Get Starlink for $149 In These States

Sell! Sell! Sell! That’s the order of the day at Starlink, which has reduced the price of its Standard kit from $349 to $149 in certain regions. This discount, along with the newly announced Residential Lite, makes signing up for Starlink the cheapest it’s been—if you live in the right place. Starlink announced that in the U.S., this discount will last until April 30.

Starlink announced changes to its Regional Savings program. New customers in select states can now receive an additional $200 off a new Standard dish. As part of the savings, it’s also offering free shipping, which is typically $20.

As per Starlink’s style, the Standard Kit’s price quietly dropped last August without any official announcement or marketing push. Starlink made the Regional Savings program known through a support post on the website. Starlink may seem to implement price changes and discounts on a whim but usually targets specific regions with lower demand and excess network capacity.

Starlink also discounted its monthly Residential fee with the new Lite plan, which is $80 per month. If you live in a qualifying region, you can start with Starlink for as little as $239.80. 

Before you jump in, there are a few things to note about the Regional Savings program. First, it's only available to residents of specific states. Second, there are certain regions in many states where the discount doesn't apply, likely because of not enough network capacity. Third, the program applies only to the Standard residential service, with the option to switch to Priority or Mobile after six months.

Here is a map showing where the Regional Savings program applies at the time of publishing:

If you wish to take advantage of the discount but don’t live in one of the selected states, you’re out of luck. If a Starlink kit is purchased with a service address in a qualifying state but then changed to an address outside the Regional Savings areas, the account will be charged the remainder of the full price.

Why the sudden discounts that could cut Starlink’s startup cost in half? Starlink enthusiast and blogger Noah Clarke believes these targeted discounts are for areas with less demand. 

“We’ve seen similar promotions around the world throughout Starlink’s history,” Clarke writes. “Typically, in places with lower demand for services, Starlink will try to compete with existing ISPs by reducing the price of the service and/or hardware.”

The Regional Savings program can also be applied to customers who buy from a retailer such as Best Buy or Home Depot. After activation, the buyer will receive a credit equal to the amount of the state's discount (almost two months of service on the house). 

Starlink's premium hardware option, the Flat High-Performance dish, also got a significant discount of $1,000, making the device $1,499. The Flat High-Performance dish is recommended for business use and is designed to be mounted to a vehicle and used in motion. It takes advantage of an improved power and wider field of view, making it ideal for emergency response, trucking, air travel, and sea travel.

The dish, paired with a Starlink Priority data plan, is meant to give you the fastest speeds possible, even while moving at high speeds. It's definitely overkill for most customers looking for decent speeds at home or while traveling. However, if you're a business owner or want the fastest possible speeds that Starlink offers, the Flat High-Performance dish is currently the cheapest it's ever been. It hasn't stated how long this sale will continue.

Congestion Charge Makes Starlink More Expensive

Unfortunately, while there are significant discounts for many new customers, some may pay much more if they live in areas that experience high bandwidth congestion on Starlink's network. Customers may pay a $100 "congestion charge" when they activate a kit in these areas. Unlike the Regional Savings areas, Starlink doesn't indicate where these are and how long these fees will be imposed. The company has stated that this charge is temporary and will no longer be implemented once the network improves its capacity.