HP Instant Ink Subscription - The Ugly Truth
07/04/2025
The HP Instant Ink subscription service has been around for a couple of years and may well suit the needs of some printer users. If you have never heard of HP Instant Ink then in summary, you pay a monthly subscription to HP allowing your printer to print a fixed number of pages during the month. The subscription just covers the cost of the ink used.
It has increasingly come to our attention via support queries from our customer base that once a printer has been signed up to the HP Instant Ink subscription service it can never again be used with any brand of compatible cartridges.
The Pros Of HP Instant Ink
1. You should never run out of ink. When the adapted cartridges supplied by HP reach a set low level a new cartridge will be dispatched automatically.
The Cons Of HP Instant Ink
1. The cost of every page you print will be that bit more than buying HP original cartridges as and when you needed them.
2. The cost of every page you print will be considerable more than if you used a good quality compatible ink cartridge.
3. If your printer usage varies then you either can`t print or you have to visit the HP Instant Ink website to upgrade your subscription or buy a extra pages at an even more expensive rate.
4. You are in a contract that has terms and conditions including exit clauses. Lots of small print !
5. But the biggest issue that you don`t seem to want to tell you is detailed below.
What They Don`t Seem To Tell You About HP Instant Ink
The terms of the subscription do say that :- ( https://instantink.hpconnected.com/uk/en/terms )
"To continue printing after cancellation, you will need to purchase a regular HP cartridge compatible with your printer"
What is does not say is that your printer has been locked to only allow original HP cartridges from that point on.
You have been warned !