Can you buy a printer that needs no account and no subscription?
Updated 2026-09-24
Yes, and it is worth checking before you buy rather than after. The models to avoid if this matters are the ones sold under a programme you enrol in during setup: enrolling commits the printer to the manufacturer's own supplies for the rest of its life, enforced in firmware, and requires it to stay connected to the internet. The commitment cannot be undone. Declining at setup is the moment you get to choose.
What you are actually agreeing to
The deal is presented as a benefit — an extended warranty, some free subscription months — in exchange for enrolling. What it also does is bind the printer to Original supplies permanently, and make an internet connection a condition rather than a convenience. Neither is hidden, exactly, but neither is prominent during a setup flow designed to get you printing quickly.
The models that carry it
In our catalogue, the affected printers are marked with an ink-lock chip on their card and detail page, and there is a guide listing every printer that carries no such lock. The pattern is not uniform within a brand: the same maker's refillable tank printers are generally sold without it while its cartridge models are not, which is why checking the specific model matters more than avoiding a brand.
Laser printers are not automatically safe
People often move to a small laser assuming supplies behaviour is an inkjet problem. Several of the small lasers in our catalogue are sold under exactly the same terms, and owners report being caught out by it. Meanwhile some owners of a brand long recommended precisely because it did not lock supplies now report firmware updates rejecting third-party toner.
What to do about it
Decline the enrolment at setup if you want the option of third-party supplies. Buy a model without the programme if you want the question settled. And think twice about a firmware update on a printer you feed with compatible cartridges, because that is the moment owners report the behaviour changing.