The short version
- Of the 50 bestselling printers on Amazon UK on 15 September 2026, 32 are document printers. None of the 32 listings gives a cost per page. Eight give a page yield, and none of those names the ISO test behind it. We call this the pence-per-page blank.
- Nine of the 32 put “up to 3 years of ink” in the title. None of the nine says how many pages a month that assumes.
- From the makers’ own ink prices and ISO page yields, a black page costs from 0.2p (Epson EcoTank bottles) to 14p (Canon’s standard PG-575 cartridge).
- The cheapest printer to buy is not the cheapest to run. At 50 black pages a month, the £179 Epson ET-2861 overtakes the £34.99 Canon TS3750i after about 2,100 pages, which is 42 months. At 20 pages a month it takes almost nine years.
- Over 1,800 black pages, three years at 50 a month, the Brother HL-L2400DW laser is the cheapest pick here at £132.89 including the printer.
Printer listings sell the box. The cost of printing sits somewhere else: on a cartridge page, in a subscription plan, or in a footnote on the maker’s own website.
So this guide prices the page. For each pick we took the maker’s UK price for its replacement ink or toner, divided it by the maker’s own page yield, and set the result beside the Amazon price of the printer on 15 September 2026.
The short answer
For light printing, the Canon PIXMA TS3750i at £34.99 is the cheapest to buy and costs 6.9p a black page on XL cartridges. If you print more than about 50 pages a month, the Brother HL-L2400DW laser (£99.59, 3.0p a page) or the Epson EcoTank ET-2861 (£179.00, 0.21p a page, with 4,500 black pages of ink in the box) cost less over three years. No printer listing we read on Amazon UK states a cost per page.
How this guide was made: desk research, not a hands-on test. We have not printed on any of these machines. Printer prices are Amazon UK on 15 September 2026. Ink and toner prices and page yields come from Canon, Epson, HP and Brother’s own UK pages, except where the table says Amazon. Electricity uses the Ofgem cap of 26.32p per kWh that applies from 1 October 2026.
Prices and specs last checked 15 September 2026 · next check 1 December 2026 · how we picked
How they compare
| Printer | Type | Amazon price, 15 Sep 2026 | Black ink or toner | Maker’s page yield | Price of that cartridge | Cost per black page | 1,800 black pages, printer included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canon PIXMA TS3750i | Cartridge inkjet | £34.99 | PG-575XL | 400 pages | £27.49 (Canon) | 6.9p | £158.69 |
| HP DeskJet 2922 | Cartridge inkjet | £44.00 | HP 308e | 320 pages | £25.99 (Amazon) | 8.1p | £190.19 |
| Epson Expression Home XP-2200 | Cartridge inkjet | £44.99 | 604XL | 500 pages | £33.99 (Epson) | 6.8p | £167.35 |
| Canon PIXMA TS7750i | Cartridge inkjet, photo | £86.32 | PG-585XL | 300 pages | £27.49 (Canon) | 9.2p | £251.26 |
| HP LaserJet M110w | Mono laser | £74.97 | HP 142A | 950 pages | £48.96 (Amazon) | 5.2p | £152.28 |
| Brother HL-L2400DW | Mono laser, two-sided | £99.59 | TN-2510XL | 3,000 pages | £90.82 (Amazon) | 3.0p | £132.89 |
| Epson EcoTank ET-2861 | Ink tank | £179.00 | 104 black bottle | 4,500 pages | £9.45 (Epson, promotion) | 0.21p | £179.00 |
| Epson EcoTank ET-2950 | Ink tank | £254.99 | 102 black bottle | 7,500 pages | £14.85 (Epson, promotion) | 0.20p | £254.99 |
The last column adds the printer to the ink needed for 1,800 black pages. For the two lasers and the two tanks it counts the starter toner or ink the maker says is in the box: about 300 pages for the HP laser, 700 for the Brother, 4,500 for the ET-2861 and 8,500 for the ET-2950. The makers of the four cartridge inkjets did not state a starter yield on the pages we read, so we counted none. That flatters the tanks and lasers slightly less than it might.
