Starlink Roam vs Residential: Which Plan Fits You?

Same dish, two very different bills. Residential is for a dish bolted to one house; Roam is for a dish that rides in the back of a truck. What actually changes is where you're allowed to use it, how data is metered and whether you can stop paying in the off-season. Most people pick wrong in one direction: homeowners who'd save with Residential, or seasonal campers paying a full plan twelve months a year.

The plans side by side

All prices below are monthly, US, and were checked on October 26, 2026. Roam prices are read on starlink.com; Residential tiers above the starting price are the June 2026 prices reported by several trackers.

See the full, always-dated table on our Starlink plans comparison.

Residential: one address, unlimited data

Residential is the plan for a house, cabin or farm where the dish stays put. You get unlimited data with no high-speed cap, and three speed tiers. Starlink advertises Residential as “starting at $55”, but that entry tier is only available in select areas. In many places the checkout only shows $85 or $130. The price is set per address, so your neighbor two counties over may see a different number.

Choose Residential if

• The dish stays at one service address almost all year.
• Your household streams, games or works from home and would burn through a data allotment.
• You want a router and dish set up once, ideally on a fixed mount with a clear view of the sky.

Roam: internet that follows you

Roam is designed for travel, camping, boating and road trips. Starlink lists three Roam options: Roam 100 GB at $55 (roughly a week of typical use), Roam 300 GB at $80 for people with several trips a month, and Roam Unlimited at $175 with unlimited high-speed data. On the two capped plans, once the high-speed allotment is used you keep unlimited low-speed data rather than being cut off.

Three things make Roam different from Residential beyond the price:

• Coverage area. Roam 100 GB and 300 GB work anywhere in the US and Canada. Roam Unlimited adds travel in 160+ countries and territories.
• In-motion use. Using Starlink while driving or sailing is supported with Roam plans in select areas. On water, Roam covers coastal and inland waters; open-ocean use is a separate Starlink Maritime offer.
• Month-to-month flexibility. Billing runs in one-month increments, and you can drop to Standby Mode between trips.

The real cost over a year

The monthly sticker price is only half the story. A Roam user who travels five months a year and parks the dish the other seven pays very differently from a full-timer. Here is a simple example using current prices:

Hardware comes on top, and any surcharge shown at checkout too. Run your own numbers in the true cost calculator.

How to decide in four questions

1. Does the dish leave home more than occasionally? If yes, Roam. Residential is tied to a service address.
2. How much data do you use away from home? Light weekend use fits Roam 100 GB; remote work on the road usually needs Roam 300 GB or Unlimited.
3. Do you leave the US or Canada? Only Roam Unlimited includes international travel.
4. Are there months with no use at all? Roam plus Standby Mode is usually cheaper than paying a full plan year-round. Read our Standby Mode guide.

What about the hardware?

Both plans work with the Standard kit and the Mini. For a fixed home, the Standard kit is the usual pick; for travel, the Mini's low power draw (25–40 W on average, versus 75–100 W for Standard) and its 12–48 V DC input make it far easier to run from a vehicle or battery. Our Mini vs Standard guide covers the trade-offs, and Starlink for RV life walks through a full mobile setup.

Trial period

Starlink offers a 30-day trial: if you are not satisfied, you can get a full refund. That makes it reasonable to start with the plan you think fits and adjust after a few weeks of real use.