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Best Printer Deals — HP, Canon, Brother, Epson

By the Run Run Deals editorial team Updated September 16, 2026 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We may earn a commission when you buy through other partner links.

Printer pricing has flipped in the last few years: hardware is cheap, ink and toner are the long-term cost driver. The cheapest inkjet printer at Walmart costs \$30, but replacement ink cartridges run \$60-80 — meaning you'll pay more for ink within 6 months than the printer cost. The list below filters for items where the total cost of ownership (hardware + reasonable estimate of ink/toner cost) is genuinely a deal.

The best 2026 buying strategy: avoid traditional inkjet cartridge printers entirely. Buy either a supertank inkjet (Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank, HP Smart Tank) or a black-and-white laser (Brother HL-L2350DW). Both have dramatically lower per-page costs than cartridge inkjets — the math comes out to 3-5 cents per page vs 15-25 cents on cartridge systems.

Auto-updated Sep 16, 2026 at 2:16 AM · Refreshes every 10 minutes

Printer category breakdown

Long-term cost math — supertank vs cartridge inkjet

The math that should drive your printer purchase:

The supertank pays back its hardware premium within 12-18 months for typical home printing volumes. The laser pays back even faster for text-heavy printing. Cartridge inkjet is only the right choice for users who print fewer than 50 pages per year — and those users are usually better off using a print shop (FedEx, Staples, library) at 15-25 cents per page than owning a printer.

Recommendations by use case

  1. Family with kids' homework, 200+ pages/year, occasional photos: Epson EcoTank ET-2800 (\$199-249). The ink lasts 6-12 months between refills, color and B&W both work well.
  2. Home office, mostly text documents, 1,000+ pages/year: Brother HL-L2350DW (\$129-179). Lowest total cost of ownership, fast printing, reliable for years.
  3. Small business, color documents and presentations, 2,000+ pages/year: HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw (\$299-399). Good color, fast, networkable.
  4. Photo enthusiast or pro, prints 8x10+ photos: Canon Pixma Pro-200 (\$499-599). True photo quality on archival paper.
  5. Light usage, under 100 pages/year: Don't buy a printer. Use a local print shop (FedEx, Staples, public library) or an on-demand service. Owning a printer for occasional use loses money.

Frequently asked questions

Why are printer cartridges so expensive?
Razor-and-blade business model. The printer is sold below cost or near cost; the manufacturer makes profit on cartridge sales over the product lifetime. HP, Canon, and Epson have been progressively making it harder to use third-party ink (chip verification, firmware lockouts) to protect this revenue. Supertank printers and laser printers break this model — buy those if you print regularly.
Is third-party ink safe to use?
Quality varies. Major third-party brands (LD Products, InkOwl, e-Image) have generally good reliability for non-photo printing. The trade-off: voids the manufacturer warranty in most cases, and some printers (especially newer HP) actively block third-party cartridges via chip verification. For photo printing, stick with OEM ink — color accuracy and longevity are noticeably better.
Are HP Instant Ink subscriptions worth it?
For casual users (50-200 pages per month), the math sometimes works. \$5-10/month for 100-300 pages with auto-shipping. The catch: cancellation locks the cartridges from working — they become bricks if you stop subscribing. Read the contract carefully. For users who can self-manage cartridges, buying ink at retail is usually cheaper over time.
Brother vs HP for laser printers?
Brother for home and small office. HP Pro for mid-size business. Brother's HL series has the best reliability-per-dollar ratio in the value tier and uses simple toner cartridges. HP's Pro series has better network management and security features for business environments. For \$129-200 home/small office printers, Brother HL-L2350DW or HL-L2370DW are the standard recommendations.
Why is Epson EcoTank \$200 when other inkjets are \$50?
Different cost structure. EcoTank's hardware is more expensive because Epson can't subsidize through cartridge sales. The trade-off: ink refills are dramatically cheaper (\$15 lasts 6-12 months vs \$80 every 1-2 months for cartridges). For users printing 200+ pages per year, EcoTank pays back the hardware premium within 12-18 months.
When is the best time to buy a printer?
Back-to-school (August) and Black Friday week are the deepest annual windows for printers. Brother HL-L2350DW routinely hits \$99-129 (vs \$179 MSRP) during these. Epson EcoTank discounts 15 to 25% during Black Friday. Outside these windows, printer pricing is relatively stable — the cartridge cost is where you'll find the long-term savings, not the hardware sale.

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