Inkjet vs Laser for Infrequent Printing: Which Won't Waste Your Money? (2026)

I used to own a Canon inkjet that I printed on maybe twice a month. In a single year, I spent more on replacement cartridges — cartridges that had dried out, been consumed by cleaning cycles, or simply “expired” — than the printer cost in the first place. Seventy quid on a printer, ninety quid on ink I barely used. That was the year I switched to a laser printer, and I’ve never looked back.

If you only print a few pages a month — the odd form, a boarding pass, some school letters — choosing the wrong technology will cost you more in wasted ink than the printer itself. Here’s how to avoid that.

The Core Problem: Ink Dries Out. Toner Doesn’t.

This one fact drives the entire debate:

Inkjet printers spray liquid ink through microscopic nozzles. When the printer sits idle, that ink dries and clogs the nozzles. After 2-4 weeks without use, you get streaky prints, missing colours, or blank pages. The printer then runs cleaning cycles that burn through even more ink — sometimes chewing through an entire cartridge without printing a single useful page.

Laser printers fuse powdered toner onto paper using heat. Toner is a dry powder. Can’t dry out. Can’t clog. Can’t degrade from sitting idle. Leave a laser printer untouched for six months, turn it on, and you’ll get a perfect print on the first page. I’ve done this multiple times.

For more on toner longevity, see our article on whether laser printers dry out.

The Real Cost of Infrequent Inkjet Printing

The hidden cost isn’t the ink you put on paper — it’s the ink you waste on cleaning and evaporation. Here’s what actually happens, because I’ve lived through this cycle more times than I care to admit:

1. You print 10 pages in January. Everything works fine. Great.
2. You don’t print in February or March. The ink dries in the nozzles.
3. In April, you urgently need to print a form. The printer runs 2-3 automatic cleaning cycles. That’s 10-15% of each cartridge gone. Poof.
4. The print comes out streaky anyway. You run manual cleaning cycles. Another 10-15% gone.
5. You replace the cartridges because they’re now too low to clean effectively. Cost: £25-40.
6. You’ve printed 10 useful pages and spent £35 on ink. That’s £3.50 per page. For pages you could have printed at the library for 5p each.

This pattern repeats all year. Many infrequent inkjet users spend £80-120 per year on ink to print fewer than 100 pages — an effective cost of over £1 per page. Mental.

Laser Printers: The Infrequent Printer’s Best Friend

A mono laser eliminates this waste entirely. Same scenario, different outcome:

1. You print 10 pages in January. Works perfectly.
2. You don’t print for 3 months. The toner sits there, inert, unbothered.
3. In April, you print a form. Crisp, sharp, perfect. First attempt.
4. No cleaning cycles. No wasted toner. No swearing.

The toner cartridge just keeps going until it’s physically empty — which, at low volumes, might take 2-3 years. I’m not exaggerating.

For more on why laser suits home users, read our guide to the advantages of laser printers.

Total Cost of Ownership: The Numbers

I’ve done the maths for four realistic scenarios at different volumes, assuming a 3-year ownership period. This is where it gets eye-opening.

At 10 Pages Per Month (120/year, 360 over 3 years)

	Budget Inkjet (Canon TS3450)	Ink Tank (Epson ET-2860)	Mono Laser (Brother DCP-L2620DW)	Compact Laser (HP M110we)
Printer cost	£50	£200	£150	£130
Consumables (3 yrs)	~£150*	~£2	~£22	~£19
Wasted ink/cleaning	~£60	~£10	£0	£0
Total	~£260	~£212	~£172	~£149
Cost per page	72p	59p	48p	41p

Includes 1-2 full cartridge replacements per year due to drying/cleaning waste.

Look at that. The “cheap” £50 budget inkjet is the most expensive option over three years. The HP LaserJet M110we — the most expensive upfront — is actually the cheapest overall. The Brother adds scanning and copying for just £21 more.

At 50 Pages Per Month (600/year, 1,800 over 3 years)

	Budget Inkjet (Canon TS3450)	Ink Tank (Epson ET-2860)	Mono Laser (Brother DCP-L2620DW)
Printer cost	£50	£200	£150
Consumables (3 yrs)	~£100	~£5	~£40
Wasted ink/cleaning	~£30	~£5	£0
Total	~£180	~£210	~£190
Cost per page	10p	12p	11p

At 50 pages per month, the three technologies converge. The inkjet waste is smaller because you’re printing often enough to prevent major clogs. The EcoTank’s high purchase price hasn’t been offset by ink savings yet.

