Before Elon Musk-owned internet provider Starlink, customers usually paid $499, or whatever the regional price was, upfront to buy their Starlink hardware. But now, reports suggest Starlink no longer wants to focus entirely on selling the device outright and is instead experimenting with a new strategy: renting the hardware for $10 per month.
A new $10 monthly “kit fee” has started appearing for new customers in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Australia, and Mexico. And that fee comes on top of the regular monthly internet bill.
Starlink’s residential ordering pages could now show a $0 upfront hardware cost alongside the new monthly rental fee. It's the same model cable companies have used for years: rent the equipment and keep paying monthly.
The monthly internet plans have also increased. Starlink now charges $55 for 100Mbps, $85 for 200Mbps, and $130 for the Residential Max tier, which promises speeds of up to 400Mbps. Professional installation costs a one-time fee of $199, though it’s included free with the Max plan.
Ogbonda Chivumnovu
When Starlink launched in 2020, the satellite dish cost $499 upfront. That later increased to $599 before regional pricing brought the hardware cost down to either $499 or $299, depending on location. Last year, Starlink even offered free hardware in some areas, but only if customers subscribed to a more expensive $120 monthly plan.
Now, the hardware may appear free upfront, but customers will pay an extra $120 every year just to rent it. A Starlink support page says hardware rentals are currently available only “in select countries” and that “Starlink kits may only be rented for Residential service plans.” Customers renting the hardware also cannot pause their service. If they eventually want to buy the hardware instead, they must create a support ticket.
Over three years, that $10 monthly rental fee adds up to $360. Meanwhile, the same Starlink dish can still be purchased from retailers like Best Buy and Walmart for around $349, with occasional discounts bringing the price down to $199 or even $89.
That means renting only really makes financial sense for customers planning to use the service short-term. For long-term users, buying the hardware outright is still cheaper.
The Residential Max plan has also lost some perks. New customers no longer receive a free Mini dish rental or a 50 percent discount on Starlink’s Roam plans. Those benefits were introduced earlier this year but have now disappeared for new subscribers.
“The Optional Mini Kit for Travel was available only to customers in select countries with an active Residential Max plan. It is not available to new customers at this time,” Starlink now says.
The timing of these changes is interesting because SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, is preparing to go public on Friday. Starlink reportedly had 10.3 million paid subscriptions in Q1 2026, up from 5 million a year earlier. However, average revenue per user fell from $86 to $66 during the same period.
Damilare Odedina
Starlink already accounted for $3.26 billion of SpaceX’s $4.69 billion total revenue in the first quarter of 2026, nearly 70 percent of the company’s earnings. That creates pressure to keep revenue growing steadily.
On Monday, Elon Musk also teased two upcoming Starlink dish models, suggesting the new rental strategy could be tied to a transition toward next-generation hardware.
Starlink built its reputation on selling internet hardware directly to customers. Now, it’s slowly moving toward the recurring subscription model perfected by traditional telecom and cable companies.
For new users, that means lower upfront costs but potentially higher long-term bills. Whether that trade-off makes sense depends entirely on how long you plan to stay connected.
If you’re a new customer and want to avoid the rental fee, you can still buy a Starlink dish from a retailer and enter the device identifier during checkout. Existing customers, meanwhile, are unaffected for now.
But given Starlink’s long history of changing prices, launching regional offers, and experimenting with temporary promotions, this probably won’t be the company’s final pricing strategy. One thing Starlink has consistently shown is that its pricing model can change very quickly.
Ogbonda Chivumnovu
