Printer Cost Per Page Calculator
Compare what you really pay to print. Enter the price and page yield for a name-brand (OEM) cartridge and a Swift Ink cartridge, then how many pages you print each month.
Your results
You could save $0 a year (0% less per page).
| Cost | Name-brand | Swift Ink |
|---|---|---|
| Per page | – | – |
| Per month | – | – |
| Per year | – | – |
| Cartridges per year | – | – |
How cost per page is calculated
Cost per page = cartridge price ÷ page yield
For example, a $39.99 cartridge rated for 3,000 pages costs about 1.3¢ per page. Multiply by the pages you print each month to see your monthly and yearly cost.
For color printers, add up the cost per page of each color cartridge you use.
Page yields are rated by manufacturers at about 5% page coverage using ISO test methods. Your actual yield depends on what you print, so treat these results as an estimate. Example prices are for illustration only.
Got your number from the calculator above? A black page under about 2¢ on a laser printer, or under half a cent on an ink tank printer, is a good cost per page. So is a color page under about 5¢ on a color laser.
What is a good cost per page?
It depends on the type of printer. In October 2026 we priced the high-yield cartridges for 43 printers sold new in the US. Here are the median costs per page with Swift Ink compatible and remanufactured supplies, with the brand-name median for comparison.
- 1.29¢Mono laser, black page, Swift Ink median (brand-name: 3.51¢)
- 2.00¢Cartridge inkjet, black page, Swift Ink median (brand-name: 6.44¢)
- 4.83¢Color laser, color page, Swift Ink median (brand-name: 18.45¢)
- 0.43¢Ink tank, color page, Swift Ink median (brand-name: 1.18¢)
If your result is close to the brand-name number for your printer type, there is room to save. Volume makes the cents add up. An office printing 1,000 invoices a month on a mono laser pays $35.10 a month at 3.51¢ a page, or $12.90 at 1.29¢. That is about $266 a year for one printer. Full method and all 43 printers: our printer ink cost per page study.
Typical cost per page by printer type
A color page here means black plus cyan, magenta and yellow (or black plus a tri-color cartridge), each at the maker’s rated yield.
| Printer type | Black page, brand-name | Black page, Swift Ink | Color page, brand-name | Color page, Swift Ink |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mono laser | 3.51¢ | 1.29¢ | No color | No color |
| Color laser | 3.07¢ | 0.97¢ | 18.45¢ | 4.83¢ |
| Cartridge inkjet | 6.44¢ | 2.00¢ | 18.35¢ | 7.99¢ |
| Ink tank | 0.38¢ | 0.13¢ | 1.18¢ | 0.43¢ |
Brand-name prices are from each maker’s US store, and Swift Ink prices from staging.swiftink.com, on October 14, 2026. For Swift Ink yields we used our rating or the brand’s, whichever was lower. Paper, drums and maintenance parts are not included.
How to find your cartridge’s page yield
Page yield is the number of pages a cartridge is rated to print. Find it here:
- The cartridge box or the store listing. Look for “page yield” or “approx. pages”.
- The printer maker’s website. Search the cartridge number, such as TN830XL or 64XL.
- Swift Ink product pages. The yield is in the Specifications table on each product page.
Major printer makers rate yields with the same ISO/IEC test standards, so brands compare fairly:
- ISO/IEC 19752: black toner cartridges for mono laser printers.
- ISO/IEC 19798: color toner cartridges for color laser printers.
- ISO/IEC 24711 and 24712: inkjet cartridges. 24711 is the test method and 24712 is the set of test pages.
Why your real yield is different
The ISO test prints standard pages back to back at default settings. Makers often describe them as about 5% coverage per color, like a light page of text. Your pages are probably different:
- Coverage. A page with logos, charts or photos uses far more ink or toner. Roughly, twice the coverage means half the pages.
- Short jobs and idle time. Many inkjets use ink to clean the print head, especially after sitting unused. One-page jobs also wear laser drums faster.
- Settings. Best or photo quality uses more ink than standard or draft.
So treat any cost per page, ours included, as a way to compare cartridges, not a promise.
