If your small business needs to print flyers, process office work claims, produce hard-copy documents, or even scan documents, having a versatile printer that can handle many different tasks is invaluable. When deciding on the best small office printer to meet your needs, there are a few key considerations. Since a few employees may need to share this printer, a good business printer should be able to print a large number of pages at an affordable cost without constantly running out of ink. Pages should print quickly and clearly, and you'll want to look for additional features like duplex printing or an automatic document feeder if you have a high volume of pages to print or scan to streamline your workflow.
Below are our recommendations for the best printers for small business use. See our other picks for the best all-in-one printers, the best home printers, and the best office printers.
We've tested over 170 printers since 2020 with one goal in mind: to give you reliable, unbiased reviews that help you choose the right printer for your needs. To keep things fair, we purchase every product ourselves from major retailers, just like you would. Each printer then goes through a thorough, standardized testing process that evaluates all the key factors you should consider when buying a new model. From build quality and cost per print to color accuracy and overall performance, we provide as much detail as possible to guide your decision.
Want to learn more about our methods? Look at our How We Test Printers article for a deep dive into our testing procedures.
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Best Printer For Small Business
Build Quality9.0Document Quality9.5Scanning9.4Estimated Black Page Yield2,311 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.036 US$/printEstimated Color Page Yield2,422 printsColor Printing Cost0.125 US$/printSee all our test resultsPrinting Speed8.3The best small office printer we've tested is the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw. This all-in-one color laser printer produces consistently crisp documents and yields thousands of pages, keeping your long-term costs and maintenance low. It has all of the core features you need: a capable automatic document feeder and reliable laser printing that won't give you inkjet headaches like clogged printheads. Its toner cartridges have a very high print yield, so you won't need to replace them often. It also has a drum unit, which helps keep maintenance requirements low.
The Canon performs very similarly to the now-discontinued Brother MFC-L8905CDW that used to be our top pick, delivering equally sharp-looking documents. Print speeds max out at 26 pages per minute, which is totally respectable even though it's slower than the Brother's 32 pages per minute. Scan speeds are also a bit slower at around 14 pages per minute, but still solid. This printer comes in various models with slightly different features; see more details in our full review.
The Brother MFC-L8905CDW we mentioned earlier is still an excellent choice if you can track one down. It's well-built, lightning-fast, and packed with features. We're expecting similar performance from its successor, the Brother MFCL8930CDW, but we haven't gotten our hands on it for testing yet.
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Best Mid-Range Printer For Small Business
Build Quality8.5Document Quality9.0Scanning7.9Estimated Black Page Yield1,273 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.039 US$/printEstimated Color Page YieldN/AColor Printing CostN/ASee all our test resultsPrinting Speed8.5For businesses that only print black-and-white documents but still need a great-quality scanner, get the Brother MFC-L2820DW. This monochrome laser all-in-one produces high-quality documents, doesn't take long to warm up, and prints faster than our upper mid-range pick, the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw, at 33 pages per minute. A regular toner cartridge is sufficient for about 1,300 prints and relatively cheap to replace. Unlike the Canon, you'll have to replace the drum separately. Also, while you still get an ADF scanner, it's slower, processing just seven pages per minute; it also lacks duplex scanning, although you can get variants that offer this feature, like the Brother MFC-L2880DW. See our review for more details.
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Best Print-Only Budget Printer For Small Business
Build Quality8.0Document Quality8.5Estimated Black Page Yield1,273 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.039 US$/printEstimated Color Page YieldN/AColor Printing CostN/ASee all our test resultsPrinting Speed8.3Our budget pick is the Brother HL-L2460DW, and it's ideal for small businesses that only need to print in black and white. Compared to the models above, the main drawback is the lack of a scanner, so you have to be sure you won't need to scan anything. Otherwise, it feels well-built and sports all the common connectivity options like USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet, making it convenient to access. It prints quickly at up to 34 pages per minute, supports automatic duplex printing, and has low maintenance costs thanks to its solid page yield and cheap replacement toner.
If your office is on a tight budget and needs a color printer with a scanner, consider the Brother MFC-J4335DW. It's a color inkjet printer with an ADF-equipped scanner; it prints detailed photos and has similar black page yields. You also get a better front panel with a larger color display and more buttons to help you navigate the interface. However, it doesn't print as quickly, and like most inkjet printers, it requires more maintenance since printheads can clog during long periods of inactivity.
