Starlink Business vs Residential Canada: What’s the Difference?
Checked September 23, 2026 · Canada
Choose Residential for a household connection at one fixed address. Choose Business, sold as Local Priority for most Canadian land-based sites, when the connection serves a commercial operation. It is also the plan to compare when you need Priority data, a publicly routable IP option, business support, an account dashboard or an eligible service-level agreement.
Residential makes sense when…
- The internet is for a household at one fixed address.
- You want unlimited household data without a Priority data bucket.
- The line is mainly household internet, even if someone also works from home.
- You do not need business support, a business dashboard, a public IPv4 option or an SLA.
Business / Priority makes sense when…
- The connection serves a shop, office, farm, lodge, worksite or other commercial operation.
- Employees, customers, payment terminals, VoIP, cameras or cloud systems depend on it.
- You need higher network precedence while Priority data remains.
- You need business account tools, priority support, a public IP option or an eligible SLA.
The price alone can fool you
Residential 100, where available, and Local Priority 50 GB are each listed at $75 per month in Canada. They are still very different plans. Residential 100 is a household plan with unlimited data and a 100 Mbps speed ceiling. Local Priority 50 GB is a business plan with 50 GB of Priority data. After that data is used, speeds can fall to 1 Mbps download and 0.5 Mbps upload unless more data is added.
Starlink Residential vs Business in Canada
The main difference is not speed. Residential is built and priced for household use. Starlink Business uses Local Priority or Global Priority service plans, with business account features and a measured bucket of higher-priority data.
| Question | Residential | Business / Local Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $75, $115 or $150 | $75 to $721 for the listed 50 GB to 2 TB tiers |
| Who it is for | Personal, family or household use at a fixed address | Fixed or mobile businesses on land |
| Business use | Starlink says Residential is not permitted for business or enterprise use | Designed for commercial and higher-demand use |
| Data | Unlimited Residential data | 50 GB, 500 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB of Priority data |
| After the allowance | No fixed monthly data bucket, although network management can still apply | Up to 1 Mbps down and 0.5 Mbps up if no extra Priority data is added |
| Network priority | Residential traffic; Max has the highest Residential priority | Priority data receives precedence over Residential and Roam data |
| Expected performance | Plan dependent: 80 to 100 Mbps, 80 to 200 Mbps, or maximum available speeds on Max | Starlink currently lists 135 to 310 Mbps down and 20 to 44 Mbps up while using high-speed data |
| Equipment | Address-specific Standard Kit offer; no upfront hardware cost is advertised in select areas | Kit and price shown during business checkout; Performance hardware is available for tougher deployments |
| Public IP | The business Public IP option is not advertised with Residential | Publicly routable, dynamically assigned IPv4 option plus IPv6 support |
| Support | Standard customer support | 24/7 prioritized support |
| SLA | No business SLA | 99.9% network availability SLA on eligible service lines, subject to exclusions |
| Multiple sites | Separate service lines and fixed addresses | Business dashboard and the ability to add multiple locations |
| Remote locations | Good household option where wired service is weak and the dish has clear sky | Good commercial option for farms, job sites, lodges and remote operations |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways to see all three columns.
Can you use Starlink Residential for a business?
Under Starlink’s current service plan descriptions, no. Residential Max, Residential 100 and Residential 200 are for personal, family or household use. Starlink states that Residential service is not permitted for business or enterprise use.
That is clearer than the old advice that Residential might be fine for any small or home-based business. The plan may have enough speed, but speed is not the only issue. Account type, support, data priority, IP options and the service terms also matter.
Starlink’s work-from-home wording is unclear
Starlink markets Residential for working from home, but its plan terms still say Residential is not permitted for business or enterprise use. The public wording does not explain where ordinary remote employment ends and business use begins. If this is mainly the family’s home connection, start with Residential. If the line is bought to run a practice, serve customers, support staff, process payments, run business phones or monitor cameras, use Local Priority. Ask Starlink to confirm the intended use before ordering if the situation is unclear.
If you already use Residential at a business, do not assume that adding a faster Residential tier solves the issue. Compare Local Priority through Starlink’s business checkout and ask support how to move the service line without disrupting the site.
