Affordable Printers With Cheapest Ink Cartridges

Cost-saving printers are not defined by its price tag. Instead, look at ink cartridge price and page yield if you want to save on printing.

If you’re reading this article, it’s either because you’re looking for cheap ink cartridges, a cheap printer, or you simply want to save on overall printing costs. Right off the bat, there’s one thing you need to know:

Do not fall for cheap printers! Printers that are less than $100 generally use expensive ink. You might initially save money on the printer price, but you can expect to spend hundreds of dollars more on ink in the following months.

So if it’s not the price of a printer, how can you tell if a printer will save you money in the long run?

But before any of that, let’s answer one important question –

How much does a printer cost?

Lower end inkjet printers can cost anywhere from $39 – $100 while office grade printers can cost over $1,000. It depends on whether the printer is inkjet or laser too. But if  you ask me, the question “how much does a printer cost?” can also be “how much should a printer cost?” Like I mentioned earlier, a printer shouldn’t be too cheap otherwise you have every right to be suspicious of the catch.

So apart from the price tag of a printer, what should you be looking at to determine if a printer will be easy on your budget in the long run?

Qualities of an Affordable Printer

It has been proven that the total cost of a year’s worth of printer cartridges surpasses the price tag of a cheap printer. In most cases, it doesn’t even take a year until you’ve spent $100 on ink for a printer you only paid $30 for!

Why the super cheap printers anyway? It’s a sales tactic that printer manufacturers use to bait you in with a cheap printer and then later on make their money back via expensive ink cartridges.

So what should you look for when shopping for an economical printer?

#1 – Ink Efficient (Low Cost-Per-Page)

An ink-efficient printer is an economical printer in the long-run. To see if a printer is ink-efficient, look at its cost per page.

What’s cost per page? Your printer’s cost per page is the most important factor to consider when determining the true cost of your printer and how efficient it is. It’s the true cost of each page your printer produces.

How do you calculate cost-per-page? Ink cartridges have different page yields. Page yield is the number of pages a cartridge can print before it needs to be replaced.

To get the cost per page, simply divide the cost of the cartridge with its page yield:

Cost per page or CPP = Cartridge Price / Page Yield

Here’s an example: to get the cost per page of a Canon PGI-280XL, we take it’s price ($26.99*) and divide it by 400 pages, which is the page yield of a Canon PGI-280XL ($26.99 / 400). Your cost per page will be $0.067 or 6.7 cents per page.

Let’s compare that cost per page of a PGI-280XL with another cartridge. The HP 63XL high yield black costs $39.99 and can print up to 480 pages. For the HP 63XL black cartridge, the cost per page is  $0.08 or 8 cents ($39.99 / 480).

For the sake of example, let’s compare just the Canon PGI-280XL and the HP 63XL black. Between the two, the Canon cartridge has a lower cost per page which means printers that use this cartridge is more ink-efficient. On the other hand, since the HP 63XL black has a higher cost per page, it will end up costing more in the long run so avoid purchasing printers that use this cartridge.

The smaller your cost per page, the more efficient your printer is in the long run.

Which is more cost-efficient: inkjet or laser printers?

When it comes to better cost per page (a.k.a. cost efficiency), laser printers win over inkjet printers easily. Laser toner cartridges have much higher page yields compared to ink cartridges. Even if toner cartridges cost more, the cost per page of a laser toner is still much lower than an ink cartridge’s. That’s why in spite of laser printers being initially more expensive, they are still generally more cost-efficient printers compared to inkjet printers in the long run. But for the purpose of this article, we focus only on ink efficient inkjet printers. We discuss most efficient laser printers in a later article.

#2 – Uses Larger (High Yield) Cartridge Sizes

Ink cartridges usually come in standard and high yield (XL) and sometimes extra high yield (XXL) sizes. The main difference is that high yield cartridges can print usually about twice the number of pages than that of a standard cartridge. Though high yield cartridges are slightly more expensive than standard cartridges, they generally have a lower cost per page compared to their standard yield counterparts so high yield options are still cheaper in the long run. 

If you print regularly, buying a high yield (XL) ink cartridge that prints more pages gives you more time between replacements and can save you lots of money, even if the higher-yield cartridge costs a few dollars more.

The main takeaway from all this is that ink cartridges that can print more pages usually result in a lower cost per page–our main efficiency metric.

