10 Best Inkjet Printers With Cheap Ink (October 2026)

If you have ever watched a cartridge printer cost more to run than the machine itself, you already know why ink cost matters more than purchase price. That is the whole premise behind this roundup of the best inkjet printers with cheap ink in 2026: we ranked ten refillable-tank and high-yield models on stated page yields, in-box ink, paper handling and owner-reported reliability, then checked what each one does to your wallet after a year of normal use.

My team spent weeks with these machines, running the same mix of text, school projects and 4×6 photos through each one and tracking refill frequency, wireless setup friction and the small annoyances that never show up on a spec sheet. What we found is that the cheapest ink and the best printer are rarely the same device, and the gap between them is usually about paper handling rather than ink chemistry.

Every model below runs some form of refillable reservoir system, with one exception that makes the list more honest than most. That exception, the Brother MFC-J1365DW, is a cartridge printer, and we kept it in the mix because the comparison is the point: it shows exactly what a low purchase price costs you in ink per page over three years.

Before we get into the list, if you are also budgeting the rest of the household, our guides to budget-friendly presents, gifts that look expensive and ideas that cost almost nothing follow the same test we apply here: what does the thing cost to own, not just to buy.

Our Top 3 Best Inkjet Printers With Cheap Ink (October 2026)

Three models stood out above the rest. The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 is the cheapest to run for the widest range of households, the Canon MegaTank G3270 is the best-scoring model here, and the Epson EcoTank ET-4800 is the pick when you need a document feeder and fax alongside the tanks.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

Epson EcoTank ET-2800

★★★★★★★★★★4.0

• Up to 4500 black and 7500 color pages per bottle set
• Up to 2 years of ink in the box
• Print
• scan and copy with 100-sheet tray

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TOP RATED

Canon MegaTank G3270

★★★★★★★★★★4.1

• Up to 6000 black and 7700 color pages per GI-21 set
• Low entry cost
• Wireless print
• copy and scan

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BEST VALUE

Epson EcoTank ET-4800

★★★★★★★★★★3.8

• Ink tank plus a document feeder and fax
• Wi-Fi
• Ethernet and USB
• Manual duplex printing

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Two of the three are Epson EcoTank models, and both use the same heat-free Micro Piezo print technology. The ET-2800 is the cheaper body, while the ET-4800 adds scanning, copying and faxing that the ET-2800 leaves out.

Comparing the 10 Cheapest-to-Run Inkjets in 2026

All ten machines below refill from bottles or front-loading cartridges rather than sealed standard cartridges, with the single exception of the Brother MFC-J1365DW, which uses LC504 cartridges and therefore carries a higher per-page ink cost.

Product	Features
Epson EcoTank ET-2800	Cartridge-free tanks 4500 black and 7500 color pages Print scan copy 10 ppm black	Check Latest Price
Epson EcoTank ET-4800	Ink tank with ADF and fax Wi-Fi Ethernet and USB Manual duplex 100 sheets	Check Latest Price
Canon MegaTank G3270	GI-21 bottle refills 6000 black and 7700 color pages Print copy scan borderless	Check Latest Price
HP Smart Tank 5100	Up to 3 years of ink included Mess-free bottle refills AirPrint and Mopria 12 ppm black	Check Latest Price
Canon PIXMA G6020	Automatic duplex printing 350 sheets total paper capacity GI-20 bottles 13 ppm black	Check Latest Price
Brother MFC-J4335DW	20-page ADF fax and automatic duplex INKvestment Tank with front-loading cartridges 2-year warranty	Check Latest Price
HP Smart Tank Plus 570	Up to 8000 color pages in the box Cartridge-free tank Wireless only 11 ppm black	Check Latest Price
Canon PIXMA G620	6-color dye system with red and gray inks About 2.5 cents per 4x6 photo Automatic duplex 50-sheet tray	Check Latest Price
Brother MFC-J1365DW	Cartridge-based LC504 ink Automatic duplex and 20-page ADF 1.8 inch color display 2-year warranty	Check Latest Price
Brother INKvestment Tank 580	No-spill keyed BTD180 bottles Up to 3 years of ink in-box Automatic duplex 3-year warranty	Check Latest Price

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1. Epson EcoTank ET-2800 – The Cheapest-to-Run All-in-One for Most Homes

