The 6 Best Printers With Cheap Ink - Fall 2024

The best printer with cheap ink we've tested is the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850, an all-in-one inkjet model. If you're looking to save on ink costs, a supertank printer is the way to go; they use large refillable ink tanks instead of traditional ink cartridges. A full tank yields thousands of prints, and replacement ink is cheap, so recurring costs are low. This model produces high-quality black and color documents and is fast, pushing out 25 black or color pages per minute. It prints pictures that look extremely detailed but noticeably grainy and overly warm. The scanner supports automatic double-sided scanning and optical character recognition.

If you want a model that produces higher-quality photos, get the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550, one of the best all-in-one printers with cheap ink we've tested. It has a wider color range and produces photos with less grain. Plus, it supports wide format paper sizes up to 13x19, which is great for making posters. However, it doesn't have an ADF and prints slower, and its document printing quality isn't quite as good as the ET-5850. You can get the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 variants if you don't need wide-format printing. It performs identically but has a smaller 8.5x11.7 flatbed scanner and only supports up to 8.5x11 paper.

Our best mid-range pick is the Epson EcoTank ET-3850, one of the best printers for home use with cheap ink we've tested. Like our top pick, it's an all-in-one supertank model that yields thousands of prints with a full tank. It has the usual USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet connectivity options and support for Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service, making it easy to print from various devices. The scanner has an automatic feeder to process long, multi-page documents and produces high-quality scans. However, unlike our top pick, the Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5850, it doesn't support automatic double-sided scanning, a tradeoff for its lower price tag.

As for its print quality, black documents look incredibly sharp with no visible artifacts. Color documents also look good, albeit slightly washed out. Photo printing is a little bit of a mixed bag. The pictures look detailed and colorful; however, the colors are noticeably more inaccurate than our top pick, and there's also a fair amount of grain in the pictures. Printing speed is decent; it can get a single page out in 15 seconds and prints up to 15 black or seven color pages per minute.

If you want something cheaper than the Epson EcoTank ET-3850, consider the Brother MFC-J4335DW, one of the best home printers with cheap ink we've tested. Unlike the supertank models we recommend above, this printer uses ink cartridges. It yields around 2,000 black and 800 color prints, which isn't as good as a supertank printer but still very respectable for this type of printer. The cartridges aren't overly expensive, so your maintenance cost will remain low, and you can get XL cartridges that'll last even longer.

This printer has great printing speeds. It doesn't take long to initialize and get a single page out, and it can churn out 17 black or 15 color pages per minute when printing longer documents. It has an ADF-equipped scanner that processes up to 20 pages per minute and produces high-quality scans; however, it doesn't support duplex scanning. The slightly more expensive Brother MFC-J4535DW variant is the same printer, but it has a larger display, an additional 250-sheet input tray, as well as an Ethernet port and NFC support.

Another option in the same price range is the Epson EcoTank ET-2400. Like the EcoTank models we recommend above, it yields thousands of prints from a full ink tank, making its cost-per-print exceptionally low. It also produces nicer photos than the Brother because it has a much wider color range and better color accuracy. Unfortunately, it's significantly slower for printing and lacks an ADF. There's also no Apple AirPrint and Mopria Print Service support, so it's not as convenient for all users. 

If you only print once in a blue moon and don't need a scanner, get the Brother HL-L2460DW. It's a print-only monochrome laser model, so it lacks features compared to our laser printer picks below. Still, you can't go wrong with this unit for the price, as it prints quickly, and a single toner cartridge yields around 1300 pages. Its out-of-the-box print quality isn't great, but it vastly improves with a few setting changes. Unlike inkjet printers, there's no risk of clogging if it sits for long periods; choosing a laser printer can save you money in the long run if you print infrequently, as you won't need to replace ink cartridges before each print.

For those on a tight budget but with frequent print needs, we recommend the Brother MFC-J1205W, also sold as the Brother MFC-J1215W at Walmart. It's very similar to our mid-range pick, the Brother MFC-J4335DW, but there's more comprises for its price point, like no ADF. It produces high-quality documents; it just prints slower at nine black or six color pages per minute. Printed pictures look detailed but often too dark, as the printer has trouble reproducing bright, saturated colors. You can expect roughly 1,100 black and 750 color prints from a set of regular ink cartridges, which is still far more than most budget inkjet printers on the market.

The best color laser printer with cheap toner we've tested is the Brother MFC-L8905CDW. This all-in-one has nearly everything you'd need for a small or home office. It produces incredibly sharp documents, prints quickly at up to 32 pages per minute (black or color), and requires very little maintenance. The regular toner cartridges yield a large number of prints, and you can get XL cartridges that'll last even longer, with the TN437 cartridges yielding up to 9,000 black and 8,000 color prints. You'll have to spend extra to replace the drum, though you won't have to do it often, as it has an estimated lifespan of 30,000 prints. A separate drum unit is also less wasteful than an integrated one, as you won't have to throw out the whole toner cartridge if the drum gets damaged.

This all-in-one has a Legal-size (8.5x14) flatbed scanner and an automatic feeder with single-pass duplex scanning, so you can quickly process multi-page and double-sided documents. Its wide connectivity options include USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet, and it can also print directly off a USB flash drive. This model's only downside is that it's a massive machine, so you'll need a fair amount of space to put it. If you don't need features like duplex scanning and NFC support, you can save money with a cheaper variant like the Brother MFC-L8610CDW. There's also the Brother MFC-L8900CDW, which has nearly the same features as the MFC-8905CDW except for a smaller display. You can see more details about all the variants in the full review.

If you only print black-and-white documents but need the versatility of an all-in-one device, we recommend the Brother MFC-L2820DW. This well-built model has a scanner with an automatic feeder to process multi-page documents and extendable hinges to accommodate thick items but no single-pass duplex scanning capability. It yields around 1,300 prints from a single black toner cartridge, and you can get an XL cartridge that'll last longer. It also accepts third-party toner. You have to replace the drum separately, but it's usually good for about 16,000 prints, so you likely won't need to do it too often. It warms up quickly and prints at 33 pages per minute.

As with most Brother printers, there are many variants of this printer with minor differences in features and performance. For example, you can save money with the Brother DCP-L2640DW variant, which loses the touchscreen interface but has higher print speeds at 36 pages per minute. You can also get more expensive variants like the MFC-L2880DW with single-pass duplex scanning and higher print speeds at 36 pages per minute. The catch is these variants can be harder to find in North America. You can see all the variants and their differences in our full review.