When it comes to printing, ink can be a costly expense. That’s why finding a printer with affordable ink is essential for anyone who frequently prints. With so many printer options available, it can be overwhelming to know which one offers the best value. In this article, we will explore which printers have the cheapest ink, helping you find the most cost-effective option for your printing needs. Let’s get started!
Which printer is the cheapest to run?The Epson EcoTank ET-2760 is the cheapest printer to run with affordable refillable ink bottles. It costs, on average, 1 cent per color ISO page compared to ink cartridges, which cost about 20 cents. It also includes up to two years of ink. Meanwhile, any of the printers from the list that follows are strong contenders. Business owners, be sure to check them out!
Which printers are most economical on ink?Inkjet printers are the most economical on ink, using less ink per page than other types. However, printer model, usage pattern, and ink cartridge type can affect consumption and cost. Consider upfront printer costs and ongoing ink costs when making a purchase decision.
Best Cheap Ink Printers for Business UseRunning a successful business requires keeping expenses low without sacrificing quality. One effective way to cut costs is by choosing printers with cheap ink. Whether you work in a standard office or are learning how to start a sticker business, here are 10 of the best ones for business use:
1. Canon PIXMA G6020The Canon PIXMA G6020 MegaTank All-In-One Inkjet Printer comes with a full set of ink bottles, which includes two extra black bottles, providing ink savings of over $1,100. The printer uses Canon MegaTank Ink Bottles, which offer over 30 times the amount of ink versus standard cartridges. The PIXMA G6020 can print up to 7,700 color pages or 6,000 black text pages per bottle set.
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The EcoTank Pro ET-5880 is a wireless all-in-one printer that utilizes supersized ink tanks as opposed to cartridges, resulting in low-cost printing and zero cartridge waste. It has PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology for high-quality output and a 500-sheet paper capacity. The printer features a 4.3″ color touchscreen and hands-free voice-activated printing. It has SmartWay certification for environmentally friendly operation.
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The Epson EcoTank ET-4850 all-in-one printer offers fast color printing, copying, scanning, and faxing. It has a 2.4″ color touchscreen and a 250-sheet paper tray for borderless 4″ x 6″ photos. It features Ethernet and wireless connectivity, voice-activated printing, and the Epson Smart Panel App for easy printing from smart devices. With its cartridge-free ink system, you can print over 7,000 black text pages or about 6,000 color pages. The printer produces extremely sharp text and impressive color photos and graphics on virtually any paper type.
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The Brother MFC-J4335DW provides up to 1-year of ink in-box, has front-loading ink cartridges, a mobile app for easy printing, and can produce up to 20 black text pages per minute and 19 color pages per minute. It is also ENERGY STAR certified and has a 2-year limited warranty.
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The EcoTank ET-2760 printer uses easy-to-fill ink tanks for cartridge-free printing. It offers low-cost replacement ink bottles that can save up to 90% and up to 2 years of ink. With each replacement set, users can print up to 7,500 pages in black or 6,000 in color, which is equal to about 80 individual cartridges. The printer also features automatic two-sided printing, scanning, copying, and a 1.44-inch color display.
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The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e is a high-performance all-in-one printer suitable for small businesses and for use as home office printers. It comes with advanced features such as fast color printing, dual-band Wi-Fi, automatic 2-sided printing and scanning, and security essentials such as basic encryption and password protection. The printer can be activated with HP+ for 6 months of free ink delivery and access to smart features such as mobile printing and enhanced cloud-based security.
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The Pantum P3302DW printer offers fast, high-definition printing up to 33ppm, supports various media sizes and weights, and has a sleek off-white color and compact size. Its metal frame structure ensures long-term use, and it can be easily installed wirelessly with multiple connection options, including mobile devices. It comes with a separate drum and toner, and its starter cartridge can print up to 1500 pages while the drum unit has a lifetime of 12000 pages.
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The HP Neverstop 1202w All-in-One laser printer offers black-and-white printing at 21 pages per minute. It also scans, copies, and has wireless printing capabilities. It includes up to 5,000 pages of toner, with the option to purchase a separate kit for over 2,000 pages worth of Original HP Toner. The printer is also ENERGY STAR 3.0 certified.