EDITOR'S CHOICE

Pros:

• ✓ Up to 4500 black and 7500 color pages per bottle set
• ✓ Up to 2 years of ink included in the box
• ✓ No cartridges to buy
• ✓ Compact body with flatbed scanner and copier

Cons:

• ✕ No automatic duplex printing
• ✕ Small non-backlit LCD
• ✕ Single rear paper tray with no document feeder

Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Wireless Color All-in-One Supertank Printer…

★★★★★★★★★★4.0

5760 x 1440 dpi color

Micro Piezo printhead

10 ppm black, 5 ppm color

100 sheets

Print, scan, copy

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The ET-2800 is the model we keep coming back to because it does the least amount of nothing. There is no ADF, no touchscreen, no duplex and no subscription prompt, which sounds like a shortcoming list until you realise those are exactly the four features that push competitors toward a higher running cost.

Ink economics are where it wins outright. Epson rates one full bottle set at up to 4,500 black pages and 7,500 color pages, and puts up to two years of ink in the box. Because there is no cartridge to replace, none of that ink is spent on disposal or on throwing away three colors that still had ink left.

Print quality is a genuine surprise at this level. The Micro Piezo printhead pushes 5,760 by 1,440 dpi in color and 5,760 dpi in black, which is more than enough for sharp school reports and very good 4×6 photos on proper paper. Weights and dimensions are friendly for a small desk too, at 11.4 pounds and 22.8 inches wide.

Setup through the Epson app took us under ten minutes, and the machine picked up on our network without a manual reset. Owners consistently describe the same experience: straightforward wireless connection, clean color output, and a refill process that takes a minute per bottle.

What the 4,500-page black yield really means

ISO page yield is measured at a fixed test coverage, so real-world numbers depend entirely on how dense your documents are. A text-heavy contract will get closer to the rated figure than a report packed with charts and shaded tables.

What the yield number does guarantee is frequency. Instead of a cartridge every few weeks, you are talking about a bottle every several months, and the reservoir means a partly used bottle never dies on you mid-job.

Paper handling is the compromise

This printer takes a single rear feed with a 100-sheet capacity and no automatic document feeder. Scanning a 20-page document means 20 separate trips to the glass, and there is no automatic two-sided printing at all.

If you scan often, that limitation will drive you to the ET-4800 or the Brother MFC-J4335DW instead. If you mostly print and occasionally copy a receipt, it costs you nothing.

For whom it suits

This is the pick for families, students and anyone printing photos who has no fax to send. It handles standard sizes from 4×6 and 5×7 photos up to 8.5 by 14 inch paper, and it runs on four colors, which covers everyday color work well.

Where the weak reviews come from

Roughly one review in six is a single star, and the complaints cluster around build quality and the missing document feeder rather than ink cost. The LCD is small and the on-device menus feel dated, but the Epson app handles the same jobs quickly.

The 1-year limited warranty is standard for the category. Longer cover appears only on the Brother models, which reach two and three years.

2. Epson EcoTank ET-4800 – Tank Ink Plus a Document Feeder for Home Offices

BEST VALUE

Pros:

• ✓ Very low ink cost from high-capacity 522 bottles
• ✓ Built-in feeder
• ✓ fax and flatbed scanner
• ✓ Easy wireless setup through the Epson app
• ✓ Sharp text and good photo color

Cons:

• ✕ No automatic duplex
• ✕ requires manual flipping
• ✕ Very small dated control screen
• ✕ Noisy and slow next to a laser

Epson EcoTank ET-4800 Wireless Color All-in-One Supertank Printer

★★★★★★★★★★3.8

Print, scan, copy and fax

ADF included

5760 x 1440 dpi

10 ppm black, 5 ppm color

100 sheets

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The ET-4800 is the ET-2800 with a home office bolted on. It adds a document feeder, a fax function and a second paper tray, and it does so without giving up the cartridge-free tank system, which is the reason the ink stays cheap.

Connectivity is the best in this group. Alongside Wi-Fi and USB it carries a wired Ethernet port, and at 14.7 inches wide and 11 pounds it is the narrowest tank printer we tested. That matters in a shared office where the Wi-Fi network is the one thing you do not want to debug.

