HP begins subscription plans for its printers and ink — up to $36 per month, includes limits and cancellation fees

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Fine print requires the users to commit to a two-year lock-in subscription

HP 'All-in' Subscription Plan for Printers and Inks
(Image credit: HP)

In January, HP said it would bring subscription plans for its printers and tried to justify blocking third-party inks. Now HP has implemented the subscription, calling it an 'All-in' plan where users can print a limited amount of pages per month for a monthly fee, provided they sign up with a two-year commitment and other charges. This plan will include the printer and the cartridge ink, with a promise of next-business-day printer replacement and the option to upgrade the printer after two years. 

HP's most expensive subscribable plan allows up to 700 pages per day for $35.99 per month excluding taxes

(Image credit: HP)

At the time of writing, HP allows you to choose three printers- HP Envy, which would cost $6.99 per month onwards; HP Envy Inspire for $8.99 per month; and HP OfficeJet Pro, which costs $12.99 per month, for its US customers. The minimum number of pages you can print is up to 20 pages per month and goes up to 100 pages per month for $10.99 per month on Envy. The most expensive plan is the OfficeJet Pro, which restricts you to up to 700 pages per month for $35.99. You will be charged $1 per 15 pages if you print more than your limit, and this does not include taxes.

Since HP didn't mention anything about the paper, even on its FAQ, it's likely not included in its 'All-in' plan.

The company has been championing this concept for a long time. It claims that its All-in plan will deliver the ultimate convenience and includes dedicated 24/7 Pro live support. It does include a 30-day trial period with no upfront costs or commitments as long as the printer and the ink cartridges are shipped back with a prepaid shipping label within ten days to avoid cancellation fees, which obviously would mean you will need to give you credit/ debit card details for the trial. It sounds like a leasing plan that restricts your monthly prints based on the subscription plan and locks you in for two years.

HP's 'Made to be Less Hated' Campaign Makes it More Hated

Ironically, HP's 'Made to be less hated' advertisement implies it admits its printers are infuriating to use. The company is more notorious for high ink pricing and its constant blocking of third-party ink, even resorting to claims that third-party inks could contain malware. The company was sued for its practices, and it had to settle the case for $1.3 million in the past.

Whether these subscription plans would make it be hated less remains to be seen, but luckily, there are options as most would not like to be locked down with a two-year-long commitment. Luckily, HP has no monopoly on the printer and ink business.

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh
Roshan Ashraf Shaikh
Contributing Writer

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh has been in the Indian PC hardware community since the early 2000s and has been building PCs, contributing to many Indian tech forums, & blogs. He operated Hardware BBQ for 11 years and wrote news for eTeknix & TweakTown before joining Tom's Hardware team. Besides tech, he is interested in fighting games, movies, anime, and mechanical watches.

36 Comments Comment from the forums
  • RandomWan
    I hope to hear the sweet, dulcete tones of Enrique Lorres saying the subscription model is under-performing.
    Reply
  • RichardtST
    Yeah... Netgear started this with their routers. I stopped buying them. At least I knew enough to stop buying HP a long time ago... I hate subscriptions.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    Never buy HP printer.
    Reply
  • palladin9479
    hotaru251 said:
    Never buy HP printer.

    This is the sad thing, their InkJets are horrible with quasi IRM (Ink Rights Management) lol. HP Laser Jets on the other hand are awesome and built like tanks. HP is a perfect example of malicious market segmentation.
    Reply
  • rluker5
    Maybe I'm missing something,but this just seems like a plan to rent printing capacity from HP and not an additional charge for those who buy their stuff.

    If that is all it is I don't have a problem with it.
    Reply
  • RandomWan
    palladin9479 said:
    This is the sad thing, their InkJets are horrible with quasi IRM (Ink Rights Management) lol. HP Laser Jets on the other hand are awesome and built like tanks. HP is a perfect example of malicious market segmentation.

    Their lasers are just as bad too. They have 3rd party blocking circuitry in those and they have at least some of the models that require you to create an online account to activate the printer and I've periodically had that revert and require you to activate it again (activation prevents printing or even accessing the built-in webserver).

    I would never recommend HP printers in any capacity.

    rluker5 said:
    Maybe I'm missing something,but this just seems like a plan to rent printing capacity from HP and not an additional charge for those who buy their stuff.

    If that is all it is I don't have a problem with it.

    There's been reports of printers getting essentially bricked because people have canceled subscriptions at a later date. I've not dealt with anyone actively using a subscription to confirm, but they'll definitely sell you a subscription like it is a must have just to rope in the people who don't know any better and with the above mentioned activation requirement, I am inclined to believe they would operate as the reports have indicated.
    Reply
  • Math Geek
    pretty sure this is supposed to be maximum

    "The minimum number of pages you can print is up to 20 pages per month and goes up to 100 pages per month for $10.99 per month on Envy."

    don't think i have printed 10 pages in the last 5 years. if you do actively print for a small home office or something, no way even 100 a month would be enough. i can just go to my local library and print the one page a year i need for 10 cents i guess :)
    Reply
  • pjmelect
    I recomend that no one buys HP printers they are simply to expensive.
    Reply
  • LolaGT
    ultimate convenienceI have a different term for what this is called, but that is breaking the coc.
    I guarantee I'll never touch anything HP
    Reply
  • vijosef
    palladin9479 said:
    This is the sad thing, their InkJets are horrible with quasi IRM (Ink Rights Management) lol. HP Laser Jets on the other hand are awesome and built like tanks. HP is a perfect example of malicious market segmentation.
    I had the terrible misfortune of being exposed to the same models of HP laserjet 1100x series on different places. It's a network printer.

    It's an horrible experience. It frequently goes to sleep, and refuses to wake again. It is normal that windows stops recognizing the printer. It's normal and frequent that Windows sends a print job, and it not only doesn't prints, but gets blocked from further printing, (and resetting the printer pool and even restarting the service does nothing) Then it prints from some networked PCs, but not from others with exactly the same configuration, frequently requiring to reinstall the drivers. It's frequent that the printer refuses to work claiming that it needs "user attention", when it doesn't requires any "user attention" at all, and is simultaneously printing for other PCs.

    I know a dude who had PTSD caused by uncertainty about the printer working. He was traumatically scared about the printer blocking him from completing a job on time for no reason.
    Reply