Printer Ink Subscription Plan Review

May 18, 2023

Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP all offer services that deliver ink or toner straight to your door, potentially saving you money. Here's what to know before you sign up.

Few things in life are more dreadful than a last-minute run to the office supply store just to replace the magenta in your printer. That's why Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP all offer ink subscription plans, delivering replacement cartridges to your door the moment your printer detects that you’re running low.

Some services, such as HP's Instant Ink plan, even offer a discount on ink or toner costs.

That all sounds good, right? Ease, convenience, and peace of mind—words we don't often use when talking about printers.

But there are drawbacks to these services as well. Here's what you need to know.

These plans are typically reserved for printers manufactured in the last few years. Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP all list the eligible models on their websites (see plan details for each below). Brother lets you search the list using the model number. On HP's site, you use the model name. At Canon and Epson, you’ve got to comb through the list on your own.

To alert the manufacturer when it's time for an ink or toner delivery, the printer needs to be connected to the internet. That may raise some privacy concerns for you. We reviewed each company's privacy policy and found that all require your consent to remotely monitor your printer use, including ink supply levels and page counts. They also reserve the right to collect other information, such as the types of documents (PDF, JPEG, etc.) you print, the application you print from, and the make of the ink or toner cartridge (which allows the company to see if you’re using a lower-priced product from a third-party).

They also may share your information with business partners for processing your credit card payments and, yes, serving you personalized ads. For more details, here are the policies for Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP.

There are two types of ink subscription plans: auto-replenishment services, which charge you for the ink or toner you receive, and print plans, which charge you a monthly fee for a set number of pages instead.

In both cases, the ink is sent to you automatically and the shipping is free.

The auto replenishment option—available at Canon and Epson—is slightly easier to use because there's no monthly fee or page count to keep track of. You just pay for the cartridge.

However, if the number of pages you print is relatively consistent, a print plan can offer more savings. Counts range from one page per month to as many as 1,500. If you print less than the plan allows, the pages roll over; if you print more, you pay extra, typically $1 for sets of 10. The company sends you the ink or toner as needed, not on a monthly basis.

Brother, Canon, and HP use the print plan model. Brother and HP claim it can save you up to 50 percent on replacement costs. Canon advertises savings of 20 to 70 percent.

Here's a closer look at each of the ink subscription plans, starting with the auto-replenishment services.

Brother's Refresh EZ Print Subscription has four print plans for ink and five for toner. Toner plans start at $0.89 for 25 pages a month and go up to $24.99 for 1,500 pages.

The ink plans start at $2.49 per month for 40 pages and go up to $15.99 for 400 pages.

If you print less, the unused pages—up to 3,000, in some cases—can be rolled over to the next month. If you print more, you pay $1 for each additional set of 10 to 60 pages, depending on the plan.

Brother will also extend the warranty on your printer if you enroll in a plan at least three months before the original protection expires. Depending on the plan you choose, you’ll be covered for a year or two extra, as long as you maintain the subscription.

So, is it worth it? Well, that depends on the printer model you own and how much you use it.

Based on our recent survey data, for example, we know that the median number of pages printed per month on all-in-one black-and-white laser printers owned by CR members is 33. If you sign up for Brother's basic toner plan (89 cents for 25 pages per month) and print at that volume, you’ll pay $1.89 per month or $22.68 per year with the overage fees. (The next-level plan—$3.49 for 100 pages a month—would be overkill.)

Now let's look at Brother's EZ Refresh-eligible HL-L2395DW printer. According to CR's testers, the estimated toner cost for this model (based on our member surveys and test results) is $15 a year.

In this case, Brother's print plan would likely cost you significantly more.

But here's an example where it helps you save. The median number of pages printed in black and white each month on an all-in-one inkjet is 22, according to CR members. And, using that figure and the retail price for ink cartridges, our testers estimate that the Brother MFC-J1010DW has an annual ink cost of $68. By contrast, Brother's basic inkjet print plan costs just $29.88 per year ($2.49 for 40 pages per month).