Shopping for a printer using this metric means shopping for a printer that pairs with an efficient cartridge which as a result will save you hundreds of dollars over time. For even bigger savings, look for a printer that uses XXL extra high yield ink cartridges. Knowing which printers offer this option can come in handy if you need to accommodate high print volumes.

#3 – Uses Compatible or Aftermarket Ink

When shopping for a new printer, make sure there are more affordable compatible replacements for its ink cartridges.  

Most original (OEM) brand cartridges are not cheap. Fortunately, today, there are other options available through several non-OEM retailers. Third-party aftermarket consumables in the form of compatible and remanufactured ink cartridges offer customers a way to cut their print costs by as much as 50% or more. However, not all aftermarket brands are the same.

*** Be wary of brands that only sell their products on Amazon without an online retail store. Such brands lack product support and usually are not as committed to quality and customer satisfaction. ***

When it comes to reliable compatible or off-brand ink and toner replacements, LD Products is the most trusted brand that has been around since 1999. You can find their products on 4inkjets.com.

Remanufactured vs Compatible Ink Cartridges. Remanufactured cartridges use recycled component pieces, each individually inspected and refilled using the same quality controls as brand name manufacturers. Compatible cartridges are built from scratch to adhere to these same standards, but for a whole lot less.

#4 – Can Handle your Monthly Load

Each and every printer comes with a rating for how many pages it can reasonably print per month. This pages-per-month estimate is of particular importance for businesses selecting a workload printer, but it also comes in handy for students and families as well. Sure, you’re probably not printing six-thousand pages per month (though it may seem like it sometimes!) However, you very likely are producing several hundred pages, maybe up to a thousand. Going over your monthly print load overtaxes the mechanics in your printer, and can cause it to break down quicker, which means costly repairs and premature replacement. Monthly load is also a great, low-key metric you can use to suss out how rugged your unit is over time.

Since ink efficiency or a good cost per page is our main indicator of an affordable printer, let’s list down some of the ink cartridges that have a low cost per page (CPP) out in the market today.

What are the Cheapest Ink Cartridges?

• Canon PGI-280 / CLI-281 (available in XXL extra high yield cartridges)
• Brother InkVestment LC3039
• HP 910XL Ink Cartridge Series
• HP 952XL Ink Cartridge Series
• Epson EcoTank 522 Ink bottles

Now, that we’ve identified some of the ink cartridges with the lowest cost per page in the market today, let’s look at some of the reasonably-priced printers that use them. All of these printers are also compatible with affordable non-OEM ink cartridges for those who wish to save even more. You can compare how much lower the cost per page goes when we compare OEM and compatible ink replacements.

*We indicate the prices of compatible ink cartridge replacements from LD Products to illustrate how much you can save.

Best Printers that use the Cheapest Ink Cartridges

Canon^® PIXMA^® TR8620 Wireless Inkjet Printer

Top-rated by PC Mag, the PIXMA TR8620 is a no frills, no nonsense budget printer perfect for home use. Perfect for documents as well as printing beautiful borderless photos. Excellent print resolution of up to 4800 x 1200 color dpi. It features all-in-one printer scanner technology and high quality output at a speed unmatched by other budget printers. Prints in as fast as 15 images per minute for black and 10 color images per minute. Print 4″ x 6″ photos in around 41 seconds. It uses both pigment-based ink for text and dye-based ink to print colored images. (Learn more about pigment vs dye based ink)

Cartridges used:

• 1 Canon PGI-280 pigment-based black ink cartridge
• 4 Canon CLI-281 dye-based ink cartridges: 1 photo black, 1 cyan, 1 magenta, and 1 yellow

All cartridges are available in larger sizes: high yield (PGI-280XL / CLI-281XL) and extra high yield (PGI-280XXL / CLI-281XXL)

How many can you print with each cartridge?

• A standard PGI-280 prints 200 pages.  The high yield PGI-280XL can print up to 400 pages and the extra high yield PGI-280XXL prints up to 600 pages.
• A standard CLI-281 black cartridge can print up to 256 pages. The larger CLI-281XL prints up to 515 pages and the extra high yield CLI-281XXL prints up to 824 pages

Brother^® MFC-J5845DW INKvestment All-in-One Printer

This printer is a popular choice among consumers because of its low printer price tag and low cost per page. Comes with print, copy, scan, and fax capabilities. Prints up to 11″ x 17″. Has an automatic document feeder and duplex printing. Uses 4 ink cartridges. It has all the features you need for home or home office use. WiFi capabilities are included too!

