HP Instant Ink service starts at $2.99/month and it is totally worth it. I save hundreds of dollars on my ink costs every year. Plus, I’ll never run out of ink again. My printer orders it for me!
HP Instant Ink Replacement Service
A few months ago, I got a new HP printer so I could try out the new HP Instant Ink program. Click to find out if your HP printer is eligible for the program. Once you have an eligible printer, all you have to do is get connected online to HP and enroll in the plan of your choice with an HP Instant Ink enrollment card.
How HP Instant Ink Saves Money on Printer Ink.
It normally costs me $30 to replace my black ink cartridge and $37 to replace the color cartridges (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow). That’s $67 total. I usually need to replace my printer cartridges at least twice per year, which costs me $134. Compare that to paying $2.99 a month for the least expensive HP Instant Ink plan, which equals only $36 per year. Notice that an ENTIRE YEAR of HP Instant Ink costs me a lot less than replacing my printer’s ink cartridges a single time on my own.
Yeah, signing up for HP Ink service is pretty much a no-brainer, right?
Can you believe I get ink, free shipping and free cartridge recycling for just $2.99 a month? The $2.99 plan lets me print 50 pages a month and the unused pages roll over. If I decide to go on a printing spree, I can purchase additional sets of pages $1 each. Or I can upgrade to the $4.99/month plan and print 100 pages per month. For frequent printers, the $9.99 plan lets you print 300 pages. I thought there must be a catch somewhere – but there’s not. It is what it is. And the HP Instant Ink service is worth it!
The Unboxing. What’s inside my HP Welcome Kit?
You may notice that Instant Ink cartridges are slightly bigger than your printer’s regular ink cartridges. This is because HP Instant Ink cartridges hold months’ worth of ink so you don’t need to change your printer’s ink cartridges as often. (Just one way HP Instant Ink saves you time!)
And if that doesn’t convince you to try HP Instant Ink…
Another way HP Instant ink saves time is because there’s no need to shop in stores for replacement ink. My connected printer automatically orders ink online and HP Instant Ink delivers it to my door. I always have ink when I need it. Have you ever run out of ink in the middle of a print job? I have, and it is really annoying and inconvenient. HP Instant Ink makes sure that does not happen to you.
One of my favorite things about using the Instant Ink service is that I no longer worry about when to print in Black and White vs Color. Before HP Instant Ink, I was very conservative when it came to printing in color because it is so expensive to replace color cartridges. The HP Instant Ink plans are based on how many pages you print, not how many cartridges you use. So Black-and-White or Color prints cost the same.
Saving money on printer ink is important to everyone, and the HP Instant Ink program doesn’t just save you a dollar here and there…it’s saves you a LOT of dollars every month! You can potentially save hundreds of dollars per year with HP’s ink subscription service, depending on how much you use your printer. I have been very happy with HP Instant Ink and plan to stick with it – even though you can opt out of your plan at any time.
Updated December 2017 to add another awesome thing about the HP Instant Ink program!
HP Instant Ink now lets you print for free when you refer your friends. How it works: Invite your friends to try HP Instant Ink! For every friend who signs up for HP Instant Ink, we’ll give you and your friend 1 month of free service. I have put my friend referral link below.
Sign up to Try Instant Ink at http://try.hpinstantink.com/jH6NJ
Do you have a printer at home? What kinds of things do you print? How much money could you save every year with HP?
Sean Robins says
I signed up, I can’t wait until they send me the ink. I have some photo projects I would like to do that will take a lot of full color pages and I am hoping this program works as well as you say! I signed up for the 300 pages for $10 a month with free 3 months!
Nicole says
Hi Sean, That’s great! I didn’t know they had a 3 free months deal, too. You’ll definitely know by the end of that time if you are a fan of the service or not. One of my family members signed up last week, and I told her that even if she doesn’t like it, and has the $9.99 plan, she can cancel anytime and only lose the $9.99. It’s worth that much to try it out.
