Residential Lite launched at $80 a month, $40 below standard Residential

What changed

On March 4, 2025, press coverage reported that Starlink had added a cheaper home plan in the US called Residential Lite, priced at $80 a month. The standard Residential plan stayed at $120 a month. The new tier traded price for priority: Lite data is deprioritized, which Benzinga’s report summarized as “slower speeds during peak hours” when the local network is busy.

Item	Before (Mar 2025)	After (Mar 2025)	Change per month	Change per year
Cheapest Residential plan	$120 (Residential)	$80 (Residential Lite)	−$40	−$480
Standard Residential	$120	$120	$0	$0

The report gave the Lite plan’s typical download range as 50 to 100 Mbps, against 150 to 200 Mbps on the standard plan, and said Starlink pitched it at “low usage and smaller households.”

Who it affected

• New customers at eligible addresses. Lite was offered only in select areas. The report named Maine and Nebraska among the places it was not available.
• Existing Residential customers could see Lite as an option where it was offered; the report said customers could move up to standard Residential at any time. It did not say whether a downgrade from standard to Lite was open to everyone.
• Fixed locations only. Lite was described as a land-based, fixed-address plan, so it did not replace Roam for travel.

What it did to the cost

At the time, the only monthly difference between the two home tiers was $40. Leaving hardware aside (the kit cost is the same on either plan):

• Year 1: 12 × $80 = $960 on Lite versus 12 × $120 = $1,440 on standard Residential, a $480 gap.
• Year 3: 36 × $80 = $2,880 versus $4,320, a $1,440 gap.

These are March 2025 list prices. They are not today’s prices: Lite was later renamed and repriced, so use the calculator with current figures before comparing anything.

What stayed the same

• Standard Residential stayed at $120 a month in the same report.
• The kit was the same hardware on both tiers; Lite did not come with a different dish.
• Data stayed unlimited on both plans; the difference was priority, not a data cap.

What happened next

Lite did not last under that name. In January 2026 Starlink renamed it Residential 200 Mbps and renamed standard Residential to Residential Max, with a new 100 Mbps tier below both; see our post on the January 2026 restructure. In May 2026 the 200 Mbps tier went to $85 (May 2026 increase). This post is kept as a dated record of when the price ladder first split.

What to check yourself

• Starlink plan availability is set per address. Enter your own address on starlink.com to see which tiers it offers before comparing totals.
• Compare a full year, not one month: the cheapest-plan guide shows what each tier costs once kit, shipping and any surcharge are added.
• Read the price history row for this tier to see how its price moved after launch.

What we don’t know

• Starlink did not publish a list of eligible ZIP codes or states, so we can’t say how many US addresses could buy Lite.
• The report did not say whether existing customers who moved to Lite were given any notice period or kept any perks.
• We could not open the original March 2025 starlink.com plan page; the figures above are as reported by the press source below.