10 Of The Best Budget-Friendly Printers For 2024

While printers form an essential part of many home offices, most buyers aren't willing to spend a fortune on one. Yet, no one likes to give up on the added features and conveniences that pricier printers can bring. Striking the right balance can be tricky, especially since the cheapest printers often balance their lower upfront costs with higher ink costs over time. So, what looks like a good deal at first might cost more in the long run.

The key to getting it right is to work out not only what you want to use the printer for — printing family photos, churning out documents, scanning or even receiving fax messages – but also how often you're likely to use it. Once you know what you're looking for, it's time to pick a printer with the features you'll need that doesn't make you pay extra for features you don't. After sifting through the scores of printers currently available from leading manufacturers, these options cover a wide range of use cases. Each can be picked up for $250 or less, with some available for under $100.

Canon's PIXMA range is a great place to start when looking for a budget-friendly printer, with PIXMA models frequently ranking well in both customer and expert reviews. The PIXMA TS6420a is one of the most popular models in the brand's current lineup, in part due to the Amazon Alexa integration. As well as providing hands-free control, the printer's Alexa integration allows users to schedule reminders for when they're running low on ink — and can even automatically order ink through Amazon when levels get low.

The PIXMA TS6420a is an all-in-one printer, offering copying and scanning functions alongside basic printing. It features a capacity for up to 200 sheets, with dual-siding printing enabled as standard. Canon's printer range consistently ranks well for its image quality, and the PIXMA TS620a doesn't let the side down, although it's not perfect. One common complaint is its printing speed — not only is the PIXMA TS620a not as fast as some of its rivals, but it's slower than the older model it replaced in the range. Other than that, there's little to dislike about this budget all-rounder, especially at its $129.99 retail price.

Another popular budget printer range is HP's OfficeJet series of printers. Contrary to what its name suggests, the OfficeJet Pro 8025e is useful in more than just office contexts, although it's a particularly good choice for anyone looking to buy an affordable home office printer that doubles up for family printing duties. The all-in-one inkjet offers printing, scanning, and copying features, and comes with six months of free ink when you sign up to HP+. The printer itself retails for $224.99.

When printing monochrome, the OfficeJet Pro 8025e offers up to 20 pages per minute, while color pages slow that maximum rate to 10 pages per minute. Those numbers are slightly on the slow side compared to what else is on the market at this price point, but not overly so. Much like Canon, HP also offers its Instant Ink subscription service to purportedly make buying ink easier, with multiple "Print Plans" available. It's worth noting here that Instant Ink isn't without its critics — in fact, some claim the service is so bad that it makes them hate HP printers as a whole. It's considering unbranded ink alternatives before signing up for a subscription.

Brother is another trusted printer brand with a long track record of impressive products. SlashGear has previously ranked Brother as its best major printer brand. The MFC-J1010DW all-in-one printer delivers exactly what buyers expect from the brand, offering plenty of features, consistent print quality, and competitive running costs, all at a reasonable upfront price. Sheet capacity is low compared to its rivals, however, at 150 sheets, so this isn't a printer recommended for the busiest home offices.

Instead, it's best for buyers looking for a competent all-rounder that's straightforward and hassle-free. It's also compact, so suits offices where surface space is at a premium. Like any budget printer, it's not without flaws: its print quality, while fine for the price, isn't the best in the segment, and the chunky button design looks a little dated compared to its rivals. However, at a retail price of $99.99, those criticisms are hardly deal breakers.

Although the Canon PIXMA TR7820 doesn't cost much upfront — it retails for $179.00, and for that, you get an impressive printer, copier, and scanner — its ink costs can add up over time. It uses just two cartridges, one for black and one for color, which can get very expensive to replace if you frequently run out of one color before the others. Therefore, it's not recommended for frequent home printer users. Although, perhaps leading with its biggest flaw is a little unfair: if you're only looking for a printer for occasional use, both for scanning and printing, it's a solid choice.

It features a straightforward LCD touchscreen and an array of buttons for easy access to the printer's main functions, and it can also print wirelessly from PCs and phones, the latter through the Canon Print app. It churns out up to 10 color pages per minute, more than fast enough for occasional home users. Plus, the 35-sheet automatic document feeder is one of the largest at this price point. So, it's more than worthy of consideration for occasional printer users, even if it doesn't quite hold up to scrutiny for more frequent use.

Brother's INKvestment cartridges are designed to last longer than regular cartridges, with the brand claiming that the ink supplied with its MFC-J4335DW INKvestment printer can last for up to one year of use. For casual users, that might be true, but more frequent home office usage is likely to reduce that figure considerably. Luckily, when it comes time to buy refills, the MFC-J4335DW INKvestment still works out competitively for ink costs compared to other budget printers.

It's also a bit of a jack of all trades, with printing, scanning, and copying features thanks to the built-in color scanner. It also supports Alexa integration and fax, with a 180-page fax memory. It's not necessarily a standout option for any of these features individually, with rivals boasting superior image quality, larger trays, or more smart functions. Instead, its appeal is that it offers such a comprehensive range of functions for a low price. It retails for $179.99.

