SpaceX · Starlink · 30 Oct 2026
Starlink’s new “dynamic pricing” moves in 10% and 20% steps, so the same Max plan now costs $104 to $156 depending on the town
SpaceX has started emailing some US Starlink Residential customers to say their monthly price will follow local supply and demand and be reviewed "roughly quarterly." In the email shared online, the new price starts with the first billing cycle on or after 30 Nov. Every local price I could check sits exactly 10% or 20% above or below Starlink's list prices. I checked four towns and Starlink's default view on 30 Oct 2026, which is a small sample, not the whole map.
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The editor holds Tesla and SpaceX shares. Supercharged Daily is independent and not affiliated with either company. Nothing here is financial advice.
What happened
On 29 Oct 2026, Starlink Residential customers in parts of the Midwest, including Missouri and Kansas, reported getting an email from SpaceX, PCMag reported. "As our constellation grows and network capacity changes, service pricing may change from time to time," it says. One version was shared on X by Sawyer Merritt at 9:40pm ET (6:40pm PT; ) that night. It tells the customer that "beginning with your next billing cycle on or after November 30," their Residential plan "will be adjusted to $156/month."
The email also says how often prices will move. "Given this rapid pace of change, we will be reviewing prices on a regular basis, roughly quarterly," SpaceX wrote. The changes "won't just be increases: as we expand capacity, service pricing in your area may be lowered."
SpaceX has announced that it is introducing dynamic pricing for @Starlink Residential plans in select areas based on supply of capacity and demand from customers.
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 30, 2026
Done vs. promised
- Done: the emails have gone out, and local prices already show for new sign-ups on Starlink.com. PCMag found them, and I confirmed the four towns below on 30 Oct 2026. In the email that was shared, the new rate starts with the first bill on or after 30 Nov.
- Stated plan: reviews "roughly quarterly", and cuts where capacity grows. Those are SpaceX's words in the email. Nothing has happened on a schedule yet.
- Not announced: SpaceX hasn't put out a press release or said how many customers or which areas are in this round. It hadn't answered PCMag's request for comment.
The grid behind the prices
The national Residential list prices are $55 for 100 Mbps, $85 for 200 Mbps and $130 for Max, set in a May price rise from $50, $80 and $120. On 30 Oct 2026 I checked the four towns PCMag named on Starlink's own sign-up page, which shows the local price once you enter a location. Every price matched PCMag's figures. Each one is the list price times 0.8, 0.9, 1.1 or 1.2.
| Place | 100 Mbps | 200 Mbps | Max | Step vs. list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marysville, KS | $44 | $68 | $104 | 20% lower |
| Kansas City, MO | $49.50 | $76.50 | $117 | 10% lower |
| List price | $55 | $85 | $130 | List |
| Warsaw, MO | n/a | n/a | $143 | 10% higher |
| Rolla, MO | n/a | n/a | $156 | 20% higher |
Prices per month in USD, as of 30 Oct 2026. Marysville, Kansas City (100 Mbps), Warsaw and Rolla (Max) were checked on Starlink.com. The other Kansas City prices and the town list are from PCMag. "n/a" means no price was reported or checked for that plan.
The site's own plan codes fit this. Starlink.com labels the plans with demand tiers, for example "max-rental-t1-demand" at $156 in Rolla and "100-mbps-rental-t4-demand" at $44 in Marysville. PCMag also found that the site's code currently limits changes to 20% either way. The tiers don't always line up across plans in the same place, though. With no address entered, Starlink.com showed me 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps at 10% below list but Max at 10% above, at $143.
One reported increase doesn't fit cleanly. A Missouri customer told PCMag that their 100 Mbps plan is going from $50 to $60.50. That's exactly 10% above today's $55 list price, so my guess is they were still on the pre-May $50 rate.
What it means for a bill
On the same Max plan, Marysville pays $104 a month and Rolla $156 (as of 30 Oct 2026). That's a $52 monthly gap, or $624 a year, and 50% more for the Rolla household. The pattern isn't simply rural versus urban, either. Kansas City gets a cut while smaller Missouri towns go up. SpaceX's email says prices are based on "supply of capacity and demand from customers," so the price follows how loaded the local network is, not how remote the address is.
Starlink tried a simpler version in 2023. It added $10 in high-demand areas, taking the fee to $120, and cut prices where it had spare capacity, PCMag notes. Back then it had a single Residential plan.
Why SpaceX is doing it now
SpaceX's third-quarter results release gives the backdrop. Starlink had 13.6 million consumer subscribers on 30 Sep 2026, up from 12.0 million at the end of June and 7.2 million a year earlier. SpaceX says that sequential growth was "driven by growth in developed markets." Average revenue per consumer subscriber was $69 a month, up from $66 in the second quarter but down from $83 a year before. The same release says the first revenue-generating Starship flight delivered 26 V3 satellites, about 10 times the downlink capacity added by a Falcon 9 Starlink launch.
My read: subscribers are growing faster than capacity in some places, and a lot of new capacity is coming. Location-based pricing lets SpaceX charge more where cells are full and attract sign-ups where there's room. If the quarterly reviews bring the promised cuts as V3 capacity arrives, today's 20% increases are a ceiling. If they don't, customers in busy areas will notice.
What to check if you're a customer
- Your email. In the email that was shared, the new rate started with the next billing cycle on or after 30 Nov.
- Your area on Starlink.com. The sign-up page shows the local price for a location. That's how PCMag found the town-by-town figures, and how I checked them.
- Your plan tier. A 20% rise is $26 a month on Max but $11 on 100 Mbps. Some households may move down a tier.
Sources: PCMag, Michael Kan (updated 29 Oct 2026); Sawyer Merritt on X (29 Oct 2026); Starlink.com Residential sign-up, local prices checked 30 Oct 2026; Starlink service plans; The Verge (May 2026); SpaceX Q3 2026 results release (SEC exhibit 99.1). The price-step analysis and bill math are my own. Figures as of 30 Oct 2026.
— Alex R