Current Starlink Residential and Business prices in Canada
These are Starlink Canada’s publicly listed monthly prices checked on September 23, 2026. Taxes, hardware, shipping, installation and address-specific offers can change the total.
| Plan | Monthly price | Included high-speed data | Best starting fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential 100 Mbps | $75 | Unlimited Residential data | Household use in eligible areas |
| Residential 200 Mbps | $115 | Unlimited Residential data | Busier household in eligible areas |
| Residential Max | $150 | Unlimited Residential data | Household wanting maximum available Residential performance |
| Local Priority 50 GB | $75 | 50 GB Priority data | Light business use or backup |
| Local Priority 500 GB | $211 | 500 GB Priority data | Small business with roughly two to four users |
| Local Priority 1 TB | $381 | 1 TB Priority data | Small or midsize site with roughly five to ten users |
| Local Priority 2 TB | $721 | 2 TB Priority data | Midsize site with roughly ten to twenty users |
Starlink’s user counts are examples, not guarantees. Cameras, cloud backup and large file transfers can use far more data than the number of people suggests.
Starlink also lists extra Local Priority blocks at $34 for 50 GB or $170 for 500 GB. If automatic top-ups are enabled, charges can continue as extra blocks are used. If top-ups are off and the monthly Priority amount is exhausted, the connection can be limited for the rest of the billing period. Starlink lists the limit as 1 Mbps download and 0.5 Mbps upload.
Most fixed Canadian businesses should compare Local Priority first
Global Priority is intended for global land and ocean use and costs much more. A farm, shop, lodge, construction trailer or remote office operating in Canada usually starts with Local Priority. Read our full Starlink Business Canada guide if you need mobile, maritime or multi-country details.
What do you get with Starlink Business / Priority?
Priority data, not unlimited top-speed business data
Priority data receives network precedence over Residential and Roam traffic. That can produce faster and more consistent performance during congestion. The advantage applies while Priority data remains. Once the bucket is gone, the fallback speed is too slow for most video meetings, cloud software, payment systems or camera uploads.
Public IP option
Priority plans can use a publicly routable IPv4 address, which can help with some VPNs, firewalls, remote access tools and camera systems. Starlink says the IPv4 address is assigned dynamically through DHCP. It can be reached from the public internet, but the address may change. It is not a guaranteed static IP.
If a vendor requires IP whitelisting or your network design depends on one fixed address, confirm the setup before ordering. Our static IP guide explains the difference.
Priority support and account controls
Business customers receive 24/7 prioritized support and a dashboard for monitoring and managing service lines. Starlink also says businesses can add multiple locations to the account. That is much easier to manage than treating every remote site like a separate household.
A 99.9% network availability SLA on eligible lines
Eligible Local and Global Priority service lines can receive a 99.9% network availability guarantee measured over the monthly billing period. If Starlink determines that an SLA violation occurred, the stated service credit is 20% of the base monthly service-line cost.
Read the exclusions. Outages caused by an obstructed dish, customer power, an improper installation, third-party equipment, planned reboots, exhausted data or certain severe events may not count. An SLA helps, but it does not replace a backup connection.
Business hardware options
Starlink’s public Canadian Business page does not currently show one fixed hardware price. The cost depends on the kit and the offer shown at checkout. Starlink also offers the more rugged Performance Kit for harsh environments and demanding installations. Do not assume every business needs the most expensive dish. A small fixed office and a remote industrial site have very different hardware needs.
Mounting still matters. Trees, buildings, rooflines and poor cable routing can cause brief interruptions on either plan. If the location is difficult, compare options in our Starlink installers in Canada directory.
Which plan fits these real situations?
Compare Local Priority
Home-based accountant
Residential may have enough speed, but a client-facing accounting practice is still business use. Starlink’s terms point to Local Priority. Compare it with wired business internet, especially if secure remote access, VoIP or tax-season deadlines make downtime costly.
Local Priority 2 TB starting point
Remote construction site with 20 employees
Starlink positions 2 TB for roughly ten to twenty users. Cameras, plan files, cloud backup and video calls could push usage higher. Monitor the first month closely and add cellular failover if communication cannot stop.
Wired primary plus backup
Retail shop with payment processing
Use fibre or cable as the primary line when it is available. Starlink Local Priority can be a separate backup path. If satellite is the only practical option, add cellular backup so card payments do not depend on one connection.
Residential
Remote employee at a rural home
Residential is the closest match when this is mainly the family’s home connection and one person also works remotely. Starlink advertises Residential for working from home, but its plan terms do not define a remote-work exception. If the job cannot tolerate an outage or the employer requires business features, compare Local Priority and keep a hotspot available.
