Nobody needs a scanner they do not use. A print-only laser is smaller, cheaper and has fewer parts that can fail - and the money goes into the printing instead.
#ad — buy links are affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no cost to you. How this site is funded. Prices as shown on Amazon as of October 17, 2026; Amazon’s own page is the price of record. Cost-per-page figures are arithmetic on supply prices we read on 27 September 2026 — here is the method.
For a print-only laser, the Brother HL-L2460DW at $179.99 is the pick: 36 pages a minute, automatic duplexing, Ethernet and USB alongside wireless, and about 3.3 cents a page. For volume, the HL-L5210DW at $329.99 or the HL-L6210DW at $349.99, whose 18,000-page cartridge gives the cheapest page on this site at about 1.3 cents.
How we picked
Buying print-only is a decision about what you will actually use, so the ranking is simply the cheapest page you can get at each sensible size of machine, with the published paper handling and connectivity beside it. No scanner means there is nothing else to weigh.
Every figure is our own arithmetic on genuine cartridge prices and manufacturer-rated ISO yields. We have no units in hand.
Four reasons to skip the scanner
It is cheaper. Brother’s own list prices put the scanner at about $30 on the household range — $179.99 for the HL-L2460DW against $209.99 for the DCP-L2640DW with the same engine.
It is smaller. A flatbed adds the whole top of the machine plus the clearance to lift the lid. On a crowded desk or a shelf that is the difference between fits and does not.
There is less to go wrong. A scanner adds a lamp, a carriage, a glass bed and, on a feeder model, a set of pick rollers. None of those fail often; all of them are parts a print-only machine does not have.
Your phone already scans. For receipts, forms and a signed page, a phone camera with a document-scanning app produces a cropped, deskewed PDF in seconds and is always in your pocket.
When you genuinely do need the scanner
Three cases, and they are not rare. If you regularly scan multi-page documents, a 50-page automatic document feeder beats a phone comfortably and beats a flatbed enormously. If you need to copy — one original, forty sheets — only an all-in-one does that without a computer involved. And if you archive at quality, a flatbed handles photographs, delicate originals and anything that must be flat.
Hardware and list prices as published on each manufacturer's own product page and recorded in our registry on 27 September 2026. Cost per page is our arithmetic on genuine cartridge prices and manufacturer-rated ISO yields.
The last row is the warning this site keeps repeating. A compact print-only laser with a cheap body is not a cheap printer if its cartridge is rated at 1,600 pages: about 6.1 cents a page against 3.3 cents is $218 against $118 over three years at 100 pages a month. Print-only saves money on hardware; only the cartridge saves money on printing.
What print-only costs to run
The cartridges behind every figure on this page
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.
At 200 pages a month over three years: $236 on the HL-L2460DW, $134 on the HL-L5210DW and $97 on the HL-L6210DW. The cheaper printer is still the right buy at that volume; the gap only reverses once you are printing several hundred pages a month. Find your own crossover.
Specifications and running costs side by side, for the printers discussed on this page.
#ad — the price buttons are affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no cost to you. How this site is funded. Prices as shown on Amazon as of October 17, 2026; Amazon’s own page is the price of record.
Cost-per-page figures are our own arithmetic: supply price divided by the manufacturer’s rated page yield, using prices read on 27 September 2026 and yields rated at the ISO 5% coverage standard. They are not measured by us and they are not current prices. Every input, and the working · run the numbers for your own printing
The picks in detail
Best print-only laser
Brother HL-L2460DW
If you print black text and nothing else, this is the printer to buy. It cannot dry out, it duplexes, and Brother does not block third-party toner.
Product photograph supplied by Amazon for this listing. We do not have this model in hand and have not photographed it ourselves.
#ad — we may earn a commission. How this site is funded. Prices as shown on Amazon as of October 17, 2026; Amazon’s own page is the price of record.
~3.3¢ per mono page
Based on a Brother TN830XL high-yield toner cartridge rated at 3,000 pages at $98.29, priced on 27 September 2026.
Brother TN830XL high-yield toner cartridge — rated 3,000 pages (ISO/IEC 19752), $98.29 at Brother USA, checked 27 September 2026
Yields are manufacturer-rated at the ISO 5% page-coverage standard, not measured by us, and real-world cost runs higher. Prices are not live: this is arithmetic on a price we read on the date shown, not a current price. How we calculate cost per page.
Dual-band wireless (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz), Ethernet or USB
Subscription
None required
What we like
Toner does not dry out, so it is ideal if you print in occasional bursts
Automatic two-sided printing at 36 pages per minute
Brother has publicly denied blocking third-party toner with firmware
What you give up
Black only - no color at all
Cost per page is roughly ten times a tank printer's
The 700-page starter cartridge runs out fast; budget for a TN830XL
The whole case for buying print-only, in one machine. $179.99 at list is $30 less than the same engine with a scanner bolted on, and what you get is up to 36 pages a minute, automatic two-sided printing, dual-band wireless, Ethernet and USB.
About 3.3 cents a page on the TN830XL cartridge, with the DR830 drum a separate part rated at approximately 15,000 pages. Mono only. If your phone already photographs documents better than a flatbed scans them, this is the honest purchase.
The cheapest way onto Brother's business toner family, which is the real reason to buy it: the cartridge is roughly half the cost per page of the household models.
Product photograph supplied by Amazon for this listing. We do not have this model in hand and have not photographed it ourselves.
#ad — we may earn a commission. How this site is funded. Prices as shown on Amazon as of October 17, 2026; Amazon’s own page is the price of record.
~1.9¢ per mono page
Based on a Brother TN920XXL super high-yield toner cartridge rated at 11,000 pages at $204.29, priced on 29 September 2026.
