Best cheap printers with cheap ink

The best cheap printers will save you more than £100 a year compared with models that waste ink. But be careful – without our test results, you can't tell whether a cheap printer is a bargain or will cost you in the long run. 

In this guide, we've highlighted great printers that use cheap ink and combine a low purchase price with low printing costs. This means you won't end up wasting money on a cheap-to-buy printer that's expensive to use.

Want to save money on ink? We reveal the best cheap ink cartridges

Best cheap printers to buy and run

When buying, you should focus on the ongoing ink costs, rather than the upfront cost of the printer. A cartridge inkjet can cost as little as £40, but a replacement set of ink cartridges can cost more than the printer itself. 

All those we've recommended here are tank printers as they have much lower running costs than cartridge inkjets. Since our research shows owners typically keep a printer for 10 years or more, that means the running costs are a far more important consideration than the upfront cost of the printer. 

We've selected some of the cheapest tank printers that do well in our expert tests, so you can get the best of both worlds: lower upfront costs and dramatically lower ink costs.

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Best cheap inkjets with double-sided printing

Auto duplexing will automatically print on both sides of the pages, although tank printers that do this will cost a bit more. Here are three tank inkjets we recommend that have automatic double-sided printing.

See all of our printer reviews – use our filters to find the ideal model for your needs. 

Best cheap laser printers with low running costs

Get a laser printer if you want fast printing, super-sharp text or waterproof ink (the paper isn't waterproof). A colour laser will print photos fine, but an inkjet printer is recommended for photo printing as laser printers can't print on glossy photo paper.

Laser printers generally aren't as cheap to run as tank inkjets, but they're still far cheaper than cartridge inkjets. Many laser printers are mono, rather than colour; colour laser printers are usually quite expensive upfront. 

If you're a Which? member, log in to see our recommendations in the tables below. If you’re not yet a member, join Which? to get instant access to our pick of the top cheap printers, including cheap laser printers, plus all of our online reviews – ranging from laptops and phones to cameras and electric cars.

Cheap printers to avoid

Some printers cost a fortune to buy and underwhelm in terms of their print quality. Then, to make matters even worse, they will drive up your bills with high printer ink costs. Others seem like a bargain, but will cost you more than the printer itself to run every year.

Below, we've picked out three printers to steer clear of, based on our independent tests.

Need a printer that can do it all? See the best printers with scanners.

Buying a cheap printer: 4 key questions to consider

If you're not sure what type of printer you need, here are four key questions to consider when buying a new one:

1. What will you use your printer for? 

If you often print photos and colour documents, you should consider an inkjet printer. Ink is much better at reproducing colour than laser toner. 

However, if you frequently print letters, documents and office spreadsheets, you might value the speed and sharp printing of a laser printer. However, they can be more expensive to run than a tank inkjet (although usually cheaper than a cartridge inkjet).

2. How frequently will you print? 

If you print only occasionally – less than 10 pages a month – then you might want to consider a very cheap cartridge inkjet (£40, say). Even though ink cartridges may be pricey, you won't need to buy them very often. See our Great Value printers.

If you print more regularly, it's worth considering a laser printer or a tank inkjet. As running costs for both are lower, tank inkjets are the lowest. You'll probably want automatic double-sided printing if you print a fair amount, and tank models with this feature start from around £230.

Laser printers with automatic double-sided printing cost less than tank inkjets with this feature. So if you don't want to spend more than £200, laser printers can offer a good compromise. Laser toner cartridges are expensive to buy, but generally last longer than ink cartridges.

3. How much will the ink cost? 

The price of ink will depend on whether you go for original ink (made by the printer brands) or cheaper third-party alternatives. Some inkjet printers use refillable ink tanks instead of cartridges; these cost more upfront, but have much lower running costs than models that use cartridges (even if you stick with original ink). It will typically cost you around £2 a year for 30 office-style pages a month.

We reveal the best and cheapest printer ink cartridges.

4. What features do you really need?

If you can do without automatic double-sided printing, then a £150 tank printer is far and away the cheapest printer for whole-life costs, regardless of how much you print. 

Laser printers tend to be significantly cheaper if you get a black-and-white model and one without scanning capabilities.   

 Head to our printer reviews – Which? members can use the Best Buy and Eco Buy filters to find the highest-scoring models with low running costs.

If your aim is to create physical objects rather than print documents, see our guide to the best 3D printers

Don't get stung with high printing costs

Oliver Trebilcock, Which? printers expert says:

We know that there’s more to printer running costs than manufacturers’ figures may let on. Printers run regular automatic clean cycles, which can use up alarming amounts of pricey ink with cartridge inkjet printers. This makes a big difference to how much you’ll end up spending on printer ink. Follow my printer recommendations, and you won't get caught out.

Our unique printing tests account for this extra ink, so we can give you a more realistic idea of printing costs. It's a key reason why tank inkjet printers, which contain far more ink in their reservoirs than cartridge-based inkjets, are so much cheaper to run. 

We’ve found that the worst cartridge inkjet offenders use up to six times as much ink in cleaning cycles as in actual printing. This can more than double the amount you spend on ink.

To give you an idea of how much a printer will cost you to run, we provide one, two and three-year running cost estimates in the Tech Specs of our printer reviews.