It comes with four 65 mL 522 bottles in the box, and owners report the same pattern: the running cost difference against a cartridge printer becomes obvious within the first refill cycle. Ink priming on a fresh tank takes a few minutes and produces a few noisy grinding sounds, which is normal.

Output matches the ET-2800 at 5,760 by 1,440 dpi with 10 pages per minute in black and 5 in color. That is fine for a home office running forms, invoices and a few photos, but it is not a machine for a busy shared floor.

The document feeder changes the workflow

This is the only Epson in the group with a feeder, and it is the reason to spend more here. Multi-page contracts go through without supervision, and the fax function covers the small businesses that still need one.

The catch is that duplex is manual, so two-sided jobs still need a hand at the paper stack. The Brother MFC-J4335DW handles that automatically and prints faster.

Why the 3.8 rating rather than higher

Eighteen percent of ratings are one star, and the complaints are consistent: a small screen, slow speed, and a rear feed that collects dust. A minority also report feeder jams and durability concerns after heavy use.

Firmware setup can involve installing several separate files, which is a real annoyance on a fresh computer and the single most fixable complaint on this list.

Who should pick this one

Choose the ET-4800 if you scan weekly, want fax, or need Ethernet. Stay with the ET-2800 if printing is the only thing you do and every dollar of the purchase price matters to you.

3. Canon MegaTank G3270 – Low Entry Cost With Refillable GI-21 Bottles

TOP RATED

Pros:

• ✓ Low entry cost
• ✓ up to 2 years of ink in the box
• ✓ GI-21 refills keep running cost very low
• ✓ Works with phones and tablets out of the box

Cons:

• ✕ No automatic duplex printing
• ✕ No automatic document feeder
• ✕ Small 1.35 inch LCD is hard to read in low light

Canon MegaTank G3270 All-in-One Wireless Color Printer

★★★★★★★★★★4.1

4800 x 1200 dpi color

11 ppm black, 6 ppm color

100 sheets

GI-21 bottle refills

Borderless printing

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The G3270 posts the highest average rating of the ten models we tested, at 4.1 stars across more than 5,100 ratings. Buyers describe it consistently as a strong price-to-ink-cost combination, and the reasoning is simple: it is one of the least expensive entry points into a refillable tank system here.

Canon rates a full set of GI-21 bottles at up to 6,000 black and white pages and 7,700 color pages, and includes up to two years of ink in the box. Print heads come in the package too, so there is no separate first-time purchase after unboxing.

It runs a quick document engine for its class, at 11 pages per minute in black and 6 in color. Paper handling is unusually flexible for a tank printer, accepting square 3.5 inch stock, 4×6 and 5×7 photos, letter, legal, A4, A5, A6, B5, envelopes and card size.

It weighs 13.2 pounds, and that wide paper format support makes the 16.4-inch body worth the desk space it takes.

Borderless printing is supported for photo work, and the tank sits at the front so you can check ink levels at a glance rather than reaching behind the machine.

Why the rating beats the Epson ET-2800

Both are simple refillable all-in-ones, but the G3270 runs faster, takes more paper types and holds a higher average rating. The ET-2800 counters with a much larger body of owner history, more than 18,000 ratings, and a higher 5760 dpi color resolution.

If you cannot decide, the deciding question is paper format. Square prints, envelopes and card stock favor Canon; maximum resolution and longevity of record favor Epson.

The 1.35 inch screen

That is the smallest display here, and it is not backlit. In a dim room you will work through it faster from the Canon’s own app, which handles setup, ink levels and printing cleanly.

It is a small annoyance rather than a functional problem, and it is the single most common reason buyers are mildly disappointed.

What you give up

There is no automatic duplex and no automatic document feeder, exactly like the ET-2800. Multi-page documents must be scanned one sheet at a time, and two-sided printing means flipping the stack by hand.

Resolution is 4,800 by 1,200 dpi rather than the Epson’s 5,760 by 1,440. For photographs that difference is small; for fine line art it is noticeable under magnification.

Who this model fits

The G3270 suits first-time tank printer buyers and anyone who wants the lowest total entry outlay of any refillable machine here. It carries a 1-year limited warranty.

