HP Instant Ink Program Review

Much like any HP printer owner, we signed up for HP Instant Ink and we are here to share with you what we think about this service with this honest review.

The idea behind this program is pretty straightforward: no more expensive printer ink!

HP offers an ink replacement service called HP Instant Ink in which you can choose your monthly plan and the company will send you replacement cartridges when needed. You pay for what you use, so it’s an affordable way to keep your printer up-to-date with fresh ink. But is it worth it? Read on for our review of this innovative service from one of the world’s top printer manufacturers.

What Is HP Instant Ink?

If you are looking for a reliable way to save money on ink, it’s time for you to learn about HP printer’s ink program.

So what is HP Instant Ink and how did it start?

HP Instant Ink is an ink replacement program launched in 2013. Over the years, thousands of HP printer owners have tried and tested the program. Ink cartridges will be delivered to your doorstep and once your inks start to run out empty, HP will be able to detect that through their servers and send you your new ink cartridges before you even ran out.

[aawp box=”B0913HF26Y”]

There is no doubt that printing costs money, but HP Instant Ink has found a way around this problem by offering an easy solution. With their ink-by-mail subscription plans, customers pay less than they would with other brands and have the ability to print as much as they want without worry! If you’re interested in learning more about instant ink and how it can help make your life easier, keep reading below!

HP Instant Ink Plans

As of August 2021, HP is offering 5 various plans for future Instant Ink customers. The cheapest subscription service plan will only cost you $0.99 per month for 15 pages. The next plan offers more value for just $2.99 per month, you can print up to 50 pages on your HP printer. For those printing dozens of pages per month, you can get the 100 pages per month plan that will cost you $4.99 monthly, the $11.99 per month plan that’s good for 300 pages, or go for the highest-tier plan that gives you 700 pages per month for only $24.99 monthly.

HP Instant Ink also gives you the ability to roll over pages when you are not able to use all the pages you have for the month. For example, you subscribed to the $4.99 plan in June which gives you 100 pages per month and you only used 80 pages. The remaining 20 pages will be added to your next month’s subscription giving you 120 pages for July.

If you’re wondering if there’s a limit to these rollover pages, then you should know that HP allows you to roll over 3x the number of pages in your plan.

If you need to add more pages to your current plan, you can opt to upgrade to the next higher plan or just pay a dollar for an additional set of 10 to 15 pages depending on your subscription plan.

HP Instant Ink also works for HP laserjet printer owners. HP will send you your toners before your current toners run out if you subscribed to their monthly plans. For those who only print a few dozen pages a month, then the $1.99 monthly plan should be enough since it gives you 50 pages per month as opposed to the 15 pages per month available for HP inkjet printer owners.

If you need more pages, you can subscribe to higher-tier plans. One of them can give you as many as 1,500 pages per month for only $25.99.

Same as the Instant Ink plans for inkjet printers, you can also roll over pages you’re not able to use and HP allows you to do this for 2x the number of pages in your plan.

If you need more pages, you just need to pay an extra dollar for every set of 10 to 15 pages depending on your chosen Instant Ink plan.

HP Instant Ink Review: What Do We Think About This Ink Replacement Service?

We all know how expensive printer ink can be. This is why some people have turned to HP Instant Ink, which sends ink cartridges on a monthly basis and usually costs less than the upfront cost of buying them outright at an office supply store. I was able to try out this service for two months and see what it’s like. Here are our thoughts about this ink replacement service and determine if HP instant ink is worth it.

HP Instant Ink Is Easy To Setup

Once you enroll on their website, HP will typically send you your Instant Ink cartridges within the next 14 days. After receiving your new set of inks, all you have to do is insert them into your HP printer and you should be good to go. Just make sure that your printer is online. A printer offline issue at hand will be a big problem since HP Instant Ink requires your printer to be connected to a network so it can communicate to HP’s servers.

Eliminates The Need To Shop For Ink Cartridges

Needing to print last-minute and settling for second best options can be a headache, but there are ways around it. You may have gone through this scenario before: you’re printing out the final draft of your paper or need multiple signatures on an important document when suddenly one color in the printer runs out of ink and you are unable to print in color?

With HP Instant Ink, replacement cartridges will arrive before you even run out of inks. You don’t even have to drive to the store or order it online since everything comes to you automatically when you are subscribed to HP Instant Ink.

Printing Images And Any Colored Document Just Became A Whole Lot Cheaper

One of the most convenient aspects of HP Instant Ink is that it’s so easy to print in color. With traditional printing, you are typically forced into rationing your prints for black and white documents only due to how much ink or toner each document takes up on a given page.

However, with this service even if you go through more than one cartridge per month because all colors can be printed at no extra cost- which means an office full of employees don’t have any excuse not to use their printer or for you to start printing memorable pictures that you can put into your photo album.

You Can Save As Much As 50% On Inks

HP Instant Ink provides an instant and affordable solution to those that dislike the high cost of printing. In fact, HP estimates savings as great as 50%. This means households with busy schedules will be saving money on ink and toner while small businesses can operate more efficiently without worrying about expensive replacement HP ink cartridges or toners.

