Calculator
HP 218 cost per page: calculate it for 218A and 218X
From cartridge price to cents per page — for black and for a full color page.
Content updated:
The formula
Cost per page = cartridge price ÷ stated page yield. That gives the cost for one color. For a full color page, add the costs per page of black, cyan, yellow and magenta, because a color laser also uses black on every color page. Never add the page yields themselves.
Calculator: cost per page per cartridge
Choose a cartridge (fills in the yield — HP's ISO figure for originals, the seller's claim for compatibles) and the price you see.
Lowest checked price at Staples (September 23, 2026), before tax — replace it with the price you see.
HP's ISO yield for originals, or the yield the compatible seller states.
Estimates whole cartridges and yearly spend for this color.
Cost per page
6.07¢
$6.07 per 100 pages
Estimate. Cost per page = price ÷ stated yield. HP's yield (ISO/IEC 19798, continuous printing) is not a prediction of your use; content, coverage and settings change real yield. For a color page, add black, cyan, yellow and magenta together in the yearly cost calculator.
Yearly cost for a color office
Split your black-only and color pages per month, choose 218A or 218X, and adjust the prices per color. You get the estimated toner use and cost per year, plus the other capacity at its own checked prices.
Black 218X per year
2×
1.4 cartridges of toner · 4,560 pages use black
Color sets (C+Y+M) 218X per year
1×
960 color pages
Toner used per year (218X)
$317.96
you buy $631.45 in whole cartridges
Same volume with 218A
$499.66
difference $181.70 a year
Estimate. Prices are pre-filled with the lowest checked price per cartridge (checked September 23, 2026), before shipping and sales tax — change them to the price you see. HP's stated yield is a standardized ISO/IEC 19798 figure with continuous printing, not a prediction of your use. Text-heavy office documents tend to come close; presentations, charts and photos use much more toner, so allow a margin. The comparison with the other capacity uses that capacity's own checked prices; see the 218A vs 218X page for the full calculation.
218A or 218X — which is cheaper per page?
Look at the page counter on the printer's report, or estimate.
Pages per year
4,800
2,880 black · 1,920 color
Per month with 218X
$52.62
Per year with 218X
$631.45
| For your volume | 218A | 218Xcheaper |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per 100 pages (your mix) | $18.19 | $13.16 |
| Per month | $72.74 | $52.62 |
| Per year (whole cartridges) | $872.90 | $631.45 |
| Black cartridges per year | 4× | 2× |
| Color sets (C+Y+M) per year | 2× | 1× |
| Black swap about every | 3.0 months | 6.0 months |
Result
218X comes out cheaper for you
With these prices, 218X costs about $631 a year against $873 for 218A — a difference of about $241. You buy 2 black cartridges a year instead of 4.
Estimate. Based on HP's stated ISO yields and the prices shown, in whole cartridges per year. Black is also used on color pages. Real yield varies with what you print; prices exclude shipping and sales tax.
Limits of the ISO yield
HP states the page yield under ISO/IEC 19798 with continuous printing — for the whole 218 series, black included. It is a standardized manufacturer figure, not a forecast of your use. In practice:
- Mostly text at normal size → close to the stated yield.
- Bold documents, shaded tables → noticeably fewer pages.
- Presentations, charts, color areas, photos → sometimes half or less.
- Short, occasional jobs with frequent warm-ups also use toner.
Frequently asked questions about cost per page
How do you calculate cost per page?
Product price ÷ stated yield. For originals the yield is HP's ISO/IEC 19798 figure; for compatibles it is the seller's own figure. We show it per page and per 100 pages, based on the product price before shipping and sales tax. It is a comparison number, not a promise — real yield depends on how much of the page you cover.
Is 218X always cheaper per page than 218A?
Usually, but not by rule. 218X holds about 2.5 times the black toner of 218A and about 2.1 times the color toner, but it also costs more. It is cheaper per page whenever its price is less than that multiple of the 218A price. Our A vs X page recalculates this from the currently checked prices.
Should I buy HP 218A or HP 218X?
Both fit the same printers and print the same quality; the difference is how much toner is inside. HP states about 1,300 pages for 218A black and about 3,200 for 218X black; for the colors about 1,200 versus 2,500 (ISO/IEC 19798, continuous printing).
Which one is cheaper per page follows from one division: price ÷ stated yield. That depends on today's prices, not on how much you print — our 218A vs 218X page does the math with the prices we checked.
Your volume decides something else: how many cartridges you buy per year, how much cash you tie up at once and how often you swap. Light users may prefer 218A's lower upfront price; heavy users save swaps with 218X.
Why do you show a different page yield for compatible cartridges?
Because a compatible cartridge's yield is the seller's own claim, not HP's. We never copy HP's ISO figure onto a third-party product. If a seller states no number — or contradicts itself — we show no cost per page for it.
Many U.S. sellers happen to state the same figures as HP (1,300/1,200 for A, 3,200/2,500 for X) at "5% coverage"; they are still labeled as seller claims.
Is HP's stated page yield realistic?
It is measured under ISO/IEC 19798 with a standard set of test pages printed continuously. Pages with photos, large solid areas or heavy color use more toner; short, occasional jobs and frequent warm-ups also cost toner. Treat the yield as a fair basis for comparing cartridges, not as the exact number you will get.
Can I use 218A and 218X in the same printer at the same time?
Yes. Every color slot takes either the A or the X version of that color, so you can mix freely — for example 218X black with 218A cyan, yellow and magenta. HP lists all eight cartridges as replacements for each of the U.S. 3201/3301 models.
Mixing is often the most sensible setup for offices that print mostly black: the black cartridge empties first because it is used on color pages too.
Sources (3)
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Our own rules: cost per page = checked price ÷ the yield stated for THAT product (HP's ISO figure for originals, the seller's own figure for compatibles). Prices are before sales tax. Estimates are labeled as such.
Checked: September 24, 2026
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Specification table: print only, up to 26 ppm, first page as fast as 10.8 s (black), 2" display, duty cycle up to 40,000 pages, recommended 150–2,500 pages/month. Lists the eight HP 218 replacement cartridges with approximate yields (~1,300 / ~1,200 / ~3,200 / ~2,500) and states "Dynamic security enabled printer".
Checked: September 23, 2026
- Standard ISO/IEC 19798 — Method for the determination of toner cartridge yield for colour printers — International Organization for Standardization
The test method behind HP's stated yields for the whole HP 218 series, black included (continuous printing of a standard test suite).
Checked: August 28, 2026
Facts from HP, retailers and standards bodies are labeled as such. Calculations (cost per page, yearly cost) are estimates by 218toner.com. Last reconciled on .