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News · Billing and prices

Starlink offered the free Mini rental to all US Residential tiers in September 2026

In September 2026 Starlink began offering the free Mini rental, by email invite, to Residential 100 and 200 Mbps customers, not just Max. It isn't shown at sign-up.

Billing and pricesReported by press, not confirmed on Starlink’s pages

Event
Published
Checklist for September 2026: Residential Max gets a free Mini and 50 percent off Roam; 100 and 200 Mbps get a free Mini with a smaller discount; invite by email in select regions; not shown at sign-up.
What changed?
The free Starlink Mini rental, earlier a Residential Max perk, is now offered to customers on other US Residential plans in select regions, with a smaller Roam discount than Max gets. Customers are invited by email with a "Claim Mini" button, one kit per customer. Reported by SatelliteInternet.com and Tesla North on 2026-09-22.
When?
Reported 2026-09-22. SatelliteInternet.com says the change came quietly through customer emails and a support-page edit, with no public announcement.
Who is affected?
Existing US customers on Residential 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps in select regions who get the email. Per SatelliteInternet.com, the offer doesn't appear during sign-up on the website.
What should you do now?
Nothing to do at order time. If you become a customer and later get the invite, read the rental and return terms in the email before claiming.
What stays the same?
Starlink's Referral Program Terms, as we read them on 2026-10-05, still give a new customer one free month on the eligible plan they pick, credited to the second monthly bill. You still pay month one, still need to order the kit and plan on starlink.com through a current customer's link, and still need two full billing cycles on a high-speed plan (Standby doesn't count). The free month is still one month of the plan you order, not a hardware perk.

Source

What was reported

SatelliteInternet.com reported that US customers on Residential 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps plans in select regions became eligible for the free Mini rental, quoting Starlink's support page as referring to eligible customers "on a Residential plan in select regions, not just Max." It said those tiers get a reduced Roam rate but not the 50 percent discount Max customers get, and that the offer doesn't show during sign-up.

Tesla North described invitations by email with a "Claim Mini" button and a short survey, one kit per customer, and said a rented Mini must be returned within 30 days if you cancel or the retail price is charged. Its Roam price figures differ from SatelliteInternet.com's, so we don't repeat either set.

How it relates to the free month

They are separate. The free month is for new customers ordering on starlink.com through a referral link, credited on bill two. The Mini invite goes to people who are already Residential customers. A new customer could get both, but in that order: the free month from the order, the Mini invite later, if it comes.

If you claim a Mini and start its Roam plan during your first two billing cycles, keep the main Residential plan active and on a high-speed tier, because that is what the referral needs. Our Standby and cancelling page explains why, and plans shows what one month of each Residential tier is worth.

What we don’t know yet

  • Which regions are included. Neither report lists them.
  • The exact discounted Roam prices for 100 and 200 Mbps customers. The two reports give different figures.
  • Whether the Mini's Roam line interacts with the referral credit at all. Starlink's terms don't mention it.

Corrections

No corrections to this post. If something here is wrong, tell us and we’ll fix it in the open, with a dated note.

Where to next

The site may earn a referral reward if you order through its referral link (see how this site makes money); that never decides what we report. Independent · not affiliated with SpaceX.