Free U.S. shipping on ink and toner orders over $50

Cheapest Ink for HP OfficeJet Pro 8025 (and the Rest of the 8020 Series)

by William Elward Last Updated:

If you own an HP OfficeJet Pro 8025 — or any printer in the 8020 series (8020, 8022, 8028, 8030, 8031, 8034, 8035) — you've probably noticed that keeping it stocked with genuine HP ink is painful. A standard HP 910 set runs $70–80 at retail, and the high-yield 910XL set pushes past $120. For a printer HP sold for under $200, that's absurd.

Here's what we recommend after shipping thousands of 910-series cartridges to OfficeJet Pro 8025 owners.

The cheapest option that actually works: a compatible HP 910XL 4-pack

Compatible 910XL 4-packs (one black plus one each of cyan, magenta, yellow) cost around $68.99 at Castle Ink right now. Compare that to roughly $125 at Staples or Best Buy for the OEM version. That's a 45% savings per set, and because the 910XL is the high-yield cartridge, you get about 825 black pages and 315 color pages per cartridge before replacing.

You can see current pricing on our HP 910XL 4-pack page. If you print heavily, the 8-pack works out to even better cost per page.

The firmware warning you need to hear first

HP has been aggressive about pushing firmware updates that block non-HP chips. If your OfficeJet Pro 8025 is on automatic updates and you've ever seen a "cartridge problem" or "non-HP chip detected" error, that's why. Before buying any compatible cartridge:

  1. On the printer, go to Setup → Printer Maintenance → Update the Printer → Printer Update Options
  2. Set "Automatically Check for Updates" to Off
  3. Set "Install Updates" to Do Not Install

This keeps HP from silently locking out compatible cartridges the next time your printer reboots. If you've already received a blocking update, rolling back firmware is sometimes possible — see our incompatible cartridge bypass guide for current workarounds.

Standard 910 vs. 910XL — which should you buy?

Unless you print fewer than about 20 pages a week, always get the XL. The cost-per-page math is lopsided:

  • HP 910 standard (compatible): ~$40 for a 4-pack, 300 black pages and 315 color pages. Roughly $0.13 per page.
  • HP 910XL (compatible): ~$69 for a 4-pack, 825 black pages and 315 color pages. Roughly $0.08 per page.

The XL costs 70% more upfront but delivers almost three times the black page count. Nearly everyone comes out ahead, and you spend less time swapping cartridges.

What about buying individual colors?

If you mostly print black documents — common for home office users — you can buy just the 910XL black individually and keep the color cartridges only for when you need them. OfficeJet Pro models will still print black jobs when color is low, as long as you dismiss the warning.

Our take

For the 8025, the 910XL compatible 4-pack is the sweet spot. You save roughly $55 per set versus OEM, get 2–3x the page count of standard cartridges, and unless you've installed recent HP firmware, they work without fuss. If you print a lot, order two sets — we ship same-day from the US and shipping is free over $50.

Not sure if a compatible cartridge will work with your specific 8020-series printer or firmware version? Our support line is staffed by people who've been in the print industry for 20+ years. Email or call us and we'll check before you buy.

About William Elward

Founder of Castle Ink, William Elward has 20 years experience in the printer industry. He's been featured on CNN Money, Yahoo, PC World, Computer World, and other top publications and frequently blogs about printers and ink cartridges. He's an expert at diagnosing printer issues and has published guides to fixing common printer issues across the internet. A graduate of Bryant University and Columbia's Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program, he's held various leadership positions at The College Board, Bankrate, Zocdoc, and Everyday Health. Follow him on Twitter at William Elward's Twitter Profile


Back to Printer Support