What is the difference between a prepaid and a monthly plan?

A prepaid plan loads a fixed number of minutes or units that expire on a stated date, with nothing to cancel afterwards. A monthly plan renews every month until you cancel and suits a device that stays in service. Annual plans price a full year up front. The plan finder above sorts each category by these three choices.

Do I need a permit to use a satellite phone abroad?

In most countries, no. A small number of countries restrict or ban satellite phones, and India requires a permit before a handset may be brought in. Check the destination before you travel, and call (800) 279-2366 if you are unsure; we deal with these questions every week.

Are rental plans the same as these plans?

No. Rental airtime is activated differently and is sold with the rental equipment. If you are renting a phone or terminal, choose the plan on the rental pages, not here.

What is the difference between low earth orbit and geostationary networks?

Iridium and Starlink satellites orbit a few hundred miles up and pass overhead constantly, so latency is low and coverage reaches the poles. Inmarsat and Thuraya satellites sit 22,000 miles above the equator, so a terminal points at one fixed spot in the sky, latency is higher, and the polar regions are out of reach. Neither is better for everything: geostationary terminals are simple to aim and very stable once pointed.

Can I use satellite service while moving?

It depends on the hardware, not the plan. Handsets work in motion with an external antenna. Every Starlink business plan we sell includes in-motion use; the plan only decides how far the terminal may travel. Geostationary land terminals such as BGAN are pointed at the satellite and used stationary, while purpose-built vehicular and maritime terminals track it automatically.

Do satellite phones work indoors?

Not reliably. A handset needs a clear view of the sky. Indoors, use a docking station with an external antenna, or step outside. Vehicle and vessel installations solve this with a roof or mast antenna.

Is an Iridium GO! the same as satellite internet?

No. The Iridium GO! creates its own Wi-Fi so your phone can make calls, send texts and run specific weather and email apps over Iridium. It is not broadband and will not load a normal web page. For internet, look at the Starlink, land data and marine data plans.

What happens when I use more than my plan includes?

It depends on the plan. Voice and data plans that allow overage state the per-minute or per-megabyte rate on the plan page, so you can see it before you buy. Starlink business plans keep working after the priority allowance is used, at a lower priority than traffic that still has priority data; they do not cut off.

How long do prepaid minutes last?

Each prepaid plan states its validity on the plan page, from 30 days on some Fleet One prepaid plans to 365 days on the larger Inmarsat and Iridium blocks. Unused minutes expire at the end of that period.

Can I cancel a monthly plan?

Yes. Monthly plans renew month to month and can be cancelled ahead of the next renewal. Annual and long-term plans are priced for their full term. If you only need service for a set trip, a prepaid plan avoids the question entirely.

Why is there no price on this page?

Because plan prices change and a page that quotes them goes stale. Every plan tile and plan page shows the live price, and the finder above sends you to a list sorted from the cheapest.

How does activation work?

After you order, our activations team provisions the plan on the network for your device and confirms by email when it is live. Keep the device's serial or IMEI number and the SIM to hand if we ask for it. If you are leaving soon, call (800) 279-2366 so we can prioritise it.

Can I buy the plan before I have the device?

You can, but the plan cannot go live until the device exists. Buying both together is simplest; if you already own hardware, order the plan alone and we will activate it on your device.

How do I test the service before a trip?

Take the device outside with a clear view of the sky, make one call or send one message, and confirm it arrives. Do this at least a day before departure so there is time to fix anything. Dialing guides for each network are on the help centre.

What if the plan is not right after activation?

Call (800) 279-2366. Monthly plans can be changed at the next renewal, and we will tell you plainly if a different network or tier fits the job better.

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SPOT Trace Basic monthly satellite asset tracking plan card — $14.95 per month

Special offer

SPOT Trace Service Plans - Basic Monthly Plan

$14.95

SPOT Gen Basic monthly satellite tracking service plan card — $16.95 per month

Special offer

SPOT Gen Service Plans - Basic Monthly Plan

$16.95

SPOT Trace Extreme monthly satellite asset tracking plan card — $19.90 per month

Special offer

SPOT Trace Service Plans - Extreme Monthly Plan

$19.90

SPOT Gen Extreme monthly satellite tracking service plan card — $21.90 per month, 12-month term