How to calculate the cost of a color page
A color page uses all four colors. Work out the cost per page of each cartridge, then add them up. Here is the math for the Brother HL-L3220CDW, HL-L3280CDW and MFC-L3780CDW, using Swift Ink’s compatible high-yield toner (staging.swiftink.com prices, October 14, 2026):
Black (replaces TN229XLBK): $29.99 ÷ 3,000 pages = 1.000¢ Cyan (replaces TN229XLC): $29.99 ÷ 2,300 pages = 1.304¢ Magenta (replaces TN229XLM): $29.99 ÷ 2,300 pages = 1.304¢ Yellow (replaces TN229XLY): $29.99 ÷ 2,300 pages = 1.304¢ Color page = 1.000 + 1.304 + 1.304 + 1.304 = 4.91¢
A black-only page on the same printer costs just the black: 1.00¢. With brand-name TN229XL cartridges, our study put the same color page at 19.32¢ and a black page at 3.21¢.
For an inkjet with one tri-color cartridge, add the black and tri-color costs per page. A tri-color cartridge is done when any one color runs out.
Tip: To use the calculator above for color, run it once for each cartridge and add the cost per page results together.
Drums and other laser parts
Many laser printers have a separate drum unit that you replace less often than the toner. Most Brother lasers work this way. The drum adds to your cost per page, and most cost per page charts, ours included, leave it out.
Example: the Brother DR830 drum fits the HL-L2405W, HL-L2460DW, MFC-L2900DW and other TN830 models. Brother lists it at $157.99 for about 15,000 pages, which adds about 1.05¢ a page (Brother-USA.com, October 2026). Swift Ink’s compatible drum that replaces the DR830 was $33.99, or about 0.23¢ a page (staging.swiftink.com, October 14, 2026).
Brother bases that rating on one page per job, so longer jobs stretch it. Many HP LaserJet cartridges have the drum built in, so the toner price covers it. Some color lasers also need a waste toner box, belt or fuser over time. Check your manual.
How to lower your cost per page
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Use draft or toner save mode for everyday pages Free
Most printers have a setting, such as Draft, Toner Save or EconoMode, that uses less ink or toner. Pages print lighter, so keep normal mode for customer documents.
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Print in black only when you don’t need color Free
On a color laser, choose black and white or grayscale in the print window. On many inkjets this saves color ink too, though some still use a little color to keep the print head working.
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Print on both sides Free
This halves your paper use. It does not save ink or toner, but paper is part of what a page costs.
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Buy high-yield (XL) cartridges $
An XL cartridge costs more up front but almost always less per page. Our study used XL cartridges for that reason.
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Switch to compatible or remanufactured cartridges $
Across 21 printer families, Swift Ink cartridges cost a median 65% less per black page than brand-name ones. Any cartridge, brand-name or not, can be defective, so contact our support team if one gives you trouble. If you have an HP or Epson printer, read about firmware-safe HP ink cartridges first, because firmware updates can block some cartridges.
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Pick a printer that fits how much you print $$$
If you print mostly black pages, a mono laser is hard to beat. See our best black and white laser printers. If you print color often, compare running costs in our best color inkjet printers guide.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to print a page?
For a black page, anywhere from about 0.13¢ on an ink tank printer with compatible ink to 6.44¢ on a typical cartridge inkjet with brand-name ink. Those are the medians from our October 2026 study. A color page runs from 0.43¢ to about 18¢. Paper is extra: divide the price of a ream by 500. A $10 ream adds 2¢ a sheet.
How do you calculate cost per page?
Divide the cartridge price by its page yield. A $29.99 cartridge rated for 3,000 pages costs 1.0¢ a page. For a color page, add the cost per page of each color cartridge. For a laser with a separate drum, add the drum’s cost per page too.
Is a laser printer cheaper per page than an inkjet?
For black pages, yes, compared with a cartridge inkjet. The median black page was 3.51¢ on a mono laser and 6.44¢ on a cartridge inkjet, both with brand-name supplies. For color the two were about even, near 18¢. Ink tank printers beat both per page. See laser vs inkjet printers for the full comparison.
What is a good cost per page for a business printer?
For invoices, letters and other black pages, aim for under about 1.5¢ a page, drum included. A mono laser with compatible toner gets there. Higher-volume lasers with very high-yield toner can go below half a cent. For color, under about 5¢ a page on a color laser is good.