DStv Decoder Price in Nigeria (2026): All Types and Costs
A DStv decoder costs ₦7,900 without a dish, or ₦15,000 with a dish and a month of Yanga. The Explora is ₦223,999. Every type, price and monthly cost.
DStv Nigeria sells just two types of decoder right now: the HD decoder, which most people call the Zapper, and the Explora, which records. The gap between them is more than ₦200,000. Whichever you pick, the box is the small part of the bill. What you really pay for is the dish, the person who fits it, and the monthly package you will still be paying for long after you have forgotten what the decoder cost.
The prices here are the ones on DStv’s own website. Dealers can be a little above or below them and MultiChoice runs promos from time to time, so treat these as the baseline.
DStv decoder prices in Nigeria at a glance
| What you buy | Price | What is in it |
|---|---|---|
| HD decoder (Zapper) | ₦7,900 | The decoder only. No dish, no subscription. |
| HD decoder + dish kit | ₦17,900 | The decoder (₦7,900) and a dish kit (₦10,000). No subscription. |
| HD Zapper Bundle | ₦15,000 | The decoder, a dish kit and one month of DStv Yanga. |
| Explora + Smart LNB | ₦223,999 | The recording decoder and the LNB it needs. |
DStv decoder price with and without a dish
Without a dish, the decoder is ₦7,900. With a dish, look at the second and third rows of the table again. The bundle is the same decoder and the same dish kit with a month of Yanga added, and it costs ₦2,900 less than buying the decoder and dish kit with no subscription at all. Unless there is already a DStv dish on your wall, the bundle is the one to buy.
None of these prices mentions installation. Before you pay, ask whether fitting the dish is included. If it is not, the installer’s fee is a separate cost and it is better to know the figure up front.
If ₦7,900 sounds low, it is. The decoder was ₦20,000 until June 2025, when MultiChoice halved it to ₦10,000. It dropped again to ₦7,900 on 1 November 2025, with the dish kit at ₦10,000, and that was still the price on DStv’s site when we checked. DStv lists one price for the whole country, so Lagos pays what Port Harcourt pays. What differs from place to place is what a dealer or installer adds on top.
The DStv HD decoder (Zapper)
This is the decoder almost everyone ends up with, and for good reason. It does one job: it puts DStv on your TV in HD. It works with every package from Padi up to Premium, so buying the cheap box does not lock you out of any channel.
It connects by HDMI, and it still has the old AV output for a TV that has no HDMI port. There is a USB port for DStv’s Wi-Fi connector and a one-year warranty.
What it cannot do is pause, rewind or record. If you miss the first ten minutes of a match, you have missed them.
The ₦7,900 decoder-only price makes sense in two situations. One is replacing a decoder that has died when the dish is still up. The other is adding a second decoder for another room, which DStv calls XtraView (more on that below).
The DStv Explora
The Explora is the decoder with a hard drive in it. For ₦223,999 you get:
- Pause and rewind on live TV.
- Recording, up to 110 hours of it.
- DStv Catch Up, for shows that have already aired.
- BoxOffice movie rentals.
- Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, if you have the speakers for it.
It needs a Smart LNB on the dish, which is why DStv sells the two together.
Is it worth 28 times the price of the Zapper? For most homes, no. Recording a series while you watch something else is lovely, but the money is a year of Compact. Every decoder package above Padi also lets you stream through the DStv Stream app, where you can watch on your phone and download shows for later, and that covers a good part of what people want an Explora for.
And it will not rescue the match when the light goes. A decoder with no power records nothing.
The Explora suits a household that is already on Compact Plus or Premium, watches a lot, has steady power or an inverter, and argues over the remote. If that is not you, buy the Zapper and put the difference into your subscription.
