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The real battle with a color printer isn’t the print quality — it’s the cost of the ink that comes after. You can buy a machine for a song, then watch tiny cartridges drain your wallet faster than the toner drains the page. That’s why the shopping logic here is backwards from every other gadget: the upfront price matters far less than what each page costs you a year from now. This guide cuts through the cartridge confusion to find the printers where the ink bill won’t make you wince.
I’m Mohammad Maruf — the founder and writer behind Gardening Beyond. This guide is built by comparing the manufacturers’ published specifications and the patterns across verified customer reviews, so you get each pick’s real strengths and trade-offs instead of marketing spin.
You’ll see cartridge models, ink-tank supertanks, and subscription plans ranked for long-run value, so you can pick the color printer with cheap ink that actually fits your printing habits and budget.
Our Picks at a Glance
How To Choose The Best Color Printer with Cheap Ink
The “cheap ink” promise never shows up in the box — it lives in the way the printer is designed. Before you pick a model, you need to know which ink system each one uses and what that means for your wallet over a year of real printing.
Cartridges vs. Ink Tanks
Standard cartridge printers use small, pricey cartridges that run out fast. Ink-tank (supertank) printers use big refillable reservoirs that you top up with bottles — the initial cost is higher, but each page costs a fraction of a cartridge system. If you print a lot of color, the tank route wins on running costs.
The Subscription Trap and the Free-Ink Gift
Some printers bundle a trial of a delivery service that sends ink before you run out — after the trial, a monthly fee applies unless you cancel. Others ship with enough bottle ink to last for years. Check what’s actually in the box so you know your true cost per page from day one.
Quick Comparison
| Model | Best For | Ink System | B&W Speed | Paper Tray | Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon PIXMA TR4720★ Best Overall | Budget home all-in-one | Cartridge | 8.8 ipm | 100-sheet | Amazon |
| Brother 1360Easy Setup Champ | Easy setup home office | Cartridge | 16 ppm | 150-sheet | Amazon |
| HP OfficeJet Pro 8139 | Speed + Instant Ink | Cartridge | 20 ppm | 225-sheet | Amazon |
| HP Smart Tank 5003 | High-volume savings | Ink tank | 10 ppm | — | Amazon |
| Epson EcoTank ET-2988 | Renewed supertank value | Ink tank | 15 ppm | 100-sheet | Amazon |
| Epson EcoTank ET-4800 | Office fax + ADF | Ink tank | 10 ppm | — | Amazon |
| HP OfficeJet Pro 9125 | Fast office color | Cartridge | 22 ppm | 250-sheet | Amazon |
In-Depth Reviews
1. Canon PIXMA TR4720
The lightest on your wallet that still prints, scans, copies, and faxes without breaking a sweat.
This Canon is the full home-office package — print, copy, scan, and fax — for a sticker price that sits at the entry level of the whole category. It even auto-prints on both sides of the page (duplex), so you save paper as well as ink. Your first black page lands in about 8.8 ipm, and color documents come out around 4.4 ipm.
Now the honest trade-off: it’s a cartridge printer, and the ink economics will never touch a supertank. The box includes starter cartridges plus a phone cable and power cord, and you can refill with Canon CL-276 and PG-275 cartridges. Owners note the print speed is leisurely and the machine is physically large, but the 100-sheet tray and the auto document feeder (ADF) make it genuinely useful for occasional home printing. The caveat from the review pages: a handful of units have failed early, with the feeder snapping after roughly 50 pages — treat the moving parts gently and it should serve a light-printing household well.
For a budget-minded buyer who prints a few pages a week, this Canon is the smart entry point. Its full all-in-one features and low price make it the best value here. As owners put it: it’s a “Quality cost-effective all in one printer.”
Who it fits: Occasional home users who want fax and scan without spending much — ideal for a light-printing household.
The catch: Cartridge ink costs more per page than tanks, and the slow speed tests patience on big jobs.
Reach for this if: your print volume is low and your budget is tight.
Look elsewhere if: you print every day — you’ll burn through cartridges.
2. Brother Work Smart 1360
The printer that gets from the start and onto your Wi-Fi before the coffee cools.
You get print, copy, and scan in a compact frame that fits a home-desk corner, and Brother focused on the two things that frustrate people most: setup and menus. The 1.8-inch color display and the Brother Mobile Connect app guide you through tasks, and owners consistently call the setup painless — “Windows 11 setup under 15 min, smooth wireless” is a recurring refrain.
Speed here beats the Canon by a wide margin — up to 16 ppm in black and 9 ppm in color, so a 20-page document doesn’t turn into a coffee break. The 150-sheet tray and a 20-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) handle multi-page jobs, and automatic duplex saves paper. It uses LC501 series inks, and a starter set of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges rides in the box so you can print right away.
The honest downside is ink life — buyers report roughly 100 pages per cartridge even in eco-mode, which makes this a poor fit for high-volume printing. For a home office that prints in bursts, though, the ease of use and crisp output make it a genuinely pleasant machine to live with. The thing that wins people over is the reliability; it handles everything from crisp text to Avery sticky labels without complaint.