My main advice to anyone getting the plan is to remember to check your HP Instant Ink account pages to make sure you are not going to go over the amount of printed pages you have purchased for the month. If you are getting close to going over, it’s better to either upgrade your account or buy more pages for that month (both things can easily be done on the HP Instant Ink site.) The cool thing is that your unused pages will rollover to the next month (if you have any you didn’t use.) But, you really need to log in to your HP Instant Ink account and keep track of your used pages so you don’t get charged an overage fee if you happen to print more pages than you initially purchased for the month.
I have loved the Instant Ink service since I signed up for it more than a year ago. I’m still on the 300 pages/mo plan, too. With the holidays coming up, I’m going to print all my holiday photo cards at home and save money doing it myself. I hope after you have used it for awhile, you will come back and let me know how it is going for you. Your feedback is really helpful to anyone who is coming here to read the comments. I’d love to know your thoughts and any pro’s and/or con’s. Thanks so much for stopping by today. Happy Printing! –Nicole
Naomi says
Are you sponsored in any way by HP? I mean, do you get a discount on monthly plans for your blog posting? I couldn’t disagree more with your article. Instant Ink is a scam. They don’t mention that if you cancel the plan that all cartridges you currently have will immediately stop working, even if they are full and even though you paid for them through the subscription service. They also charge you per PAGE (not ink usage). I was left needing to print an important document with a printer that refuses to work unless I go out and physically buy more cartridges in the middle of my work day. You also get charged even if the pages spool but for some reason, the printing is interrupted and they don’t all print out.
Nicole says
Hi Naomi,
Thanks for taking the time to write your disagreements with my blog post. After reading your comments, I went online to the HP Instant Ink website and re-read the HP Instant Ink Terms of Service. Your concerns are addressed in the Terms of Service listed on the website. For your convenience, I have copied and pasted some of them here.
Your comment/complaint: “They don’t mention that if you cancel the plan that all cartridges you currently have will immediately stop working, even if they are full and even though you paid for them through the subscription service.”
ANSWER to your complaint that I copied and pasted from the HP Instant Ink Terms of Service:
“When Your Service is cancelled for any reason, HP will remotely disable the Instant Ink Program Cartridges and You will no longer be able to use the Instant Ink Program Cartridges to print.”
Your next complaint about being charged per PAGE, not ink usage is addressed in the Frequently Asked Questions section on the HP Instant Ink website. “How does HP Instant Ink work?
When you enroll in an HP Instant Ink plan, you pay a monthly fee to print a defined number of pages per month. The plans are based on the number of pages that you print, not on how many ink cartridges you use.”
Once you cancel your HP Instant Ink Service, “Cancellations and plan downgrades are effective after the last day of the current billing cycle.” (Another direct quote from the Terms of Service).
Any remaining ink in the cartridges does not belong to you, you did not pay for it (Your subscription pays for a defined number of printed pages, not the ink.) Therefore, my understanding is that if you cancel your HP Instant Ink Service, the HP Instant Ink cartridges are disabled and you will have to go back to purchasing traditional ink cartridges.
I hope that helps. If you need further clarification, please refer to the HP Instant Ink FAQ section and Terms of Service. Or, chat with an HP Customer Service agent. I don’t work for HP Instant Ink, so their representative would be better suited than me to answer any additional questions you may have.
I hope you can find a printer/ink solution that works better for you.
Donovan says
Yes, indeed. I really don’t understand how people can think this way. I was just on a review website where several other people were saying the same thing, they felt they paid for the ink.
If I paid for 2 months of service and spent $6, I should be able to cancel and keep the up to $500 worth of ink that remains in the cartridges? Honestly.
Nicole says
I’m so glad that someone understands (finally!). I was beginning to wonder if I was missing something. I have never had any of types of issues or negative dealings with Instant Ink customer service. Plus, I keep up with how many pages I print by logging into my account. It’s really not that difficult. Thank you for your input! I’m sure it will be helpful to others who are reading reviews and considering signing up for the service. –Nicole
Nich says
Hi,
Let’s say you have the $9.99 deal, and you print print 300 letterheads, will you be required to get another ink? Because letterheads take very little ink. Or is 300 an estimated minimum number? Meaning that you could print more than 300, as long as there is ink, thus only getting new ink once the existing is low?
Another question, do you have to send HP your old ink?
