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Part of Home printers and scanners: matching volume, paper, and true running cost
Inkjet, laser, or ink-tank: which printer actually costs less to run?
Per-page running costs for cartridge inkjet, ink-tank and laser printers, with named models and the page mix that decides which machine is cheaper.
What to take away
- Black text above roughly 200 pages a montha mono laser such as the Brother HL-L2350DW is cheapest, at about 2 to 3 cents a page on high-yield toner.
- Color above roughly 150 pages a monthan ink-tank such as the Epson EcoTank ET-2850 wins, at well under 1 cent a page.
- Cartridge inkjet costs the most per page of the three, and its tri-color cartridge normally empties first.
- An ink-tank pays back its higher purchase price above roughly 150 pages a month. Below about 50 pages a month, a cheap mono laser plus an occasional print shop costs less overall.
- Prices here are typical US retail, and Canadian buyers usually pay more for the same supplies. Check your local price before you trust any of these figures.
What each system costs per page
Running cost is supply price divided by rated yield, plus wear parts. Rated yields assume 5% coverage.
| System and supply | Typical price | Rated yield | Typical cost per page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono laser, Brother HL-L2350DW, TN-760 high-yield toner | $65 to $75 | 3,000 pages | 2 to 2.5 cents |
| Cartridge inkjet, HP Envy 6055, HP 67 black | $20 to $25 | 120 pages | 17 to 21 cents |
| Cartridge inkjet, Canon Pixma TS5320, PG-245XL black | $25 to $30 | 400 pages | 6 to 8 cents |
| Ink-tank, Epson EcoTank ET-2850, Epson 522 black bottle | $13 to $18 | 4,500 pages | under 0.5 cents |
The home printer and scanner buying guide turns this into a workload profile before you commit to a model.
The DR-730 drum in that laser lasts 12,000 pages and typically costs $70 to $80.
An ink-tank printer is an inkjet with refillable reservoirs instead of cartridges, as this overview of inkjet printing describes. The head is usually fixed, so a severe clog becomes a repair, not a cartridge swap.
Laser printers charge a drum, transfer toner, then fuse it with heat. The laser printing article sets out that sequence and the parts that wear out.
Where the ink-tank pays back
The payback is arithmetic you can run yourself:
- Subtract the cartridge inkjet price from the ink-tank price. That is the gap, D.
- Subtract the ink-tank cost per page from the cartridge cost per page. That is the saving, S.
- Divide D by S for the break-even page count.
- Divide that by your monthly page count for the months to payback.
[figure 2]
Ink-tank payback arithmetic
- £100 | typical price gap
- 7p | saving per page
- 1,400 | break-even pages
- 9 months | payback at 150 pages/month
At a $170 gap and a 7 cent saving per page, break-even is about 2,400 pages. At 150 pages a month that is 16 months.
Idle time, cleaning and hidden consumables
Liquid ink dries at the nozzles. Every automatic cleaning cycle burns ink and fills the maintenance absorber, a sponge box that eventually needs service.
A fixed head makes a bad clog expensive. A cartridge head makes it a swap. That trade is the DIY, independent and manufacturer repair comparison in miniature.
The FTC guide to the federal warranty law explains that fitting a third-party cartridge does not by itself void the whole printer warranty.
Example: matching the printer to your page mix
Household A prints 300 black text pages a month. A mono laser at 2.5 cents costs about $90 a year in toner. The same pages on a cartridge inkjet at 8 cents cost about $288.
Household B prints 20 color pages a month. A $250 ink-tank uses about $1.20 of ink a year. A $90 cartridge inkjet uses about $36. Over three years the tank costs $254 and the inkjet $198.
Photographs and specialty media
Photo inkjets such as the Canon Pixma TS8320 and Epson Expression Photo XP-8700 add gray and light inks for smoother gradation. They also consume a lot on borderless prints.
A full-page photo at high quality can use twenty times the ink of a 5% text page. Rated yields mislead on photo work, so compare a print service instead.
Laser fusers run hot. Coated stock, labels and transparency film must be rated for the exact process, or the film can melt onto the fuser.
What to check before you buy
Most of these checks only surface at setup. The printer and scanner setup guide covers placement, connection and the first test print.
- Is there a driver for your operating system?
- Does a black-only mode work when the color cartridge is empty?
- Can you buy high-yield supplies locally, and what does a drum or printhead cost?
- Does the scanner still work when printing fails?
- Is service available near you after the warranty ends?
[figure 3]
Printer by workload
Workload
- 200+ black pages
- Brother HL-L2350DW
- Mixed color 150+
- Epson ET-2850, Canon G3570
- Weekly photos
- Canon TS8350, Epson XP-8700
- Under 50 pages
- Cheap mono laser
- Labels and envelopes
- Any approved model
- Light color under 50
- HP Envy 6000, Canon TS5350
Starting point
- 200+ black pages
- TN-760 price, drum life
- Mixed color 150+
- Bottle yield, head cost
- Weekly photos
- Ink set, paper, permanence
- Under 50 pages
- Wake reliability, storage
- Labels and envelopes
- Stock rating, feed path
- Light color under 50
- Cartridge cost, tri-color yield
Check before buying
- 200+ black pages
- Mixed color 150+
- Weekly photos
- Under 50 pages
- Labels and envelopes
- Light color under 50