HP Instant Ink is a perfect way to make printing more convenient for your household or business. With the low-cost ink and smart technology, you can save money on printer costs without any hassle.

HP Instant Ink is a cost-effective solution for home and office use that provides the convenience of never running out and being able to print as many pages as you want. The downside, though, is if you can’t afford it or don’t need instant ink all of the time this service might not be worth your while.

If you are in the United States, you can go ahead and claim this $5 prepaid code for Instant Ink to start taking advantage of this ink replacement service.

Most Common HP Instant Ink Problems

Before you subscribe to this HP printer ink program, you must know that Instant Ink brings in a whole new set of problems that you may encounter with your HP printer. Here are some of the most common issues reported by HP Instant Ink customers.

You Can Only Use Instant Ink Cartridges

When you subscribe to any of the HP Instant Ink plans, you won’t be able to use another type of ink cartridge unless you cancel your plan. This means regular HP instant ink cartridges will not work if you already used your Instant Ink cartridges and have successfully activated your plan.

This is a problem if you don’t have any Instant Ink cartridges laying around when you encounter trouble with your inks. You will have to wait for your new set of Instant Ink cartridges before you can use your printer again. We’ve mentioned this problem first because this is the most common reason why subscribers cancel their plans.

HP Can Monitor Your Activity

HP will be watching your printer to make sure you’re getting the most of their Instant Ink service. By enrolling in this program, they can remotely monitor how many pages you print and whether or not it’s a document type that would require them to charge your subscription plan.

They can also monitor if you are using your old Instant Ink cartridges or the new ones they’ve sent you. HP monitoring isn’t really a big concern but we understand that for some individuals this can be an obvious drawback.

HP Ink Cartridge Errors Still Happens With Instant Ink

If you’re a printer owner that has experienced the following problems, then your HP Instant Ink may be to blame: ink cartridge not recognized by the printer; error message displays on the computer screen, and ink cartridges empty when they’re not.

These are common printer problems for those using regular HP ink cartridges, but using HP Instant Ink cartridges does not make you immune to these errors yourself.

Instant Ink Cartridges Stop Working When You Cancel Your Plan

When you cancel HP Instant Ink, your HP Instant Ink cartridges will stop working. You’ll need to replace them with normal ink from the store if you want it to work again. Many customers see this as a robbery though and assume that they are being remotely stolen from by their printer company.

However, this is not entirely true. Let’s say HP Instant Ink is your phone subscription plan. Canceling that will stop you from sending texts or make any calls on your phone but you still have your SIM card with you. When you cancel your Instant Ink subscription, the same thing happens. You have the ink cartridges but your printer will not print any of your documents since your subscription has been cut off when you canceled your plan.

HP Support Has A Lot Of Room For Improvements

HP printer owners who have encountered a printer issue or two might already know what we are pointing out here. HP Support is either one of the best in the world or the worst customer experience you ever had depending on the printer technician who helped you out with your case. Sadly, it’s often the former for most HP customers.

For one, reaching the HP Instant Ink support team at 1-888-447-0148 takes at least 5 to 15 minutes of waiting if you’re lucky. Then you have to tell them what your printer problem is. After the two of you look into that, you now have to spend some time troubleshooting your HP printer depending on the issue you are having. If it’s fixable, good. If not, then you will have to be patient before you can print a document again.

What makes it worse for HP Instant Ink customers is “instant” is not true when you are having a printer issue. If they identified your ink cartridges are the issue, you will have to wait for your new ink cartridges to arrive.

Is HP Instant Ink Worth It?

If you’re a printer owner, then chances are that you’ve been looking for ways to save on ink. There’s no need to worry about running out of ink with HP Instant Ink! This program sends over new cartridges when your current ones run out and it’s hassle-free, so it’s definitely worth checking out if you want to keep printing beautiful photos and sharp-looking documents without spending an arm and a leg on ink supplies.

Frequently Asked Questions About HP Instant Ink

Best Alternatives To HP Instant Ink

The HP Instant Ink service sounds good in theory, but is it worth the price and being locked with this program for the whole duration? Fortunately, there are plenty of low-cost alternatives to help you stay on budget when printing documents and photos from your HP printer.

Aftermarket Printer Cartridges

Aftermarket cartridges are the preferred low-cost printing solution for thousands of customers. They offer competitively priced alternatives to original products and provide print quality that is on par with an original ink cartridge without preconditions, such as a long list of requirements like date codes.

Remanufactured and compatible options are available for almost every printer model on the market so you can start saving right away by investing in lower-cost aftermarket cartridges if you’re happy with your current printer!

HP Smart Tank Printers

HP Smart Tank printers are the perfect way to create professional documents with dark, crisp text and vibrant color. You can print borderless brochures or fade-resistant photos that will last for years!

[aawp box=”B07XGNLFJC”]

Recently, HP launched the Smart Tank series that will allow clients to print up high volumes of pages for a fraction of the cost using older printer models from HP. The ink cartridges on these printers are refillable making them cheaper to use than printers that require ink cartridge replacement.

With HP Smart Tank printers, you can print 6,000 black and white documents and photos and 8,000 colored pages with just a single refill. This is something you should consider since Smart Tank printers are the best HP Instant Ink alternative out there.