Confused about what Subaru Starlink actually costs? You’re paying for a car, not a phone plan — yet here we are. This guide breaks down every tier, every price, and every “gotcha” across all Subaru models so you can decide what’s actually worth your money. Stick around, because a few of these details could save you hundreds.
Wait — What Is Subaru Starlink, Exactly?
First, let’s clear something up. Subaru Starlink has nothing to do with Elon Musk’s satellite internet. It’s Subaru’s own connected vehicle service — a telematics system that runs on regular cell towers. It handles emergency calls, remote start, vehicle tracking, and more.
Here’s the catch: the system works completely differently depending on your model year. Buy a 2025 Outback? Different plan than a 2026 Forester. Drive a Solterra EV? Totally separate system. Let’s sort it all out.
Subaru Starlink Cost for 2016–2025 Models
Most Subarus on the road today fall into this category. The legacy platform splits into three tiers, and each one stacks on top of the last.
Safety Plus: The Emergency Layer
This is the baseline plan. It covers:
- Automatic collision notification — if your airbags deploy, a live agent calls you and sends help
- SOS emergency button — one press connects you to a dispatcher, even without your phone
- Roadside assistance — towing, jump starts, lockouts, with your GPS location sent automatically
- Diagnostic alerts and monthly health reports
Every new Subaru comes with a free three-year trial of Safety Plus. After that, you pay:
- $9.95/month or $99.95/year
Honestly, that’s reasonable for what amounts to a 24/7 safety net. Many owners keep it just for the collision notification feature alone.
Security Plus: The Remote Access Upgrade
This is where remote start lives. Security Plus adds:
- Remote engine start with climate control, defrost, and seat heating
- Remote lock/unlock from your phone
- Horn and light activation to find your car in a parking lot
- Geofencing, speed alerts, and curfew notifications
- Stolen vehicle recovery with remote engine immobilization
One important rule: you can’t have Security Plus without Safety Plus. They’re bundled. New vehicles only get a six-month free trial on Security Plus — noticeably shorter than the base plan.
Combined pricing after trials:
- $14.90/month or $149.90/year for both plans together
Also worth knowing: remote start has limits. The engine idles for a set period, and you’re capped at two consecutive remote starts before you need to physically start the car yourself.
Concierge Services: The One Most People Skip
The top tier adds a live human agent who can:
- Book restaurants, hotels, and event tickets
- Route destinations directly to your nav system
There’s no free trial for Concierge. It costs an extra $4.95/month on top of your Safety and Security plans, pushing the total to $19.85/month or roughly $200/year.
Here’s the honest take: your phone already does all of this for free. Market data backs this up — adoption rates for Concierge are low because Apple Maps, Google, and Siri handle these tasks without a monthly fee.
Legacy Pricing at a Glance (2016–2025)
| Plan | Free Trial | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety Plus | 3 years | $9.95 | $99.95 |
| Safety + Security Plus | 6 months (Security) | $14.90 | $149.90 |
| All Three Plans | None for Concierge | $19.85 | ~$199.85 |
The Dealer Discount You Should Ask About
At the dealership, buyers often get access to heavily discounted multi-year bundles:
- 3-year Safety + Security bundle: $99 upfront
- 5-year Safety + Security bundle: $250 upfront
Compare that to paying retail rates ($149.90/year × 5 years = $749.50). The five-year deal saves you roughly $500. Ask your finance manager before you sign anything.
The strategy is smart from Subaru’s side too. Get you hooked on remote start for five years, and you’re almost certain to renew at full price afterward. Still, the math clearly favors taking the deal.
Subaru Starlink Cost for 2026+ Models: The Companion Plans
Subaru overhauled the entire system starting with 2026 vehicles. The Safety/Security branding is gone. Meet the Companion and Companion+ plans.
Companion Plan: Emergency Features, Way Longer Trial
The base Companion plan covers all the essentials — SOS, collision notification, roadside assistance, over-the-air software updates, and vehicle health reports.
The big change? New retail buyers get a five-year free trial. That’s the entire average new-car ownership window, essentially free. After that, the pricing drops sharply:
- $4.49/month or $45/year
That’s less than half the old Safety Plus price after trial. Subaru clearly wants you to stay subscribed.
