Starfield best ships: What is the best ship in Starfield?

What are the best Starfield ships? If you're deep into your Starfield intergalactic adventure and want to know which ships are the best in terms of cargo capacity, combat, grav jump distance, and more, we have you covered.

Our Starfield best ships list breaks down the game's best ships by listing their primary stats and explaining what makes them the game's most solid choices. We'll give you an overview of their basic stats and some info about what makes them especially good among the hundreds of ships you can choose in Bethesda's new space adventure. Note that you can have up to ten ships, so you'll definitely want to be sure all of these are in your collection.

Starfield has dozens of ship types, with several free ships and many you can buy from various vendors throughout the Settled Systems. And, if you're feeling ambitious, you can also steal a ship or two, too. You'll also want to customize your ships with different weapons, engines, and other upgrades, including many that make them more powerful for combat or better for going undetected when dealing in Starfield contraband. So, while our look at the best ships will get you pretty far, note that your personally chosen upgrades to any base ship can make it even stronger.

When deciding which ships to keep in your arsenal of up to ten options, you'll want to look at things such as fuel capacity, cargo capacity, the ship's shield strength, and hull, which is a numerical representation of the overall health of the ship. You'll also want to consider the number of credits you'll need for the ship and to factor in the price of any upgrades you might want for your vehicle. Some ships will also have better jump ranges than others, allowing you to advance farther in a single grav jump.

Best Starfield ships

The best Starfield ships are the Abyss Trekker, Narwal, Razorleaf, Silent Runner, Star Eagle, Starborn Guardian, and Stronghold.

Below we've gone into more detail about each of these ships and what makes them the very best.

Abyss Trekker

• Cost: 365,525
• Class: C
• Hull: 1031
• Shield: 850
• Particle Cannons: 38
• Missiles: 96
• Ballistics: 162
• Fuel: 950
• Grav Jump Range: 25 LY
• Cargo Capacity: 340
• Max Crew: 6

The Class C ship Abyss Trekker is great for moving quickly throughout space, rendering it a solid pick for speed and space combat. Although it has limited cargo capacity, it also has one of the game's most balanced overall ship systems in terms of fuel, its 25 lightyear jump distance, and base 96 missile and 162 ballistics stats. You can purchase it from the Ship Services Technician in Paradiso.

Narwhal

• Cost: 455,400
• Class: C
• Hull: 2118
• Shield: 995
• Lasers: 24
• Ballistics: 114
• Missiles: 82
• Fuel: 560
• Grav Jump Range: 30 LY
• Cargo Capacity: 1760
• Max Crew: 7

As the most expensive ship in the game, it's no surprise that many players consider this class C ship the best due to its all-around solid stats, including 114 ballistics and 82 missiles. It is a beast of a ship with relatively high cargo and very hull stats, plus it holds seven crew, which is the most we've seen in the game to date. You can purchase this bad boy from the Ryujin building in Neon from Taiyo Astroengineering.

Razorleaf

• Class: A
• Hull: 469
• Shield: 390
• Lasers: 6
• Particle Cannons: 16
• Missiles: 36
• Fuel: 140
• Grav Jump Range: 16 LY
• Cargo Capacity: 420
• Max Crew: 2

The Razorleaf is one of the best Class A early-game options. And, as a reward for completing the Mantis quest line, it's completely free. The ship has powerful weapons and a shielded cargo capacity of 160 for smuggling contraband. It's quickly grown to become a favorite ship among players, and with good reason.

Silent Runner

• Cost: 390,150
• Class: C
• Hull: 1164
• Shield: 975
• Particle Cannons: 38
• Missiles: 96
• Fuel: 300
• Grav Jump Range: 30 LY
• Cargo Capacity: 6060
• Max Crew: 5

The Silent Runner is the best ship for running cargo, with a staggering 6060 cargo space, over 1,000 more than the next-highest ship. It also has a 30-lightyear jump distance and a 34 reactor, making this thing a powerful beast of a machine that's also not too shabby in its shield and hull stats. You can pick one up in HopeTown.

Star Eagle

• Class: A
• Hull: 948
• Shield: 760
• Electromagnetic: 2
• Missiles: 136
• Lasers: 12
• Fuel: 140
• Grav Jump Range: 16 LY
• Cargo Capacity: 2508
• Max Crew: 5

The Star Eagle is a large, well-rounded ship with a high cargo capacity, making it a strong choice for resource gathering. As a balanced middle-ground ship, it's an excellent pick for regular use as a middle-game ship option. You will obtain this ship as a reward for the Freestar Ranger questline, which you can get in Akila City.

Starborn Guardian

• Class: A
• Hull: 944
• Shield: 1480
• Solar Flare Beam: 30
• Gravity Torpedo: 100
• Fuel: 1500
• Grav Jump Range: 30 LY
• Cargo Capacity: 950
• Max Crew: 5

This powerful ship is a reward for Starfield's New Game+ mode and has a high laser damage rating and a decent jump range. It can grav jump 30 lightyears away, and its Solar Flare Beam and Gravity Torpedo make it extremely powerful in combat. The game will continue to reward you with upgraded versions of this ship as you play through more New Game+ games. Note that while this is a good ship, you cannot customize it. Be sure to check out our guide to learn more about how to get the Starborn ship.

Stronghold

• Cost: 400,125
• Class: C
• Hull: 1047
• Shield: 1600
• Lasers: 36
• Ballistics: 48
• Fuel: 2200
• Grav Jump Range: 30 LY
• Cargo Capacity: 2360
• Max Crew: 6

The Stronghold's high fuel capacity, cargo capacity, 30 lightyear jump, and extremely strong defenses make it one of Starfield's most powerful ships. It's an ideal choice for quickly transporting large cargo amounts over long distances. The ship's built-in defenses are strong enough to protect you from enemies as you travel. However, at more than 400,000, it will cost you a pretty penny. You can pick this ship up in Akila City.

That's our round-up on the best ships in Starfield. Be sure also to check out our guide to the game's free ships and our guide to the best skills on the Starfield skill tree, too. We also have a Starfield character creation guide, and an overview all Starfield traits and how they work.