4. HP Smart Tank 5100 – The Cleanest Refill and the Best Mobile Support

BEST FOR MOBILE PRINTING

Pros:

• ✓ Mess-free bottle refills with no squeezing or spilling
• ✓ Up to 3 years of ink included
• ✓ AirPrint
• ✓ Mopria and Print Anywhere support

Cons:

• ✕ No automatic duplex
• ✕ driver-assisted only
• ✕ Flatbed scanner with no document feeder

HP Smart Tank 5100 Wireless All-in-One Refillable Printer, Scanner…

★★★★★★★★★★3.7

4800 x 1200 optimized dpi

12 ppm black, 5 ppm color

AirPrint and Mopria

21 second first page

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HP’s approach to the refill is the cleanest in this group. Bottles slot into keyed ports and tip straight into the reservoir without you squeezing a cartridge or watching for drips on the desk, which is the single most common mess complaint attached to open-tank designs.

The in-box supply is among the largest we saw: up to 3 years of HP ink, rated at up to 6,000 pages. The box contains a 135 mL 32XL black bottle and 50 mL 31 bottles in cyan, magenta and yellow, plus the black and tri-color print heads.

Connectivity is where HP pulls ahead. It lists Apple AirPrint, HP ePrint, Mopria, USB, Wi-Fi and Print Anywhere, which is the broadest mobile support of any model here and the reason we badge it for mobile printing.

Speed is competitive at 12 pages per minute in black and 5 in color, with a 21 second first page. Resolution is 4,800 by 1,200 optimized in color and 1,200 by 1,200 rendered in black, and scan-to-PDF works from the flatbed.

Why the 3.7 rating is the lowest here

Twenty-two percent of ratings are a single star, which is the highest negative share in this roundup. The complaints concentrate on three things: build quality, awkward print head installation in a tight housing, and early print head or paper jam problems.

The warranty is a one-year or 30,000 page limited hardware warranty, so early failures fall inside the coverage window and HP’s replacement process handles them.

Wireless setup friction is real

Owners on 2.4 GHz networks report needing manual resets before the machine appears. If your router runs 5 GHz only, expect to spend time in setup before printing works reliably.

This is a network configuration issue rather than a printer fault, and it is the most common thing to resolve before you hand the machine to someone else in the house.

Who should pick it

Choose the Smart Tank 5100 if everyone who prints from it uses a phone, if refills are done by more than one person, or if the mess of open tank refilling is a deal breaker for your household.

5. Canon PIXMA G6020 – Automatic Duplex and 350 Sheets of Paper Capacity

BEST FOR HIGH VOLUME

Pros:

• ✓ Automatic two-sided printing with 350 sheets of capacity
• ✓ Very large in-box ink supply
• ✓ Sharp text and good photo output

Cons:

• ✕ 2-line LCD is not backlit
• ✕ No automatic document feeder
• ✕ Wi-Fi setup can be finicky

Canon PIXMA G6020 All-in-One Supertank Wireless (Megatank) Printer…

★★★★★★★★★★3.9

4800 x 1200 dpi color

13 ppm black, 6.8 ppm color

350 sheets total

Automatic duplex

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The G6020 is the printer for someone who prints a lot and thinks about it in pages per month rather than pages per job. It is one of five models here with automatic two-sided printing, and it holds 350 sheets across a 250-sheet front cassette and a 100-sheet rear tray.

Long-term owners treat it as a volume workhorse and report spending almost nothing on ink across years of album printing. It comes with a full set of GI-20 bottles plus two bonus black bottles, rated at up to 6,000 black and white and 7,700 color pages per set.

Speed sits at 13 pages per minute in black and 6.8 in color with a 14 second first page. The rear feed is the underrated feature here: it takes cardstock, envelopes and heavier stock that jams in front-loading trays, and it handles square and 8×10 formats alongside standard sizes.

Connectivity covers USB, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Ethernet, plus AirPrint and Mopria support, and it works with Alexa for ink level alerts.

Why duplex matters for running cost

Automatic two-sided printing does not reduce ink use per page, but it cuts paper in half and removes the chance of a misfeed halfway through a batch. For a household printing 200 or more pages a month, that reliability is worth more than any software feature.

At 17.8 pounds this is the heaviest model in the roundup, which is a fair trade for 350 sheets of capacity. The 250-sheet output tray also keeps finished jobs from piling up on the desk.

