Does Starlink have data caps? What heavy use can do to speeds

Each plan's data term and the clause beside it

The quotes in the table come from Starlink's Service Plan Descriptions, in the version published in October 2026 and read the same month, each from the plan's own section unless its row says otherwise.

Three plans are compared with Residential Max: the plan descriptions say Residential 200 Mbps, Residential 100 Mbps and Roam Unlimited customers "are more likely to experience Service degradation and slower speeds" during congestion than Residential Max customers. No other plan's section has that comparison.

The Residential 200 Mbps and 100 Mbps sections don't word a data term of their own. Each says the plan has "the same terms as the Residential Max Service Plan except as follows", and none of the exceptions that follow concerns data: they cover the speed in the plan's name, "Speeds and uninterrupted use of the Service are not guaranteed", the congestion comparison, a change of service address, and kits. This page reads that as giving both plans Residential Max's data term and its clause, as the table shows. It is a reading of that sentence, not Starlink's words for either plan.

Local and Global Priority plans buy their data in blocks, priced on their broadband label files; the plans and prices page lists those blocks with every label price. Starlink's help page on Priority plans says they are renamed Business and Global Business from December 2026, with new pricing from the first invoice after the change (checked October 2026).

What deprioritized data means in Starlink's terms

In the plan descriptions, "Deprioritized" data belongs to Residential Lite. Its section says that data "is always deprioritized as compared to other Starlink Fixed Service Plans, resulting in degraded Service and slower speeds in congested areas and during peak hours, as described in the Fair Use Policy." The other Fixed Service Plans are the four other Residential plans in the table above.

The plan descriptions put no figure on how much slower deprioritized data gets. The Fair Use Policy that sentence links is the second one below, which isn't in Starlink's US legal index, and it puts no figure on deprioritized data either. Residential Lite's typical speeds are on its broadband label (below).

Two Fair Use Policies, neither with a GB threshold for a Residential plan

Starlink's plan descriptions link two different Fair Use Policies. Residential Max's section links the one in Starlink's US legal index. The Residential and Residential Lite sections link a second one, which isn't in that index, and so does each of Starlink's five US broadband label files, in its fields named DataAllowancePolicyUrl and NetworkManagementPolicyURL.

The one in the US index is the Fair Use Policy published in March 2026. It opens: "Starlink’s Fair Use Policy describes how we manage our network traffic and assign customer data based on the Service Plan." It reserves the right to take "additional network management measures" for three purposes, the third being to "prevent or mitigate network congestion on the Services, including reducing speeds for some or all users". Its Speeds and Performance section says: "Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of Services are not guaranteed. Actual speeds may be lower during times of high usage. Starlink may temporarily reduce speeds if our network is congested." The policy also says "A customer’s data usage allotment includes automated network diagnostic traffic that may not be customer initiated." It has no table of plans, and it puts no GB figure or threshold on any plan.

The second is a Starlink Fair Use Policy that isn't in Starlink's US legal index, and the copy Starlink serves carries no publication date. It opens with the same sentence as the first, then says "The Service Plans described below may not be available to you." It mentions Nigeria and links pricing files by country, so this page doesn't quote its plan table as US terms. It names no GB threshold for a Residential plan either.

Past a Roam allowance, Starlink's pages give unlimited low-speed data

Roam 100GB and Roam 300GB come with the high-speed data their names give in each billing cycle. Three of Starlink's pages say what follows, and each gives unlimited low-speed data once that allowance runs out. This page quotes each one.

None of the three gives a speed for that low-speed data. The plan descriptions and the Roam help page were read in October 2026, and the service plans help page in November 2026.

Starlink's Specifications, in the version published March 2026, give a speed for it: "If your Service plan has a data limit, you will be limited to low-speed data (~500 Kbps download/upload) after this limit is reached." (checked November 2026).

Two of the three differ on where those plans may be used. The plan descriptions say "Roam 100 GB may only be used in your registered country", and the same of Roam 300 GB. The Roam help page, after a line on Roam Unlimited, says "All other Roam plans (Roam 50GB/100GB/300GB) are for use within your registered home country or grouped region (US & Canada or Europe)." The same help page names 25 markets where "only Roam 50GB is available (Roam 100GB is not offered)", and the United States is not one of them (checked November 2026).

Starlink's referral help page lists eight eligible plans, each a Residential or Roam plan, and no Priority plan (October 2026).

Standby Mode's low-speed data

Standby Mode pauses a plan. The plan descriptions say it "includes an unlimited amount of low-speed data and works anywhere on land where Starlink is available" (section 5.1), and Starlink's help page How does pausing service work? says "Standby Mode, where available, offers speeds up to 500 Kbps download and upload." (checked October 2026). That figure is Standby Mode's. For plans with a data limit, the Specifications' figure is above. Its fee, which plans can pause and what resuming can cost are on the Standby Mode page.

The broadband labels' data fields are on the plans and prices page

Starlink's five US broadband label files each have a data field, which the federal label format in 47 CFR 8.1 gives in GB, and the plans and prices page shows each file's data field as the file has it, beside the plan's typical speeds, with the plans the label files and the plan descriptions don't share (October 2026).

What this page doesn't cover

Prices and fees, which the plans and prices page covers.

Business, maritime and aviation plans, Personal Maritime included.

Other countries' plans and terms.

Speed or data tests. None ran for this page: it rests on Starlink's public documents and help pages and the federal label rule, read in October and November 2026 without signing in or entering an address.

Your own data use: nothing on this page comes from an account or the Starlink app.

Other providers' data caps.