Best Compatible Ink for HP 962 & 962XL (2026): Remanufactured vs Genuine

Last updated: October 28, 2026.

Quick answer: For a non-HP+ OfficeJet Pro 9010, 9015, 9020 or 9025, the set we would buy is our remanufactured HP 962XL BCMY 4-pack at $67.99. Four genuine 962XL cartridges run about $214 at Staples prices, so the pack saves roughly 68%, and at the HP-rated 6,800 combined pages it works out to about 1.0 cent a page against 3.1 to 3.2 cents for genuine. The caveat is a big one on this family. HP 962 has the most active firmware history of any current HP cartridge, our 4-pack carries a new aftermarket chip, and the 9015e, 9018e and 9025e are HP+ printers that take Original HP ink only once HP+ is activated. If you own an "e" model with HP+ switched on, no third-party cartridge, ours included, will work.

Shop the full range: HP 962 ink cartridges (962 and 962XL).

We'll say the obvious thing up front: we sell these cartridges, so our recommendation is not neutral. To make up for that, the table below puts LD Products, 4inkjets, Staples, CompAndSave and a marketplace brand next to our own prices, and on single cartridges several of them beat us by a wide margin. We also spell out the firmware problem instead of burying it. This post covers which printers take HP 962, what every option costs per page as of October 2026, which of our SKUs to buy, and what to do about HP's updates before you install anything.

What printers use HP 962 ink?

HP 962 and 962XL are the cartridges for the OfficeJet Pro 9010 and 9020 series, introduced in 2019. The models with an "e" suffix are HP+ printers; the rest are not.

• HP OfficeJet Pro 9010, 9012, 9013, 9014, 9016 and 9019
• HP OfficeJet Pro 9015 and 9015e
• HP OfficeJet Pro 9018 and 9018e
• HP OfficeJet Pro 9020 and 9022
• HP OfficeJet Pro 9025 and 9025e

Every one of them takes four separate ink-tank cartridges feeding a printhead that lives in the printer. Each cartridge carries its own chip, and that chip is what HP's firmware inspects. The 9015e, 9018e and 9025e add a second lock: HP says activated HP+ printers require Original HP ink for the life of the printer, and activation cannot be undone. If you are setting up a new "e" printer and want the option of third-party ink later, skip the HP+ step.

HP 962 prices compared: OEM vs Castle Ink vs other sellers

Prices checked October 2026 at the sellers' sites; they change often.

On a full set we are competitive: our 4-pack at $67.99 is $8 more than 4inkjets' and $28 less than the Smart Ink set, and it is the only 4-pack in the table with a published yield. On singles we are not. LD's 962XL black is $19.99 and CompAndSave's is $19.95, half the price of ours. If you need one black cartridge and nothing else, they are cheaper and we are not going to argue. What you get from us instead is a remanufactured cartridge built on a genuine HP 962XL shell, cleaned, refilled and tested in the US, a stated chip type on the product page, same-day shipping from Greenlawn, NY on orders placed by 4 PM ET Monday through Friday, a 1-year return window with a full refund, US phone support, and a promise to replace or refund any cartridge that arrives defective. On a family where cartridges get rejected by firmware, who answers the phone matters.

Our pick: remanufactured HP 962XL 4-pack

The 962XL BCMY 4-pack at $67.99 is the set we would buy for a non-HP+ 9015 or 9025 that prints a mix of documents and color. A full genuine 962XL set is about $214, so you keep roughly $146, and buying all four from one seller means the four chips are the same generation, which avoids the intermittent errors that come from mixing chip types. The honest trade-off: this pack uses new aftermarket chips, and on the OfficeJet Pro 9010/9020 series that is exactly what HP's updates have targeted four times since 2021. We do not currently sell an original-HP-chip version of the 962XL the way we do for the 952XL, so the firmware steps in the next section are not optional with this set.

The other Castle Ink HP 962 options, all remanufactured on genuine HP shells: 962XL black ($39.95), 962XL cyan, 962XL magenta and 962XL yellow ($35.95 each). We also stock a 962XL MICR black for check printing. We do not sell standard-yield 962; the XL holds twice the black and more than twice the color for a small premium, and every third-party seller prices it the same way.

HP+, dynamic security and the 962 firmware history

Two separate HP mechanisms apply here. The first is HP+. The 9015e, 9018e and 9025e are HP+ printers, and HP's HP+ FAQ says an activated HP+ printer requires Original HP ink for its lifetime. CompAndSave's product page excludes "e" models for that reason, and so do we: if HP+ is active, do not buy third-party 962 from anyone. The second is dynamic security, which applies to every printer in the series. HP's policy, quoted on its own support forum, is that it blocks "cartridges using non-HP chips or modified or non-HP electronic circuitry" while cartridges with "new or reused HP chips" are unaffected.

The 962 has been hit repeatedly. Firmware 2151A was reported to stop non-original 962 cartridges on the 9010 and 9020; the 2211C wireless update produced "cartridge problem" errors with compatible 962XL, which is why 4inkjets publishes a dedicated guide to turning off updates on 962 printers; a May 2023 update bricked some 9020e and 9025e units outright with error 83C0000B (TechSpot); and a February 2025 update to the 9010 was reported to block non-HP chips again (Born's Tech and Windows World). The pattern owners describe is the same every time: compatible cartridges work for months, an automatic update lands, and the printer shows "cartridge problem" or names a non-HP chip.

So before installing our 4-pack or anyone else's, go to Settings, Printer Maintenance, Update the Printer, and set it to Do Not Check. CompAndSave's walkthrough covers the menu path with screenshots. One red flag to know: some marketplace listings tell you to click OK past an "altered or cloned cartridge" message and wait through a "4-minute recognition period". That message means the printer has already flagged the chip. If one of our cartridges is rejected after an update, call us; the 1-year return window covers it, but we would rather you kept the update off in the first place.

How to choose an HP 962 cartridge

• Check for HP+ first. 9015e, 9018e and 9025e owners who activated HP+ at setup can only use Original HP 962 cartridges, full stop.
• On a non-HP+ printer, disable automatic firmware updates before installing third-party ink; this family has had blocking updates in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
• Skip standard-yield 962. The XL black holds 2,000 pages versus 1,000 and costs barely more from third-party sellers.
• Buy a complete 4-pack from one seller so all four chips are the same generation. Mixing OEM and aftermarket chips is a common cause of intermittent errors.
• Be wary of any listing that tells you to click past an "altered or cloned cartridge" message.
• Keep one genuine HP cartridge on hand. If an update ever rejects your set, it lets you keep printing while you sort out replacements.

HP 962 Compatible Ink FAQs

The bottom line

For a non-HP+ OfficeJet Pro 9010, 9015, 9020 or 9025, the remanufactured HP 962XL 4-pack at $67.99 is the set we would buy, about 68% less than four genuine XLs, provided you turn off automatic firmware updates first. If you only need a single black, LD Products and CompAndSave are half our price and we have shown their numbers so you can make that call. If your printer is an "e" model with HP+ active, buy genuine; nothing else will work.

Related reading: best compatible ink brands, cheapest ink for the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e, compatible vs OEM HP ink, best compatible ink for HP 952, HP Instant Ink vs compatible cartridges, all HP 962 ink cartridges, and our HP ink cartridge collection.