If your small business needs to print out flyers, process office work claims, or produce hard-copy documents, having a versatile printer that can accomplish many different jobs 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.
Quick Look
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Best Printer For Small Business
Build Quality9.0Document Quality9.5Scanner9.6Estimated Black Page Yield2,907 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.028 US$/printEstimated Color Page Yield1,446 printsColor Printing Cost0.151 US$/printSpeed8.9See all our test resultsColor Quality5.3The best small office printer we've tested is the Brother MFC-L8905CDW. This all-in-one color laser model is ideal for large print loads, as it doesn't take long to warm up, prints up to 32 pages per minute, and produces outstandingly sharp documents. Its flatbed scanner is large enough to scan Legal-size sheets (8.5" x 14"), and it has an automatic feeder with single-pass duplex scanning to process multi-page and double-sided sheets quickly. The toner cartridges aren't overly expensive and last a long time, but you need to replace the drum separately, which is an added expense. Cheaper variants are available with fewer features; see our review for more details.
While the MFC-8905CDW is an excellent laser printer, it has a weakness: photo printing. Laser models aren't ideal for printing photos as their photos look dull and lack detail. If you're looking for the best small business printer for photos or graphics, we recommend either the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850 or the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550. The former prints faster and has more features, like an ADF with duplex scanning, while the latter produces higher-quality photos. They're both supertank inkjet models that yield thousands of prints, so you won't have to worry about high running costs; however, they both tend to be more expensive upfront.
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Best Upper Mid-Range Printer For Small Business
Build Quality9.0Document Quality9.5Scanner9.5Estimated Black Page Yield2,311 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.036 US$/printEstimated Color Page Yield2,422 printsColor Printing Cost0.125 US$/printSpeed8.5See all our test resultsColor Quality5.6If you want something more modest yet still capable of handling a high print volume while adding a splash of color, consider the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw. It's an all-in-one color laser printer with the same features and print quality as the Brother MFC-L8905CDW we recommend above. It's the replacement for the Canon Color imageCLASS MF656Cdw, which has been a staple in this segment. It improves on it with a slightly better print speed and print quality, while delivering a very similar overall experience.
Compared to the Brother mentioned above, the main thing you have to give up is speed, both for printing and scanning. While it's not as quick, it can print up to 26 pages per minute for both color and black-and-white prints. The Canon still has plenty to offer. If you're more limited when it comes to space, this Canon is also smaller, which may make it easier to fit into your office. There are tons of connectivity options, as well as an ADF-equipped scanner with duplex scanning for easily processing double-sided documents. While its scan speed is also slower than that of the Brother printer, it's still respectable at 14 pages per minute. Its toner cartridges also have a very high print yield, and you won't need to replace them often, which helps keep maintenance requirements low. This printer comes in various models with slightly different features; see more details in our full review.
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Best Mid-Range Printer For Small Business
Build Quality8.5Document Quality9.0Scanner8.1Estimated Black Page Yield1,273 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.039 US$/printEstimated Color Page YieldN/AColor Printing CostN/ASee all our test resultsSpeed8.8For businesses that only print black-and-white documents but still need a great-quality scanner, get the Brother MFC-L2820DW. This monochrome laser all-in-one produces high-quality documents, doesn't take long to warm up, and prints faster than our upper mid-range pick, the Canon Color imageCLASS MF665Cdw, at 33 pages per minute. A regular toner cartridge is sufficient for about 1,300 prints and relatively cheap to replace. Unlike the Canon, you'll have to replace the drum separately. Also, while you still get an ADF scanner, it's slower, processing just seven pages per minute; it also lacks duplex scanning, although you can get variants that offer this feature, like the Brother MFC-L2880DW. See our review for more details.
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Best Budget Printer For Small Business
Build Quality8.0Document Quality6.0Estimated Black Page Yield1,273 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.039 US$/printEstimated Color Page YieldN/AColor Printing CostN/ASee all our test resultsSpeed8.4Our budget pick is the Brother HL-L2460DW, and it's ideal for small businesses that only need to print in black and white. 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. There's one issue: the printing quality isn't up to par with what you would expect from a Brother laser printer. Thankfully, you can still produce sharp-looking documents if you do a deep dive into the printer settings. 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.
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 Quality8.0Scanner7.6Estimated Black Page Yield1,444 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.029 US$/printEstimated Color Page Yield641 printsColor Printing Cost0.126 US$/printSpeed7.2See all our test resultsColor Quality6.3The 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 Quality8.5Scanner6.7Estimated Black Page Yield167 printsBlack-Only Printing Cost0.114 US$/printEstimated Color Page Yield123 printsColor Printing Cost0.195 US$/printSpeed3.1See all our test resultsColor Quality6.2If 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
- Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw/MF751Cdw: The Canon Color imageCLASS MF753Cdw/MF751Cdw is a great alternative to the Brother MFC-L8905CDW. It's very similar to the Brother in printing quality; however, it doesn't scan or print as quickly. Its maintenance is more convenient because the drum is integrated into the toner cartridges, meaning you won't need to replace the drum separately. Still, the cartridges are more expensive and don't last as long. See our review
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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
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.
Aug 08, 2024: We've completely revamped this article, introducing a new format, new performance usages, and changes in recommendations to better represent the best choices available.
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.