Once you enroll your PIXMA, imageCLASS, or imagePROGRAF printer in the Canon Auto Replenishment Service using a macOS or Windows app, Canon will ship you a starter cartridge. Every time the printer detects the ink is running low, the company will send you a new cartridge and charge you for it.

Canon lists the ink and toner pricing for different models on its subscription page. We checked a few listings and found that the pricing is close to what retailers are charging, but you can find better bargains if you shop around.

The high-capacity black toner cartridge 051 (used by the imageCLASS MF264dw, an all-in-one black-and-white laser printer) costs $121 with Canon's replenishment service. It's $121 (plus a $12 delivery fee) on Canon's website and the same price with free delivery at Staples. But Amazon has it listed for $100.

For some people, though, the convenience of auto-replenishment may be worth the added expense.

As with Canon's service, Epson's ReadyInk Replenishment plan doesn't have a monthly fee or schedule. It automatically places an order for your cartridge when your printer says it's needed.

But Epson simply places the order through Amazon or Staples, so you pay the price set by those retailers. Staples currently offers 10 percent off every order received.

Canon offers a pay-per-print plan that charges 20 cents per page with no monthly fee. If you rarely use your printer, that's worth considering.

The company's monthly print plans start at $3.99 for 30 pages ($48 per year) and go up to $9.99 for 200 pages ($120 per year). You can roll over 30 to 200 pages, depending on the plan, and additional pages cost 10 cents each.

Canon adds 100 free pages that can be used in the first six months after you enroll.

But here again, the potential savings depends largely on the printer you own and how much you print.

CR members can consult our printer ratings to see the estimated yearly ink costs for specific models and compare those with Canon's print plan prices.

HP's Instant Ink print plan is a popular option, which isn't much of a surprise, since HP leads the pack in market share for all-in-one inkjets, all-in-one color lasers, and regular color lasers, according to CR's 2021 printer survey, tying with Canon for regular inkjets.

There are five Instant Ink plans, starting at 99 cents per month for 10 pages and going up to $24.99 per month for 700 pages. Additional pages cost $1 for 10 to 15 pages, depending on the plan. And you can roll over up to two or three times your monthly page allotment, depending on the printer model.

Toner plans start at $1.99 per month for 50 pages and go up to $25.99 per month for 1,500 pages.

HP includes a postage-paid recycling envelope to return used ink cartridges. For toner cartridges, you receive a shipping label.

To make sure you never run out of paper as well, HP offers a subscription add-on. Prices for that start at 79 cents per month.

An ink subscription plan can save you money, but it's hard to know for sure until you do the math—and that may cut down on the convenience of having ink or toner shipped straight to your home.

For auto-replenishment services, the price of cartridges can be lower if you shop elsewhere. But the free shipping, never having to think about your ink running low, and saving a trip to the store may be worth the price difference.

For what it's worth, you can also use Amazon's Subscribe & Save service to automate ink delivery on your own. This could save you five to 15 percent, depending on how many items there are in your delivery. The downside is that deliveries arrive at a scheduled time instead of when you’re low on ink, which means you could end up with too many cartridges at a slow time of year or—worse—no cartridges when things get busy.

As for the per-page print plans, those have more gotchas. You need to keep an eye on your page totals, especially once you find yourself printing more than the plan allows—although the companies do make that somewhat easy for you by posting the number of pages you’ve used on your online account. Keep in mind that any page output by your printer, even if it's just one paragraph or a single graphic, still counts toward your monthly allowance. There are also limits to the number of pages you can roll over.

By enrolling in a subscription service, you also agree to use only the cartridges provided by the company. If you use others, pages you print may count towards your plan totals.

And if you cancel your print plan, you will no longer be able to use the cartridges you’ve received because you’re paying for the ink service, not the cartridges themselves. You can't use those cartridges in another printer, either.

Melanie Pinola

Melanie Pinola covers smartphones, home office products, and a wide range of other technology topics for Consumer Reports. A seasoned service journalist, her work has appeared in the New York Times, Popular Mechanics, Laptop Magazine, PCWorld, and other publications. A former IT administrator and the author of two books about remote work and software, she was a longtime CR reader before joining the company as a tech writer and editor. Follow Melanie on Twitter @melaniepinola.