Brother TN920XXL super high-yield toner cartridge — rated 11,000 pages (ISO/IEC 19752), $204.29 at Brother USA, checked 29 September 2026
Yields are manufacturer-rated at the ISO 5% page-coverage standard, not measured by us, and real-world cost runs higher. Prices are not live: this is arithmetic on a price we read on the date shown, not a current price. How we calculate cost per page.
Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band wireless (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz) and Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Subscription
None required
What we like
TN920XXL toner works out at roughly half the cost per page of the household TN830XL
A genuine second paper source - a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, not a one-sheet slot
48 pages a minute with auto duplex and Gigabit Ethernet
What you give up
Print only - no scanner, no copier, no fax
$150 more than the HL-L2460DW before you buy any toner
A replacement cartridge is a $200-plus purchase, even though each page is cheaper
Print-only is the normal shape in the business range, because an office that scans buys a separate machine for it. $329.99 at list brings up to 48 pages a minute, a 250-sheet tray plus a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, expandability to 1,390 sheets and Gigabit Ethernet.
The TN920XXL is rated at 11,000 pages, about 1.9 cents each, and the DR920 drum at approximately 45,000 pages. Our high-volume picks.
The lowest cost per page of any laser on this site, because it takes an 18,000-page cartridge. It is also the only model here with a 520-sheet main tray.
Product photograph supplied by Amazon for this listing. We do not have this model in hand and have not photographed it ourselves.
#ad — we may earn a commission. How this site is funded. Prices as shown on Amazon as of October 17, 2026; Amazon’s own page is the price of record.
~1.3¢ per mono page
Based on a Brother TN920UXXL ultra high-yield toner cartridge rated at 18,000 pages at $241.49, priced on 29 September 2026.
Brother TN920UXXL ultra high-yield toner cartridge — rated 18,000 pages (ISO/IEC 19752), $241.49 at Brother USA, checked 29 September 2026
Yields are manufacturer-rated at the ISO 5% page-coverage standard, not measured by us, and real-world cost runs higher. Prices are not live: this is arithmetic on a price we read on the date shown, not a current price. How we calculate cost per page.
Gigabit Ethernet, dual-band wireless (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz) and Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Subscription
None required
What we like
TN920UXXL toner is the cheapest per page of any cartridge we have priced
520-sheet main tray plus a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, so two paper stocks stay loaded
50 pages a minute with auto duplex and Gigabit Ethernet
What you give up
Print only - no scanner or feeder
Brother publishes a higher headline capacity figure than the two trays alone account for, so read the tray specification before you assume a third tray is included
Nearly twice the price of a household mono laser before toner
The lowest cost per page on this site, and it is print-only for the same reason: the money is in the engine and the cartridge, not a scanner lid. The TN920UXXL is rated at 18,000 pages at $241.49, about 1.3 cents a page.
$349.99 at list, up to 50 pages a minute, a 520-sheet main tray plus a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, expandable to 1,660 sheets. Worth it only if the volume is genuinely there.
A color laser that will not dry out between jobs. Buy it for occasional color that has to be crisp, not for cheap color - a tank printer wins on cost by a wide margin.
Product photograph supplied by Amazon for this listing. We do not have this model in hand and have not photographed it ourselves.
#ad — we may earn a commission. How this site is funded. Prices as shown on Amazon as of October 17, 2026; Amazon’s own page is the price of record.
~3.2¢ per mono page
Based on a Brother TN229XL black high-yield toner cartridge rated at 3,000 pages at $96.29, priced on 27 September 2026.
Brother TN229XL black high-yield toner cartridge — rated 3,000 pages (ISO/IEC 19798), $96.29 at Brother USA, checked 27 September 2026
Yields are manufacturer-rated at the ISO 5% page-coverage standard, not measured by us, and real-world cost runs higher. Prices are not live: this is arithmetic on a price we read on the date shown, not a current price. How we calculate cost per page.
Color laser output does not dry out during long idle spells
Auto duplex printing
Four separate cartridges, so one exhausted color does not mean replacing the set
What you give up
Color toner is expensive per page next to any ink tank printer
Four cartridges to replace instead of one
Slower than the mono lasers at 19 pages per minute
If you want color laser output and have no use for a scanner, this is the machine: 19 pages a minute in black and in color, automatic duplexing, wireless, and the TN229 cartridge family at about 3.2 cents a black page with color pages several times that.
$284.99 at list. Four separate cartridges rather than a combined unit, so one exhausted color does not retire the set. Our color laser picks.
The Brother HL-L2460DW at $179.99: up to 36 pages a minute, automatic duplexing, dual-band wireless with Ethernet and USB, and about 3.3 cents a page on the TN830XL.
+−Is a printer without a scanner cheaper?
Yes, by about $30 on Brother’s household range — $179.99 against $209.99 for the same engine with a flatbed and a 50-page feeder. It is also smaller and has fewer moving parts.
+−Do I need a scanner on my printer?
Only if you scan multi-page documents regularly, need to copy without a computer, or archive photographs. For receipts and the odd signed form, a phone with a document-scanning app is faster.
+−What does HL mean on a Brother printer?
HL is Brother’s prefix for a print-only laser. DCP adds a scanner and copier; MFC adds fax as well. The full naming guide.
+−Which print-only laser is cheapest to run?
The Brother HL-L6210DW, at about 1.3 cents a page on the 18,000-page TN920UXXL cartridge — the lowest cost per page of any printer we cover. It costs $349.99 at list, so it needs volume to repay the difference.
+−Can you still copy without an all-in-one?
Not on the printer itself. You would scan with a phone or a separate scanner and then print the result, which works but is two steps. Genuine copying needs a flatbed on the machine.