Special offer

SPOT Gen Service Plans - Extreme Monthly Plan

$21.90

Iridium Short Burst Data monthly M2M plan with 0 KB included — SBD satellite data service graphic

Special offer

Iridium Short Burst Data Service - 0 KB Included

$22.99

Iridium Short Burst Data monthly M2M plan with 12 KB included — SBD satellite data service graphic

Special offer

Iridium Short Burst Data Service - 12 KB Included

$26.99

Iridium Short Burst Data monthly M2M plan with 17 KB included — SBD satellite data service graphic

Special offer

Iridium Short Burst Data Service - 17 KB Included

$31.99

Items 1-12 of 358

Service Plans 358 results

Remote site at dusk with a satellite terminal on the roof

4.8 of 5on Shopper Approved

Satellite Service Plans for Every Network We Sell

Airtime for Iridium, Inmarsat and Thuraya handsets, business data on Starlink, Certus, BGAN and Global Xpress, and messaging plans for trackers. Monthly, prepaid and annual, activated by the same team that ships the hardware.

View all plans How it works

Networks5

Plans350+

Support24/7

Not sure what you need?

Answer three questions and we will show you the right plans, sorted by price.

Where do you need connectivity?

Browse by category: Phone service, Marine data, Land data, Starlink, Messaging.

How a Satmodo plan works

Every plan on this page is activated by us on the network it belongs to. Pick the plan that matches your device and how long you need it, and we take it from there.

Match the plan to the device

An Iridium plan will not run on an IsatPhone, and a Starlink plan needs a Starlink terminal. Every plan on this site names the hardware it works with, and the finder above only shows plans that fit your answers.

Pick monthly, prepaid or annual

Monthly plans renew until you cancel. Prepaid loads minutes or units that expire on a stated date. Annual plans price a year up front. Rental airtime is separate and lives with the rental equipment.

We activate it

Our activations team provisions the SIM or terminal on the network and confirms by email when it is live. Call (800) 279-2366 if you are up against a departure date.

Test before you travel

Make one call or send one message outdoors before you leave. The help centre has the dialing guide for every network we sell.

Plans for work beyond the grid

Start from the job, not the network. Each tab pairs the situation with the plans we activate for it most often.

Vehicles evacuating along a smoke-filled road

Ready before the grid goes down

When cell towers fail, a satellite handset or hotspot is the only phone that still works. An emergency-only monthly plan keeps a device live all season for the day it is needed, and an Iridium GO! adds weather and email for a whole crew.

Five networks, one place to buy the plan

Choose by what the plan has to carry. Voice plans need a handset, data plans need a terminal, push-to-talk needs a PTT radio.

Starlink

High speed

Low-earth-orbit broadband for business sites, vehicles and vessels. Priority data plans, local or global.

See Starlink plans

Local Priority and Global Priority tiers
In-motion use included on every business plan
Service continues past the allowance at lower priority
Business and enterprise service only

Iridium

Pole to pole

The only network that covers the whole planet, poles included. Certus broadband, OpenPort and Short Burst Data.

See Iridium data plans

Certus Land and Certus Marine plans
OpenPort data, voice and shared-data plans
Short Burst Data for trackers and telemetry
Monthly plans, most without a contract term

Inmarsat

Maritime

Geostationary coverage of every ocean and continent short of the poles. BGAN on land, Fleet One and FleetBroadband at sea.

See Inmarsat data plans

BGAN monthly, prepaid units and regional plans
Fleet One coastal and global for smaller vessels
FleetBroadband single-vessel and fleet plans
BGAN M2M for unattended sites

Viasat

Enterprise

Global Xpress Ka-band VSAT with committed speeds. Fleet Xpress for vessels, Land Xpress for fixed sites.

See Global Xpress plans

Committed information rate, down and up
Fleet Xpress on 60 cm and 100 cm antennas
Land Xpress in two coverage groups
Terms from three months to five years

Iridium

Pole to pole

Handset airtime that works anywhere on earth, plus GO! hotspot plans for voice and light data over Wi-Fi.

See Iridium voice plans

Monthly minute plans from 20 to 500 minutes
Prepaid minutes valid for a fixed period
Regional plans for Latin America, MENA and the far north
Iridium GO! monthly and prepaid

Inmarsat

Maritime

IsatPhone 2 airtime for land and sea, with voice lines on Fleet One and FleetBroadband terminals.

