Starlink Cost Calculator — 5-Year Total Cost
Real 5-year total cost of ownership — hardware, subscription, electricity, congestion fees, resale.
1 · Plan
2 · Use case
3 · Country
4 · Years of ownership · 3
Total cost over 3 years
$5,677
$158 / month amortized
Cost breakdown
Hardware
Dishy one-time
Shipping
Tax
8%
Subscription
$120/mo × 36 mo
Electricity
75W × 100% duty
Congestion fees (est)
1TB soft cap overage
Hardware resale credit
Expected at year 3
Total (3y)
$5,677Skip the standard dish
Roam · Regional hardware is $250 cheaper and pauses monthly fees when not traveling. If you're seasonal, this can save you 30–40% over 3 years.
Resell at year 3
Dishy keeps ~30% resale value at year 3 (eBay / Starlink community). Holding 5+ years loses most of that credit.
Electricity adds up
At $0/kWh in your country, a 24/7 Standard dish burns $99/year. Put it on a smart plug if you only need internet certain hours.
Congestion fees
Residential plan's 1TB priority data runs out fast with streaming. Budget $15–40/mo extra in high-use households.
Priority vs Residential
If you're a business, Priority pays for itself in productivity gains within 6 months vs the downtime/congestion on Residential.
How It Works
Select your Starlink plan, use case, country, and ownership period above. The calculator pulls current hardware pricing, monthly subscription rates, local electricity costs, and tax rates to compute a full total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) figure — not just the sticker price SpaceX shows on the checkout page. As of 2026, the Standard dish costs $299 (down from the original $599 at launch). The Starlink Mini is $199 for new customers. Monthly plans range from $120 (Residential) to $500 (Priority 1TB) depending on service tier.
Electricity cost is estimated from your dish's wattage, your country's average residential electricity rate, and a duty cycle based on your use case. A 24/7 home installation uses 100% duty cycle; an RV setup that runs 8 hours per day uses roughly 33%. The congestion fee estimate applies only to the Residential plan and assumes moderate overuse of the 1 TB priority data cap.
The hardware resale credit is based on observed secondhand market prices on eBay and Starlink community forums. Resale value declines steeply after year 3 as newer dish generations enter the market, so the calculator applies a depreciation curve rather than a flat percentage.
Understanding Your Results
Total cost is the sum of all expenses minus any resale credit over your chosen ownership period. This is the number that matters for budgeting — it captures costs that monthly pricing alone misses, like the upfront hardware purchase and ongoing electricity draw.
Monthly amortized cost divides the total by the number of months in your ownership period. This gives you an apples-to-apples comparison against monthly broadband bills from cable, fiber, or cellular providers. For Residential Starlink over 3 years, the amortized cost is typically $135-155/month — higher than the $120 subscription alone once hardware and power are included.
Resale credit reflects real depreciation curves. The calculator factors in observed secondhand prices — the standard dish retains roughly 50-60% of its value after 2 years on the eBay completed-listings market, dropping to 25-35% by year 4 as newer dish generations enter circulation. If you plan to sell, years 2-3 is the sweet spot before steep depreciation kicks in.
The pie chart shows where your money goes. Subscription fees dominate in longer ownership periods (70-80% of total cost at 5 years). Hardware is the largest share in year one. If electricity is a surprisingly large slice, consider a smart plug or reducing your duty cycle. For a side-by-side look at Starlink alternatives, compare TCO against providers like T-Mobile Home Internet, Viasat, and Project Kuiper.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is included in Starlink's total cost of ownership?+
Beyond the monthly subscription, Starlink's true cost includes the one-time Dishy hardware purchase ($299-$2,500 depending on plan), shipping ($50 in the US), sales tax, electricity to power the dish 24/7, and potential congestion overage fees on the Residential plan's 1 TB soft cap. The Standard dish is $299, the Mini is $199, and the Performance dish ranges from $499-$2,500 depending on the plan. This calculator factors in all of those, plus an estimated resale credit if you sell the hardware later.
How much does Starlink cost per month in 2026?+
Starlink Residential is $120/month in the US. Priority starts at $250/month with higher data caps and faster speeds. Roam plans range from $50-$165/month depending on regional vs global coverage. Business plans start at $500/month. Prices vary by country — select your country in the calculator above for local pricing.
How much electricity does a Starlink dish use?+
The standard Starlink dish draws 40-75 watts continuously, averaging about 50W during normal operation. Running 24/7 at US electricity rates (~$0.16/kWh), that adds roughly $70/year to your power bill. In countries with higher electricity costs, like Germany or Australia, the annual power cost can exceed $120.
Is Starlink worth the cost compared to fiber or cable?+
Starlink costs more per Mbps than fiber or cable where those services are available. The value proposition is strongest in rural areas, RV/boat use, and locations where terrestrial broadband is unreliable or nonexistent. If you have access to 300+ Mbps fiber at $60/month, fiber is the cheaper and faster option. If your only alternatives are DSL, cellular hotspots, or legacy satellite providers like HughesNet or Viasat, Starlink is worth the premium. Other satellite competitors like Amazon's Project Kuiper (launching 2026) and Eutelsat OneWeb may change this calculus in the next 1-2 years.
Can I reduce my Starlink costs?+
Three practical ways: (1) Use a smart plug to power down the dish overnight if you do not need 24/7 connectivity — this cuts electricity costs by 30-40%. (2) Choose the Roam Regional plan if you only need coverage in your home region and can pause during months you are not using it. (3) Sell the dish at year 2-3 when it still retains 50-60% resale value on the secondhand market rather than holding it until it depreciates fully. Also consider the Starlink Mini at $199 — if your usage fits within its lower speed tier, the hardware savings alone cover 1-2 months of subscription.
Does Starlink charge overage fees?+
The Residential plan includes 1 TB of priority data per month. After that, your traffic is deprioritized during congestion but not throttled outright. SpaceX has experimented with optional priority data top-ups at $0.25/GB in some markets. Priority and Business plans have higher or unlimited priority data caps, so overages are less of a concern on those tiers.
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