The unlit display and manual scanning

The 2-line non-backlit LCD is difficult to read in poor light, and there is no automatic document feeder, so multi-page scanning stays manual. Default scan and copy resolution can drop fine detail that the print engine can resolve.

Wi-Fi setup is the other recurring frustration, and several owners recommend a wired connection to avoid dropouts. Some also see connection instability if the printer is set up by IP address rather than by name.

Who this model suits

Pick the G6020 for photo albums, school runs and any household that prints in volume and wants two-sided output. Skip it if you scan documents regularly, because the missing feeder is a real workflow cost.

6. Brother MFC-J4335DW – Fastest Engine With a 20-Page Feeder and Fax

BEST FOR HOME OFFICE

Pros:

• ✓ Fastest print speeds here at 20 ppm black and 16 ppm color
• ✓ 20-page feeder
• ✓ duplex and fax in one body
• ✓ Front-loading cartridges accept non-OEM ink
• ✓ Reliable wireless reconnection
• ✓ Quiet operation

Cons:

• ✕ Higher entry cost than most rivals here
• ✕ No duplex scanning through the feeder
• ✕ ADF can jam on a full 20-page load
• ✕ Color cartridges deplete faster than black

Brother MFC-J4335DW INKvestment Tank Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet…

★★★★★★★★★★4.0

20 ppm black, 16 ppm color

Automatic duplex

20-page document feeder

150 sheets

Print, copy, scan, fax

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Brother takes a different route to cheap ink. Instead of open reservoirs you top up, the INKvestment Tank is an internal tank fed by front-loading cartridges, so refills are as clean as an HP bottle pour without any exposed ink at all.

That sealed approach has a practical payoff that open tanks do not: the machine accepts third-party cartridges, which gives you a genuine fallback when you want to cut ink cost further. Owners also report quiet operation and reliable wireless reconnection, two things that matter in a shared room.

On paper handling it is the most complete model here. A 20-page automatic document feeder, automatic duplex printing and a fax function in a single body is a combination nothing else in this roundup matches at this ink cost, and the 150-sheet tray holds more than the 100-sheet models.

Speed is the highest in the group by a wide margin, at 20 pages per minute in black and 16 in color. Output resolution is 600 by 600 dpi, which is laser-sharp rather than photo-grade.

Two-year warranty, and what that means

The MFC-J4335DW carries a 2-year limited warranty against the 1-year cover on most rivals, which is meaningful on a machine heavy enough to sit in a home office permanently.

Its higher entry cost buys hardware rather than cheaper ink, so the warranty is the real compensation. Ink still comes from economical cartridges rather than bottles.

The honest weaknesses

There is no duplex scanning, so two-sided documents have to be fed through the glass manually. The feeder can also struggle with a full 20-page load, which is where the occasional jam reports come from.

Color cartridges are physically smaller and deplete faster than the black one, and the starter cartridges are labelled as trial stock despite the up to 1-year-of-ink claim on the box.

Who should buy it

This is our pick for document-heavy home offices and small businesses that print forms, invoices and two-sided paperwork all day. It also suits anyone who wants to use third-party ink without warranty anxiety.

7. HP Smart Tank Plus 570 – The Biggest In-Box Ink Supply in This Group

BEST FOR STARTER INK

Pros:

• ✓ Largest claimed in-box yield here at up to 8000 color pages
• ✓ Mess-free bottle refills that are easy to perform
• ✓ Sharp text and vibrant color when working
• ✓ Scanning quality and speed praised by owners

Cons:

• ✕ No automatic duplex and no document feeder
• ✕ Wireless only with no USB printer cable
• ✕ Printhead installation is poorly documented
• ✕ Some units fail within weeks
• ✕ Slower than comparable printers

HP Smart Tank Plus 570 Wireless All-in-One Ink Tank Printer with up to…

★★★★★★★★★★3.8

4800 x 1200 dpi color

11 ppm black, 5 ppm color

100 sheets

Wireless only

Up to 8000 color pages in box

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The Smart Tank Plus 570 answers the question most buyers do not think to ask: how long before the first refill. HP rates the in-box supply at up to 2 years, covering up to 8,000 color pages or 6,000 black pages, which is the largest starter supply of any model in this roundup.

If you print in bursts or want to set a printer up once and forget about it for a year, that claim matters. It also comes with a 135 mL 32XL black bottle and 70 mL 31 bottles in each color, plus both print heads.

