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       In my experience, the best budget printer should still provide excellent print quality, fast printing, and lots of features, while remaining affordable—from the initial outlay to the ongoing printing costs.
       I’ve reviewed over 200 of the best home and small business printers, and here’s my list of the top 10 affordable printers for home and office printing. I’ve tested them thoroughly, and each one stands out for its low price and excellent performance.
       For a basic color laser printer, I recommend the HP LaserJet Pro M15w. For those looking to lower their everyday printing costs, I really like the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 (known as the ET-2850 outside the U.S.) with its refillable ink tanks. Both printers impressed me in my review for their price and performance.
       Below you’ll find my full opinion on each of the best printers available. For even more savings, check out our best scanner deals.
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       1. HP Deskjet 2755e Wireless Color Printer — $84.99 at Amazon with 3 months of free ink: The Deskjet 2755e is a top-selling inkjet printer on Amazon that features a large ink supply and up to 4,200 page yield thanks to its built-in Instant Ink feature. It’s compact, has a built-in scanner, and uses two Wi-Fi ports for expanded connectivity.
       2. Canon Pixma MG3620 Wireless Color Printer — was $80 on Amazon, now $69, save $20 Available in red, black, and white, the MG3620 is one of the few printers at this price that supports double-sided printing, making it ideal for printing brochures and flyers.
       When we tested it, it was the smallest laser printer around, and it’s likely to remain so. The two trays fold neatly, making it slightly larger than an A4 sheet of paper and no taller than your average smartphone.
       Compact and affordable, the LaserJet Pro M15w combines the speed, economy and stability of a laser printer with many of the same benefits as an inkjet. It can print thousands of documents quickly and reliably from a single toner cartridge. It holds 100 sheets of paper and prints at an impressive 19 ppm. Unfortunately, it lacks duplex printing and a display, but considering the price, it offers excellent value for money.
       The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is a relatively affordable all-in-one printer with ink tanks, aimed primarily at home workers and small offices. This compact device doesn’t take up much desk space, and Epson’s bottled ink is about 90% cheaper than cartridges, making it one of the most affordable printers available.
       To keep the price competitive, Epson has kept some features to a minimum: there’s no front paper tray, only a 100-sheet rear tray, no touchscreen, and no NFC. The printer has all the essentials, such as automatic two-sided printing, high-resolution scanning, Wi-Fi and AirPrint compatibility, and it can print on paper up to A4. Thanks to smaller micro-piezo nozzles than other EcoTank printers, print quality is more than acceptable – not exceptional, but good enough for the average business user. The real draw, however, is the large internal ink supply. A set of five ink bottles will print up to 20,000 pages before you need more.
       Canon has stripped this multifunction printer down to its bare essentials, leaving you with a surprisingly powerful portable printer. There’s no Ethernet port or scanner dock, but its flat mesh top is perfect for scanning documents using your smartphone and Canon’s companion app for iOS and Android. Plus, it’s equipped with Bluetooth and AirPrint for easy wireless connectivity, eliminating the need for a touchscreen.
       It prints on glossy photo paper or plain paper, and the main tray holds 60 sheets of A4 paper. Canon includes two compact inkjet cartridges: black and color. It lacks automatic two-sided printing, but this may not be an issue if the printing volume is small and infrequent. It also has a silent mode to reduce noise, making it suitable for home office use.
       The HP Deskjet 2755 (known as the HP Deskjet 2710 in the UK) is a stylish and affordable all-in-one printer. It prints, copies and scans in colour, and supports a wide range of media sizes, from envelopes to A4. It doesn’t support automatic two-sided printing, but it does have self-healing Wi-Fi and is compatible with AirPrint and Google Cloud Print.
       The printer did not print photographs well, and color accuracy and page yield were low for both color and black-and-white documents.
       As with all budget inkjet printers, cartridge prices are a concern, but this printer includes an HP Instant Ink subscription that lets you save up to 70% on supplies. Plus, replacement cartridges will be mailed to you before you run out.
       The Pantum P2200W proves that laser printers don’t have to be expensive. This simple black-and-white printer costs less than many inkjet printers, but it prints at up to 22 pages per minute, and the entry-level cartridges included in the kit last for 700 pages. The standard cartridges provide 1,600 pages, which is the lowest cost of printing of any inkjet printer.
       Unfortunately, it doesn’t support automatic two-sided printing, but Wi-Fi Direct provides instant wireless connectivity. It’s compact enough to fit on a desk, and its input tray holds 150 sheets and its output tray holds 100.
       The powerful Canon Pixma TS702 (known as the TS705 outside the U.S.) is an affordable all-in-one. Although it doesn’t have a built-in flatbed scanner, it can print, scan, and copy in color. You can use your smartphone instead of a scanner, which lowers the cost of this budget-friendly device and frees up space for paper. The main paper tray holds 250 sheets, and the rear tray holds 100.
       It is flexible in its choice of print media, allowing you to print blank CDs and even nail stickers from a list of compatible media. It supports automatic two-sided printing and improves print quality by using five separate cartridges instead of the usual four.
       The Pixma TS705 also supports Canon XXL cartridges, so you won’t have to refill them as often (though they will cost more than regular cartridges).
