The 6 Best Printers Under $200 That Won't Drain You on Ink, Ranked & Reviewed

Our verdict: Refillable ink bottles come in the box, and the cost per page stays low for years.

Epson's ET-2800 uses the EcoTank refillable ink system, with bottled ink refills included, and prints, scans and copies wirelessly. It is built compactly for a home office and costs $100 to $200.

The case for it is long-run cost. Instead of buying small cartridges at a steep markup, you pour ink from bottles into onboard tanks, and one set of bottles lasts far longer than a cartridge pair. For a household or small office printing regularly, that arithmetic favors the tank system by a wide margin. It sits above the HP Smart Tank 5101 only because the listing has no wireless limitation and the brand's refill process is well established.

Buy it for steady printing at a lower cost per page. The caveat is that the first purchase is higher than a basic inkjet, and you give up a document feeder, so scanning stacks of paper is a manual job.

Ink system

Cartridge-free EcoTank

Functions

Print, scan, copy

Included

Bottled ink refills

Connectivity

Wireless

Our verdict: A refillable tank printer that ships with two years of ink and a smaller footprint.

What HP packs into the 5101 is a bottle-fed tank system, two years of starter ink, and a body slimmer than most rival tank machines. Wi-Fi is limited to the 2.4GHz band, there is no fax or feeder, and the price is $100 to $200.

Its big selling point is the ink in the box. Two years of supply, at normal home use, removes the main worry about running costs, and it means the purchase price covers a long runway. It ranks second because the listing flags 2.4GHz-only Wi-Fi, which can be awkward on routers that merge bands, and because it has no feeder.

Choose it if you want the economics of a tank printer with a small body. The 2.4GHz limitation is the caveat, so check your router settings before relying on wireless setup.

Ink system

Refillable tank

Ink included

2 years

Wireless

2.4GHz only

Missing

No fax or feeder

Our verdict: Tank economics plus an automatic document feeder, fax and Ethernet.

The ET-4800 extends the EcoTank idea with an automatic document feeder, print, scan, copy and fax functions, and both Ethernet and wireless connectivity. It is aimed at home office workloads and sits in the $100 to $200 range.

It takes third place because the extras cost more and are not for everyone. The feeder is the key addition: it scans a multi-page contract or batch of receipts in one pass, which saves minutes on every job. Ethernet gives a stable connection when Wi-Fi is flaky. It ranks behind the HP Smart Tank 5101 only because that model includes two years of ink in its listing, while this one relies on standard refill bottles.

Pick it if you scan paper regularly or share the printer on a wired network. Skip it if you want the smallest ink-tank machine.

Ink system

Cartridge-free EcoTank

Feeder

Automatic document feeder

Functions

Print, scan, copy, fax

Connectivity

Ethernet and wireless

Our verdict: A feeder and automatic duplex without paying for an ink-tank body.

HP's OfficeJet Pro 8125e puts an automatic document feeder and automatic duplex printing into a color inkjet that falls in the $50 to $100 bucket. A 3-month Instant Ink trial and AI-enabled printing features come with it.

It is fourth because the hardware value is excellent but the ink model is not. You get office features at a low price, and in exchange you buy cartridges, so the cost per page is higher than the tank printers above. The Instant Ink trial can soften that for a while, but it is a subscription you will need to manage or cancel.

Buy it if you want a feeder and duplex at the lowest hardware cost, and your printing is light to moderate. Skip it if you print heavily, where a tank model recovers the extra price quickly.

Type

Color inkjet all-in-one

Feeder

Automatic document feeder

Duplex

Automatic

Ink plan

3-month Instant Ink trial

Our verdict: The lowest entry price among the ink-tank picks, with no feeder or fax.

Canon's MegaTank G3270 is a refillable-tank all-in-one with wireless printing, scan and copy, and a home-use design. It costs $100 to $200 and has a lower entry price than the other ink-tank picks.

It ranks fifth because it is the most basic of the tank group. The MegaTank system gives you the same economy of bottled ink, but without the feeder of the ET-4800 or the bundled ink of the HP Smart Tank. That makes it a simple pick for a budget-conscious buyer who wants low running costs and no extras.

Buy it if you want tank economics at the lowest entry price. Skip it if you need to scan paper stacks or want faxing.

Ink system

MegaTank refillable

Functions

Print, scan, copy

Connectivity

Wireless

Position

Lowest entry tank price

Our verdict: A compact entry printer for light home use, if you accept cartridge costs.

The HP DeskJet 4355 is a compact color all-in-one that prints, scans and copies wirelessly, with a 3-month Instant Ink trial and AI-capable printing features. It is in the $50 to $100 bucket.

It ranks last because it is the plainest and the most ink-hungry option. The low price is an advantage when printing is occasional, since there is no big upfront cost. The cartridges, however, are small, and a household that prints regularly will pay far more over time than for a tank printer.

Buy it if you print a few pages a month and need a printer at the lowest price. Skip it if printing is a regular task.

Type

Color inkjet all-in-one

Functions

Print, scan, copy

Ink plan

3-month Instant Ink trial

Price bucket

$50 to $100