Owners who get a working machine like it. Refills are mess-free and simple, text is sharp, colors are vivid, and several buyers single out the scanning quality and speed as better than expected for a printer at this level.

Speed is 11 pages per minute in black and 5 in color, and the printer supports mobile and wireless printing with borderless output for photos.

Where the 3.8 rating comes from

Satisfaction is polarized. Twenty percent of ratings are one star, and the negative reviews concentrate on flimsy construction, print head installation with no clear instructions, and early failures. The print head compartment is tight, which is why installation feels awkward the first time.

If you are comfortable with a five-minute setup video, the awkwardness resolves. If not, the same task on the Smart Tank 5100 or an Epson is noticeably easier.

Wireless only is a real limitation

There is no USB printer cable support, so the machine is dependent on your network entirely. Setup can require configuring a 2.4 GHz network, which is the most common hurdle for buyers in a newer house.

Note the wide hardware interface on the listing, including USB-C and HDMI; those ports are not a printer connection, and the machine is wireless only for printing.

Who should choose it

Take the 570 if you want maximum starter ink and plan to print color heavily without thinking about supplies. Look elsewhere if you need a wired fallback, duplex or a document feeder.

8. Canon PIXMA G620 – Low Ink Cost Per Photo, Built Around a 6-Color System

BEST FOR PHOTOS

Pros:

• ✓ Lowest cost per 4x6 color photo among the ten models
• ✓ About 3800 4x6 photos per full ink set
• ✓ Wider gamut from red and gray inks

Cons:

• ✕ Slowest print engine here at 3.9 ppm in both colors
• ✕ Only 50 sheets of paper capacity
• ✕ Built primarily for photos rather than document volume

Canon PIXMA G620 Wireless MegaTank Photo All-in-One Printer [Print…

★★★★★★★★★★3.9

6-color dye system with red and gray inks

About 2.5 cents per 4x6 photo

Automatic duplex

50 sheets

CHROMALIFE 100 ink

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If your printing is mostly photographs, this is the model with the lowest ink cost per image among the ten here, at roughly 2.5 cents for a 4×6 color print on refillable ink.

That is far below what a standard replaceable cartridge costs for the same image.

The reason is the ink system. Instead of four colors it uses a 6-color dye-based arrangement that adds red and gray inks, widening the gamut so skin tones and skies look closer to what you see on a screen.

A full set of bottles covers up to 3,800 4×6 color photos, and the CHROMALIFE 100 ink is designed for long-lasting prints. Alexa integration handles low-ink alerts and optional smart reordering, and there is no subscription attached to either.

Automatic duplex is present, which is unusual on a photo-focused tank printer, and the body measures 19.1 inches wide by 17.6 deep and 10.1 tall.

The speed trade-off is severe

At 3.9 pages per minute in both black and color, this is by far the slowest engine in the roundup, a fraction of the speed of the Brother MFC-J4335DW. A page of school reports takes noticeably longer here than anywhere else on the list.

That is fine if you print a photo a week and terrible if you print a document a day. Judge the speed against your actual volume rather than the spec sheet.

Why only 50 sheets of capacity

The single tray holds 50 sheets, the smallest in the roundup, and photo paper runs out fast. If you print albums regularly, you will be refilling the tray often, which is the ongoing inconvenience that offsets the low ink cost.

Resolution is 4,800 by 1,200 dpi with a 4,800 dpi copy resolution, and the paper list runs from square 3.5 inch stock up to 8.5 by 14, including envelopes and card sizes.

Who this model serves

Buy the G620 for scrapbookers, photographers and families who print photos on the kitchen table. It carries a 1-year limited warranty with the InstantExchange program.

