Best Color Inkjet Printers for 2027, Ranked by What the Ink Really Costs

The best color inkjet printer is the one that’s cheap to feed, not just cheap to buy. We ranked printers sold new in the US today by what a color page really costs, with brand-name ink and with Swift Ink’s compatible and remanufactured cartridges. All prices were checked in October 2026.

• 3.90¢Lowest color page from a cartridge inkjet (Canon TS9520a, compatible ink)
• 81%Less per color page on the TS9520a vs Canon-brand ink
• $215Lowest 3-year cost for a cartridge inkjet (Epson WF-4820, printer plus ink)
• 0.36¢Color page on an ink tank printer with compatible bottles

The 5 best color inkjet printers for 2027, ranked by running cost

Every printer below was sold new in the US when we checked, and each uses ink we carry. Cost per page uses each maker’s ISO page yields. “3-year cost” is the printer plus ink at 100 pages a month, 80% black and 20% color, as in our printer ink cost per page study.

Cost per color page: brand-name vs Swift Ink ink

A color page here means black plus cyan, magenta and yellow at standard ISO coverage. Photos and solid color use more ink, so treat these as a comparison, not a promise.

To run your own numbers, use our printer cost per page calculator.

Best color inkjet printer for marketing materials, photos and home offices

Marketing materials and flyers: Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840

Marketing pieces need larger paper and a low cost per color page. The WF-7840 prints up to 13 × 19 inches at 5.63¢ per color page with remanufactured ink. For letter-size flyers only, the WF-4820 does the same job for $100 less.

Photos and the most vivid color: Canon PIXMA TS9520a

Its dye-based color inks look bright on glossy paper. The Epson XP-7100 is a smaller, cheaper option. Paper matters as much as the printer, so see our guide to the best photo papers for compatible ink before you buy a big box of glossy stock.

Home office and small business: Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4820

It’s the cheapest cartridge inkjet to own over three years in our data, and it scans and faxes. If you’d rather avoid Epson’s firmware risk, the Brother MFC-J1800DW costs more to run but adds a paper cutter.

Lowest cost per page: an ink tank

If you print hundreds of color pages a month, an ink tank costs the least per page. The HP Smart Tank 5100 and Epson EcoTank ET-2900 cost under half a cent per color page with compatible bottles. We list them for comparison rather than as main picks.

Lowest upfront price: Epson WF-4820 or XP-7100

Both are $129.99 at Epson.com (October 2026). The WF-4820 is cheaper to run; the XP-7100 is better for photos.

Comparison table: price, ink and cost per page

Printer prices: Epson.com, Brother.com and B&H Photo, October 2026; HP Smart Tank 5100 and Epson ET-2900 prices from our cost study, October 14, 2026. Ink prices: brand stores and staging.swiftink.com, October 14, 2026. 3-year cost assumes 100 pages a month, 80% black and 20% color, and leaves out paper.

Are refillable ink tank printers worth it?

If you print a lot of color, yes. They cost more up front but very little to run. Bottle yields, from the makers:

• HP 32XL black: about 6,700 pages in the Smart Tank 5100 (HP.com). HP 31 colors: about 8,000 pages each.
• Epson 522 (ET-2900): about 4,700 pages black and 7,500 pages per color bottle.
• Epson 502 (several EcoTank models): about 7,500 pages black and 6,000 per color bottle (Epson.com).
• Bottles in the box yield less, because some ink primes the printer at setup.

Because tank ink is already cheap, compatible bottles save fewer dollars than on cartridge printers: about $11 to $14 over three years at 100 pages a month on these two printers. Savings grow with volume. Swift Ink carries compatible bottles for the Epson 502 and 522 and the HP 31 and 32XL.

HP and Epson: setup and firmware warnings

• HP: firmware updates can make some HP printers reject compatible cartridges. Smart Tank printers fill from bottles rather than chipped cartridges, but we’d still turn off automatic updates. See how to block HP firmware updates.
• Epson: some Epson firmware updates have caused non-Epson cartridges to stop working. Turn off automatic updates before you install compatible ink. See how to block Epson firmware updates.