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The Canon MAXIFY MB2720 is designed for the small business owner who needs to print, copy, scan, and fax. It offers high-speed printing of up to 24 images per minute (ipm) for black-and-white and 15.5 ipm for color. It also features a large 500-sheet paper capacity and a 20,000-page duty cycle. The MAXIFY ink tanks deliver a high page yield from one set of ink and are resistant to smudging, highlighting, and fading.
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The Brother INKvestment Tank MFC-J995DW is an all-in-one inkjet printer with a unique INKvestment Tank system that delivers uninterrupted printing, exceptional features, super convenience, and low-cost printing. It comes with up to one year of ink in the box. This printer offers printing, copying, scanning, and faxing capabilities, along with a 2.7-inch touchscreen for easy navigation.
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By considering these supplementary factors, you can narrow down your options and find the best printer with affordable ink that meets your business needs and budget requirements.
How to Choose the Best Printer with the Cheapest InkChoosing the right printer is key to ensuring you get the most bang for your buck in terms of ink costs. When selecting the best printer with cheap ink, consider these factors:
Printer TypeInkjet models are generally the most economical choices, as they are equipped with separate cartridges for each color and use a different printing method than laser types.
Ink Refill KitsWhen selecting a printer, check if there are refill ink kits available for it as this can help reduce your total cost of ownership significantly.
Cartridge Price and YieldMake sure you understand what kind of cartridge prices and page yield you’re expecting from your chosen printer model to get an accurate picture of long-term costs.
Print Quality and SpeedLook out for the print speed and quality specs when making your decision, as some printers may have lower costs up front but slow print times or poor output quality that ends up eating away at any potential savings.
Maintenance and Support CostsIf possible, also consider potential maintenance and support costs associated with the printer model you choose to make sure there won’t be any hidden expenses on top of the initial cost of purchase and refills.
What is the best printer that uses less ink?When looking for a printer that uses less ink, any of the ones on our list will do. It’s important to choose an ink-efficient model that’s right for your printing demands and specific business needs.
Which is cheaper overall, laser printers or inkjet printers?Laser printers are typically cheaper than inkjet printers in both purchase price and running costs. As laser toners have more pages per cartridge, it reduces the frequency of buying ink and associated costs.
Does Epson or HP have cheaper ink?Even with HP Instant Ink being so affordable, Epson is the clear winner when it comes to saving money with the cheapest ink cartridges, costing an average of only about 6.9 cents per page, which is hard to beat.
Where is the best place to buy cheap ink cartridges?The cheapest places to buy printer ink online include online retailers such as the ones mentioned in this article. They offer competitive prices, good quality products, and fast shipping on cheap office supplies.
Image: Envato Elements
To start, it's helpful to determine what you consider to be affordable. Of course, this depends on personal budget but it's also worth thinking about whether the printer you want to buy is affordable to run.
Ink and toner cartridges are where printer companies make a large chunk of their money so consider how often you’ll hit that ‘Print’ button before opening your wallet. If you only print documents once every month or so, then picking up something with a low initial cost might be better, even if it’s not the most economical option out there – we're thinking about cost-per-page here.
On the flip side, if you’re printing documents frequently, whether that’s for homework, coursework, newsletters, posters or pamphlets, you’ll want a printer with the lowest possible cost-per-page that your budget can accommodate.
Although you may be tempted to opt for the printer with the cheapest initial cost, it could soon be burning a hole in your pocket in the long run. It might be better to pick something with a slightly higher RRP if it turns out to be a long-term saver.
Depending on your needs, you might also want to consider a laser printer instead of an inkjet – we’ve covered the pros and cons in our inkjet vs laser printers article.
In our round-up below we've picked printers which are around the £100 price mark. Some are cheaper and some are slightly more expensive, but for the more expensive printers, we've included them because they are cost-effective in the long run.
For our top picks for all budgets, head to our best printer round-up.