See Inmarsat voice plans

Monthly plans from 20 to 720 minutes
Prepaid units valid for up to a year
Emergency annual plan for a phone kept in the drawer
Works on every IsatPhone 2 we sell or rent

Thuraya

Regional

Prepaid units for Thuraya handsets and SatSleeve across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

See Thuraya plans

Prepaid units from 20 to 2,500
Voice and SMS from one balance
Dual-mode handsets fall back to GSM
Australia not served since April 2024

Iridium PTT

Talkgroups

Push-to-talk over Iridium for crews spread across a region or the globe. Handsets and ICOM radios on one talkgroup.

See PTT plans

Monthly minute plans by talkgroup
Talkgroup access for additional radios
Works with Iridium Extreme PTT and ICOM IC-SAT100
No dialing, no number to give out

Iridium Paging

Alerts

One-way alert messaging to Iridium pagers for teams that must be reachable where phones are not.

See pager plans

Unlimited monthly and annual plans
Global delivery on the Iridium network
Pairs with the Iridium 9501 pager

Messaging plans for Bivy, SPOT and Garmin devices are under SMS service.

Why buy the plan from the people who sold the phone

Monthly plans with no long-term contract

Most of the plans here renew month to month. Cancel when the season ends instead of paying for a year of coverage you use for six weeks.

Prepaid for a single trip

Iridium, Inmarsat and Thuraya all offer prepaid minutes or units with a fixed expiry, so a two-week expedition does not need a subscription.

The price is on the plan

Every plan shows its price, and where overage applies the rate is stated on the plan page, before anything goes in the cart. No quote request, no callback to find out what it costs.

Emergency responders setting up a satellite terminal

Which network is right for you?

The honest differences, without a price row. Prices live on the plans themselves and change; orbits and coverage do not.

Key features	Starlink See Starlink plans	Iridium See Iridium plans	Inmarsat See Inmarsat plans	Thuraya See Thuraya plans
Orbit	Low earth orbit, hundreds of satellites	Low earth orbit, 66 satellites	Geostationary	Geostationary
Coverage	Where Starlink is licensed; business plans local or global	Whole planet including both poles	Worldwide except the polar regions	Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Australia not served since April 2024
Voice	No handset service; voice runs as an app over data	Handsets, GO! hotspots, push-to-talk radios	IsatPhone 2 handsets; voice lines on Fleet One and FleetBroadband	Handsets and SatSleeve, dual-mode with GSM
Messaging	Any messaging app over the connection	SMS from handsets; Short Burst Data for trackers	SMS from IsatPhone 2	SMS, paid from the same prepaid units
Latency	Low, low earth orbit	Low, low earth orbit	Higher, geostationary	Higher, geostationary
Plans we sell	Monthly Local Priority and Global Priority	Monthly, prepaid and annual voice; monthly data	Monthly and prepaid voice; monthly and prepaid data	Prepaid units

4.8 of 5from more than 450 Shopper Approved reviews

Rated by the people who used the plans

Every review is collected by Shopper Approved after a real order, and we cannot edit or remove them.

Read the reviews

Frequently asked questions

Sixteen questions we answer on the phone every week, each answered in the first sentence.

No. Airtime is tied to the network the hardware is built for: an Iridium plan runs only on Iridium devices, an Inmarsat plan only on an IsatPhone or Inmarsat terminal, a Starlink plan only on a Starlink terminal. Every plan on this site names the devices it works with, and the finder at the top only shows plans that match your answers.

Every plan

Browse all plans

Every plan we sell, in one grid. Open a network or category above to filter by monthly, prepaid or annual and sort by price.

Service Plans

358 results

Satellite Service Plans for Every Network We Sell

Not sure what you need?

Where do you need connectivity?

What is your primary need?

How long do you need the service?

How a Satmodo plan works

Match the plan to the device

Pick monthly, prepaid or annual

We activate it

Test before you travel

Plans for work beyond the grid

Five networks, one place to buy the plan

Starlink

Iridium

Inmarsat

Viasat

Iridium

Inmarsat

Thuraya

Iridium PTT

Iridium Paging

Why buy the plan from the people who sold the phone

Which network is right for you?

Rated by the people who used the plans

Frequently asked questions

Browse all plans

Service Plans

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