These Are The Best (And Only) Starlink Alternative Options Out There

Starlink may be the next frontier of internet technology. A part of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink introduced a new kind of satellite internet in 2015 with a “constellation” of small, low-orbit satellites. The idea is that the low orbit and larger quantity of satellites result in better coverage and faster internet — at least as far as satellite internet goes. It’s unlikely satellite internet will ever fully replace traditional fiber optic internet technology given its susceptibility to extreme weather and physical obstructions, but it is impressive technology nonetheless. Yet as promising as Starlink may be, it’s one of very few providers in a market starved for competition. Starlink belongs to SpaceX, one of the seven companies owned by Elon Musk — an increasingly unpredictable, volatile man who makes investors and customers alike unsure of what he’ll do next. There’s no shortage of controversy when it comes to the foundational satellite constellation technology, making it unclear if the nascent company can expand and advance into a long-term, reliable product. Anyone who’s skeptical of Starlink for these reasons may wonder what its alternatives are — or if there are any at all.

Good news first: There are alternatives. People living in rural locations won’t be forced to cave to the dominant internet provider that offers service in their area, or throw up their hands at having no service due to a remote location. That said, it’s a bit more complicated than “there are alternatives.” Let’s take a look at your options if you’re shopping around for a proper Starlink competitor.

Hughesnet has a lot of skin in the satellite business, going back half a century. It even claims to have pioneered satellite internet. So how does it hold up? For starters, Hughesnet does not use LEO (low earth orbit) satellite constellations like Starlink, but rather geostationary satellites (GEO), which are located much further away from Earth. These cost more to launch and have slower speeds and higher latency, though one satellite alone offers a wider swath of coverage. Hughesnet offers three main internet plans, starting at $49.99 a month for a 50 Mbps connection and going up to $94.99 for its fastest 100 Mbps connection. Prices increase over time and require longer fixed contracts, with sometimes steep early-termination fees. For reference, Starlink’s cheapest plan starts at $50 a month with a 50GB data cap, rising to $80 for no cap. Plans tend to have no contract.

Ookla Research concluded that in the first quarter of 2025, Hughesnet had an average latency of 683 ms and an average download speed of 47 Mbps. Meanwhile, Starlink has a median latency of only 45 ms and a download speed of 104 Mbps. PCMag tested these speeds and got similar results. It’s also worth noting that Hughesnet drops your speeds once you use up your priority data. One meme posted on the r/HughesNet subreddit sums this disparity up with SpongeBob and Patrick (Starlink customers) frolicking outside and Squidward (Hughesnet customers) watching with jealousy from inside.

On Trustpilot, Hughesnet garners a 4.4-star average across over 88,000 reviews. However, Consumer Affairs offers a very different perspective with a 1-star average across over 11,000 reviews. A common thread appears to be poor customer service, deceptive marketing, and costly cancellations. CNET gave it a 6/10, and Forbes gave it a 4.2/5.

Viasat was founded in 1986, and likewise has a decades-long history in satellite technology. Same as Hughesnet, it uses GEO satellites with two HEO (highly elliptical orbit) satellites. Viasat has run into trouble in recent years with its satellites and coverage, but a new F2 satellite should ease the load in October 2025. Viasat plans are far more varied in speed and price, but they’re not quite as competitive when it comes to pricing and data speeds; as one example, the Unlimited Bronze 12 plan costs $69.99 a month, yet only gives you a paltry 12 Mbps. After you use up the first 35GB, you’ll be downgraded to non-priority speeds. The fastest Unleashed plan costs $99.99 a month and gets you 150 Mbps. Similar to Hughesnet, these prices increase after they’ve locked you in, although they do have contract-free options.

Using Ookla Research again for reference, Viasat has slightly less latency than Hughesnet at 676 ms, and a slightly higher 49 Mbps download speed — measured in the first quarter of 2025. However, PCMag’s testing shows the Viasat Unleashed plan only getting 37 Mbps (advertised at 150 Mbps) compared to Hughesnet Select (advertised at 50 Mbps). Further, Viasat does have slightly less U.S. coverage, though only by about 1%.

Viasat’s reviews do not inspire confidence. On Trustpilot, it averages 1.3 out of 5 stars. Things aren’t much better with Consumer Affairs, where it holds 1.1 out of 5 stars. CNET, for some reason, still gave it a 6.1 out of 10, slightly better than Hughesnet, but Forbes didn’t mince words with a 3/5 review. On the r/Viasat subreddit, a self-proclaimed former Viasat employee defends the service as being good, provided people temper their expectations about satellite internet.