Will appreciate your response.
Nicole says
Hi Nich,
I think I understand your questions. I’ll try to answer, but probably the HP Instant Ink Customer Service can do a better job than me. 🙂 Just a disclaimer here: My answer and opinion is based on my understanding of how the HP Instant Ink service works and does not represent an official answer from HP Instant Ink.
The $9.99/month plan buys 300 printed pages. It doesn’t matter if you are using very little ink (such as in your example of printing 300 letterheads) or printing 300 full-page color ink flyers. You are buying a number (300) of printed pages, not the amount of ink. If you print more than 300 pages in a month, your account will be charged for them. At this time, the HP Instant Ink website charges $1 for each additional set of 25 pages.
I highly recommend logging into your HP Instant Ink account to help you keep up with how many pages you print per month. It shows you how many pages you have printed as well as any rollover pages you may have from previous months.
Answer from the HP Instant Ink FAQ page (in bold): If you do not use all your plan pages in a month, the unused pages will be kept in your account as rollover pages. Your rollover pages are available as long as you are enrolled in HP Instant Ink. You can continue to roll over up to the number of pages in your monthly plan (for example, you can roll over up to 100 pages if you are enrolled in a 100 page plan). If you have printed all of the pages in your plan, and you have used all of your rollover pages, you can still print additional pages and save.
Additional pages are available in sets of 15, 20 and 25 pages, depending on your plan, for only a $1. As long as your printer is connected to the Internet, we will send you an email to remind you when you are near printing all of the pages in your plan. If you are regularly printing additional pages, you may want to change your plan at HP Connected. After you sign in at HP Connected, click on Services, and then Instant Ink to change your plan. Plan downgrade changes are effective after the last day of your current billing cycle. You can choose to make plan upgrade changes effective during the current or next billing cycle.
Back to me: The HP Instant Ink cartridges hold a lot more ink than standard ink cartridges, so depending on your ink usage, you could go months without needing to replace your ink cartridges. HP provides an postage paid envelope so you can send in your used ink cartridges for recycling. I don’t think you are required to send the used cartridges back to HP for recycling. I do it because it’s easy, free and an eco-friendly service provided by HP.
I hope that helps answer your questions. The HP Instant Ink site has a list of Frequently Asked Questions you may want to check out, it’s very helpful. Thank you for your questions! –Nicole
MARIA AGUILAR says
Hello, i bought a hp envy 5540 a couple of days ago, it mentions on the paper that i get a 3 free month trial but i dont know how to activate the trial or if i need a promo code for it. I really want to test it out and get the trial since that was the reason i choose this printer exact. Has anyone had this problem as well or do you know if itll activate immediately when i sign up without a promo code?
Nicole says
Hi Maria, I am not sure about how the sign up works for the 3 month trial with printer purchase. If I were you, I would call the HP Customer Support number. Their phone number can be found online and on the HP Envy’s paperwork. They will be able to help you out and make sure you get set up correctly.
Good luck! –Nicole
LB says
Hi Nicole & Thanks for the Refer a friend code~I just signed up & Got us both a free month! God Bless you & your family! Keep up the good work, I love your site. 🙂 LB
Nicole says
Thank you so much for your lovely note, LB! It got my day off to a happy start to read something so nice. 🙂 I hope you enjoy using the HP Instant Ink. Thanks a bunch for using the refer-a-friend code so we’d get the free month, it is very much appreciated! I hope you have a wonderful summer. –Nicole
Jihan says
Thanks for the referral code! We both just got a free month of ink 🙂
Nicole says
Awesome! Thanks so much, Jihan! Hope you enjoy your HP Instant Ink as much as I do. –Nicole
Jeff says
I just bought the envy 7640 and signed up for the 2.99/mo plan. I’m very leary if this is going to be good for me. I don’t print very often, and when I do, it’s usually B&W text documents, not photos. In the past I’ve purchased remanufactured cartridges pretty inexpensivly online and only need to change a cartridge about once every 8 months. Again, it’s cheap enough to test it out. We’ll see.
Carrie Love says
Hey there! i used your code. Thanks for the free month.