For more guides on the best products to furnish your home and equip yourselves with, take a look at the best DAB radios, best wireless keyboards and wireless mouse, and best university technology essentials. Plus, you can save on the latest tech with the best Samsung Galaxy S24 deals.
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Here are our top tips to take into account before buying a printer:
Keeping an eye on running costs is a key consideration when shopping around for the best budget printer in 2024. Ink and toner costs are the most important consideration when looking at running costs.
In terms of which printers have the most affordable ink, HP has some of the lowest prices going for HP 305 black ink and tri-colour (cyan, magenta, yellow) cartridges. These cost £13.09 per cartridge and come with enough ink for roughly 120 and 100 printouts, respectively. That works out at a cost-per-page of 10p and 13p.
That’s about the standard per-page price you can expect from an affordable inkjet printer, but it’s by no means the cheapest option available to you.
For example, a single HP 934 black toner cartridge is priced at £46.49, far more expensive than the HP 305 ink cartridges, but it promises enough toner for around 1,000 printouts – which means that the cost-per-page falls to below 5p.
As we spoke about before, sometimes it's better to opt for a more expensive printer to save money in the long run. For example, the most expensive budget printer included in our round-up is the Brother HL-L2400DWE, but it has one of the cheapest ink costs per page. You can buy TN-2510XL black toner cartridges for this printer for £82.90, working out at around 3p per page.
Even better value for money in terms of running costs is bottled ink. Printers like the Epson EcoTank ET-2750 – excluded from this round-up because at £349.99 it's outside of the cheap price range – are cheap to run, with cost-per-page working out to be less than a penny.
Likewise, going for bigger XL ink cartridges will always be more expensive up-front, but your money is highly likely to go further in the longer run. Think about how many pages you will realistically be printing every month before making your choice.
Remember to check out our guide to the best printer paper, too.
While it’s useful to weigh up the cartridge prices and ink yields, consider that a lot of printers these days are covered by subscription plans, which can save you money, not to mention the hassle of having to order fresh cartridges yourself.
These are typically only offered if you’re buying a printer that can be connected to the internet because services like HP’s Instant Ink and Epson’s ReadyPrint work by the printer monitoring the device’s ink levels and alerting the manufacturer when ink levels are getting low. Fresh cartridges are then popped into the post and sent out to you in advance of you running out of ink. It’s a helpful aspect to consider.
The HP Instant Ink and Epson ReadyPrint subscription prices are based on how many pages of paper you print in a month. Here's a breakdown of the current pricing:
If running costs are less of a consideration, then your job is made slightly easier by the fact that you’ll mainly, if not exclusively, be looking at the initial price tag. At the same time, it's good to consider what you need the printer for.
If you are buying one just for documents, then get a mono printer. This means the printer will only print in black and white. Even if the mono printer is not as cheap as a colour version, it's a good choice purely for the fact that you’ll only ever have to buy black ink to replace it.
By the same token, if you want to print out the occasional photo or document with colour images, then there’s absolutely no point in buying a mono printer, even if it does have a lower RRP.
Our round-up of the best budget printers to buy this year:
Best budget printer for most homes
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The 6020e is affordable and does pretty much everything you need from a home model: producing documents and colour photographs, copying, scanning and double-sided printing. The easy setup means it’s a top choice if you don’t want to fuss over settings, and there are three months of HP Instant Ink included for free when you sign up for the automatic monthly ink subscription.
The 6020e is a compact and lightweight model so is perfect for squeezing into a home office or any spare corner in your home. It has a reasonably small capacity of 100 pages but if you don't mind refilling the tray it's a great budget printer for the whole family to enjoy.
Buy the HP Envy 6020e:
Best affordable Epson
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With a price point of around £75, this budget printer is a great choice if you are a fan of Epson models and want to save money. The Epson Expression Home XP-4200 is a stylish choice, with the ability to print, scan and copy in black/white and coloured ink. We like that it has an LCD display on the front, too, so you can easily navigate the settings once it's connected to your device, whether that’s a phone, tablet or computer.
It is one of the lightest models on our list, weighing in at just over a kilogram, so can be moved as you please. Its compact design also means it won't take up much space. Ink replacement is not too expensive and you can buy the colours separately so you only need to replace each colour when you run out.
