HP Instant Ink

HP Instant Ink

Basic Information
Release Year	2013
Product Type	Subscription Service
In Production	Yes
Official Website	HP Instant Ink

HP Instant Ink is a subscription service launched by HP Inc. for their printers in late 2013. Consumers with compatible printers can choose from five different plans based on their usage volume and receive a set amount of ink each month to cover that usage. The monthly price includes the relevant ink or toner, delivery, and recycling of used cartridges.

In 2024, HP began offering paper as part of the monthly plans, for an additional fee. This was rolled out to countries including the US, the UK, metropolitan France, and Germany.

Also in 2024 HP All-In Plan, a new printer-lease program was announced. This program expanded from just cartridges to include a printer that, depending on the tier of subscription, limited the number of pages that could be printed, effectively removing the ability to use third-party cartridges. The program at the time of writing offers three different printers, each with various printing plans based on the number of pages to be printed, at different prices.

Consumer impact summary

Use of a subscription service for ink/toner cartridges and/or printers allows HP to maintain post-sale control of a product the consumer used to purchase and own outright. Such practices limit autonomy and freedom of consumer to use the products they pay for as they see fit. Further using a subscription service means the consumer uses these products under specific terms that can change at any time leaving them without recourse in many cases.

Of note is also the limitation to use specific brands of ink extending market control of the manufacturer and locking the consumer to an ecosystem entirely under their control.

Incidents

Incidents affecting the entire product line can be found in the company article: HP Inc.

Cost savings and Pricing

As of January 2025, the pricing for each tier of the service for customers in the US was as follows:

HP Instant Ink
	Light	Occasional	Moderate	Frequent	Business
Pages / Month	10	50	100	300	700
$US / Month	1.49	4.99	6.99	13.99	27.99
Paper Plan
+$US / Month	0.79	1.99	3.49	5.99	10.99
Total	2.28	6.98	10.48	19.98	38.98

HP claims that "most customers save on ink and many save up to 50% compared to buying traditional ink cartridges." The cost savings are based on the monthly subscription cost of the 700-pages-per-month "Business" plan of the program, and the results are compared to the cost per page to print ISO/IEC 24711 pages on A4 paper in color.

The printers used in the study that led to these findings in the 2022 and 2023 reports were all HP branded, and the ink or toner was Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) (i.e. not using third-party inks), as HP notes in their FAQ sections. Comparisons were not made with the XL cartridges, which are cheaper per unit of ink.

HP Chief Financial Officer Marie Meyers has also publicly stated that HP sees a 20% uplift on the value of a consumer (i.e. a consumer spends 20% more with HP) when they are locked into an ink and paper subscription model vs. a traditional transactional pricing model.

Cancellation or alteration of plans

HP Instant Ink can be canceled at any time according to the terms of service with billing stopping at the end of the month. Upon cancellation, all outstanding debts are collected.

The HP All-in program can be canceled for free if done within 30 days of enrolling, and the printer is returned within 10 days of cancellation. However, if the subscription has been maintained for longer than 30 days and less than 24 months, there are additional fees to cancel (as per the FAQ on Jan 13).

At the time of writing, the Basic printer starts at $6.99 per month ($83.88 per year), and cancellation after 30 days but before 12 months will cost $120 in fees. Before 24 months, it would cost $60 in fees. That is 143% and 71% of the per-year cost of this plan, respectively.

HP+ trial activation and limitation of printer usability

HP+ is a free six-month trial of HP Instant Ink that comes with a new printer. It is optional, but it is extremely easy for a user to activate HP+ during installation. After activating HP+, the printer is permanently flashed with updated firmware, which causes the printer to only accept genuine HP-branded consumables.

All HP printer models ending with an "e" (for example HP OfficeJet 8035e) support activating HP+. This has the potential to devalue used HP printers in this class, as the previous owner of the printer may have activated HP+, rendering the printer incompatible with cheaper non-OEM replacement ink cartridges or toner.

Lawsuit

On July 6, 2021, a class-action lawsuit was filed against HP.

The main allegations made in the suit were:

• HP will block you from using cartridges or ink purchased outside of the program, a fact they do not disclose.
• Cartridges and toners are not always sent on time.
• Sometimes cartridges are faulty on arrival.
• Prepaid return mailers are not always supplied.
• Upon cancellation, you cannot use the remainder of your ink.

In February 2023, HP settled the complaints, and the parties have filed for dismissal.

Workarounds

It is possible on some HP cartridge models and their respective printers to replace the DRM chip of an incompatible cartridge with one from a compatible OEM cartridge. This possible because many HP cartridge models share the exact same physical dimensions despite the difference in name. This also allows for the use of less expensive, third-party cartridges or refillable cartridges in printers that may not have had them available for purchase otherwise.

Read the full guide here.

See also

• HP Inc.
• Canon Ink DRM
• Right to own
• Subscription service