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Best Wide-Format Printer For Small Business
Build Quality7.5Document Quality8.0Scanning8.0Estimated Black Page Yield1,444 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.029 US$/printEstimated Color Page Yield641 printsColor Printing Cost0.126 US$/printSee all our test resultsPrinting Speed7.4The best wide-format printer we've tested for small businesses is the HP OfficeJet Pro 9730e. This is a versatile all-in-one device that's best suited to an office environment with many different needs. It's great for printing posters, charts, and blueprints, as it supports paper sizes up to 11" x 17". It's not the fastest printer out there, but it can still push a respectable 20 black or 14 color pages per minute. There are also many connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet, and you can print directly from a USB flash drive; this makes it convenient for everyone in the office to access.
The scanner is feature-rich; its flatbed scanner supports up to 11" x 17" paper, and its ADF supports automatic duplex scanning, so processing multi-page and double-sided documents is a breeze. It produces very sharp documents and prints relatively quickly for an inkjet model. For photo printing, it has a decently wide color gamut and color accuracy; however, there's a lot of grain in the photos, and skin tones are overly warm. Unfortunately, scan quality is a major pain point. This printer produces mediocre scans due to its excessively aggressive image processing. You can toggle many image processing settings off in the HP Smart app, which improves scan quality but doesn't completely fix it. If you're interested in purchasing a wide-format printer and want to see some other options, check out our recommendations for the best 11" x 17" printers.
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Best Portable Printer For Small Business
Build Quality6.0Document Quality8.5Scanning6.8Estimated Black Page Yield167 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.114 US$/printEstimated Color Page Yield123 printsColor Printing Cost0.195 US$/printSee all our test resultsPrinting Speed3.9If your small business has you constantly traveling to see clients or setting up kiosks at trade shows, then a portable cordless printer is worth considering. We recommend the HP OfficeJet 250. Thanks to its compact design, it fits easily into a backpack. It also has a rechargeable battery that lasts about 225 prints on a full charge. It produces good-quality documents, but it's on the slower side, so it isn't the best for regularly printing long, multi-page reports quickly. Also, it can only print around 100 to 150 pages before it runs out of ink, so you'll need to carry a few extra cartridges if you're printing frequently.
Despite its compact size, it has an ADF scanner, so you can still scan documents on the go. It scans at a maximum resolution of 600 DPI, which isn't as good as a desktop printer but more than enough for text documents and photos. You can connect to the printer via USB or Wi-Fi, or print directly from a USB flash drive. It also supports Wi-Fi Direct, meaning it can generate its own wireless signal, which is handy when you don't have access to an existing wireless network. If you want to consider some other options, check out our recommendations for the best portable printers.
Notable Mentions
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Brother MFC-L3780CDW/MFC-L3720CDW:
The Brother MFC-L3780CDW/MFC-L3720CDW is a solid alternative to the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw. Print and scan quality are pretty much on par between the two. The Brother has a bit of an edge with faster scanning, which is nice if you're doing a lot of that. On the other hand, its standard cartridges don't last as long as the Canon.
See our review -
HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e:
The HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e is a great inkjet alternative to the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw. It has the same features as the Canon and prints faster; however, it doesn't yield as many prints. This model comes with three months of free ink via HP's ink replenishment service, which will help offset the cost of replacement ink for a short time; however, subscribing to the service will block you from using third-party cartridges.
See our review -
Epson EcoTank ET-4950:
If you also need to print photos or if lowering your cost-per-print is a priority, the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 can be a great alternative to the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw. While it's significantly slower, it also includes a fully-featured automatic document feeder with duplex printing, and very good overall print quality
See our review
Recent Updates
Jan 30, 2026:
We've swapped out the discontinued Brother MFC-L8905CDW for the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw as our top pick. Performance is pretty similar, though it prints a bit slower and costs less. We've also switched our alternative pick from the Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw to the Brother MFC-L3780CDW, which is a better option than the Canon MF665Cdw.
Nov 18, 2025:
We replaced the now-discontinued Canon Color imageCLASS MF656Cdw with its successor, the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw. It delivers the same excellent overall package while slightly improving print quality and speed. Removed the Brother MFC-L3780CDW from the Notable Mentions, as it's not worth it over the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw.
Mar 13, 2025:
We've edited the article for clarity and conciseness while verifying that our recommendations are available and represent the best options.
Dec 17, 2024:
We've replaced the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840 with the HP OfficeJet Pro 9730e as it performs much better overall and is better suited to a small business environment. We also made small edits for clarity.
Oct 02, 2024: We've added the Canon PIXMA TS9520a/TS9521 to the Notable Mentions as a wide-format printer that produces better photos. We also made small edits for clarity throughout.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best printers for small business that you can buy. In addition to the test results, we factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all our printer reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no printer is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.