Buy the Epson Expression Home XP-4200:
Best affordable mono laserjet
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This is a black and white LaserJet printer and is the 'world's smallest laser printer in its class'. The small but mighty printer is designed for high-speed and high-volume printing. It can spew out 20 pages per minute and is compatible with computers, phones and tablets.
Due to the speed and reliability of this type of printer, they use toner and are more expensive than inkjet models. This one has six months of Instant Toner included with the HP+ subscription. It is an easy-to-set-up printer and is a great option for those looking for an eco-friendly printer with free cartridge recycling.
Buy the HP LaserJet MFP110we:
Best budget colour printer
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The Canon Pixma TS3355 is a reasonable and cheerful colour inkjet printer. Very cheap to buy at around £35, the TS3355 is a no-frills option, with basic printing, scanning, and photocopying functions.
Aimed at buyers who want a cheap, sub-£50 printer to use every so often, the TS3355 is included as it’s one of the cheapest colour printers on the market. It’s very easy to set up and use and is suitable for running off homework, letters, boarding passes and the like.
Despite its low price, the Canon Pixma TS3355 can even print photos on glossy photo paper. The print quality is generally very good, and, in fact, a lot better than you might expect from such a cheap printer.
Buy the Canon Pixma TS3355:
Best all-in-one wireless budget printer
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If you need a new home printer, the HP DeskJet 2720e should be able to handle any basic task you throw at it – including both black/white and colour documents. It is a wireless model, too, so that cuts down on fussing over wires to your main device, whether that’s a laptop or smartphone.
You get six months of HP Instant Ink included and automatic ink detection, so if you subscribe you'll be sent ink before you run out. It has print, scan and copy features, but does have a smallish capacity compared to other printers on our list with space for just 60 sheets of paper.
Buy the HP DeskJet 2720e:
Best value all-in-one printer with HP Instant Ink
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The HP DeskJet Plus 4120 hits a lot of tick boxes for buyers in the market for a cheap colour all-in-one printer. It’s capable of printing on glossy paper as well as regular A4, it can print over Wi-Fi and USB, and quality is very good, considering it’s a sub-£100 device.
Text quality on the default setting is admittedly pretty average, but move things up to higher quality settings, and you get higher quality results. The HP DeskJet Plus 4120 uses the HP 305 Black (£13.09) and HP 305 Tri-Colour (£13.09) cartridges, which promise 120 and 100 pages’ worth of ink, which comes to a cost-per-page of around 10p and 13p each.
The HP DeskJet Plus 4120 is also not the fastest printer on the market, which is perhaps understandable given the price. On the plus side, it’s lightweight and doesn’t hog desk space, so it’s ideal for home offices that are on the small side.
Read our full HP DeskJet Plus 4120 review.
Buy the HP DeskJet Plus 4120:
Best budget printer for ease-of-use
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With a price point of around £35, the Pixma MG3650S is a great budget option from Canon. It is the joint cheapest on our list and despite its low price point, still packs a punch. It’s an all-in-one budget printer, so can be used to produce both documents and photos between 4x6 inch and A4.
The printer is compatible with PC and Mac, and comes with a scanner and copier. You can use two-sided printing and for such a cheap printer it still holds up to 100 sheets. The one thing letting this printer down is its speed. With an average rate of 10 pages a minute, it isn't a great choice for those wishing to print frequently. However, for smaller scaler printers it's great.
Buy the Canon Pixma MG3650S:
Best quality all-in-one budget printer
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The Canon Pixma TS7450 is an excellent all-round colour budget printer, scanner, and copier which can be had for around £130 RRP.
It’s not especially speedy, but the quality is high, and the Pixma TS7450 is versatile, able to print on plain paper and glossy photo sheets, as well as print on both sides of plain A4, so it’s handy at producing letters, essays and homework, as well as high-quality holiday snaps.
You can connect to the Canon Pixma TS7450 via Wi-Fi or USB, and control is with iOS and Android apps, as well as Windows and Mac machines. It supports Apple AirPrint, so getting up and running on a Mac OS device takes no time at all.