What owners love
- Fast setup and intuitive menus
- Brisk 16 ppm black speed
- Accepts sticky labels and legal paper
The trade-off
- Ink runs out around 100 pages per cartridge
- Occasional paper jams (easy to clear)
Pick this if: you value a smooth first hour over the lowest ink bill.
Think twice if: you print hundreds of pages monthly — cartridges will sting.
3. HP OfficeJet Pro 8139
The speed demon that turns ink into a subscription you never think about.
This HP is built for the home office that churns out professional-looking color documents. It hits 20 ppm in black and 10 ppm in color — more than double the pace of the Canon TR4720 at 8.8 and 4.4 ipm respectively — so reports and flyers fly out. The 225-sheet input tray crushes the Canon’s 100-sheet capacity (2.2x more paper loaded before you refill), which means fewer interruptions on big jobs.
The ink story here is the subscription: a 1-year trial of Instant Ink ships in the box, and HP’s Instant Ink subscription can cut ink costs by up to 50%. After the trial, a monthly fee applies unless you cancel, so do the math on your volume before you commit. The machine itself is a joy — a 2.7-inch touchscreen with a phone-like interface, dual-band Wi-Fi that self-heals connection issues, and an automatic document feeder plus auto duplex as standard.
Connectivity gets mixed feedback in the reviews — a few owners hit Bluetooth pairing walls during setup, so treat the first connection as the one hurdle. The recurring praise is for easy setup and strong print quality, and the crowd favorite status shows in how many owners have bought HP again after years of loyal service. Just know the machine is designed to block non-HP cartridges, so your ink choices are the original HP 923 series or the subscription.
The core strength: Speed and polish — it’s the fastest printable document machine in this mid-range group.
The fine print: Instant Ink savings vanish if you don’t cancel after year one, and third-party ink is locked out.
Choose this for: a busy home office printing color documents weekly.
skip it if: you print only a few pages a month — the subscription math won’t favor you.
4. HP Smart Tank 5003
The cartridge-free refillable that stuffs three years of ink into the box.
Your cost per page plummets the moment you unbox it, because the Smart Tank 5003 ships with enough ink for up to 6,000 color or black pages right from the start — HP calls it up to 3 years of ink included. It’s a cartridge-free ink tank, so you refill by plugging in HP 31 and 32XL bottles that drain mess-free instead of snapping in a new cartridge.
Print, copy, and scan come standard, along with borderless prints and wireless mobile printing, all in a sleek OOV White body. Owners consistently praise the setup and the sharp, clean output — the refillable tanks are the standout feature, with value for money a close second. Print speed is moderate at 10 ppm black and 5 ppm color, and duplex is manual (driver support provided), so flip pages yourself for double-sided jobs.
The trade-off is in the details: the HP app and Wi-Fi setup glitch for some, with one owner’s Starlink connection not recognized at all. But the consensus is overwhelmingly positive — families and students call it a great value because the ink tank keeps running costs near zero for years. The 6,000-page yield makes ink costs nearly negligible.
The big win
- 6,000 pages of ink in the box
- Mess-free bottle refills
- Excellent print quality for docs and images
Know before you buy
- Manual duplex only — flip pages yourself
- HP app hiccups on some Wi-Fi networks
Buy this for: a family or student printing constantly without budgeting for ink.
Reconsider if: you need fast double-sided printing or a rock-solid app experience.
5. Epson EcoTank ET-2988
The renewed supertank that prints 6,600 black pages before you blink.
This is the cartridge-free math done Epson’s way. The ET-2988 ships with enough ink for up to 6,600 pages in black and 5,500 in color — Each bottle set replaces about 80 cartridges, per Epson. The 502-series EcoFit bottles are keyed so you can’t mix up cyan and magenta, and refilling is a no-mess top-up into supersized tanks. At 15 ppm black and 8 ppm color with zero warmup, it’s quick off the line.
Print quality gets real depth here: 4800 x 1200 dpi resolution, so photos and text both come out sharp, and auto 2-sided printing handles booklets without you flipping a thing. The 100-sheet tray and 1.44″ color display keep navigation simple, and it supports Apple AirPrint and Mopria for wireless mobile printing. The box includes one bottle of 502 Black (127 mL) and one each of cyan, magenta, and yellow (70 mL).
The catch with this specific listing: it’s a renewed unit, and the review pages show exactly that split — one owner got a pristine machine that “works like a charm,” while another hit a paper jam error on every attempt and returned it. For buyers who have owned EcoTanks for a decade-plus, the reliability is proven — One long-time owner reports 35,000+ pages with professional-quality photos. Supertanks deliver near-zero per-page ink costs.
The headline: 6,600 black pages of bundled ink and photo-grade 4800 x 1200 dpi output.
The fine print: Being renewed means condition varies — check the seller’s return policy before you commit.
Grab this if: you want supertank savings at a lower entry price and don’t mind renewed.
Steer clear if: you need a pristine new unit with a full manufacturer warranty.
6. Epson EcoTank ET-4800
The cartridge-free office line that adds fax and Ethernet to the supertank formula.
