Buying guide · Updated November 2026
Black and white or color, for one person or a whole team. Every printer here has Wi-Fi, USB and a network cable port, prints both sides and works without a subscription.
Black and white
Laser printers for everyday documents. The cheapest pages to print and the least to go wrong.
Solo, print only
One person at home or in a private office: letters, forms, the odd contract.
Buy: TN830XL toner (about 3,000 pages)
Solo, print and scan
One person who also scans signed paperwork back to the office.
Buy: TN830XL toner (about 3,000 pages)
Workgroup
A front desk or a team of 3 to 10 people sharing one printer.
Buy: TN920XL toner (about 6,000 pages)
Workgroup, high volume
Law, medical and government offices that print all day.
Buy: TN920UXXL toner (about 11,000 pages)
Color
For charts, flyers and anything that has to look the part. Color pages cost more, so pick by how much color you print.
Solo, color laser
One person who needs color now and then: charts, flyers, proofs.
Buy: TN229XL toner, four colors (about 3,000 black, 2,300 color pages)
Solo, lots of color
Marketing, real estate or anyone printing color every day at a desk.
Buy: Refill bottles, no cartridges (thousands of pages a set)
Workgroup, color
A team of 3 to 10 people who print color most days.
Buy: TN229XL toner, four colors (about 3,000 black, 2,300 color pages)
Workgroup color, high volume
Offices that print a lot of color: reports, packets, marketing.
Buy: TN229XXL toner, four colors (about 4,500 black, 4,000 color pages)
Running costs
Enter how much you print. We'll work out toner or ink for a year, and the first year with the printer included.
| Printer | Use | Pages per minute | Toner or ink a year | First year with printer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brother HL-L2460DW | Solo, print only | 36 | $186 | $386 |
| Brother MFC-L2820DW | Solo, print and scan | 36 | $186 | $486 |
| Brother MFC-L5915DW | Workgroup | 50 | $132 | $722 |
| Brother MFC-L6915DW | Workgroup, high volume | 52 | $84 | $1,084 |
| Brother HL-L3280CDW | Solo, color laser | 27 | $375 | $720 |
| Epson EcoTank ET-4850 | Solo, lots of color | 15 black / 8 color | $29 | $529 |
| Brother MFC-L3780CDW | Workgroup, color | 31 | $375 | $945 |
| Brother MFC-L8395CDW | Workgroup color, high volume | 31 | $302 | $1,252 |
Our checklist
Prices and costs per page are rough estimates from typical US prices in November 2026, using the maker's own high-yield supplies. They change often; check before you buy. Model names belong to their makers.
Good to know
We've set up and supported each of them. They connect three ways (Wi-Fi, USB and a network cable), get regular security updates, don't need a subscription, and use toner you can buy anywhere. That means fewer surprises and faster help when something goes wrong.
Ask your IT support first. Plenty of printers are fine, but some only work with the maker's subscription, stop accepting cartridges you bought elsewhere, or never get updates. A two-minute check saves a return.
The maker's own high-yield toner or ink at its rated page count, which assumes a normal page of text. Pages full of photos or solid color use more. Paper and the occasional drum or maintenance part aren't included.
For most work, laser. Toner doesn't dry out when a printer sits unused for a week, and pages cost less. The one ink-tank model on the list is for people who print lots of color and want the lowest cost per color page.
No, but it's good to have the choice. In an office we plug shared printers into the network so they never drop off Wi-Fi. At home, Wi-Fi or USB is fine.
Book a 15-minute call. Tell us how much you print and we'll point you to the right one.
More free tools: see them all