Running costs are about average, with the standard-sized Canon PG-560 (£18.80) and CL-561 (£18.80) cartridges, which give you 180 pages’ worth of ink each work out at 9p per page each.
Not bank-breaking, but not cheap either, and while the bigger XL cartridges work out at 6p and 7p, respectively, there’s no option to go for a subscription, meaning it’s less economical for heavy use. This probably won't matter if you only print once in a blue moon or can pick up bundle deals on cartridges for cheap elsewhere.
The Pixma TS7451 is the same model but in the colour white.
Read our full Canon Pixma TS7450 review.
Buy the Canon Pixma TS7450/1:
Best budget printer for fast colour jobs
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Priced at just over £100, the Envy 6420e may be a bit more expensive than other budget models on this budget list, but it has a number of great features that will make it a fantastic addition to your home. It has cloud connectivity that makes sure it has the latest software updates installed, alongside built-in WiFi which means you can print documents straight from your laptop or phone.
Six months of HP’s Instant Ink subscription service means you will remain topped up before ever running dry. It has an average print speed of 10 pages per minute for black/white and 7 for colour, which is on the slower side for a model of this price.
There is another model in the series, the 6430e, which is another fantastic option. It's another all-in-one that will handle colour and black/white documents and is also priced around £100.
Buy the HP Envy Pro 6420e:
Best high-capacity mono laserjet budget printer
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Priced at around the £130 mark, the Brother HL-L2400DWE is one of the most expensive printers in this round-up but is worth the money if you prioritise ease of use.
It has an impressive tray capacity with space for 250 sheets of A4. It promises to pump out 30 pages per minute which is an impressive speed for the price point. With top printing speeds and high capacity, the Brother HL-L2400DWE may be better suited to home office users who need to print several copies of multi-page documents and don’t want to have to reload the paper in-tray as frequently.
It’s a powerful, and cheap-to-run unit that does one thing – print text documents – very well.
Buy the Brother HL-L2400DWE:
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Email addressBest value all-in-one budget printer
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The Pixma TR4550 is a cheap-to-buy colour inkjet all-in-one printer that offers similar functionality to the impressive Canon Pixma TS7450. It’s available in two colours, the Pixma TR4550 (black) and the Canon Pixma TR4551 (white).
For your money, you’ll get an all-in-one colour printer, scanner, and copier which gives 8.8ppm (pages per minute) printing speeds for black text, 4.4ppm for colour images on plain A4, and 4x6-inch colour photos in around 65 seconds.
Canon Pixma’s running costs are around 11p per page, which is about the norm for most cheap inkjet printers. As always, the bigger cartridges give you more ink and so the cost-per-page here falls to 6p and 8p if you opt for Canon's bigger cartridges.
Buy the Canon Pixma TR4550/TR4551:
Best for printing photos
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The Expression Photo XP-8700 is great if you're looking for an A4 printer that can cater for both everyday printing and producing glossy photographs. It aims to make everyday tasks easy and includes options to print straight from your mobile and tablet. It has a large touchscreen which makes printing, scanning and copying easy to control.
The printer is on the more expensive side compared to most of our budget picks but is a great option if you're looking to print photos. Pairing the printer with Claria Photo HD Inks, Epson promises that photos can last up to 300 years in a photo album and have a real professional feel.
Buy the Epson Expression Photo XP-8700 from:
Best sustainable budget printer
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The HP ENVY Inspire 7220e is a great sustainable choice and is an impressive printer as well as being environmentally conscious. The printer is made from 45% recycled materials and HP promises net zero-deforestation prints and closed-loop cartridge recycling.
At just over £100 is fairly expensive for a budget printer but you do get three months of free ink for this price using HP's instant ink subscription, so this can make it worth the price if you plan on printing a lot. The printer has a good tray capacity of 125 pages and can also print photos well with its built-in photo tray. The only drawback is the printer's printing speed which is below average at 15 pages per minute for black text.
Buy the HP ENVY Inspire 7220e from:
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