This Epson takes the supertank savings and bolts on the office extras: a built-in fax, a high-resolution flatbed scanner, an automatic document feeder, and Ethernet for wired networks. It ships with one 522 Black bottle (65 mL) and one each of cyan, magenta, and yellow (65 mL), and the EcoFit bottles make refills a low-maintenance pour. Epson’s Micro Piezo Heat-Free Technology keeps text sharp and color photos punchy on virtually any paper.
The ink economics are the same supertank story — no tiny, expensive cartridges, just big tanks you top up occasionally. Owners specifically note the low ink costs and reliable black-and-white printing for the daily grind, plus handy Wi-Fi printing from phones. Print speed sits at 10 ppm black and 5 ppm color with manual duplex, so it’s a steady worker rather than a sprinter.
The honest reading of the reviews is mixed — reliability and quality both split opinions, and the feed scanner has jammed for some owners, with one unit falling apart after only four uses. The small screen and clunky menus draw grumbles too, and there’s no auto duplex, so double-sided means flipping pages by hand. The weekly scheduled printing tip from owners — to prevent head clogs — is worth heeding. If your office needs fax plus low-cost color and you’re comfortable with a bit of fuss, this one earns its keep.
Where it shines: Fax, Ethernet, and ADF make it a true office citizen with supertank running costs.
Where it struggles: Manual duplex, a tiny screen, and mixed reviews on the feed scanner’s durability.
Best for: a small office that needs fax and wired networking with cheap color pages.
Not for: anyone who can’t tolerate clunky menus or occasional paper-feeding quirks.
7. HP OfficeJet Pro 9125
The fastest color on the list, built for offices that live on presentations and flyers.
If speed is your language, this is your printer. The 9125 hits 22 ppm in black and an eye-opening 18 ppm in color — the quickest color output in this whole lineup, and a big step up from the HP Smart Tank’s 5 ppm color pace. The 250-sheet input tray and auto document feeder keep multi-page jobs moving, and both duplex printing and duplex scanning come standard. A 2.7-inch touchscreen and dual-band Wi-Fi round out a genuinely office-grade package.
The ink angle here is the 3-month Instant Ink trial that ships in the box — HP’s Instant Ink subscription can cut ink costs by up to 50% and auto-ships cartridges before they run dry. After three months a monthly fee applies unless you cancel, and the machine blocks non-HP cartridges via firmware, so your choices are the HP 936 series or the subscription. The included 936 Setup Black cartridge yields roughly 800 pages, with the color setup cartridges around 420 pages each — a generous starter stash.
Owners split on this one. The praise is loud on print quality, color output, and ease of use — “print quality is excellent” is a recurring line, and long-time HP owners mention a smooth transition. The gripes are real too: one owner found the Wi-Fi connection refused to work at all, and the cartridge cost draws complaints even with the subscription. If your office prints color in volume and you’re okay with the HP ink ecosystem, this is the fastest route to professional-looking pages.
Why it leads
- Fastest color speed here at 18 ppm
- Duplex print and scan as standard
- Big 250-sheet tray
The friction
- Third-party ink blocked by firmware
- Occasional Wi-Fi setup failures reported
Buy it for: an office printing color documents daily where minutes matter.
Pass on it if: you want the freedom to use cheap third-party cartridges.
Understanding the Specs
Pages Per Minute (ppm)
This tells you how fast the printer produces black-and-white and color pages. A higher ppm means less waiting — an office speedster at 22 ppm finishes a 20-page report in under a minute, while a budget model at 8.8 ipm takes more than twice as long. For occasional printing, speed barely matters; for daily office work, it’s the difference between a quick task and a coffee break.
Ink System: Cartridge vs. Tank
Cartridge printers use small, replaceable ink cartridges that cost more per page. Ink-tank (supertank) printers use large refillable reservoirs topped up with bottles — the upfront cost is higher, but each page costs a fraction of the cartridge route. Your print volume decides which wins: a few pages a week suits cartridges, while high-volume households and offices should go tank.
FAQ
Which is cheaper per page, cartridge or ink-tank printers?
Will a color printer with cheap ink work with third-party cartridges?
How does HP Instant Ink actually save money?
What does the auto document feeder (ADF) do?
Is automatic duplex printing worth paying extra for?
How many pages will the starter ink actually print?
Can I print wirelessly from my phone with these printers?
What is the difference between the HP Smart Tank and the Epson EcoTank?
Which printer is fastest for color documents?
Are renewed printers a good way to save money on an EcoTank?
Final Thoughts: The Verdict
For most people, the color printer with cheap ink winner is the HP Smart Tank 5003 because the bundled ink for up to 6,000 pages makes the running cost nearly disappear. If you want speed and a gentle setup, grab the Brother 1360. And for an office that prints color all day at the fastest pace, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125 is the one to reach for.
How We Picked
We do not accept paid placement. Every pick is matched to a real buyer and a real use-case; we do not hands-on test units.
Sources & Methodology
Specifications: manufacturer listings and product documentation. Review insights: verified customer reviews, as of August 2026. Pricing: not shown on this page (it changes often); check the current price via the retailer link.
As an Amazon Associate, Gardening Beyond earns from qualifying purchases. This does not affect which products we feature.