A business prints more than a household and cares less about the shelf price. That changes the answer completely - and it rules out most of what is marketed at small firms.
#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 November 12, 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 small business printing black paperwork, buy the Brother HL-L5210DW: $329.99, 48 pages a minute, and about 1.9 cents a page on the business cartridge — roughly half what a household machine charges. If you need to scan and print color, the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 is the one machine that does both on bottle-fed ink. The budget pick is the Brother MFC-L2820DW at $279.99, which gets you the whole paperwork set cheaply.
What kind of printer should a small business buy?
A mono laser on a business cartridge family if your output is documents, because the cost per page roughly halves against household toner — about 1.9 cents instead of 3.3 cents. A bottle-fed ink tank all-in-one if you need color and scanning, because an ISO color page costs under a cent instead of about 20 cents a page. What a small business should not buy is a cheap cartridge all-in-one, whatever the shelf price.
How we picked
A business buys differently from a household: the printer is a cost line rather than a purchase, and it is used by more than one person.
What is the three-year supply spend? Not the price of the printer. At business volumes the cartridge or bottle bill is several times the hardware, and it is the only number that should decide this.
Is there a wired network port? A shared printer on Wi-Fi is a support ticket waiting to happen. Every pick except one publishes Ethernet.
How much paper does it hold? Two inputs means letterhead or envelopes can live in the machine, and nobody walks to it mid-run.
Is there a subscription anywhere? No. A page allowance is a particularly bad fit for a business, where volume is lumpy and a busy month is exactly when you do not want to be throttled or charged an overage.
The only table that matters
Here is the supply spend over three years at 500 pages a month, which is a modest small-business volume. The hardware price differences on this page are a few hundred dollars; the supply differences are not.
Three years of black supplies at 500 pages a month
Printer and supply
Per page
Three-year spend
Brother HL-L6210DW, TN920UXXL
~1.3¢
$241
Brother HL-L5210DW, TN920XXL
~1.9¢
$334
Epson EcoTank ET-4950, 502 bottles
~0.3¢
$60
Brother MFC-L2820DW, TN830XL
~3.3¢
$590
Canon imageCLASS LBP6030w, Canon 125
~6.1¢
$1091
Our arithmetic: supply price divided by rated ISO yield, times 500 pages, times 36 months. Prices read 27 September 2026 from the sources at the foot of this page. Drums and color are not included — the method in full.
Read the top and bottom rows together. The difference between the cheapest and dearest supply on that table, over three years at a modest volume, is larger than the price of any printer on this page. That is why a business should choose the cartridge first and the hardware second.
What a small business should not buy
A subscription. Page allowances are priced on predictable monthly volume, and business volume is not predictable: it is quiet in July and frantic at quarter end, which is precisely when you do not want a throttle or an overage charge. There is also the question of what happens to the printer if a payment fails on a day you are invoicing. How to run any printer without one · subscription-free office picks.
Also worth avoiding: buying color laser because a quote mentioned color once. A color laser costs several times a tank printer per color page, and most small firms print almost everything in black. Mono against color laser.
The two-printer argument, for firms that print a lot
At business volume the cheapest arrangement is often two machines: a mono laser on a business cartridge for the paperwork, and a bottle-fed tank printer for the color and the scanning. Together they cost less than one machine that does everything badly, and either one failing does not stop you invoicing. For a firm printing 500 pages a month this pays for itself in supplies inside the first year on our figures.
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 November 12, 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 for a business that prints documents
Brother HL-L5210DW
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 November 12, 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
Who it is for: a firm whose output is black paperwork — invoices, contracts, statements, packing slips.
This is the cheapest machine we cover that reaches Brother’s business cartridge ladder, and for a business that is the whole decision. The TN920XXL is rated at 11,000 pages for $204.29 — about 1.9 cents a page, roughly half the household ladder at 3.3 cents. The DR920 drum is rated at approximately 45,000 pages rather than 15,000.
It also handles paper like a business machine: 250 sheets plus a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray, expandable to 1,390, 48 pages a minute, automatic duplex on Letter and Legal.
Honest cons. Print only — no scanner or copier, so a business still needs one. The cartridge is a $200-plus purchase at a time. Brother’s own store showed it out of stock when we last looked, without marking it discontinued. The HL-L5210DW in full.
The current EcoTank that has everything a small office asks for - feeder, auto duplex, Ethernet and AirPrint - on the cheaper 502 ink. The price is the argument against it.
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 November 12, 2026; Amazon’s own page is the price of record.
~0.3¢ per mono page · ~1.2¢ per color page
Based on a Epson 502 black ink bottle rated at 7,500 pages at $24.99, priced on 27 September 2026.
The color figure adds one per-page cost for each of the three color channels, because an ISO color page draws from all of them.
