The 6 Best Printers with Cheap Ink of 2026, Ranked & Reviewed

Our verdict: Two years of ink included in the box keeps early costs close to zero.

The HP Smart Tank 5101 gets the top spot by solving the cost problem on day one. It is a refillable tank printer that prints, scans and copies, and its listing bundles two years of ink, so a household printing weekly may not buy a refill bottle for a long stretch. It has a compact footprint compared with larger tank models and sits in the $100 to $200 tier.

It outranks the Epson ET-2800 because the ink supply is the largest saving in this group. The Epson ships setup bottles, a start rather than a long reserve.

Buy it for a family that prints every week and hates ink shopping. Two caveats come from the spec sheet: there is no automatic document feeder, so multipage scanning is manual, and Wi-Fi works on the 2.4GHz band only, which matters if your router splits bands.

Ink

2 years included

System

Refillable tank

Wi-Fi

2.4GHz only

Feeder

None

Our verdict: A compact EcoTank with setup bottles in the box and a low entry price.

Epson's EcoTank ET-2800 is the cleanest entry point into tank printing. It prints, scans and copies wirelessly in a compact body, uses a cartridge-free refillable system and ships with ink bottles for setup. It also lands in the $100 to $200 tier, the same as the HP above it.

It ranks second because the HP lists two years of included ink while the Epson lists only setup bottles, so the HP wins the early-cost argument. The Epson counters with a simple, well-understood design and no band restriction mentioned for its wireless.

It fits students and light home users who want cheap pages without complexity. The caveat is hardware: no feeder is listed and no Ethernet port, so anyone who needs wired connection or document handling should step up to the ET-4800.

Ink

Setup bottles included

Functions

Print, scan, copy

Network

Wireless

Price tier

$100 to $200

Our verdict: A feeder, fax and Ethernet in the same $100 to $200 tier.

The ET-4800 is the Epson to buy for a small office. It keeps the cartridge-free EcoTank system but adds an automatic document feeder, fax, Ethernet alongside wireless, and a scanner and copier, all in the $100 to $200 tier. Ethernet matters in offices where a wired link is more dependable than Wi-Fi.

It ranks third because it needs more floor space than the entry models, and it takes more bottles to fill. It still beats the ET-2800 for work use, because scanning a ten-page contract through a feeder takes minutes rather than a page-by-page chore.

Pick it for a home office that scans and copies often. The caveat is the fax function, which most homes never touch, so you pay in size for a feature you may ignore. Light printers should stay with the ET-2800.

Feeder

Automatic

Network

Wireless and Ethernet

Fax

Included

Price tier

$100 to $200

Our verdict: Refills rated up to three years, with a touchscreen and feeder.

The ET-4950 is the Epson aimed at daily printing. It keeps the automatic document feeder and adds a 2.4-inch color touchscreen, 18 ppm print speed and a refill supply rated for up to three years. The rating assumes typical use, so heavy printers will finish the bottles sooner.

It ranks fourth because the upfront cost rises to the $200 to $500 tier while the feature set is close to the ET-4800's. The touchscreen and long ink rating are what you pay for, and the savings only show up if you print consistently.

Buy it for an office printing daily, where menu-driven control and a big ink reserve cut interruptions. Skip it if you print rarely, since the ET-4800 offers a feeder for less and the ET-2800 does the basics for far less.

Ink rating

Up to 3 years

Screen

2.4-inch touchscreen

Speed

18 ppm

Feeder

Automatic

Our verdict: A Canon MegaTank that keeps photo printing cheap.

Canon's PIXMA G620 is the photo specialist. It uses a refillable MegaTank system, prints, copies and scans, connects wirelessly and works with Alexa voice support. The output is aimed at photos, which is where a tank system matters most: color prints burn ink far faster than text pages, so cheap bottles pay back sooner.

It ranks fifth because it costs more, in the $200 to $500 tier, and no feeder appears in its listing. Document-heavy homes do better with the ET-4800 or ET-4950, which add office tools at similar prices.

Choose it if you print family photos or craft projects regularly. The caveat is that you pay for photo focus even if most pages are documents, and without a feeder multipage scanning stays manual.

System

MegaTank refillable

Output

Photo-focused colour

Voice

Alexa

Price tier

$200 to $500

Our verdict: A plain compact EcoTank for everyday pages.

The ET-2400 is the plainest Epson here. It is a small cartridge-free EcoTank for everyday home pages, with color printing, scanning, copying and wireless, in the $100 to $200 tier. Compact size makes it easy to place on a shelf or desk.

It ranks last because it sits so close to the ET-2800, which lists setup bottles in the box and has a clearer listing. When two machines cost the same and one documents more of what ships, the better-documented one wins the rank. The HP 5101 above also beats it on included ink.

Pick it if simple home printing is the entire goal and it happens to be the one in stock. The caveat is that no feeder is listed, and the thin listing leaves questions about what comes in the box that you should check before ordering.

System

EcoTank refillable

Functions

Print, scan, copy

Network

Wireless

Price tier

$100 to $200