Earn 5000 FREE Star Citizen Credits With Referral Code: STAR-NTSD-NTKT

Start Star Citizen
  • Home
  • Enlist With Referral
  • Pick A Starter Ship
  • Blog
  • Can I Run Star Citizen
  • Star Citizen Play Tips
  • How to Join a Free Fly
  • How to Download & Install
  • What is a Wipe?
  • Star Citizen Resources
  • Star Citizen Misnomers
    • Sky Citizen
    • Space Citizen Start Guide
  • More
    • Home
    • Enlist With Referral
    • Pick A Starter Ship
    • Blog
    • Can I Run Star Citizen
    • Star Citizen Play Tips
    • How to Join a Free Fly
    • How to Download & Install
    • What is a Wipe?
    • Star Citizen Resources
    • Star Citizen Misnomers
      • Sky Citizen
      • Space Citizen Start Guide
Start Star Citizen
  • Home
  • Enlist With Referral
  • Pick A Starter Ship
  • Blog
  • Can I Run Star Citizen
  • Star Citizen Play Tips
  • How to Join a Free Fly
  • How to Download & Install
  • What is a Wipe?
  • Star Citizen Resources
  • Star Citizen Misnomers
    • Sky Citizen
    • Space Citizen Start Guide

What is the Best Star Citizen Starter Ship?

An Aegis Avenger Titan flies through space in teh game Star Citizen.

Picking your Star Citizen starter ship and starter pack is an exciting time as a new player. In this page, we provide our recommendations for and reviews of the best Star Citizen starter ships and show you how you can purchase a starter pack on the official Roberts Space Industries website. 

Starter Pack Deals, Discounts & Referral Bonuses

Star Citizen Starter Pack Deals & Discounts

There are no discounted Star Citizen starter packs available now. It is expected that there will be at least one discounted starter pack available during Foundation Festival in July 2025.


If you're looking for the lowest-price Star Citizen Stater Pack, the Citizen Starter Pack comes with a Mustang Alpha, our new recommended budget pick, and is always available.

Star Citizen Special Referral Bonus

A Star Citizen special referral bonus is not available now.


When a special referral bonus is available, players receive a small ship or vehicle like the Mirai Pulse, Drake Dragonfly, or Kruger P-52 for free in addition to the regular referral bonus of 5000 game credits. You can only receive the special referral bonus if you use a referral code when you first set up your Star Citizen account and then spend your first $40 at the RSI pledge store on a game package or ship during the special referral bonus period!

Star Citizen Starter Ship Recommendations

An Avenger Titan spaceship sits in a hangar in Star Citizen.

Best Star Citizen Starter Pack Pick: Avenger Titan in the Duelist Starter Pack

The Avenger Titan is the best all-around Star Citizen starter ship, but it is not the lowest-cost option. 


Pros:

  • Two entrances - ramp and cockpit ladder - make it easy to get in and get flying fast
  • One of the lowest insurance claim times if you crash it or respawn
  • Incredible firepower for a ship of its size due to its Size 4 nose mount
  • Includes an onboard bed that allows you to log off outside of stations
  • Plenty of interior space that can be used for package delivery missions, a great way to earn credits early in Star Citizen
  • Interior cargo bay can also help you earn credits early on with hauling missions
  • Allows you to try all game play types except vehicle and ship mining and salvage


Cons:

  • Maneuverability is sub-optimal for high-level bounties
  • Ramp entrance is unusable when loaded with cargo
  • Not the lowest-cost package


The Avenger Titan is available in the Duelist Starter Pack pledge that normally costs $75 USD.

A Mustang Alpha spaceship hovers in a hangar in the game Star Citizen.

Budget Star Citizen Starter Pack Pick: Mustang Alpha in the Citizen Starter Pack

The Mustang Alpha is a competent Star Citizen starter ship, and usually the lowest cost option. Its limited capabilities will help you earn the credits to buy a more capable ship in-game.


Pros:

  • The lowest-cost starter package
  • Lowest insurance claim time among starter ships
  • Has light weaponry and small cargo storage - half the capacity of the Avenger Titan


Cons:

  • Weaponry too weak for all but the easiest space combat missions
  • No onboard bed that would allow you to log off anywhere in game
  • No interior space to consume food or drink


The Mustang Alpha is available in the Citizen Starter Pack pledge that normally costs $45 USD.

A Cutlass Black (Cutty Black) spaceship sits in a hangar in Star Citizen.

The Big Upgrade Star Citizen Starter Pack Pick: Cutlass Black in the Privateer Starter Pack

The "Cutty Black" is a significant upgrade both in capability and cost among the Star Citizen starter ships. It is also considered a good upgrade ship to purchase in Star Citizen after earning the credits in-game. 


