Short answer — it depends a lot on the system and the vessel. Typical total costs (equipment + installation + airtime) as of Sep 15, 2025:

• Basic/backup for a small boat (Starlink / small LEO): equipment ~$2.5k, pro install ~$500–$4k; monthly airtime $250–$500 (small priority bundles) — total first-year cost ≈ $4k–$8k. (Starlink.com)

• Live‑aboard / midsize yacht (reliable broadband): hardware $2.5k–$30k (Starlink or KVH TracPhone V3/V7), installation $1k–$10k, monthly airtime $400–$2,500 (metered VSAT/HTS or higher-tier Starlink plans). First‑year total ≈ $8k–$60k depending on equipment and data allowance. (Starlink.com)

• Commercial ship or cruise (high capacity, SLA, redundancy): VSAT / HTS or dual Starlink/VSAT; equipment $30k–$100k+, installation & shipyard work $25k–$50k (large antennas may need structural work), monthly bandwidth packages $2,000–$25,000+ (or very large Starlink priority buckets e.g. $1k–$5k to $5k+/month for multi‑TB/priority service). First‑year total commonly $100k+. (RivieraMM.com)

What the price ranges mean (common technologies)

• Starlink Maritime / Starlink Business (LEO): low latency, high speeds. Hardware ~ $2,499–$5,000 for maritime/high‑performance kits; priority/data plans are sold in buckets (examples: small priority bundles, 1TB, 5TB — prices vary by plan and reseller; Starlink’s business/maritime page lists multiple priority tiers). Good for high throughput but costs depend on the priority/data bucket you choose. (Starlink.com)

• VSAT / mini‑VSAT (KVH, OneWeb/Intelsat partners, Viasat): heavier hardware (1 m domes to smaller HTS dishes), higher installation/shipyard costs, and airtime packaged by speed or data. Monthly plans range from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars depending on guaranteed bandwidth and shaped/unshaped allowances. Equipment can be $9k–$50k+ depending on antenna size. (Satphonestore.com)

• Inmarsat FleetBroadband / Fleet Xpress (L‑band/HTS legacy & managed services): widely used for voice/operations; lower throughput than modern VSAT/LEO but very global coverage. Monthly plans range from a few hundred dollars (small data packages) to several thousand for larger dedicated plans. (Satmodo.com)

• Iridium Certus (global LEO mesh for low/medium data): excellent global coverage (pole‑to‑pole) but relatively expensive per‑MB. Monthly plans can be ~$60–$1,500+ depending on allowed MB/GB; overage costs per MB can be high, so Certus is typically used for critical voice/low‑data telemetry or as redundancy. (Satphonestore.com)

Major cost drivers to watch

• How much data you need (GB/month). Per‑GB costs differ dramatically between providers — cents/GB on big VSAT/Starlink buckets vs. dollars/MB on Certus or old L‑band. (Starlink.com)
• Required uptime/SLA and geographic coverage (global priority, polar coverage, etc.)
• Hardware size and redundancy (single vs dual antennas)
• Installation complexity (mast reinforcement, cable runs, integration with ship systems)
• Reseller/managed‑service fees, tax, shipping, and long‑term contract discounts

Quick example budgets (rounded)

• Weekend boater who wants email/streaming at anchor: buy Starlink Gen‑3 kit ($~2.5k) + $250–$500/month → first year ≈ $5k. (Starlink.com)
• 50–100 ft yacht with crew/captain video calls + guest streaming: KVH TracPhone V7 or Starlink dual antenna, install $3k–10k, airtime $1k–$3k/month → first year ≈ $20k–$50k. (breakwateronline.com)
• Container ship needing crew welfare + ops + SLA: VSAT + backup, hardware & install $50k–$200k, monthly $5k–$25k (or higher) → first year easily $200k+. (RivieraMM.com)

Recommendations

• Get quotes from 2–3 authorized resellers (they price hardware, installation and airtime differently).
• Decide on priorities first: global coverage vs lowest cost vs low latency vs guaranteed SLA.
• Consider a mixed solution (Starlink for low‑latency/crew welfare + VSAT or L‑band backup for guaranteed coverage/SLA).
• For commercial use, insist on SLAs and test acceptance in port.

If you want, I can:

• give a 1–3 line estimate for a specific boat type (length, crew/users, typical monthly GB), or
• collect 2–3 reseller quotes for a chosen system type (Starlink vs small VSAT vs Iridium) — tell me the vessel size and how many simultaneous users/data needs and I’ll produce tailored ballpark numbers and cite current plans.