DStv package prices: what you will pay every month
The decoder is a one-time cost. The package is the real bill.
| Package | Per month | TV channels | What DStv sells it on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium | ₦44,500 | 140+ | 16 SuperSport channels, the newest movies and series |
| Compact Plus | ₦30,000 | 135+ | Champions League football, UFC, NBA |
| Compact | ₦19,000 | 125+ | Premier League football, a WWE channel |
| Confam | ₦11,000 | 110+ | All La Liga fixtures, Serie A |
| Yanga | ₦6,000 | 90+ | Serie A, Africa Magic, kids’ channels |
| Padi | ₦4,400 | 45+ | Nigerian shows, music, SuperSport Blitz |
If the Premier League is the reason you are buying DStv, Compact is the package DStv puts it up front on. Cheaper packages may carry some matches, and what sits where shifts from season to season. Read the package page on DStv’s site before you commit, especially if you plan to pay for a year.
On that: Compact is ₦209,000 if you pay for the year at once. That is eleven months’ money for twelve months of TV.
When this article was first written in 2018, Premium was ₦15,800 a month and Compact was ₦6,800. Both have nearly tripled. The decoder is the small part of what DStv costs you.
What the first year really costs
Here is the sum people skip. Each row is the hardware plus twelve months of TV, with no installer’s fee.
| Setup | How it adds up | First year |
|---|---|---|
| Zapper Bundle, staying on Yanga | ₦15,000 + 11 months at ₦6,000 | ₦81,000 |
| Zapper Bundle, then Confam | ₦15,000 + 11 months at ₦11,000 | ₦136,000 |
| Zapper Bundle, then Compact | ₦15,000 + 11 months at ₦19,000 | ₦224,000 |
| Explora on Compact Plus | ₦223,999 + 12 months at ₦30,000 | ₦583,999 |
The Explora row needs a dish as well if you do not already have one.
Do you need a decoder at all?
Not always. DStv Stream is the same service over the internet, with no dish, no decoder and nobody on your roof. Every package except Padi is sold this way, at the same monthly price as the decoder version. You can register up to four devices and watch on one at a time, on a phone, tablet, laptop or smart TV.
The catch is data. HD video gets through well over a gigabyte an hour, and a weekend of football can finish a monthly data plan by Sunday night. If your home internet is unlimited and steady, streaming saves you the hardware. If you are on mobile data, the ₦15,000 bundle pays for itself quickly.
Padi is the exception. It is decoder-only, so the cheapest way to stream is Yanga at ₦6,000 a month.
Watching in two rooms
Both decoders support XtraView. You link two decoders to one subscription and each room watches its own channel. It costs a second decoder plus a monthly access fee on top of your package. DStv does not print that fee on its decoder pages, so ask for the current figure when you buy.
Before you pay
- Start low. You can move up a package any month. Begin on the one you are sure you will watch and upgrade when a tournament starts.
- Keep the receipt. The HD decoder carries a one-year warranty and you will need proof of purchase to use it.
- Be careful with used decoders. A second-hand decoder may still be tied to the last owner’s account. Have DStv move it into your name before money changes hands.
- Price the alternatives. If these numbers are more than you want to spend, look at GOtv, where packages start at ₦1,900 a month, and at StarTimes before deciding.
Quick answers
How much is a DStv decoder in Nigeria?
₦7,900 for the HD decoder and ₦223,999 for the Explora with its Smart LNB.
How much is a DStv decoder and dish?
₦15,000 as the HD Zapper Bundle, which also includes one month of Yanga. Bought separately with no subscription, the decoder and dish kit come to ₦17,900. Installation is extra unless your dealer includes it.
How much is a DStv decoder without a dish?
₦7,900.
What types of DStv decoder are there?
Two. The HD decoder (Zapper) shows live TV in HD. The Explora does the same and also pauses, rewinds and records.
What is the cheapest DStv package?
Padi, at ₦4,400 a month, with 45+ TV channels.
Can I watch DStv without a dish?
Yes, with DStv Stream, on any package except Padi. You need a good internet connection and a lot of data.