Any cartridge, brand-name or compatible, can be defective. If one gives you trouble, contact us and we’ll help sort it out.

Printers we left out (and why)

• HP OfficeJet Pro 8120, 8130, 9110, 9120 and 9130 series: they use HP 923 or 936 cartridges, and compatibles for them aren’t reliable yet.
• HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e: HP.com lists it as discontinued.
• Brother MFC-J4355DW and other current INKvestment models: they use Brother’s newer LC506 cartridges, and we’re not recommending compatibles for them yet.
• Brother MFC-J4335DW, MFC-J5855DW, MFC-J6555DW and MFC-J6955DW: all marked discontinued at Brother.com. They use LC406 cartridges (not LC401), and we still carry compatible LC406XL ink.
• Brother MFC-J1010DW and MFC-J1170DW: marked discontinued at Brother.com. They use the same LC401 ink as the MFC-J1800DW.
• Canon PIXMA TR8620a: we couldn’t confirm it’s still sold new by Canon or a major retailer. It uses the same ink as the TS9520a.

How to cut ink costs on any color inkjet

1. Print drafts in black or draft mode Free

   Choose grayscale or draft quality in the print dialog for anything you don’t hand to a customer.

2. Buy XL or XXL cartridges $

   High-yield cartridges almost always cost less per page than standard ones. All the numbers in this guide use them.

3. Switch to compatible or remanufactured ink $

   On the cartridge printers above, this cuts the cost of a color page by 54% to 81%.

4. Move to an ink tank if you print heavy color $$

   At hundreds of color pages a month, a tank printer can pay for itself in ink.

If pages come out smeared after a cartridge change, it’s usually paper or settings, not the ink. Our guide to stopping inkjet smudging covers the fixes.

How we chose

This is a cost comparison, not a hands-on review. We didn’t test print quality or speed. Here’s what we did:

• Kept only printers sold new in the US in October 2026 (maker’s store or a major retailer) whose ink Swift Ink sells.
• Used high-yield cartridges and each maker’s ISO page yields. Where our cartridge is rated lower, we used the lower number.
• Counted a color page as black plus cyan, magenta and yellow.
• Took brand-name ink prices from each maker’s US store (Staples where the maker didn’t list one) and Swift Ink prices from staging.swiftink.com, on October 14, 2026.

All cost figures come from our 43-printer ink cost study. Prices change, so check before you buy. We sell the compatible ink compared here, so we show every source.

Inkjet or color laser?

A color laser can match a good inkjet on running cost: the Brother HL-L3220CDW costs 4.91¢ per color page with compatible toner, and toner doesn’t dry out. An inkjet is still better for glossy photos and a low printer price. See our full laser vs inkjet cost comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Which color inkjet printer gives the best value for vibrant prints?

The Canon PIXMA TS9520a. It prints up to 11 × 17 inches, and with compatible ink a color page costs 3.90¢, the lowest of any cartridge inkjet we priced.

What is the most reliable color inkjet printer for compatible ink?

We didn’t test reliability. Brother’s product pages don’t say third-party cartridges are blocked, while HP and Epson have used firmware updates that affected non-brand ink. With HP or Epson, turn off automatic updates before installing compatible cartridges.

What is the best color inkjet printer for printing marketing materials?

The Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840. It prints up to 13 × 19 inches and costs 5.63¢ per color page with remanufactured 812XL ink. For letter-size flyers, the WF-4820 costs $100 less.

Is a refillable ink tank printer worth it for the price?

If you print a lot of color, yes: about 0.36¢ per color page on the HP Smart Tank 5100 with compatible bottles. At a few pages a week, a cheaper cartridge printer like the WF-4820 costs less overall.

Which inkjet has the lowest cost per page for black-and-white printing?

Ink tanks: about 0.13¢ per black page on the Smart Tank 5100 with compatible ink. Among cartridge inkjets, the Canon TS9520a is lowest at 1.17¢ with compatible ink, then the Epson WF-4820 at 1.54¢. For mostly black-and-white printing, a mono laser is usually the better buy.