Cheapest Ink for the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e (2026): Every Option Priced Per Page

Last updated: October 28, 2026.

Quick answer: The cheapest ink for the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e depends entirely on one setting. If HP+ was never activated, our remanufactured HP 962XL 4-pack is $67.99 for all four cartridges, about 1 cent a page at HP's rated yields, against $213.56 for the four genuine 962XL cartridges bought singly (3.1 cents a page). That is a 68% saving on the set. If HP+ is active, no third-party cartridge will work, and the cheapest route is genuine HP 962XL black at $63.89 for 2,000 pages, about 3.2 cents a page, which is already cheap by inkjet standards. On price alone, LD Products beats us on a single 962XL black at $19.99 against our $39.95.

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

We'll say the obvious thing up front: we sell these cartridges, and a post titled "cheapest ink" written by an ink seller deserves a skeptical read. So the table below has HP's prices from Staples and Walmart, our prices, and LD Products, 4inkjets, Staples' house brand, CompAndSave and a marketplace brand, with Instant Ink worked out separately. The post also covers this family's firmware history, which matters more here than on a cheap DeskJet.

HP has discontinued the 9015e; HP's store page says so, and Walmart and Office Depot show it out of stock. It remains one of the most common small-office printers around, and HP 962 ink is still stocked everywhere, so this is a running-cost question. The current OfficeJet Pro 9125e and 9135e use different 936 cartridges. For a model-level walkthrough see What ink does the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e use.

HP+ warning: The 9015e shipped with six months of Instant Ink through HP+. HP's HP+ FAQ states an activated printer "will require the use of Original HP Ink for the lifetime of the printer," and HP provides no way to reverse it. CompAndSave goes so far as to exclude "e" models from its 962XL listing. Check Settings for HP+ status before you buy anything remanufactured.

What ink does the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e use?

Four individual cartridges: HP 962 black, cyan, magenta and yellow, each in standard and XL fills. The printhead is in the printer, so the cartridges are ink tanks with a chip.

• HP 962 Black (3HZ99AN), 1,000 pages; HP 962 Cyan, Magenta, Yellow (3HZ96AN, 3HZ97AN, 3HZ98AN), 700 pages each
• HP 962XL Black (3JA03AN), 2,000 pages; HP 962XL Cyan, Magenta, Yellow (3JA00AN, 3JA01AN, 3JA02AN), 1,600 pages each
• Multipacks: 962 CMY 3-pack (3YP00AN), 962XL black with 962 CMY 4-pack (3JB34AN), 962XL 5-pack with two blacks (6ZA57AN)

The same cartridges fit the non-e OfficeJet Pro 9015, the 9018e, the 9025e and 9025, and the 9010, 9012, 9013, 9014, 9016, 9019, 9020 and 9022.

HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e ink prices compared: OEM vs Castle Ink vs other sellers

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

The plain reading of that table: on a single black, LD, CompAndSave and Staples are all cheaper than our $39.95, and 4inkjets' 4-pack is $8 under ours. Neither LD nor 4inkjets publishes a yield for its remanufactured 962XL, which is why those rows show no cost per page; we assume HP's rated yields on ours and say so. What we charge extra for is chip-version disclosure (the 4-pack is a new chip, and we tell you), same-day dispatch from Greenlawn, NY on weekday orders by 4 PM ET, a US phone line, replacement or refund on any cartridge that arrives defective, and a full year to return it.

Our pick: remanufactured HP 962XL 4-pack

For a 9015e that is not HP+ locked, the remanufactured HP 962XL 4-pack at $67.99 is the one to buy. It replaces all four cartridges for about a third of what the four genuine XLs cost, roughly 1 cent a page at HP's rated yields. These are remanufactured cartridges: genuine HP 962XL shells, cleaned, refilled and tested, fitted with a new chip. Buying all four together keeps the chips on one generation, which avoids the intermittent errors from mixing OEM and third-party chips.

The trade-off is the new chip. HP's dynamic security targets non-HP chips, and this printer family has a record of firmware updates that switch them off (details below). That is why we tell every 962 buyer to turn off automatic updates first, and why we give a year to return the set if an update rejects it. The singles are Remanufactured HP 962XL Black ($39.95), Cyan, Magenta and Yellow ($35.95 each).

HP+, dynamic security and the 9010/9020 firmware history

Two mechanisms can stop third-party 962 ink in this printer. HP+ is absolute: once activated, the printer refuses every non-HP cartridge whatever chip it carries, and HP documents no undo. If your 9015e is HP+ locked, genuine 962XL is your only cartridge option.

On a 9015e set up without HP+, the printer behaves like a plain 9015 and is subject to dynamic security, which HP describes as blocking "non-HP chips or modified or non-HP electronic circuitry" (HP support forum). The OfficeJet Pro 9010/9020 family has received blocking firmware repeatedly: versions 2151A and 2211C, a May 2023 update that bricked some 9020e and 9025e units with error 83C0000B and left them with no fix (TechSpot), and a February 2025 update that again blocked third-party ink on the 9010 series (Born's Tech and Windows World). The pattern owners describe is that compatible cartridges work until an automatic update, then show "cartridge problem." Before installing third-party 962 ink, go to Settings, Printer Maintenance, Update the Printer, and choose Do Not Check. 4inkjets publishes a step-by-step guide for this family.

Last, be wary of marketplace listings that tell you to click past an "altered or cloned cartridge" warning. That means the chip is a clone, which is what the next update targets.

What does ink for the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e cost per year?

Assumptions: 50 pages a month, 600 a year, black text. At this volume one 962XL black lasts more than three years, so these are per-page costs spread over a year; the actual outlay is one cartridge.

Instant Ink verdict: On this printer, at this volume, Instant Ink is the most expensive option by a wide margin: $71.88 a year against $19.17 for genuine 962XL black, three to four times more. The 962 cartridges are large and cheap per page, so the subscription's advantage (not caring about color coverage) only starts to pay at the $16.99 300-page tier (5.7 cents a page) or the $32.99 700-page tier (4.7 cents) with heavy color printing every month. Plan tiers are on the Instant Ink plans page. Unless you run a color-heavy office printing hundreds of pages every month, cancel after the free six months; the Instant Ink cartridges in the printer stop working when you do. More in HP Instant Ink vs compatible cartridges.

How to choose an HP 962 cartridge for the 9015e

• Check HP+ status first. An activated 9015e can only ever use Original HP 962, and the cheapest genuine route is 962XL black at about 3.2 cents a page.
• If HP+ was never activated, set firmware updates to Do Not Check before installing any third-party 962 cartridge.
• Skip standard-yield 962. The XL black holds 2,000 pages against 1,000 for roughly 45% more money, and the XL colors are cheaper per page too.
• Buy a full 4-pack from one seller so all four chips are the same generation.
• Keep one genuine HP cartridge on hand in case an update rejects a third-party set mid-job.
• At 50 pages a month, cartridges last years; do not pay a monthly subscription for ink you are not using.

HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e Ink FAQs

The bottom line

The OfficeJet Pro 9015e is already one of the cheaper inkjets to run on genuine ink, so if HP+ is on, buy 962XL black and stop worrying. If HP+ is off, turn off firmware updates and buy the remanufactured HP 962XL 4-pack at $67.99, which replaces all four cartridges for less than the price of one genuine XL black plus one XL color. If you only need black and want the lowest price, LD's $19.99 single beats ours.

Related reading: best compatible ink brands, best compatible ink for HP 962, compatible vs OEM HP ink, HP ink cartridge compatibility chart, all HP 962 ink cartridges, and the HP ink cartridge collection.