A laser all-in-one is a print-only laser with a scanner bolted on, and the interesting question is not which one is best — it is whether you need the scanner at all. Most people asking for one need a document feeder specifically, and that is a much narrower requirement.
How we picked
We treated the scanner as the variable and everything else as constant, because on these machines it largely is: the print engine, the toner and the duplexer are shared with the print-only models. So the criteria were the feeder capacity, whether the feeder is automatic, and whether the scanner adds anything to the cost per page. It does not.
We then included two ink tank all-in-ones in the comparison, because for anybody whose scanning comes with color printing, a laser is the wrong answer regardless of how good its scanner is.
The document feeder is the whole point
Scanning a ten-page contract on a flatbed means ten lid lifts, ten placements and ten button presses. Through an automatic feeder it is one action and then you walk away. If you handle signed paper — contracts, forms, expense receipts, school paperwork — that difference is the entire value of the category.
If you do not, a flatbed is fine and your phone is often faster. Modern phone cameras produce a perfectly acceptable scan of a single page, and they are already in your hand.
Copying, which people forget
An all-in-one also copies without a computer involved, and with a feeder it copies a stack. That is genuinely useful for anyone who deals with forms, landlords, schools or anything else that still asks for a paper duplicate. Nobody lists it as a reason to buy and it is one of the things owners end up using most.
What these cost to run
| Cartridge | Rated yield | Price we read | Per page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brother TN830XL high-yield toner cartridge | 3,000 pages | $98.29 | ~3.3¢ |
| Brother TN830 standard-yield toner cartridge | 1,200 pages | $60.99 | ~5.1¢ |
| Brother TN229XL black high-yield toner cartridge | 3,000 pages | $96.29 | ~3.2¢ |
| Canon 125 black toner cartridge | 1,600 pages | $96.95 | ~6.1¢ |
Yields are manufacturer-rated (ISO/IEC 19752 for mono, 19798 for color); prices read on 27 September 2026 from the sources at the foot of this page. Our arithmetic is supply price divided by rated yield — the method.
The point of that table on this page is what is not in it: there is no scanner surcharge. The all-in-one uses exactly the same cartridge as its print-only sibling, so the scanner is a one-off cost rather than a permanent one. That is unusual enough to be worth saying plainly.
Laser or ink, for an all-in-one
| Mono laser all-in-one | Ink tank all-in-one | |
|---|---|---|
| Black page | ~3.3¢ | ~0.4¢ |
| Color page | not available | under two cents |
| Speed | up to 36 pages a minute | modest |
| After three idle weeks | prints normally | may need a head clean |
| Scanning | identical either way | identical either way |
Cost figures are our arithmetic on prices read 27 September 2026. The scanner is the same proposition on both, so this table is really the print decision — the full comparison.