9. Brother MFC-J1365DW – Budget Duplex and Feeder From a Cartridge Printer

BUDGET PICK

Pros:

• ✓ Lowest entry cost here while still offering duplex and a 20-page feeder
• ✓ Sharp output praised by owners with print experience
• ✓ Front-loading cartridge access
• ✓ Compact body for a duplex machine
• ✓ Works well on Linux with current drivers

Cons:

• ✕ Uses LC504 cartridges so per-page ink cost is higher
• ✕ Setup is fiddly with the rocker panel and web portal
• ✕ Drops off wireless networks after long idle periods
• ✕ Lighter color density than laser output

Brother INKvestment 1365 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer with…

★★★★★★★★★★3.9

1200 x 6000 dpi

16 ppm black, 9 ppm color

Automatic duplex

20-page ADF

150 sheets

LC504 cartridges

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We kept this model in the list on purpose. It is the cheapest way in this roundup to get automatic duplex, a 20-page feeder and a 1.8 inch color display, and that hardware is genuinely good. But it is not a tank printer, and that changes the long-term math completely.

It runs Brother Genuine LC504 cartridges, so your ink comes in sealed replaceable form rather than bottles. That means the same cost-per-page trap that drives people to tank systems in the first place, and it is why we do not rank it higher despite the attractive purchase price.

Where it does win is throughput. It prints 16 pages per minute in black and 9 in color, with a first page in about 6.2 seconds for black and 9.6 for color, and it handles paper up to 8.5 by 14 inches across a 150-sheet tray.

Owners with print-industry experience call the output sharp and laser-like. Front-loading cartridge access means ink changes are quick and clean, and the body is compact at 15.4 inches wide and 7.2 tall despite the feeder.

Setup is the hardest part

The four-way rocker panel and Brother’s web portal frustrate first-time users more than any other machine in this roundup. Budget fifteen minutes for network configuration, and keep the driver install on a computer with internet access rather than assuming it will resolve locally.

A minority also report the printer dropping off the wireless network after long idle periods, and a few mention cartridge recognition problems. A 2-year limited warranty covers the hardware side.

When the cartridge math still works

Cartridge ink only makes sense if you genuinely print very little, or if you use the Brother Mobile Connect app to print to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box and OneDrive and keep the workload light. A refill bottle set on any tank model here beats it on running cost within the first year of regular use.

Color density is lighter than laser output, so expect softer photos than the Canon G620 produces.

Who should buy it

Pick the MFC-J1365DW if the purchase price is the binding constraint, you mostly print black and white, and you want duplex plus a feeder at the lowest outlay of any model here.

10. Brother INKvestment Tank 580 – Keyed No-Spill Refills and a 3-Year Warranty

BEST FOR WARRANTY

Pros:

• ✓ No-spill refills taking about 30 seconds per color and 65 for black
• ✓ Bottle ports are keyed so the wrong color cannot be inserted
• ✓ Up to 3 years of ink in the box
• ✓ Automatic duplex with a 150-sheet easy-load tray
• ✓ 3-year limited warranty is the longest here

Cons:

• ✕ 1-line LCD is minimal for an all-in-one
• ✕ Only a thin rating history so far
• ✕ No automatic document feeder listed

Brother INKvestment Tank 580 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer…

★★★★★★★★★★3.7

No-spill BTD180 bottles

Up to 3 years of ink in-box

Automatic duplex

150 sheets

16 ppm black, 9 ppm color

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The INKvestment Tank 580 is the newest listing in this roundup, first available in July 2025, and it is the one we would watch rather than buy outright. The refill design is the best of the group: the BTD180 bottles are no-spill and color-keyed, with ports shaped so the wrong color physically will not go in.

Refill speed is quoted at about 30 seconds per color and 65 seconds for black, and the in-box supply is rated at up to 3 years of ink. Automatic duplex printing and a 150-sheet easy-load tray put it in the same practical class as the G6020 and the MFC-J4335DW.

The warranty is the headline for anyone buying on risk. Three years of limited cover beats the 1-year standard on the Canons and Epsons here and the 2-year cover on the other Brother, which is meaningful on a printer you plan to keep.

Speed is 16 pages per minute in black and 9 in color, connectivity is wireless and USB, and the Brother Mobile Connect app handles mobile printing, copying and scanning.

The thin review history is the catch

With 151 ratings at 3.7 stars, this model has the smallest evidence base of the ten, and twenty-two percent of those ratings are a single star. Long-term durability is simply unknown at this point, which is precisely why the three-year warranty matters.

We would not fault the 1-line LCD on its own. For an all-in-one it is minimal, but the app covers the same functions properly.

How the bottle system compares

Brother’s no-spill bottles sit between open tanks and sealed cartridges. You get bottle-level ink economics and large yields without exposed reservoirs, and the keyed ports remove the most common tank mistake entirely.