Companion+ Plan: Remote Features With New Perks
Companion+ adds everything from the old Security Plus, plus some new additions:
- Remote engine start and climate control
- Heated and ventilated seat control
- Valet mode — a passcode that limits vehicle functions when you hand over your keys
- Trip logging
- Geofencing and speed/curfew alerts
Trial length depends on how you finance the car. Standard new purchase: one-year trial for Companion+. After that:
- $7.50/month for Companion+ alone
- $11.99/month combined with Companion base plan
- $119.99/year combined
Point-of-sale bundles still apply here too:
- 3-year Companion+ bundle: $199
- 5-year bundle: $275–$325 depending on financing type
2026+ Pricing Summary
| Scenario | Companion Plan | Companion+ (Combined) |
|---|---|---|
| New vehicle (trial) | 5 years free | 1 year free |
| Monthly (post-trial) | $4.49 | $11.99 |
| Annual (post-trial) | $45.00 | $119.99 |
| CPO vehicle (1-year trial) | Free | $74.99/year after |
| 5-year upfront bundle | Included | $275–$325 |
Subaru Electric Vehicle Plans: SubaruConnect
If you drive a Solterra, Trailseeker, or Uncharted, the Starlink/Companion system doesn’t apply to you. EVs run on a completely separate platform called SubaruConnect, built around electric powertrain needs.
| Package | Key Features | Free Trial | Cost After Trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety Connect | Collision alerts, SOS, stolen vehicle | 5–10 years | Varies by trim |
| Service Connect | Health reports, maintenance alerts | 5–10 years | Varies by trim |
| Remote Connect | Charge scheduling, battery status, remote climate | 1 year | $8/month |
| Drive Connect | Cloud navigation, “Hey Subaru” assistant | 1 year | $16/month |
| Wi-Fi Connect | AT&T in-car hotspot | 30 days or 3GB | AT&T plan rates |
The $8/month for Remote Connect gets decent acceptance — managing battery pre-conditioning in winter is genuinely useful. But the $16/month Drive Connect fee faces real pushback. Most owners drop it after the trial and use Apple CarPlay or a free EV routing app instead.
Why Manual Transmission Subarus Can’t Use Remote Start
Here’s one that trips up a lot of WRX and BRZ buyers. If your car has a manual gearbox, remote start is locked out completely — regardless of your subscription tier.
The reason is straightforward: automatic transmissions have a Park position the system can confirm electronically. Manual gearboxes don’t. Many manual drivers park in first gear as a safety habit. If remote start fired while the car was in gear, the car would lurch forward violently. Subaru blocked it at the software level rather than risk the liability.
Want remote start on a manual anyway? Aftermarket solutions exist, but they require performing a specific safety sequence called the “neutral dance” before you exit the car — shift to neutral, set the parking brake, trigger the module, exit, then send a second command to shut the engine off. Miss a step and the whole sequence resets. Kits run between $345 and $549 depending on whether you want RF fobs or smartphone control.
Massachusetts Buyers: You Might Get Nothing
If you’re buying a 2022 or newer Subaru in Massachusetts, you need to know this before you sign.
In 2020, Massachusetts passed a Right-to-Repair Data Law requiring automakers to open their telematics data to independent mechanics. Subaru couldn’t comply with the mandate in time, so they made a drastic call: disable the telematics hardware entirely on every vehicle sold in the state.
That means Massachusetts residents buying a 2022+ Subaru get:
- No SOS emergency button functionality
- No automatic collision notification
- No remote start or app connectivity
- No over-the-air updates
Dealers must disclose this at the point of sale. Ironically, Subaru’s decision to actually disable the system weakened the auto industry’s legal argument that doing so was “practically impossible” — strengthening the case for data access laws nationwide.
The AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspot Add-On
Separate from the Starlink or Companion subscription, most Subarus include an AT&T-powered in-car hotspot. New vehicles get 30 days or 3GB free — whichever runs out first.
After the trial, you need an AT&T data plan. A dedicated vehicle line typically adds $20/month to an existing AT&T plan. Standard unlimited tiers include 3GB to 100GB of hotspot data depending on your plan tier.
Heads up: AT&T announced price increases hitting in April 2026 for legacy unlimited plans active before July 2025. Single-line accounts go up $10/month. Multi-line accounts go up $20/month across the account.
What Happens If You Want to Cancel?
Good news here. Subaru’s cancellation policy is flexible. You can cancel anytime through the app, website, or by calling customer support. If you prepaid for a multi-year bundle, you get a prorated refund for whatever time you didn’t use. No penalties, no runaround.
One real-world warning though: in 2022, all 2016–2018 Subarus lost connectivity when AT&T retired its 3G network. Those models had 3G modems from the factory. Subaru offered free hardware updates at dealerships — but only if your subscription was active. Miss the deadline? Your connection died permanently and your subscription was canceled with a prorated refund. As 5G expands and older networks eventually retire, this could happen again to current hardware generations. It’s worth keeping in mind when deciding how long to commit to a multi-year plan.