Starlink’s been providing exciting new LEO satellite constellation technology for years, yet customers only have two okay-ish alternatives that use less impressive GEO and HEO satellites. What gives? The answer is simple: Starlink (and satellite internet generally) is not meant to replace most people’s existing internet. Fiber optic broadband is faster, more reliable, offers lower latency, and costs less. To be fair, Starlink is more reliable than you think, and it’s impressive what it’s been able to achieve in rural communities. But that’s just it: It’s meant mostly for rural communities where regular ISPs don’t reach, or edge cases like using a Starlink Mini for internet while camping.

It’s important to note here that Hughesnet and Viasat are hemorrhaging customers at an alarming rate, and their efforts to stem the bleeding aren’t working. Part of this likely has to do with the superiority of LEO constellations, but also that Starlink isn’t pulling punches; where Hughesnet and Viasat might charge you for their equipment, Starlink, in some cases, gives it away for free. Starlink also has the edge when it comes to cost. It has smaller, cheaper-to-build satellites, and since it’s part of SpaceX (maker of cheaper, reusable rockets), it can expand its network faster and cheaper than the competition. Naturally, competing against that, whether a startup or an established company, isn’t easy.

Starlink’s not perfect, but many would argue it’s the best option, and it keeps getting better. Still, satellite internet — for now — best serves rural communities that have small customer bases. This confluence of factors explains quite well why this list of alternatives is so short, and raises concerns that once Starlink has the monopoly on satellite internet, it could go down the path of enshittification.

It’s no secret that Jeff Bezos has ambitions for the cosmos, like Musk. Blue Origin sent him into space in 2021, and while it may be a separate company from Amazon, and Jeff Bezos is a former CEO, Amazon has thrown its weight into the ring now too. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is the tech giant’s shot at satellite internet. Unlike Hughesnet and Viasat, this will be a direct competitor to Starlink with an LEO satellite constellation. It’s been in development since 2018 but still has a ways to go.

Starlink is hard to beat, since it maintains over 8,000 functioning satellites, with more every day. Project Kuiper has an ambitious first-timer goal of getting 3,232 of these small LEOs into orbit — and somewhat ironically, SpaceX will be servicing some of the launches. Consumer terminals will be able to get up to 400 Mbps download speed. If this becomes a reality, then it could put Starlink on the back foot with its current 104 Mbps average.

At the earliest, Amazon will start serving satellite-based internet to customers before 2025 is through. Amazon has not given a ballpark for the cost of its internet plans, but it claims that it’s aiming to keep pricing low. If it can give customers almost half a gigabit in speeds and keep it close to or less than comparable Starlink plans, then competition could start to get fierce. To be clear, this is all according to Amazon. The only concrete example we have of Kuiper coming to market is a contract to supply in-flight Wi-Fi for JetBlue in 2027. So, similar to Starlink, you might first get a taste of Amazon Kuiper on an airline that offers Wi-Fi.

In researching and writing this article, we scoured the internet for any viable alternatives to Starlink that the average person can actually buy and use. Unfortunately, this remains a market with few options and only one major alternative on the way — Amazon’s Kuiper. To give a comprehensive overview of the services advertised and the actual experience of using them, we used a balance of online user reviews and hands-on testing from trusted review sites. We feel this levels things out, since reviews that may have received a commission differ from those of people relying on these services in realistic, everyday scenarios. We also took care to note the technical differences between Starlink and its competitors, given that GEO and HEO satellites provide drastically different results compared to the LEO constellations of Starlink.

We wish to reiterate that Starlink (and competitors) is not and has never been for everyone, everywhere. You’ll almost always get better prices, performance, and value with an ISP if you live in an urban or suburban area. The same goes for many rural communities. Satellite internet does have the benefit of being available almost anywhere, especially places where the infrastructure for internet is limited or poor, or in some cases, dominated by one company. However, aside from areas with poor coverage, the only other reason we can think of for choosing satellite internet over an ISP is if you have a particularly bad local provider with unsatisfactory, limited, or no alternatives. Check out our definitive list of major U.S. internet providers ranked from worst to best to find better options you might not have known about.