Page yields are the makers’ own figures from standard ISO test pages (ISO/IEC 24711 for ink, 19752 for toner, where the maker names it). Real documents with more text or pictures use more.
The pence-per-page blank
We read the 50 bestselling printers on Amazon UK on 15 September 2026: title, bullet points, product details, the maker’s A+ content and the description. Eighteen were label, receipt, tattoo-stencil or pocket photo printers, which leaves 32 document printers from Canon, Epson, HP and Brother.
None of the 32 gives a cost per page. Eight state a page yield of some kind, usually for the ink in the box. None of the eight names the test behind that yield. And none of the 32 states how much electricity the printer uses: a search for watts found four hits, and all four were the letter W for width in the dimensions.
That is the pence-per-page blank: the one number that decides what a printer costs you, left off the page that sells it. The makers do publish the pieces. They are just on different pages.
Up to three years of ink, but whose three years?
Nine of the 32 listings, all Epson EcoTank or HP Smart Tank models, put “up to 3 years of ink” in the title. We searched each of the nine for a monthly page count, an average or a basis. None gives one on the Amazon page.
The ink itself is generous. Epson says the ET-2861’s bottles print up to 4,500 black and 7,500 colour pages. Whether that is three years depends entirely on how much you print, and the listing does not say what it assumed. At 50 black pages a month, 4,500 pages is seven and a half years. At 150 a month, it is two and a half.
When an ink tank pays for itself
An ink tank costs more to buy and far less to run. The question is when the two lines cross.
Against the Canon TS3750i on XL cartridges, the Epson ET-2861 costs £144.01 more up front and saves about 6.7p on every black page. It pulls ahead after roughly 2,100 black pages. That is 42 months at 50 pages a month, 21 months at 100, and almost nine years at 20.
The Brother laser crosses the Canon sooner, after about 1,130 pages, because its starter toner covers the first 700. It then stays ahead of the ET-2861 until about 3,300 pages. If you print mostly black text, a mono laser is the cheaper middle ground.
Subscriptions: when the plan beats the cartridge
All four makers now sell ink by the month. On 15 September 2026, HP Instant Ink was £4.49 for 50 pages a month, 9.0p a page, colour or black. Canon’s PIXMA Print Plan was £3.99 for 60 pages (6.7p), but only for listed models, which include the TS7750i. Epson ReadyPrint Flex was £4.49 for 50 pages. Brother EcoPro started at £1.99 for 50 pages a month on mono lasers.
A plan wins if you print colour, because a colour page on cartridges costs more than a black one. It loses if you print less than the plan allows, although all four let you roll some unused pages over.
The catch is on HP’s own pages. HP says its HP+ models need an HP account, an internet connection and “the use of only Original HP ink for the life of the printer”. The DeskJet 2922 page says an HP account is required for full functionality, and that the printer uses dynamic security measures to block cartridges with non-HP chips. Of the 14 HP printers in the top 50, two mention dynamic security on their Amazon listing.
What a printer costs to leave on
Printers spend most of their lives asleep. Where the maker publishes a typical weekly figure (TEC), we priced it at 26.32p per kWh: the Epson ET-2861 uses 0.15 kWh a week, about £2.05 a year; the HP LaserJet M110w 0.239 kWh, about £3.27; the Brother HL-L2400DW 0.34 kWh, about £4.65.
The inkjets publish standby watts instead. Canon’s TS3750i draws about 1.3W on standby with everything connected, which is about £3.00 a year if it is never switched off. Epson’s XP-2200 draws 0.8W asleep, about £1.84 a year. Neither figure is large, and neither is on the Amazon listing.
The picks
Ranked from cheapest to buy to dearest. Prices are Amazon UK on 15 September 2026 and move often.
Canon PIXMA TS3750i
Cheapest to buyThe number one printer on Amazon UK on the day, at £34.99. It prints, scans and copies over Wi-Fi. On Canon’s XL cartridges a black page costs 6.9p and a colour page 9.2p.
The catch: Canon’s standard PG-575 black costs £13.99 for 100 pages, which is 14p a page, twice the XL rate. Buy XL, or the cheap printer gets expensive quickly.
