Ink and toner
Ink Tank vs Cartridge Printer Cost: Find Your Break-Even
Written by Printer Co editorial team · Updated
The ink tank vs cartridge printer cost question cannot be answered with a single number, because the answer depends on you. What we can give you is a method that takes ten minutes and works for any pair of printers. You will need the printer prices, the ink prices and the official page yields, all from the same day.
If you have not yet decided which type suits your home, start with our overview of the ink tank vs cartridge printer trade-offs.
What you are really comparing
A printer’s true cost is the purchase price plus every drop of ink it will use. Call it total cost of ownership:
Total cost = printer price + (pages printed x cost per page) - value of ink included in the box
A cartridge printer starts with a small purchase price and a steep line of ink costs. An ink tank printer starts higher and climbs slowly. At some page count the two lines cross. That is your break-even point.
Step 1: Get the official yields
Look up the page yield for each cartridge or bottle on the maker’s website. For colour inkjet supplies, reputable makers quote yields measured with ISO/IEC 24711, using the test pages defined in ISO/IEC 24712. For laser toner, the equivalent standards are ISO/IEC 19752 (black) and ISO/IEC 19798 (colour).
These yields are not lab fantasies, but they are measured on a standard mix of pages. Your real yield will be lower if you print photos, heavy graphics or very little at a time.
Step 2: Work out cost per page
For each printer:
- Black page cost = black cartridge (or bottle) price / black yield.
- Colour page cost = sum of (each colour cartridge price / its yield), plus the black cost, unless the maker publishes a combined colour yield.
Use prices from one shop on one date so the comparison is fair, and write the date down; ink prices change often. Our general guide to printer cost per page has a worked template.
If the cartridge printer offers both standard and high-yield (XL) cartridges, use the XL figures for a fair fight: that is what a cost-conscious owner would buy. Check, though, that you would really use an XL cartridge up in reasonable time. Are XL ink cartridges worth it explains when the bigger cartridge pays and when it does not.
Step 3: Calculate the break-even page count
Break-even pages = (ink tank printer price - cartridge printer price) / (cartridge cost per page - ink tank cost per page)
Use a blended cost per page that reflects your own mix. If a quarter of your pages are colour, blended cost = 0.75 x black cost + 0.25 x colour cost.
Step 4: Compare with your real printing
Count the pages you print in a typical month and multiply by twelve. Then ask how many years you expect to keep the printer. If your total pages over that time exceed the break-even figure, the ink tank printer is cheaper overall. If not, the cartridge printer is.
A worked example with round numbers
These are illustrative numbers only, chosen to make the arithmetic easy, not prices of any real product.
- Cartridge printer: 60 units to buy, 0.08 units per blended page.
- Ink tank printer: 220 units to buy, 0.01 units per blended page.
Break-even = (220 - 60) / (0.08 - 0.01) = 160 / 0.07 = about 2,286 pages.
At 40 pages a month (480 a year), break-even arrives in under five years. At 150 pages a month (1,800 a year), it arrives in about fifteen months. At 10 pages a month, it would take nearly twenty years, which means the cartridge printer wins. Replace these figures with real ones from your shop to get your own answer.
Hidden costs that shift the result
- Starter ink. Ink tank printers often include bottles that print many pages. Some cartridge printers ship with part-filled starter cartridges. Subtract the value of included ink.
- Cleaning cycles. Every inkjet uses some ink to clean its nozzles, more so after long idle periods. Light users lose a larger share of ink to maintenance. See print head clogging.
- Print head replacement. On printers where the head is part of the machine, a failed head can end the printer’s life, whereas cartridges with built-in heads renew the head each time.
- Third-party ink. Compatible cartridges can lower the cartridge printer’s cost per page, which moves the break-even point further away. Read third-party printer ink for the risks.
- Subscriptions. A page-based ink subscription turns cost per page into a monthly fee, which can beat both options for some users.
Time matters as much as pages
The break-even sum assumes ink is used before it ages. In a home that prints in bursts, that is not always true. A cartridge that sits half-used for six months may print streaky pages and need cleaning cycles, and very light users can end up replacing cartridges that are not empty. Ink tank printers hold a lot of ink in the tanks and bottles, which is great for heavy users but means a light user keeps the same ink in the machine for a long time.
Two practical points follow:
- Spread the years, not just the pages. If your break-even arrives after five or more years, ask whether you will still own that printer and whether the ink will have been used while fresh.
- Store spares properly and buy them close to when you need them, rather than stockpiling. How long does printer ink last covers use-by dates, storage and what happens to ink inside an idle printer.
A blank worksheet
Copy this and fill it in with real figures and the date you checked them:
| Cartridge printer | Ink tank printer | |
|---|---|---|
| Printer price (date seen) | ||
| Black cost per page | ||
| Colour cost per page | ||
| Blended cost per page (your mix) | ||
| Value of ink in the box | ||
| Break-even pages | ||
| Your pages per year | ||
| Years to break even |
Which one usually wins
For households that print colour every week, ink tank printers generally come out ahead within a normal printer lifetime. For people who print a few pages a month, the cartridge printer often stays cheaper, and a mono laser may be cheaper still if colour is rare. The calculation takes minutes and protects you from paying extra for savings you will never use.
When you have decided, the best printer for home use checklist covers the features worth checking next.
Frequently asked questions
Is an ink tank printer cheaper than a cartridge printer?
Per page, almost always. Overall, only if you print enough pages for the lower ink cost to cover the higher purchase price. The break-even calculation in this guide tells you whether you will.
How do I find the cost per page of a cartridge?
Divide the cartridge price by its official page yield. For colour, add the cost per page of each colour cartridge used on the page, or use the maker's combined colour yield if it publishes one.
Why are my real costs higher than the yield suggests?
Official yields are measured on a standard test page set with modest coverage. Photos, dark backgrounds and frequent cleaning cycles all use more ink than the test, so real yields are often lower.
Does the ink in the box count?
Yes. Ink tank printers often ship with enough ink for many pages, while cartridge printers may ship with starter cartridges. Count the ink that comes with the printer when you compare the first year.
Should I compare against standard or XL cartridges?
Use the cartridge size you would really buy. If you would choose XL cartridges, use their price and yield, because that gives the cartridge printer its best realistic cost per page.
Sources
Editorial team
The Printer Co editorial team researches and writes independent guides to home printers, ink and printing costs, using manufacturer documentation, standards bodies and consumer-protection sources.
