Contract length comes before the headline price
A monthly deal is only worth the label if nothing else quietly locks you in. Astound lists a contract term of 1 month on its internet plans and EarthLink lists 1 month, so both sit in the short-contract group rather than among annual and multi-year deals. The short-contract rankings show how each one sits against the rest of the field.
Rolling terms do not mean identical terms, though. Astound bills its mobile side on rolling billing, and the billing cycle and the contract term are listed as separate fields, so a household taking both lines should check each one rather than assume they move together.
Entry price and setup cost
Astound advertises prices from $19.95 a month with a setup fee of $0, and its published tiers run from an entry speed through a gigabit WiFi plan to a faster tier, all sold without a contract. The Astound review covers what the current offers include.
EarthLink's entry price is $24.95 a month on fibre. Its entry fibre tier is sold month to month, while the gigabit and top tiers are quoted by address, so the figure on the page may not be the figure on your bill. The EarthLink review walks through that structure.
For scale, prices across the site's listings run €1 to €99.49 and setup fees run €0 to €131.54 in euro. A monthly number only means something once you know whether a charge is added at the start and whether the speed behind it is on your street.
What the price does once the promotion ends
Astound's price rise rule is the softer of the two: a Price for Life rate stays locked for as long as the service is kept, while other promotional rates run for a set period and then give way to regular rates. That is a genuine advantage if you expect to stay put.
EarthLink's rule is 12 months consistent rates then full-price plan, which makes the advertised price a promotional rate rather than a permanent one. Prices after a promotional period across the site's listings run €25.90 to €72.06 in euro, so the starting figure and the later figure belong on the same line of any comparison you build.
Exit fees decide how free the switch really is
Astound's exit terms read No cancellation penalty; change or cancel anytime. There is no penalty to budget for, which is the clearest advantage of the two.
EarthLink's terms read Early Termination Fee up to $400 if Term Plan ended early, and that charge applies when a term plan is ended early. On a rolling plan the risk is therefore smaller, but if a sales quote offers you a term discount in exchange for a longer commitment, that is where the exposure sits.
This gap outweighs a small monthly saving, which is why it belongs near the top of your checklist rather than in the small print section. You can weigh it against other rolling providers in the short-contract rankings.
Speed, technology and data caps
Astound reaches 5,000 download and 5,000 upload over cable and fttp lines, which means its top upload figure matches its top download figure rather than trailing far behind it. EarthLink's top listed speed is 5,000.
Upload matters for cloud storage, video calls and backups, so a provider that publishes upload next to download is easier to plan around than one that does not. Across the site's listings, download speeds run 1.4 to 10,000 and upload speeds run 35 to 8,000.
Caps are the other limit. On its satellite service EarthLink applies a data allowance of 15 to 300 GB, and Astound's mobile plans do not carry unused data into the following cycle. Both are worth knowing before you pick a tier.
What arrives with the service, and what you must qualify for
Astound includes whole home WiFi hardware powered by eero with its gigabit plans and steps the hardware up on its top tier, which takes a router purchase off your budget. A social tariff is also available for households that qualify.
Both providers publish an address checker: Astound's is at https://www.astound.com/check-for-service/ and EarthLink's at https://earthlink.net/internet-near-me/. Astound also publishes its FCC labels at https://www.astound.com/labels/, which is the place to confirm the terms attached to the line before you order. Neither headline price applies outside the footprint.
Mobile extras and support
Astound is also a mobile reseller and lists a SIM only option, eSIM support, hotspot sharing, WiFi calling and a multi-line discount, with a credit check required when you sign up.
Roaming is paid and the unlimited mobile plan is priced at $30. Support runs through phone, chat and help centre. None of this changes the broadband decision on its own, but a household already paying for a mobile line can weigh a bundle against a standalone broadband deal.
How to decide between them
If the ability to leave without a penalty is your priority, Astound's exit terms remove the main risk of a monthly deal, and its included WiFi hardware lowers the starting cost of a gigabit plan.
If you want fibre at the entry price and would rather avoid a satellite-style data cap on your line, EarthLink's entry fibre tier is the one to price up for your address, and you can check the upper tiers against the EarthLink review once you have a quote.
In both cases the order of the comparison should be the same: confirm service at your address, read the exit terms, read the price rise rule, then compare the monthly cost. Providers in the same short-contract category are listed together in the short-contract rankings.