       Brother has kept this laser printer as simple as possible, aiming to keep its price at the same level as a regular inkjet. Despite missing some features like automatic two-sided printing, Wi-Fi, and a paper tray with a lid, the Brother HL-1112 is surprisingly compact and efficient. It prints at 20 pages per minute, and the open tray holds 150 sheets.
       This printer is compatible with both Windows and macOS, and is lightweight and portable. The included toner cartridges last for 700 pages, while the new standard cartridges last for 1,000 pages. Brother is the perfect choice for affordable, fast, and convenient monochrome laser printing.
       The Canon Pixma series has long been renowned for its excellent photo printing quality, and the Canon Pixma MG3650S lives up to that reputation. This affordable model in the series is even better, allowing you to get high-quality photos and other images without spending a lot of money.
       Another big plus is that it’s wireless, so you don’t have to worry about cables. With a print resolution of up to 4800 x 1200 dpi and a color print speed of almost 10 pages per minute, this model is certainly impressive, especially for the price. Plus, it comes with a scanner and optional copier.
       Since Canon’s black cartridges are expensive, this printer isn’t ideal for those who only want to print text documents, but it’s a good investment if you want to print color photos.
       Epson’s entry-level MFP is as stylish and smart as the other sleek, minimalist Expression Home printers, and has almost all the same features. It prints in color with individual cartridges, scans up to A4 pages at high resolution, and makes copies. Its four-color individual cartridges are 50% more efficient than combined color cartridges. Built-in Wi-Fi lets you connect to the web or use Wi-Fi Direct to connect to smartphones.
       It can print on envelopes and glossy photo paper, and the main tray holds 100 sheets of A4. The only thing missing is automatic two-sided printing, which is a bit of a letdown, but given Epson’s hefty discount, we think this model offers good value for money. Another potential downside to this printer is that it’s not very user-friendly, and can be time-consuming to set up.
       At first glance, the Brother DCP-J1800DW looks like a budget all-in-one inkjet printer, but it packs some interesting extras. It’s a basic business printer designed for home workers with moderate printing needs. It’s compact enough to fit on a shelf and features a handy 20-sheet automatic document feeder, USB and Ethernet ports, and a handy cable management feature. It also has a guillotine. Wait, what?
       This is the first printer of its kind to feature a built-in cutter that can cut A4 to A5. This unique feature is critical to reducing consumable costs and document size, and even if you don’t use the cutter, this printer will still perform well. Ink consumption is generally higher, but the print quality is crisp and the documents and photos are consistently high quality. If you don’t plan on printing large volumes, we highly recommend this compact inkjet printer.
       The cheapest printer ink can be found in a variety of online stores that offer replacement cartridges, toner, and bottled ink for all types of printers.
       The three main categories of printers are inkjet, laser, and cartridge. Inkjet printers are generally inexpensive, but replacement cartridges can be expensive. They are great for printing photos and everyday documents. Laser printers are more expensive, but their toner is inexpensive. These printers are popular with businesses and are ideal for printing crisp, clear documents. Cartridge printers are essentially inkjet printers, but use ink in bottles that can be refilled manually. If you want a printer that is inexpensive and long-lasting, a cartridge printer is a good choice. To help you choose, we’ve looked at the best inkjet printers, the best laser printers, and the best cartridge printers.
       Features: The best budget printers aren’t always simple. There are plenty of affordable printers with automatic document feeders (ADFs) and automatic two-sided printing. We’ve also tested plenty of budget printers that can print, scan, copy, and fax, though print quality can vary among the most budget models. For more, we’ve reviewed the best all-in-one printers.
       Wired/wireless: Standard printers connect to your laptop or desktop computer, but if you want to easily print from a mobile device (or don’t have extra ports), look for a budget printer that supports wireless printing via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. To learn more, we tested the best wireless printers.
       Price: You can find printers with all the features you need at a reasonable price across a wide range, so be sure to shop around for the best deal—faster print speeds, higher resolutions, and extra features like scanning, copying, and faxing usually cost more. When assessing your budget, consider the prices of printer refills, cartridges, and toner. We’ve seen some great printer deals during Prime Day and Black Friday sales.
       Do you have a preferred brand? We tested the best printers from Epson, Canon, Brother and HP.
       Our team of experts have tested hundreds of printers, including the best printers for Mac, the best wireless printers and the best wide-format printers. No matter your budget, we put everything from the best portable printers to the best A3 printers through the same tests to find out the pros and cons of each.
       To test the most affordable printers, we compared their cost with the price of cartridges. If the printer is inexpensive and the cartridges are expensive, you will spend more in the long run, depending on how much you use and how efficient the printer is.
       We analyze the print quality of printers by printing the same batch of text documents on all printers and testing their performance in both color and black and white printing. We evaluate the quality, brightness, and overall accuracy of color prints.
       We also took into account the build quality, design, and size of the printer and included both small and large printers in our list.
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       Jim has been evaluating printers for over two decades and has written over a hundred reviews for TechRadar Pro. From pocket printers to industrial dye-sublimation printers, Jim has personally tested them all, even printed them on t-shirts. He also knows his way around consumables (paper, ink, toner), and his printer buying guides make it easy to compare these important peripherals.
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