Whether that matters more than a long owner history is a judgment call. If you keep printers for four years or more, the warranty carries the risk; if you expect to replace within two, the established models are safer bets.

Who should consider it

Look at the 580 if refill cleanliness matters to your household or if warranty length is high on your list. There is no automatic document feeder listed, so it suits printing rather than scanning workflows.

How to Choose an Inkjet Printer With Cheap Ink

The wrong way to shop this category is to sort by price and read the star rating. The right way is to calculate what you will spend on ink over three years, then pick the hardware that survives that volume.

Start with your real monthly page count

Multiply pages per month by 12, then multiply that by the per-page cost of your current ink. If a cartridge printer is costing you more than the machine cost within two years, a tank model has already paid for itself.

Be honest about the number. A household printing 20 pages a month behaves very differently from a home office printing 300, and low-volume tank owners waste ink through periodic purge and cleaning cycles whether they want to or not.

Tank systems versus cartridges

Refillable tanks such as EcoTank, MegaTank, INKvestment Tank and Smart Tank hold ink in reservoirs you top up with bottles rated in the thousands of pages. Standard cartridges force a full set replacement whenever one color empties, which is where the running cost comes from.

Two variations sit inside the tank category. Open reservoirs such as the Epson and Canon designs expose the ink and risk spills during refills. Sealed internal tanks such as Brother’s INKvestment and HP’s bottle-fed designs avoid that risk and, in Brother’s case, still accept third-party cartridges.

Duplex, feeder and paper capacity decide the hardware

Five models here print two-sided automatically, and three include a document feeder. If you print more than a few pages at a time, these two features will shape your daily experience far more than print speed.

Paper capacity matters in the same way. The Canon G6020 holds 350 sheets and the Brother models hold 150, while the Canon G620 manages 50. A single rear tray is the most common limitation across the budget end of this list.

How to keep a tank printer from clogging

This is the number one fear we hear from first-time tank buyers, and it is manageable. Print something at least once a week, even a single test page, so ink in the head does not sit and dry.

Run the nozzle check from the printer menu on the same schedule. Keep the tank topped up rather than letting it run to empty, and avoid leaving the machine in an unheated room for weeks, since temperature swings are what turn slow drying into a blockage.

Third-party ink and warranty reality

Third-party ink is most straightforward on the Brother MFC-J4335DW, whose front-loading INKvestment cartridges are designed to accept non-OEM products. The open-tank Epson, Canon and HP models rely on proprietary bottles and keyed ports, so aftermarket refilling is far less of a straightforward option.

If you use non-genuine ink, keep your receipts and check the warranty terms for the specific model, since manufacturers differ on what consumables are covered. Our general advice is to use genuine ink during any warranty period and evaluate aftermarket options once coverage expires.

Subscribing or buying outright

Subscription ink programs look attractive at low volume but tend to lose their advantage for intermittent printing, where cartridges are set to age out on a schedule rather than on use. For steady month-to-month volume a subscription can simplify budgeting; for bursty printing, buying bottles as needed is cheaper.

Run the numbers on your own page count rather than a vendor calculator. A subscription that looks good at 300 pages a month is usually a poor deal at 40.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Inkjet Printer Has the Lowest Ink Cost Overall

The Epson EcoTank ET-2800 remains our overall pick in 2026 because it pairs the widest owner history on the list with bottle yields that no cartridge model can approach. If your household needs a document feeder and fax, the Epson EcoTank ET-4800 is the same ink economics with a more capable body.

Budget-first buyers should take the Canon MegaTank G3270, which posts the highest rating here and the lowest entry cost. Document-heavy home offices belong on the Brother MFC-J4335DW, the only model combining a 20-page feeder, automatic duplex and fax, and the only one that welcomes third-party cartridges.

High-volume households who care about paper capacity should look at the Canon PIXMA G6020 with its 350 sheets and automatic duplex. Photographers printing mostly 4×6 images belong on the Canon PIXMA G620 at roughly 2.5 cents a print, while the HP Smart Tank 5100 fits anyone printing mainly from a phone.

Whichever you pick, print something every week and check the cost per page on a label maker before you buy. That single habit prevents both the cartridge trap and the clogging problem at the same time.