To pause eligible Starlink service, sign in, open the correct subscription, choose Manage, then Pause Current Service. Check the fee and effective date before confirming. Standby Mode is a paid low-speed service, not the old free pause. Switching off the dish does not stop your subscription bill.
This guide uses Starlink’s U.S. documentation checked on October 22, 2026. It covers ordinary household and travel subscriptions, not business fleet or aviation arrangements. We have not changed a customer’s subscription or measured Standby performance.
Pausing, unplugging and canceling are different
| What you do | What it means for the subscription | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Unplug the dish | The hardware stops running; the subscription does not automatically stop billing. | Use account controls if you want to change service charges. |
| Pause with Standby Mode | You move to paid low-speed service when the scheduled change takes effect. | Eligibility, monthly fee and the effective date. |
| Cancel service | Service continues through the paid period, then leaves future subscription billing cycles. | Commitment terms, rented equipment and later reactivation. |
Starlink’s U.S. terms of service say monthly service charges remain due even in an unused month, unless the plan is eligible to be paused. They also contain separate rules for selected service commitments and rental equipment. A free-kit offer does not mean every later plan change is free.
Check the fee and billing date before you pause
The current official pause instructions describe a small monthly Standby fee but do not publish one universal U.S. dollar amount. Use the quote shown for your subscription. Do not copy a price from a video, another country or an old invoice and assume it applies today.
Open Billing and record your next renewal date. Starlink’s monthly billing guide explains where to find your cycle and the Preview Next Invoice option. That preview reflects charges due as of the day you view it, so check again after a plan change rather than treating an earlier screenshot as the final bill.
For a seasonal budget, multiply the quoted Standby monthly fee by the number of full billing cycles you expect to remain paused. Add any restart amount displayed later, plus applicable equipment or commitment charges. Compare that with keeping your current plan active. This is a worksheet for your own quote, not a promise of a particular saving.
Do not leave the change until local bedtime on renewal day. Starlink’s service plan change rules use midnight UTC as the billing-day cutoff. In the continental United States, that is earlier than local midnight. Make the change ahead of time and read the displayed effective date.
How to pause Starlink through your account
- Sign in at Starlink’s website. If you have several dishes, identify the subscription for the hardware you want to pause.
- Open Subscriptions, select that line and choose Manage.
- Choose Pause Current Service. Review the Standby charge, timing and any warning before you confirm.
- After confirming, save the confirmation and effective date. Check the subscription page for the scheduled change.
- Review the next invoice preview. If it does not match the change you intended, contact Starlink support with the confirmation rather than repeating different plan changes.
Pausing does not refund each unused day of an already-paid month. Starlink says the current service remains available through that billing period. If you only need a break for a weekend, first check whether there would be any avoided billing cycle at all.
Also distinguish pausing from an ordinary downgrade. The plan-change guide describes NOW and a dated end-of-cycle option. An immediate downgrade does not refund remaining time on the old plan. Read the action you are actually confirming; do not assume every cheaper-plan button has the same result as Pause Current Service.
Why the pause button may be missing
Check the exact hardware and the offer attached to your line. The current pause FAQ explicitly excludes V5 hardware. Certain promotions and rental arrangements can also make pausing unavailable. A screenshot from a different kit or subscription is not proof that your account is broken.
If you bought recently, identify the kit before following an older guide that calls everything “Standard.” Our Starlink Mini versus Standard comparison separates V4 and V5 hardware. Do not cancel a working home connection just to try to make a missing pause control appear.
The service-plan change guide also identifies an existing pending change as a possible reason controls are unavailable. Review what is already scheduled first. Cancel an upcoming change only if you understand what it would undo; otherwise ask support to explain the line’s available options.
Resume service before you need a fast connection
From the paused line, use Manage and Resume Service, choose an available plan and review the price before confirming. Starlink says resuming triggers an immediate prorated service charge. Do not assume yesterday’s Standby payment covers the restarted high-speed service.
Starlink’s reactivation guide makes availability and price part of that choice. When checked for this article, it stated there were no sold-out U.S. Residential regions. That is a current availability statement, not a reservation of your old plan for a future season. The U.S. service plan descriptions do not guarantee a Residential return or waiver of any applicable reactivation fees.
Standby is rated at up to 500 kbps in each direction, where available. Think of it as limited connectivity for account access and light messaging, not a normal connection for work calls or streaming. Neither the speed ceiling nor the word “emergency” guarantees that a particular calling app will work reliably.
Before relying on the kit for a trip or an outage, check power, the installation location and access to the account’s sign-in method. Resume and test the apps you actually need while you still have another connection available. We are recommending a preparation check, not reporting a measured reconnection time.
When cancellation may fit better than Standby
If you do not want to maintain low-speed service, compare cancellation with paying Standby fees through the whole gap. Starlink’s cancellation guide describes a separate Cancel Service action and service continuing through the date already paid for. It also warns that immediate later reactivation is not guaranteed.
Check your original order first. The U.S. terms include change fees for certain selected service commitments and return requirements for rented kits. Do not treat canceling a subscription as permission to keep rental hardware, or as a way to erase a remaining obligation. Save the cancellation confirmation and any return instructions separately.
Standby is not an indefinite bargain broadband plan either. The U.S. plan terms exclude constant, in-motion and high-bandwidth use. After more than 12 consecutive months, Starlink can require a different plan or fee, or restrict access to the Starlink account. Choose it for a defined gap and review it before the next season.
Keep three records: the change confirmation, its effective date and the resulting invoice. If the question is which active plan to return to, use our Residential versus Roam guide. Choose the service that fits the location and travel rules, rather than assuming the hardware determines the subscription.