Starlink plans the free month doesn’t list: Priority, Personal Maritime, Standby and more

The Starlink free month only applies to eight plans: Residential Lite, Residential, Residential 100 Mbps, Residential 200 Mbps, Residential Max, Roam 100GB, Roam 300GB and Roam Unlimited. Starlink’s US plan rules describe several others that aren’t on that list: Local Priority, Global Priority, Personal Maritime and the General Aviation plans. Standby Mode isn’t on it either, because it’s a paused, low-speed state rather than a high-speed plan. If you order one of these, or move onto one before your two billing cycles are done, don’t count on the free month.

Below is what each unlisted plan is for, why it matters for the free month, and which listed plan fits instead.

The list, and where it comes from

Starlink’s help article on using a referral link says “referral credits will only issue on these plans,” then lists the five Residential names and three Roam plans. The referral terms add, in section 4.1: “Referred Subscribers may not be permitted to activate on all Starlink service plans. Eligible service plans will be communicated to the Referred Subscriber at the time of sign-up.” In short, eligible plans are shown to you at sign-up.

Starlink’s Service Plan Descriptions, republished on Oct 5, 2026, describe every US plan. Comparing the two documents shows what’s left out.

Plans not on the list

Local Priority and Global Priority

Starlink describes Priority plans as “designed for high-bandwidth land- and ocean-use,” usable in motion, with data sold in monthly “Data Blocks.” Priority data “is given network precedence over Residential and Roam data.” The Local plan is “for inland coverage (including lakes and rivers) only,” and the Global plan is “for global and ocean coverage.”

Priority is also where Starlink puts business support: the plan rules say supplemental support for “business or government specific requests” is “only available under Starlink’s Priority Service Plans.”

For the free month: not listed. If you’re a household that simply wants more speed, Residential Max is the listed plan at the top of the range, at $130/mo. Our guide on business orders covers why companies don’t get the free month anyway.

Personal Maritime

Starlink’s plan rules describe Personal Maritime as “unlimited data for use in territorial waters, generally defined as 12 nautical miles from the coastline,” for “personal, small watercraft use.” Use “on land is prohibited,” and any “commercial, business, or enterprise use” is prohibited.

RV Mobile Internet reported its launch on Aug 28, 2026. It isn’t on the free-month list. One detail to watch: the Oct 5 plan rules still give a 40-foot vessel limit, while RV Mobile Internet reported on Sept 4, 2026 that Starlink raised it to 60 feet. Check Starlink’s current page if size matters to you.

For the free month: not listed. Roam Unlimited covers coastal waters for limited periods, and our news page has the background on both plans.

General Aviation

The General Aviation Local and Global plans are for “high-bandwidth use in motion” in the air, sold in data blocks, and “you cannot pause with Standby Mode.” For the free month: not listed.

Standby Mode

Standby is the one people trip over, because it appears next to the real plans in the account. Starlink’s pausing article says it “provides unlimited low-speed data for emergency messaging” at up to 500 Kbps, for “a small monthly fee.” The referral terms require two full monthly billing cycles on a high-speed plan, continuously, with Standby Mode not counting.

So Standby isn’t just unlisted; switching to it early breaks the rule that earns the credit. Starlink also notes Standby isn’t offered on “promotional offerings and select kit rentals.” Our page on Standby and cancelling explains the timing.

Business accounts and plans

Starlink’s referral terms say the referred customer “must be natural persons,” and its help center says moving from a Business account to a personal one means transferring the device to a new account. Business orders aren’t a free-month route.

Plans that left or changed

• Global Roam ended in 2026, and Roam Unlimited took over travel abroad, limited to 30 consecutive days outside your registered country, according to Starlink’s plan rules.
• Residential renames: the help article still lists “Residential Lite” and “Residential” alongside the newer 100 Mbps, 200 Mbps and Max names. If you see a plan name at checkout that isn’t on the list, check the list again before paying.

Our guide to Residential or Roam helps you choose between the listed families.

Drifting off the list before bill three

Ordering a listed plan is step one. Staying on a high-speed plan through two full billing cycles is step two. Three common ways people drift:

1. Pausing with Standby after a first trip with a Roam kit.
2. Switching to Priority to fix slow peak-hour speeds.
3. Adding a Personal Maritime line for a boat and moving the main kit onto it.

Starlink’s terms don’t say what happens if you switch from a listed plan to an unlisted high-speed one mid-way, and we don’t know how the credit lines up with a prorated or plan-changed billunverified. The cautious path is to stay on a listed plan until after bill three. Our guide to changing plans before bill two covers listed-to-listed switches.

A worked example

Pat lives near the coast, has a small boat, and wants Starlink at home and on the water.

• Pat orders a standard kit on Residential 100 Mbps at $55/mo through a referral link. Listed.
• Pat considers a Personal Maritime line for the boat. It isn’t on the list, and its plan rules ban use on land, so it can’t serve the house.
• Pat keeps Residential 100 Mbps through bill three. Bill two carries the one-month credit, worth $55/mo.
• After bill three, Pat can add a separate boat setup without touching the free month already received.

How to choose a listed plan instead

If you were drawn to an unlisted plan, there’s usually a listed one that does most of the job:

None of these swaps is a perfect match. Roam Unlimited, for example, can be used in coastal waters “for up to 5 consecutive days, or 60 days total in a 12-month period,” according to Starlink’s plan rules, so it isn’t a substitute for a boat that lives on the water. Pick the plan that suits your real use. If that plan isn’t on the list, it’s better to skip the free month than to order the wrong plan for it.

What one month is worth on each listed plan:

Why the list matters even if you’d pick a listed plan anyway

Most households end up on a Residential tier or a Roam plan, so the list may never trouble you. It matters at three moments:

• At checkout, when a page offers a plan you haven’t seen before. If it isn’t one of the eight, read twice.
• In month one, when slow evening speeds tempt you toward a Priority plan, or a quiet week tempts you toward Standby.
• When Starlink launches something new. New plans don’t automatically join the list. Personal Maritime is the recent example.

At each of those moments, the safe move is the same: stay on a listed high-speed plan until after bill three, then change whatever you like.

Common mistakes

• Ordering Priority for speed and expecting the free month.
• Treating Standby as a cheap plan during the first two cycles.
• Assuming a new plan is on the list because it’s new. Personal Maritime launched without being added.
• Trusting an old article’s plan names instead of what checkout shows.

What we don’t know

• Whether switching from a listed plan to an unlisted high-speed plan before bill three loses the credit. The terms don’t say.
• Whether a Mini on a Residential plan, which Starlink says isn’t supported except in limited regions, would change anything for the free month. In the US, the Mini runs on Roam.
• Whether promotional pricing on a listed plan changes the value of the credit. Starlink shows promotional prices at checkout where they apply, but doesn’t say how the two combine.
• Whether Starlink will add newer plans, like Personal Maritime, to the list. We re-check the help article weekly and post changes on our news page.

What to do next

1. Compare what one free month is worth on every listed plan on our plans page.
2. Check you qualify with the eligibility checker.
3. At checkout, pick a plan Starlink shows as eligible, and stay on a listed high-speed plan until after bill three.