Nicole says
Thanks, Carrie! I appreciate it a bunch and hope you enjoy your HP Instant Ink! –Nicole
Susan says
Plus the cartridges have more ink than the ones you buy in the store so you are changing less often. By the way, you don’t need to change the cartridge until your printer refuses to print. You will get warnings before that but you don’t really have to change the cartridge and there actually some ink left when you get the messages. HP makes the most money on the ink. So If people run out of ink, sometimes they won’t buy it because it’s a lot at once, but if you pay in small amounts per month you actually will save money if you do any printing. HP and the customer wins both ways. Shop around and you can get a great deal on very good printers. I recommend the HP All in One 8610, on sale now for $99 at Staples and other retailers. The HP printers are also very reliable and come with a one year warranty. Like I said before they don’t care if you print in color, and you don’t have to use draft mode. You can print some nice display quality 8 X 10 pictures if you want. Hope this helps someone.
Susan says
I think it’s a great deal. I lucked out and found a 6 month free ink with my holiday purchase from HP. It did;t start until I installed the first cartridge from my new printer which came with ink!! So almost a year ;after I haven’t spent a dime on ink yet. I enrolled in the 300 pages per month because it is easily $50-$80 to buy a new supply of ink. So for less than $10/mo I don’t have to worry about ink. If you go over, you can roll over pages for one month. If people don’t want to count their pages, they don’t realize they are still saving if they print average to moderate number of pages. HP doesn’t care how much much ink you use per page, that makes a difference too.
Nicole says
Hi Susan, I am so glad you stopped by to share your experience with your new printer and the HP Instant Ink program. I have been using the service for more than a year now, and have never had any issues or problems. My ink replacement cartridges always arrive in plenty of time. I also like that I can return the empty ink cartridges to HP for recycling at no charge (via the mailing envelope included in every HP Instant Ink replacement kit.)
I have upped my plan so I always have plenty of pages every month, and more often than not, my unused pages roll over for me to use the next month. It’s been great. I’m super happy with the service I get from HP. I hope you continue to enjoy yours, too! –Nicole
Megan says
You say in your opening that you save “up to 50% on ink costs per year.” Actually, you’re saving considerably more than 50%. If, as you say, you would normally spend $134/yr, but now you only spend $36/yr on the plan, then your are spending just over 1/4 on the plan vs off. So, you are saving nearly 75%. For the record: I’m on the plan, and it works well for me.
Ann says
Nicole – Just curious, what model printer do you have? My printer died several days ago, and I’m in the market for a replacement. Thanks!
Nicole says
Hi Ann – the printer I use every day is the HP Envy 5660 (it’s an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/photo). There is currently a great deal going on at Staples for a similar model, the HP Envy 5440 printer, that actually comes with 3 free months of HP Instant Ink. You can check that one out here: http://bit.ly/HPEnvy5540_NicoleB Hope that helps!
Ann says
Thanks, Nicole! I checked out the link and am going to stop by local Staples later today to look into it further.
Nicole says
You’re welcome! I’m very happy with my HP printer. If you buy an HP printer, be sure to look into the HP Instant Ink program – it is awesome and can save a lot of money on ink costs. Have fun shopping!
Ann says
Thanks, Nicole. After looking into it further today, I decided to get an Epson. There are a number of things about both HP and their Instant Ink program that don’t make sense/don’t work for me. But thanks for the info; I learned a lot today researching things.
Nicole says
No problem at all. I’m glad you were able to make an informed decision and pick what worked best for you. Happy printing! 🙂
Ken in Kansas` says
My wife and I just purchased two of the HP 8620 printers. She signed up for the 300 page instant ink plan, I signed up for the 100 page plan. I talked to a representative and the incoming cartridges can be used in either printer so long as they are still new. Once installed, they cannot be moved from one printer to the other. On the 100 page plan, you can only rollover up to a total of 100 pages, on the 300 page plan, you can only rollover a total of 300 pages….. In either case, we are excited about the HPInstantInk plan… the convenience of not having to shop for ink and the convenience of it coming to the house before you run out. I have already received my first set of cartrides and am nowhere near being out of ink. Thanks HP
Rob Snyder says
Nicole,
I happen to be walk into a Staples today and there was an HP rep it was his day to be at the store to answer questions train the staff etc. He got talking to me about this program and the printer right now they got a deal where you get 6 months of the 10 dollar plan free with the purchase of one of new printers that support HP Instant Ink. Some people scuff at the 50 pages and having to count pages. HP who gathers information from printers connected to the wifi or network for years have determined one thing. Average residential- consumer prints on average 43 pages a month. So 50 page plan will work for most people . There is always going to be exceptions to the rule but this will probably get me to switch from Epson to HP.
