Cheapest Printers for Ink Costs

Over time, you spend more on ink cartridges than on the printer itself. These ink-thrifty models will save you money in the long run.

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A "low ink" warning from your printer can be as stressful as seeing your car's fuel gauge in the red. Printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids on the planet, and Consumer Reports’ surveys show that many people are frustrated by how frequently their printer's ink cartridges run out and how much they cost to replace.

You can take steps to use less ink no matter which printer you own. But when it's time for a new machine, it makes sense to buy an efficient model, one that sips ink instead of guzzling it.

Doing that means looking beyond the printer's sticker price.

For each printer in our ratings (available to members), Consumer Reports lists an annual ink or toner cost estimate, using the price of replacement cartridges, data from our member surveys on how much consumers print, and measurements of ink consumption from our labs.

If you add that ink or toner cost to the price of the printer, you can calculate the cost of ownership over time.

As you will see, the total financial outlay can balloon quickly.

Take the HP DeskJet 3755. Often priced around $90, it may seem like a steal in the store. But when you add $146 per year for ink replacement, the cost of ownership is $236 after one year and an eye-opening $820 after five. The roughly $350 Epson EcoTank ET-3850 hits your wallet hard on Day One, but it has an ink reservoir instead of cartridges and therefore requires only about $5 per year in ink costs, making the first-year cost of ownership $355 and the five-year cost $375. (Of course, these numbers are estimates to help you compare your choices. Printer and ink prices fluctuate, as does the amount that people print.)

As you might expect, the two options I just cited are inkjet models, which have become the popular choice in most homes. Consumer Reports also tests laser printers, which are often a wiser choice, especially if you generally print in black and white. Though often priced higher to start, those printers use toner instead of ink, and in the long run you’ll probably spend less money on toner than you will on ink. And laser printers tend to outperform inkjets on predicted brand reliability and owner satisfaction ratings that are based on surveys of Consumer Reports members.

For more information on the replacement ink costs of specific models, along with other test and survey results, members can consult our printer ratings, which feature more than 200 models.

Consumer Reports is a nonprofit member organization devoted to creating a fair, safe marketplace. Below, CR members can read about several cost-efficient all-in-one printers that score well in our ratings. They have features such as a scanner, touchscreen navigation, WiFi connectivity, and auto-duplexing, which permits you to print on both sides of the paper.

Brother MFC-J1010DW

Estimated ink cost per year: $68

Estimated cost of ownership and ink replacement:

After year 2, $236; year 3, $304; year 4, $372; year 5, $440

This relatively compact all-in-one inkjet is a good option for many people. It can scan, copy, and fax, and it uses very little ink to maintain the print heads.

It's about average when it comes to text printing quality and speed. And testers say the printer handles color graphics and photos on glossy paper just fine for casual users.

We estimate that in typical use, the MFC-J1010W will consume about $68 worth of ink each year. Given the low up-front cost, that makes it a solid, cost-effective purchase compared with pricier printers with higher ink replacement costs.

And it's stocked with convenient features, such as auto-duplexing, for printing both sides of a page, and an automatic document feeder, for scanning or copying multipage documents. It won't print if a color ink cartridge is empty, though, even if you just need a black-and-white document.

Epson EcoTank ET-2400

Estimated ink cost per year: $5

Estimated cost of ownership and ink replacement:

After year 2, $260; year 3, $265; year 4, $270; year 5, $75

As with other reservoir- or tank-style printers, the EcoTank Photo ET-2400 does away with pricey replacement cartridges in favor of tanks that can be replenished with low-cost bottles of ink. Our estimates show the typical yearly cost to keep this printer running is just $5, a fraction of the figure for conventional inkjets.

The model scores well for text and graphics quality but does not earn a CR recommendation, in part because it's relatively slow compared with other inkjets and only offers basic features: WiFi connectivity, scanning and copying, and a typical 100-sheet paper tray.

If you own the model for a few years, however, it becomes one of the cheapest printers in our ratings, especially for those who routinely churn out recipes, book reports, tickets, schedules, graphics-heavy school projects, and the like.

If you want auto-duplexing and a digital display panel, you might consider the $250 Epson EcoTank ET-2850, which also has a $5 per year ink cost.

Canon imageCLASS MF451dw

Estimated toner cost per year: $14

Estimated cost of ownership and toner replacement:

After year 2, $328; year 3, $342; year 4, $356; year 5, $370

Not everyone needs to print in color, and those who don't may want to consider a black-and-white laser printer. Like other all-in-one lasers, this model from Canon is on the larger side, but it makes up for that with admirable efficiency and overall performance. We estimate a typical user will spend only about $14 per year on toner.

The Canon ImageClass MF451dw gets a top rating for the quality of its text printouts, which are delivered at a speedy 20 pages per minute. It's also quite versatile, with a duplexing auto-feeder for scanning and copying both sides of each page.

There's a generous 250-sheet main paper tray capacity and a second 100-sheet tray as well. In addition to USB and WiFi connectivity, you can connect the printer to your network router with an Ethernet cable.

Canon imageCLASS MF642Cdw

Estimated toner cost per year: $45

Estimated cost of ownership and ink replacement:

After year 2, $370; year 3, $415; year 4, $460; year 5, $505

Need a color laser printer that can print out presentation-quality charts and web pages while still being fairly cheap to run? This multifunction printer could fit the bill.

It doesn't score quite high enough to earn a CR recommendation, but it's among the few color laser printers to receive a top rating for graphics quality, and it has an above-average score for text quality, too. It lags behind other options in text speed, though.

A big printer with a relatively low starting price for a color laser, the MF642Cdw has an auto feeder and can print on both sides of a page with auto-duplexing. Connectivity options include USB cable, WiFi, and Ethernet cable. Note that the model can't print if any color runs out.

Melanie Pinola

Melanie Pinola covers smartphones, home office products, and a wide range of other technology topics for Consumer Reports. A seasoned service journalist, her work has appeared in the New York Times, Popular Mechanics, Laptop Magazine, PCWorld, and other publications. A former IT administrator and the author of two books about remote work and software, she was a longtime CR reader before joining the company as a tech writer and editor. Follow Melanie on Twitter @melaniepinola.