Inkjet, A4, print, scan and copy, Wi-Fi. PG-575XL 400 pages, CL-576XL 300 pages (ISO/IEC 24711). Standby about 1.3W.
Evidence: Canon UK specifications and Canon UK store prices, read 15 September 2026. Canon does not say how many pages the cartridges in the box print.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
HP DeskJet 2922
HP’s cheapest£44.00 on Amazon, the same as HP’s own store on the day (down from £64.99). HP’s 308e black cartridge gives 320 pages for £25.99, which is 8.1p a page.
The catch: HP’s own page says an HP account is required for full functionality, and that the printer blocks cartridges using non-HP chips. The Amazon listing mentions neither.
Inkjet, A4, print, scan and copy, Wi-Fi. HP 308 black 160 pages, 308e black 320 pages. Sleep 1.31W.
Evidence: HP UK store page, read 15 September 2026; cartridge prices from Amazon listings sold by Amazon. HP’s single-cartridge pages would not load for us, so we used Amazon’s cartridge prices.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
Epson Expression Home XP-2200
Cheapest cartridge page£44.99. Epson’s 604XL black gives 500 pages for £33.99, 6.8p a page, the lowest cartridge rate in this guide by a whisker.
The catch: The standard 604 black is £15.99 for 150 pages, 10.7p a page. And Epson’s own XL multipack quotes 550 black pages where the single XL cartridge quotes 500.
Inkjet, A4, print, scan and copy, Wi-Fi. Sleep 0.8W, ready 4.6W.
Evidence: Epson UK product and ink pages, read 15 September 2026. Epson’s page sends you to a separate page-yield site rather than naming the ISO test.
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HP LaserJet M110w
Smallest laser£74.97. Black only. HP’s 142A toner prints 950 pages for £48.96 on Amazon, 5.2p a page, and HP says the box holds about 300 pages of toner.
The catch: It prints only, and only in black. HP’s page says an HP account is required for full functionality, and that the printer is meant to work only with cartridges that have a new or reused HP chip.
Mono laser, A4, print only, Wi-Fi. 361W printing. Typical use 0.239 kWh a week, about £3.27 a year.
Evidence: HP UK store page, read 15 September 2026; toner price from an Amazon listing sold by Amazon. HP’s own store lists the same toner at £54.49, which is 5.7p a page.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
Canon PIXMA TS7750i
For photos£86.32 on Amazon against £139.99 on Canon’s own store. It is the photo printer of the eight. Canon’s XL black gives 300 pages for £27.49, 9.2p a page.
The catch: That is the dearest black page here. It makes sense if you print photos, or if you join Canon’s Print Plan, which this model is eligible for.
Inkjet, A4, print, scan and copy, wireless. PG-585XL 300 pages, CL-586XL 300 pages. Standby about 1.5W.
Evidence: Canon UK specifications, store and Print Plan pages, read 15 September 2026. Canon’s specification page gives the same 300-page figure for black XL and colour XL, which we could not cross-check.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
Brother HL-L2400DW
Cheapest over three years£99.59, and it prints on both sides automatically. With the 700-page starter toner and Brother’s TN-2510XL (3,000 pages, £90.82 on Amazon), 1,800 black pages cost £132.89 all in, the lowest total in this guide.
The catch: Black only and print only. Brother’s store would not show us a price, so the toner price is Amazon’s, and the XL toner is a large spend in one go.
Mono laser, A4, automatic two-sided printing, Wi-Fi. Typical use 0.34 kWh a week, about £4.65 a year.
Evidence: Brother UK store specifications, read 15 September 2026; toner price from an Amazon listing sold by Amazon. Brother’s EcoPro plan is sold with a separate listing, the HL-L2400DWE.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
Epson EcoTank ET-2861
Cheapest page£179.00 on Amazon against £239.99 on Epson’s site. The box holds 4,500 black and 7,500 colour pages of ink. After that, a £9.45 black bottle prints 4,500 pages, 0.21p a page.
