Unpaid Review of HP Instant Ink

We’ve been using this subscription service with HP for over 6 months now. Here’s our Unpaid Review of HP Instant Ink. Get a Free Month Trial too!

 

Before we started using HP Instant Ink, it seemed like my printer was always running out of ink at the most inconvenient times. I would hold off buying new cartridges because they were so expensive and we’d try to use every last drop of ink before making that big purchase. But then, just when we’re rushing out the door for school and someone needs their homework printed, we’d run out of ink. Every single time. 

So when I heard about HP Instant Ink it appealed to me on two fronts. First, the price seemed better than what I was shelling out for Canon ink cartridges. I also loved that the printer tells HP when it needs more ink and the cartridges just show up in the mail. 

How HP Instant Ink Works

The Printer (and App)

First, you have to have an eligible HP printer (check to see if yours is eligible here). We purchased the very affordable HP Envy 5055 and have been so pleased with it! It’s a wireless, all-in-one photo printer/scanner and it’s done a lot of great printing for us over the past six months. 

I also downloaded the HP Smart Printing App onto my phone so I can send documents straight from my phone to the printer, which has been so helpful. The app also allows me to scan things with my phone and send them to the printer. Being able to connect my phone with my HP Printer has come in handy more often than I would have guessed! 

HP Instant Plans

When you have an eligible printer, you just sign up for an ink plan. The monthly plans range from Free (15 pages/month) to $19.99 (700 pages/month). We started with the $2.99 plan, which gave us 50 pages per month. However, for the past couple months we’ve been using the $9.99 plan with 300 pages per month because we’ve had a lot to print. We’ll likely switch back to a cheaper plan soon though. 

Once you’re signed up for a plan, you can stop worrying about ink. The HP Instant Ink cartridges are high capacity, which means they don’t need to be changed out very often. And when the ink does get it low, your printer sends a signal to HP and they put your new cartridges in the mail. They also send pre-stamped mailers for you to send back your empty cartridges to be recycled. 

There are no annual fees or cancellation fees and it’s easy to change or cancel your monthly plans. 

Our Unpaid Review of HP Instant Ink

Overall, HP Instant Ink Subscription has lived up to its promises. We have not once run out of ink. We are definitely spending less on ink than ever before. And, it’s as simple as advertised. 

This is an unpaid review of HP Instant Ink and it’s worked so smoothly for us that I really don’t have any complaints at all. It is yet another subscription plan, but the convenience and efficiency far outweigh the small cost every month. 

What We Like About It

• Colored Ink is not more expensive than Black Ink. We pay by the page, so it doesn’t matter if we’re printing our full color Autumn Picture Book Bingo Sheets, or just our black and white Rad and Happy Coloring Pages. I LOVE this. I used to be more stingy with the colored ink, but now I don’t have to worry about it. 
• It’s easy to switch plans. When I knew I had a lot of things to print, I just increased my plan, and then decreased it the following month. It’s very easy to do in your online account. 
• You can check the app, or sign in to your account to see how many pages you’ve printed in a month, how low your ink is, and if you have ink on the way. 
• If we aren’t paying close attention and go over our print amount, the penalty is not steep. It varies depending on your plan, but for us right now, we can print an additional 20 pages for only an extra $1 charge. But also, they’ll send an email to remind you when you’ve almost reached your plan’s print amount. 
• I love that HP knows when we need more ink and it just shows up. It is one less thing I have to think about, and I couldn’t appreciate that more. 
• If we don’t use all of our prints in a month, the pages roll over (up to 2 times your monthly plan amount). 

Things to Consider

• If you realize in the middle of a month that you need more prints than your current plan allows, you can easily jump up to the next plan. However, you can’t downgrade your plan in the middle of a month (although pages do roll over), so you’ll want to have a good guesstimate of how much printing you do. 

Get a FREE Month of HP Instant Ink

Head over here to sign up with my referral link and you can try HP Instant Ink for a month at no charge. We’ve been so happy with both our printer and the ink plan. I hope you find it helpful too.

It’s such a happiness boost for me when I can simplify and automate something that makes our day-to-day life run so much smoother. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. And, if you try HP Instant Ink, I’d love to hear what you think!