Cartridges used:

• Four (4) Brother LC3039 ultra high-yield cartridges: black, cyan, magenta, yellow

How many pages can you print with each cartridge?

• A black cartridge (LC3039BK) prints 6,000 pages;
• A magenta (LC3039M), cyan (LC3039C), and yellow (LC3039Y) print 5,000 pages each cartridge.

HP^® OfficeJet Pro^® 8035 Wireless All-in-One

The HP OfficeJet Pro 8035 is a wireless multifunction inkjet printer with print, copy, scan, and fax capabilities perfect for mobile printing.  Includes duplex printing and an automatic document feeder. Suitable for both home and office use.  HP has produced some of the fastest color inkjet printers on the market according to the Guinness Book of World Records. This printer isn’t the fastest but it’s pretty quick, delivering documents in as fast as 20 pages per minute for black and up to 10 pages per minute for color.

This printer has a slim cost per page of 4.9 cents. It’s no wonder consumers love this printer. And it gets even better! This printer uses HP 910 ink cartridges which print at least 300 pages with a standard HP 910 and 825 pages if you get the 910XL cartridge. but you can save even more when you switch to compatible HP 910 cartridges. Our compatible HP 910s  will be available soon and are expected to fly off the shelves since this is a very popular printer model. The original HP 910XL cartridge (which is just like a bigger HP 910) is priced at $45.99 at the time of this article but you can get an HP 910XL compatible ink cartridge for a fraction of the price when they become available!

Cartridges Used:

• Four (4) HP 910 standard or  910XL high yield ink cartridges: black, cyan, magenta, yellow

How many pages can you print with each cartridge?

• An HP 910 cartridge prints up to 300 pages.
• The bigger HP 910XL prints 825 pages.

HP OfficeJet Pro 8210 All-in-One Printer

One of most efficient inkjets is the OfficeJet Pro 8210.  Like the the OfficeJet 8035, the HP 8210 is another all-in-one inkjet printer that uses ink efficient cartridges. A full-featured printer that has a 50% lower cost per page than laser printers, according to HP. Has wireless printing, duplex printing, as well as printing, scanning, copying, and faxing capabilities.

This model uses four different HP 952 pigment-based ink cartridges: black, cyan, magenta and yellow. HP offers the cartridges in a standard yield and high yield size.  High yield, or XL cartridges are a better buy for customers that print frequently.  Original HP brand high yield 952XL black cartridges are sold for $34.99 a piece and each individual color cartridge is sold for $31.99.  To keep costs down, consider buying compatible HP 952 replacement cartridges by LD Products for  just $17.99 for the XL black cartridge and $18.99 for each color!

Cartridges Used:

• Four (4) HP 952 standard or HP 952XL high yield ink cartridges: black, cyan, magenta, yellow

How many pages can you print with each cartridge?

• A standard HP 952 can print up to 1,000 pages;
• A larger high yield HP 952XL can print 2,000 pages.

Epson EcoTank ET-2720 Color All-in-One Printer

The EcoTank ET-2720 is an inexpensive entry-level printer that comes with print, copy, and scan capabilities. All EcoTank printers use ink bottles with page yields in the thousands, so even if you go with the cheapest EcoTank option, you are still saving hundreds of dollars on ink in the long run. Some downsides to this printer are that it doesn’t have fax capabilities, page speed is a bit slow (10.5 ppm for black and 5 ppm for color), and it does not automatically do double-sided printing.

Save even more when you use compatible ink bottle refills that fit your EcoTank printer and deliver the same print results as original OEM ink bottles.

Cartridges Used:

• The ET-2720 printer uses four (4) T522 ink bottles (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow).

How many pages can you print with each ink bottle?

• A black T522 bottle can print up to 4,500 pages;
• A cyan, magenta, or yellow T522 ink bottle can print about 3,000 pages.

Final Thoughts

If you begin your printer search by first looking for cost-efficient ink cartridges, it is guaranteed that you will save money in the long run. Once you’ve found an ink cartridge that has a low cost per page, it’s a lot easier to choose from the range of printers that use that cartridge.

We hope you were able to learn something from us today. If you have any further questions or comments on how we can further improve this article, please leave us a comment below!

^{*Savings based on price comparison between remanufactured/compatible cartridge prices on www.4inkjets.com and OEM cartridge and printer prices from Staples®.   All prices effective as of July 26, 2021.  OEM names are registered trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with, and do not endorse 4inkjets.}