How to check the free month in your Starlink bill preview

To check your free month, open the bill preview in your Starlink account a few days before your second bill. On the web it’s under Billing, then Statements; in the app it’s Billing, Manage Payment Method, then Preview Next Invoice. Once the referral is confirmed, Starlink says your second month will show as free there.

The preview matters because it’s the only check that happens before money moves. The confirmation email can be late or land in spam, and the final invoice arrives after you’ve been charged. This guide shows exactly where the preview is, what each line means, when to look, and what to do when the credit isn’t there.

Where the bill preview is

Starlink’s help article on the “Payment Scheduled” email gives the steps. They differ slightly between the website and the app.

On the website

1. Go to starlink.com by typing the address yourself, and sign in.
2. Click Billing.
3. Click Statements. The preview of your next invoice is there, next to your past statements.

In the Starlink app

1. Sign in to the app.
2. Tap Billing.
3. Tap Manage Payment Method.
4. Scroll down to Statements and tap Preview Next Invoice.

Starlink’s billing-cycle article also says you can preview your next monthly invoice “at any time” by clicking Preview Next Invoice. You don’t need to wait for an email to look.

What the free month looks like on the preview

Starlink doesn’t publish a screenshot of a referral credit, so here is what its help articles say, line by line.

• The service period. Bill 2 covers the month that starts one month after your Payment Due Date. If the period starts on the same day as your first bill, you’re looking at the wrong invoice.
• Your plan’s monthly charge. The plan you picked, at its normal price. The free month doesn’t lower the price; it’s taken off afterward.
• A service credit. Starlink’s article on promotional credits says a credit “will deduct from the outstanding balance, not exceeding the total amount of the statement,” and that the invoice gets a line item showing the credit applied. It adds that one month of service credit means a zero billing statement for the next cycle.
• Other lines. Starlink’s referral pages promise one month of service. Whether a separate rental line, taxes or fees are also credited is whether the free month also covers a monthly kit rental feeunverified. Our guide on rental fees, taxes and the free month goes through what to check.
• The amount due. This is the number your card will be charged. Read it rather than assuming the credit covers everything.

A worked example

Say you chose Roam 100GB at $55/mo and activated on Wednesday, Nov 4, 2026. You paid bill 1 that day. Your bill 2 preview, checked around Tuesday, Dec 1, should show the Roam 100GB service charge for Dec 4 to Jan 3 and a service credit of one month against it. The service part of that bill should net to zero. If the preview shows the full plan price and no credit line, keep reading.

When to look, and what you should see each time

Starlink’s billing-cycle article explains why the preview moves: it “will update each day of the month and will reflect all charges due as of that day.” Looking once in week one and giving up is the most common way people scare themselves for nothing.

If the credit isn’t on the preview

Work through these in order. Most cases are timing, not a lost credit.

1. Is it too early? If you activated less than about 30 days ago, wait. The credit is applied on Starlink’s schedule, not when the preview is opened.
2. Are you looking at the right bill? You want the invoice whose service period starts one month after your first charge. Our billing timeline tool works out the dates from your activation or delivery day.
3. Was the credit added late? Starlink’s credits article says that if a bill was already pending when a credit was added, the credit “will not change the scheduled payment amount, and instead will be applied to your following bill.” So a credit can land on bill 3 instead of bill 2. Check the credit table on the Billing page: a credit with its full amount still available is waiting for the next bill.
4. Did something change your bill? Starlink says service credits are only applied to monthly subscription charges, not to “immediate transactions or pro-rated costs” such as reactivation or plan changes. A mid-cycle upgrade adds a prorated charge the credit won’t touch. See changing plans before bill two.
5. Did the order qualify? If you ordered in a store, on another device than the one you opened the link on, or without the link at all, there may be nothing to apply. Starlink’s billing FAQ says it is unable to issue referral credits where the link wasn’t used. The free month not showing up troubleshooter sorts out which case you’re in.

If all five check out and bill 2 is close, contact support from inside your Starlink account. Our guide to what to send support has a message you can copy.

Email or preview: which one to trust

Starlink does both: “We’ll email you when your one month of free service is confirmed,” and the preview shows month two as free. They can disagree for a few days.

The preview is your account’s own record. If you have to choose, trust it over the inbox. Our article on the missing confirmation email covers the email side.

Where to see credits and past payments

Three other parts of the Billing page help you confirm what happened:

• The credit table. Starlink says it’s below the invoice table, with a summary under the account balance box. Each credit has a type (service, hardware or generic), a total amount and an available amount. The difference between total and available is what has already been applied.
• Statements. Downloadable copies of your subscription statements and kit invoices. Starlink says invoices show the service period, each line, taxes, credits applied and the amount remaining.
• Payment history. Every payment, its amount and whether it completed or failed.

Common mistakes

• Checking only once, right after bill 1. The credit isn’t there yet. That’s expected.
• Reading the credit line and skipping the total. The credit covers one month of service. Other lines may still be charged.
• Following an email link to “check your bill.” Starlink’s phishing guidance says to log in directly at starlink.com instead. Type the address.
• Changing plans the week before bill 2 to “use” the credit on a bigger plan. Prorated charges from a mid-cycle change aren’t covered by credits, and how the credit is valued after a switch is how the credit lines up with a prorated or plan-changed billunverified.
• Assuming a late credit is lost. It may simply go on the following bill.

What we don’t know

Starlink doesn’t publish what the referral credit line is called on the invoice, the exact day it is applied, whether it also covers rental, taxes or fees, or how it behaves on a shortened first cycle. We describe what Starlink’s help articles say and label the rest. If your preview shows something we haven’t described, your account is right and this page may need an update. Tell us so we can check.

What to do next

1. Work out your bill 2 date from your Payment Due Date.
2. Set two reminders: about 30 days after activation, and 2 to 3 days before bill 2.
3. On the second reminder, open the preview, check the amount due, and screenshot it.
4. If the credit isn’t there, start with the troubleshooter before contacting support.