag notes that you can save money in the long run by buying the router from a retailer. “Over the long term, the $10 monthly fee isn’t a great deal, either, since it means forking over $360 during a three-year subscription,” the article said. “The standard dish currently retails for $349 at retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart, but it’s been discounted to $199 or even $89.”
If you order new service on Starlink.com and already have a Starlink kit, you can avoid the rental fee by entering a device identifier number during the checkout process.
Jon Brodkin
Senior IT Reporter
Jon Brodkin
Senior IT Reporter
Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry.
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