Pros:

  • Features a tandem copilot seat and manned turret so you and your friends can fly and fight together.
  • Expansive cargo area is large enough to support cargo transport or carrying ground vehicles, including the ground mining vehicle, the Roc
  • Allows you to try all game play types except ship mining and salvage


Cons:

  • Significantly more expensive than the Aurora and Titan options
  • Not as maneuverable as smaller ships - you may struggle in fights against smaller ships without a turret gunner
  • Claim time is nearly 2.5 times longer than the Titan claim time. This could get annoying if you crash or die a lot, which is common when first playing.
  • In previous versions of Star Citizen, the large aft engines were prone to being destroyed and being stuck in an irreparable state. This bug may return in future versions of the game while it is in development.


The Cutlass Black is available in the Privateer Starter Pack pledge that normally costs $125 USD.

An Important Note about Performance

Before you pledge for a starter pack, you should check to see how well Star Citizen will run on your computer. Star Citizen is a high-performance game, and if you don't have the right components, then it may not run well on your computer. 


With that said, you don't need to have the latest and greatest hardware, but there are key components, not just your CPU and GPU, that can make the difference between the game running or crashing.  


Check out our Can I Run Star Citizen page for details on how well you can expect Star Citizen to run on your computer what you can do to make it run better.

How to Pledge for a Starter Pack

An example screenshot of what a Star Citizen game package looks like in the RSI pledge store.

The RSI Pledge Store is the Official Starter Pack Source

A Star Citizen Account is Required to Pledge for a Star Citizen Starter Pack

  • You need to have a Start Citizen account in order to pledge for a Star Citizen starter pack. If you do not have a Star Citizen account, then check out our instructions for setting up a Star Citizen account. If you use our referral code, your account will also receive a bonus of 5000 game credits for free - five times as many credits as the standard starter packs provide!


Pledging for a Star Citizen Starter Pack

  • You need to leave this website and go to the official Roberts Space Industries website to see the available game packs. Click the link below (or copy and paste it into a new browser window) to go to the official Roberts Space Industries website:
    https://robertsspaceindustries.com/store/pledge/browse/game-packages
  • Select an option that includes "Starter Pack" in the name so you get a copy of Star Citizen to play. 
  • Complete the purchase process like any average online retailer.


Checking Your Current Starter Pack

  • Once you have pledged for a Starter Pack, you can check to see which starter package you have in your Star Citizen account hangar. 
    • You need to leave this website and go to the official Roberts Space Industries website to check which starter pack you have. Click the link below (or copy and paste it into a new browser window) to go to the official Roberts Space Industries website:
      https://robertsspaceindustries.com/account/pledges
  • If you see your starter pack in your hangar, then you are now ready to Download and Install Star Citizen!

Next Step: Download and Install Star Citizen

Once you have purchased a game package (or joined a free fly), you can download and install Star Citizen. Click the button below to learn how to download and install Star Citizen!

How to Download and Install

Star Citizen Starter Pack FAQ

The Star Citizen developers are using a crowdfunding process to fund the development of the game. 


In this process, users "pledge" money to fund development, and as a reward, the developers promise to give you a copy of Star Citizen and the ship you pledged for when Star Citizen is released. However, this is not a purchase - in the unlikely event that the developers go out of business or development ends before the game is completed, you cannot request a refund.


Though fellow Citizens may talk about "buying a ship" or "buying a package", we are actually pledging money to fund development!


Star Citizen is still under development, and the developers describe it as a playable alpha. Periodically, the developers need to perform a wipe of the databases that track player progress. 


In the worst of these wipes, everything you have earned, found, or purchased in-game is lost, and you are forced to restart the game with only the original 20000 UEC stipend and any ships or gear you have in your Star Citizen account hangar. These worst-case wipes occur roughly every 3-12 months, but they are not on a set schedule - these wipes are directly driven by development progress.


When this happens, you will need to complete missions in the game to earn back the credits you need to buy the ships you were using.


However, if you pledge for an upgraded ship (or multiple ships), then those will be available to you immediately after the wipe.


Some players don't like the idea of starting back at a basic ship and instead purchase upgrades, while others have restarted with an Aurora MR after every wipe as they prefer to play a "zero-to-hero" journey.


The key point to remember is: you do NOT need to pledge for a high-end or more expensive ship to play Star Citizen!


Squadron 42 is a single-player space epic that is set in the Star Citizen universe and currently under development by Cloud Imperium Games. 


Featuring FPS missions, ship-to-ship combat, and immersive settings, it occurs in a human-alien war that occurs shortly before the events of Star Citizen.


No.


Squadron 42 is intentionally separate from Star Citizen.


You will be able to play Star Citizen without owning Squadron 42 not only now, but also when Star Citizen is released.


Squadron 42 is not available to pledge for at this time.


The Star Citizen developers removed the Aurora MR Starter Pack on 29 May 2025. 


Unofficial Fansite

The Star Citizen made by the community logo.

Last Updated: 29 May 2025

This is an unofficial Star Citizen fansite, not affiliated with the Cloud Imperium group of companies. All content on this site not authored by its host or users are property of their respective owners.


The official Star Citizen website may be found at https://robertsspaceindustries.com

Copyright © 2025 Start Star Citizen - All Rights Reserved.

  • Enlist With Referral
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • About

Powered by

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

DeclineAccept