Local Priority
Farm with cameras and remote monitoring
Local Priority is the business plan for this setup. Estimate camera uploads before choosing the data tier. A public IP may help some remote-access designs, but confirm compatibility with the camera or VPN provider first.
Check wired service first
Small-town professional office
If business fibre or cable reaches the address, it will usually be the better primary line. Compare Starlink when wired service is weak, installation will take months, or you need a backup that does not share the same last-mile cable.
Is Starlink Business faster than Residential?
It can be, especially during congestion, but it is not guaranteed to win every speed test. Starlink currently lists expected Priority speeds of 135 to 310 Mbps download and 20 to 44 Mbps upload while high-speed data remains. Residential performance depends on the tier, location and time of day.
The bigger advantage is consistency and network precedence, not a promise that every Priority test will beat every Residential test. Both plans still depend on a clear sky view, healthy equipment, stable power, local network demand and the Wi-Fi setup inside the building.
When neither plan is the best primary connection
If dependable fibre or cable is available at the exact business address, start there. Wired service normally gives a business steadier latency, stronger upload options and simpler high-volume data use. Starlink often makes more sense where the wired choices are slow or unavailable, or as a separate backup path.
A backup only works if it is unlikely to fail for the same reason as the primary line. Satellite can add useful path diversity beside cable or fibre, but the router or firewall must be configured to switch connections. Our guide to internet diversity vs redundancy explains the setup.
A five-question decision checklist
Is this a household connection or a business connection?
Household use points to Residential. A connection purchased for commercial operations points to Local Priority.
How much data does the site use?
Check the current router or ISP bill. Then use our Business Internet Calculator to estimate speed needs. Do not size a Priority plan by employee count alone if the site has cameras, backups or large file transfers.
Do you need a public or static IP?
Priority offers a publicly routable dynamic IPv4 option. If the address must never change, verify the requirement before buying.
What does one hour offline cost?
If an outage stops sales, phones, safety systems or production, budget for failover. A more expensive single plan is still one connection.
Can you get wired business internet?
Compare fibre, cable and strong fixed wireless first. Use our Business Internet Advice hub to work through the alternatives.
The bottom line
Residential is the right Starlink family for household internet. Local Priority is the right starting comparison for a Canadian business site. Do not choose by the lowest monthly price alone. The $75 entry plans have completely different data rules and permitted uses.
For a family connection that is also used for remote work, Residential may be the practical choice, but Starlink’s public terms do not define a specific work-from-home exception. For an accounting practice, retail shop, farm operation, lodge, office or worksite, compare Local Priority and wired business options. If the internet is critical, add a second connection.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Starlink Residential for my business in Canada?
Starlink says Residential plans are not permitted for business or enterprise use. It also advertises Residential for working from home, so the public wording leaves ordinary remote employment unclear. A connection bought to run a business site should use Local Priority. A household with a remote employee should confirm its intended use with Starlink if unsure.
What is the cheapest Starlink Business plan in Canada?
Local Priority 50 GB is listed at $75 per month as of September 23, 2026. It includes only 50 GB of Priority data. If no extra data is added after that is used, speeds can fall to 1 Mbps download and 0.5 Mbps upload.
Is Starlink Business faster than Residential?
Priority data receives network precedence, so it should generally be faster and more consistent during congestion. Starlink currently lists expected Priority speeds of 135 to 310 Mbps download and 20 to 44 Mbps upload while high-speed data remains. Actual results still vary by location, time, obstructions and equipment.
Does Starlink Business include a static IP?
Starlink offers a publicly routable IPv4 option on Priority plans, but says the address is dynamically assigned through DHCP. That is not the same as a guaranteed static IP. Confirm any IP-whitelisting, VPN, firewall or hosted-service requirement before ordering.
What happens when Starlink Priority data runs out?
You can add Priority data or enable top-ups. If neither is done, Starlink says service can be limited to up to 1 Mbps download and 0.5 Mbps upload for the rest of the monthly billing period.
Can I manage several business locations in one Starlink account?
Yes. Starlink says business customers can add multiple locations and manage service through the business dashboard. Each location still needs the appropriate hardware and service line.
Related Starlink and business internet guides
How we checked this guide: Prices and plan features were verified on September 23, 2026 using Starlink Canada’s personal service plans, business service plans, service plan descriptions, performance specifications and Priority SLA. Starlink can change prices, availability and terms, so confirm the final offer for the exact address before ordering. InternetAdvice.ca is independent and does not use Starlink affiliate links.