Bottled ink works out cheaper than cartridges, and the Canon PIXMA MegaTank G3270 is about the cheapest Canon ink tank printer on the market. It retails for $229.99, making it the most expensive printer on this list by MSRP. It's occasionally discounted as low as $149.99 on Amazon. The all-in-one printer does come with a few compromises to keep its price low: there's no automatic duplex printing, which many other printers at this price point offer, and the 1.35-inch LCD screen is smaller than its competitors and also not a touchscreen.

Other than that, there's little to dislike. The printer's image quality is consistently strong, and a notable step up from the entry-level models in the PIXMA lineup. It boasts a range of connectivity options including Apple AirPrint. The biggest selling point for more frequent printer users, however, remains its ink bottle compatibility. It won't take long for the refill cost savings to exceed the extra upfront costs compared to a cheaper cartridge printer, especially for busier home offices.

Canon isn't the only brand to offer affordable printers with bottled ink refills. Epson's EcoTank range also does exactly that, with the EcoTank ET-2400 among the least expensive upfront. Much like the Canon MegaTank range, the EcoTank's lower refill costs over time can add up to serious savings, and the more pages you print, the more you'll save. There's no need to rush out and buy refill bottles, however, as Epson claims the ink included in the printer can last up to two years of average use.

Alongside its lower printing costs, the EcoTank ET-2400 also offers an impressive range of connectivity features for the price. The printer can be linked to leading smart speakers from Amazon, Apple, and Google through the Epson smartphone app, and there's standard wireless printing offered too. The all-in-one also features a color scanner, although it's reportedly not the best in the segment. Primarily, the EcoTank ET-2400 is most appealing as a cheap day-to-day printer, both for home and light office use.

The HP OfficeJet 8015e retails for $159.99, but as of this writing, is down to under $100 on Amazon. It offers many of the features of pricier printers without the added cost, including wireless printing, an automatic document feeder, and automatic dual-sided printing. Not only that, but it also implements those features in a fairly easy-to-use package, with the 3.0-inch touchscreen removing the need for too many unsightly buttons.

The printer comes with three months of ink included when you sign up for the HP+ ink subscription service, although as mentioned above, caution is advised as not everyone is sold on the value of the subscription. Even if you choose to buy ink individually, the running costs for the OfficeJet 8015e should be competitive with the printer's leading rivals. As an all-in-one, it also features a color scanner, although at this price point, don't expect the scanner's clarity to match that of a good standalone unit.

It might not be the cheapest to run, but the Epson Expression Premium XP-6100 delivers quality and speed, with an officially claimed 11.3 pages per minute color printing speed and 15.8 pages per minute when printing monochrome. It's a solid choice for buyers looking for an all-rounder that can print family photos as well as do daily duty in a home office, and can also print images up to 8 x 10 inches.

It boasts Alexa integration and the wireless printing options buyers have come to expect in a good affordable printer. Rather than splitting cartridges into simply "black" and "color" like some cheaper rivals, the Epson features individually replaceable cartridges. Buttons control the printer's key functions, while a 2.4-inch color LCD screen acts as a control panel and photo preview screen. The Expression Premium XP-6100 retails for $189.99, but as of this writing, is significantly reduced to $99.99 on Amazon.

Anyone looking for a simple home office printer for document printing won't want to pay extra for all-in-one features they're unlikely to use. In that case, a monochrome laser printer like the Brother HL-L2460DW is a better option. It retails for $159.99 and boasts significantly faster printing times than its inkjet rivals, at up to 36 pages per minute. The paper tray is also one of the largest on this list, with a capacity of 250 sheets. Like Brother's all-in-one printers, it can print wirelessly and can be managed through the brand's smartphone app. Apple AirPrint is also supported.

It does without nearly all of the features that all-in-one printers boast — there's no built-in scanner, no touchscreen, and as a monochrome printer it can't print color photos either. Nonetheless, for simple, straightforward document printing it's the superior choice, with low costs per page and the clarity to handle all kinds of documents.

To whittle down this selection of the best budget-friendly printers in 2024, SlashGear focused on several key criteria. The first was retail price: each pick had to have an MSRP of less than $250, with the majority available for under $200. Secondly, we considered both customer and expert reviews to ensure that each printer delivered on speed, functionality, and promised features. We also noted the reported running costs where applicable, checking that buyers' reported real-world costs that lined up with the claims of the manufacturer.

The selections include mostly on all-in-one printers — they tend to be the most versatile, will take up less space than having an individual printer and a scanner, and are more cost-effective than buying both devices separately to boot. Therefore, they're usually the best choice for buyers looking for a talented all-rounder that doesn't break the bank. It's also worth noting that these aren't necessarily the cheapest printers of their kind. In most cases, cheaper rivals are available, but these picks offered the best balance of great features, low running costs, and a competitive upfront price.