The catch: The saving takes time. Against the £34.99 Canon on XL cartridges it pulls ahead after about 2,100 black pages: 42 months at 50 pages a month, almost nine years at 20. Amazon’s page showed £179.00 with only one left in stock on the day, so the live price below may be for a different offer.
Ink tank, A4, print, scan and copy, Wi-Fi. Typical use 0.15 kWh a week, about £2.05 a year.
Evidence: Epson UK product and 104 ink pages, read 15 September 2026. The £9.45 bottle price includes an Epson promotion that ends on 30 September 2026.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
Epson EcoTank ET-2950
Most ink in the box£254.99 against £319.99 on Epson’s site. It ships with 8,500 black and 6,500 colour pages of ink and uses Epson’s larger 102 bottles: 7,500 black pages for £14.85, 0.20p a page.
The catch: It costs £75.99 more than the ET-2861 for about 4,000 extra black pages in the box. At the ET-2861’s bottle price, that much black ink would cost about £8.40.
Ink tank, A4, print, scan and copy, Wi-Fi. Sleep 0.6W, ready 6.2W.
Evidence: Epson UK product and 102 ink pages, read 15 September 2026. Epson’s ET-2950 page gives no weekly electricity figure, and the bottle price includes a promotion ending 30 September 2026.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
Related on Look Into: what other appliances cost to run in our UK running cost index, and how monthly plans add up for doorbells and alarms in the subscription tax index.
Questions people ask
What is the cheapest printer to run in the UK?
Of the printers we priced on 15 September 2026, Epson’s EcoTank models had the cheapest black page at about 0.2p, from Epson’s own bottle prices and yields. Over 1,800 black pages including the printer, the Brother HL-L2400DW laser was cheapest at £132.89.
Is an ink tank printer worth it?
It depends on how much you print. The £179 Epson ET-2861 overtakes the £34.99 Canon TS3750i on XL cartridges after about 2,100 black pages. That is 42 months at 50 pages a month, but almost nine years at 20.
Is HP Instant Ink worth it?
On 15 September 2026 the 50-page plan was £4.49 a month, 9.0p a page for colour or black. That beats buying HP cartridges if you print colour and use most of your pages. It costs more than a laser or ink tank for black text.
Do HP printers work with non-HP ink?
HP’s own UK pages say many of its printers use dynamic security to block cartridges with non-HP chips, and that HP+ printers need original HP ink for the life of the printer. Check the individual model page before you buy.
How much electricity does a printer use?
Very little. Where the maker publishes a weekly figure, the printers we priced cost about £2 to £5 a year at the October 2026 price cap of 26.32p per kWh.
Sources
- Ofgem, energy price cap unit rates, read 15 September 2026
- Canon UK, PIXMA TS3750i specifications, read 15 September 2026
- Canon UK store, TS3750i cartridges, read 15 September 2026
- Canon UK, PIXMA TS7750i specifications, read 15 September 2026
- Canon UK store, TS7750i cartridges, read 15 September 2026
- Canon UK, PIXMA Print Plan, read 15 September 2026
- HP UK store, DeskJet 2922, read 15 September 2026
- HP UK store, LaserJet M110w, read 15 September 2026
- HP UK store, HP 142A toner, read 15 September 2026
- HP UK store, OfficeJet Pro 9125e (HP+ terms), read 15 September 2026
- HP UK, Instant Ink plans, read 15 September 2026
- Epson UK, EcoTank ET-2861, read 15 September 2026
- Epson UK, 104 EcoTank ink, read 15 September 2026
- Epson UK, EcoTank ET-2950, read 15 September 2026
- Epson UK, 102 EcoTank ink, read 15 September 2026
- Epson UK, Expression Home XP-2200 and 604 inks, read 15 September 2026
- Epson UK, ReadyPrint Flex, read 15 September 2026
- Brother UK store, HL-L2400DW, read 15 September 2026
- Brother UK, EcoPro, read 15 September 2026
- Amazon UK, Best Sellers in Printers (the 50 listings audited), read 15 September 2026
Prices are guides and change often. Check the current price, and the cartridge price, before you buy. As an Amazon Associate, Look Into earns from qualifying purchases; that never changes a pick or a figure.