Epson 502 black ink bottle — rated 7,500 pages (ISO/IEC 24712), $24.99 at Epson US, checked 27 September 2026
Epson 502 color ink bottle — rated 6,000 pages (ISO/IEC 24712), $16.99 at Epson US, 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.
18 ISO pages per minute black, 9 ISO pages per minute color
Two-sided printing
Automatic
Document feeder
Automatic document feeder
Connectivity
Wireless and Ethernet
Subscription
None required
What we like
Auto duplex and a document feeder together, which the cheap EcoTanks do not offer
502 ink, the lowest cost per page of any Epson bottle family we have priced
AirPrint is named on Epson's own product page, so Macs and iPhones need no driver
What you give up
$499.99 at list - more than twice the cheapest EcoTank that prints the same pages for the same money per page
Still an inkjet, so it wants occasional use or the head can clog
18 pages a minute is slow next to any mono laser
Who it is for: a firm that scans as much as it prints, and needs color.
The one machine we cover that puts office hardware and bottle-fed ink in the same box: automatic document feeder, automatic two-sided printing, 250-sheet tray, Ethernet, fax, 18 ISO pages a minute black and 9 color, on refillable 502 bottles at about 0.3 of a cent a mono page. For a business that prints color quotes, brochures or labels, the running cost is transformative.
Honest cons. $499.99 list, which is real money up front. Nine ISO color pages a minute is slow for volume color work. And an inkjet feeder is slower than a laser one. Full cost-to-run breakdown.
#ad — we may earn a commission. How this site is funded. Prices as shown on Amazon as of November 12, 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.
Ethernet, dual-band wireless (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz) and Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Subscription
None required
What we like
Fifty-page document feeder and auto duplex at 34 pages a minute
Runs the same TN830XL toner as Brother's cheaper models, so no cost-per-page penalty for the extra hardware
Ethernet as well as dual-band Wi-Fi, which matters when several people share it
What you give up
Mono only - no color at all
Seventy dollars more than the DCP-L2640DW, and the difference is mostly the fax
The ADF scans one side only, so double-sided originals still need flipping
Who it is for: a new or very small firm that needs the office functions cheaply and prints in black.
The cheapest way to get the whole paperwork set: flatbed scanner with a 50-page automatic document feeder, copying, fax with a 33.6K modem, Ethernet, AirPrint and Mopria, 34 pages a minute, automatic duplex, for $279.99. Pages cost about 3.3 cents on high-yield toner.
Honest cons. Mono only, so no color quotes or brochures. It stays on the household cartridge ladder, so your pages cost roughly double the HL-L5210DW’s. 250-sheet tray plus a single-sheet manual slot. What it costs to run.
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 November 12, 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
Who it is for: a business printing reams a week, where reloading paper is a daily annoyance.
A 520-sheet main tray plus a 100-sheet multi-purpose tray — 620 sheets standard, 1,660 with options — at 50 pages a minute, $349.99. And it takes the TN920UXXL, rated at 18,000 pages for $241.49: the lowest toner cost per page in our registry.
Honest cons. Print only, physically large, and genuinely wasted on a firm printing under a few hundred pages a month — toner has a shelf life and an 18,000-page cartridge can expire unfinished. What it costs to run.
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 November 12, 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
Who it is for: a firm printing short-run color onto card, labels or coated stock.
Toner fuses dry, so a color page can be folded, stacked, stuffed into an envelope or guillotined the moment it lands. For business cards, price lists, shelf labels and short-run flyers that matters more than cost per page does, and nineteen pages a minute in color with automatic duplex is enough for the work.
Honest cons. Expensive per page: the TN229XL black is about 3.2 cents and a color page considerably more, with four cartridges plus a drum. No scanner. For volume color, a tank printer is a fraction of the cost. Color laser against ink tank.
The Brother HL-L5210DW at $329.99 for document printing, because its TN920XXL cartridge costs about 1.9 cents a page against about 3.3 cents on household toner. If you need scanning and color, the Epson EcoTank ET-4950 is the one machine that does both on bottle-fed ink.
+−Is a laser or an ink tank printer better for a small business?
Laser for black documents at speed, and for the lowest cost per page on a business cartridge. Ink tank for color and for scanning with cheap ink. Many firms printing real volume are cheapest with one of each.
+−Should a small business use a printer subscription?
We would not. Page allowances assume predictable monthly volume, and business printing is lumpy — a busy quarter end is exactly when a throttle or an overage charge hurts most.
+−How many pages a month justifies a business-class printer?
Roughly 200 and up on our arithmetic. Above that the business cartridge ladder saves more each year than the extra hardware cost, and the saving grows with every page.
+−Do I need a printer with Ethernet for a small office?
If more than one person prints to it, yes — a wired port is noticeably more reliable than shared Wi-Fi and does not depend on a vendor app. Every pick here except the color laser publishes Ethernet.