Nicole says
I LOVE my HP printer, so I hope you make the switch. I have been using the 50 page HP Instant Ink plan for months and never had an issue. I print the average amount or less during the months my kids are not in school. Ever since our last “conversation” here, I have been thinking of an easy way for people to figure out about how much they print every month if they are worried about going over their allotted pages.
Here’s my idea: At the beginning of the month, take a minute to count out 50 pieces of printer paper and put them in the printer. When you run out of those pages, don’t refill your printer’s paper until you check your HP account to see if you should upgrade to a higher HP Instant Ink plan. If you run out of 50 pages before the end of the month, you should upgrade to the next plan.
I think it could work, and people wouldn’t need to sign in and check their account every time they printed something. Anyways – thanks for taking the time to keep me posted on how things are going for you. I hope you get everything worked out for the school year!
Phil Harris says
Nicole,
My wife is a school teacher and is just starting school. Lot’s of printing to be done.I am going to try the 100 page program for 2 months, and reevaluate. Being you can change the plan from month to month without charge, I probably go down to the 50 page plan during the summer months and if necessary go up to the 300 page plan during the school year.
Nicole says
Hi Phil, I am glad to hear you are giving the Instant Ink program a try. I think that sounds like a great plan for your HP Instant Ink. It is simple to log in to your account and keep tabs on how much you are actually printing, so you can adjust the plan up or down for your printing needs.
I like that if I don’t end up using the amount of pages I pay for each month, they roll over to the next month. Hope your wife has a great school year! –Nicole
Dan says
I disagree. I signed up for the ink program; but did not like it. I don’t like having to keep track of how many pages I’ve printed. If you watch for sales at Office Depot/Staples/etc. it is cheaper for me to buy from them than the ink program. Even cheaper is ordering from places like LD on the internet. I’ve used them for years and only had one cartridge that didn’t work (they replaced it). If you don’t buy “real” HP ink the printer tells me I’m low on ink; but then it tells me I’m low on ink long before “real HP ink” cartridges run out. I print til I see the print quality going down no matter which kind of ink I’m using.
Nicole says
Hi Dan! Thanks for leaving your feedback about the program. I agree there are some great deals to be found from time to time on ink at the office stores. But I’m still enjoying being part of the HP Instant Ink program. I don’t have to worry about finding ink on sale – or even going to the store to buy the ink. Everyone has different printing habits, so the HP program may work better for some people than others. I know it is may not be right for everyone.
I appreciate your leaving your ink tips and opinions on the program. I am sure it will help people to decide if they should sign up or not. I like to hear both positive and negative opinions when I am making a decision. –Nicole
Lyndsey says
Are you still loving the program? I am thinking about signing up for the service and since I print mostly photos for Project Life I’m thinking it’ll save me money. $0.04 per page for the 100 pages per month plan, plus the paper cost.
Nicole says
Hi Lyndsey! Yes, I am still on the program and still love it. I am definitely saving money, and know several other people who joined the plan and are very happy with it, too. You can always cancel the plan if you are not happy for any reason – so I would say just go for it. —Nicole
Lori says
Here is my experience. My credit card associated with this subscription expired. HP sent me an email to alert me, but I must have missed it. So they hijacked my printer! I rarely print, perhaps 5 pages a month. I had 50 rollover pages plus my last month’s allotment when my account was frozen. I was told that I could not use my printer again until the cartridges were returned and that they had to be returned within 3 days.
I would not recommend to anyone to allow remote access to personal property and that is exactly how this subscription operates. DON’T DO IT!