At 100 Pages Per Month (1,200/year, 3,600 over 3 years)

	Budget Inkjet (Canon TS3450)	Ink Tank (Epson ET-2860)	Mono Laser (Brother DCP-L2620DW)
Printer cost	£50	£200	£150
Consumables (3 yrs)	~£180	~£8	~£65
Wasted ink/cleaning	~£15	~£0	£0
Total	~£245	~£208	~£215
Cost per page	6.8p	5.8p	6.0p

At higher volumes, the EcoTank finally justifies its price tag. Inkjet waste becomes negligible because the printer stays active enough to keep nozzles clear.

Ink and Toner Prices: Real 2026 Data

Here are actual UK prices so you can work out your own costs:

Inkjet Cartridges

Cartridge	Printer	Page Yield	Price	Cost Per Page
Canon PG-545 (black)	TS3450	180 pages	~£12	6.7p
Canon PG-545XL (black)	TS3450	400 pages	~£18	4.5p
Canon CL-546 (colour)	TS3450	180 pages	~£15	8.3p
Canon CL-546XL (colour)	TS3450	300 pages	~£20	6.7p
HP 305 (black)	DeskJet 2820e	120 pages	~£12	10p
HP 305XL (black)	DeskJet 2820e	240 pages	~£20	8.3p

EcoTank Ink Bottles

Bottle	Printer	Page Yield	Price	Cost Per Page
Epson 604 Black	ET-2860	4,500 pages	~£10	0.2p
Epson 604 Colour (each)	ET-2860	7,500 pages	~£8	0.1p

Laser Toner

Toner	Printer	Page Yield	Price	Cost Per Page
Brother TN-2510	DCP-L2620DW	1,200 pages	~£45	3.75p
Brother TN-2510XL	DCP-L2620DW	3,000 pages	~£65	2.2p
HP 142A	LaserJet M110we	950 pages	~£50	5.3p

When Inkjet Still Makes Sense

Laser wins for infrequent text printing. But inkjet is sometimes the better call, even at low volumes:

You need colour printing. Colour laser printers start at £250+ and have pricey toner. If you occasionally need colour for documents, diagrams, or photos, a colour inkjet or EcoTank is more practical.

You print photos. Laser printers are absolutely hopeless for photos. If you want to print photos at home — even occasionally — you need an inkjet. See our guide to the best printer for occasional use for photo-capable options.

You use an EcoTank or ink tank printer. These sit between standard inkjets and lasers for reliability. The sealed reservoirs handle inactivity better than exposed cartridge nozzles, and the sheer volume of ink means cleaning cycles barely scratch your supply. They can still clog after months of disuse, but they handle weekly or fortnightly printing brilliantly.

The EcoTank Middle Ground

Epson’s EcoTank range (and Canon’s MegaTank) deserve a special mention because they change the inkjet economics completely.

The Epson EcoTank ET-2860 costs ~£200 on Amazon UK but includes enough ink for 4,500+ black pages. Even with occasional cleaning cycles and some ink waste, per-page cost stays under 1p for black and 2p for colour. Cleaning cycles that would cost you £5 on a cartridge printer cost fractions of a penny on an EcoTank.

The catch: it’s still liquid ink through nozzles. Leave an EcoTank unused for 2-3 months and you may still face clogging. The financial pain is much less, but the frustration is the same.

My recommendation: If you print at least once a week and want colour, an EcoTank is excellent. If you print once a month or less and only need black text, a laser is still the safer bet.

The Verdict: A Simple Decision Tree

How often do you print?

• Less than once a month — Mono laser. Full stop. Brother DCP-L2620DW (currently around £150) or HP LaserJet M110we (about £130). Toner never dries out. They’ll work every time.

• Once a week to once a month, text only — Still mono laser. The reliability advantage outweighs any minor cost difference.

• Once a week to once a month, need colour — Ink tank printer. Epson EcoTank ET-2860. Frequent enough to prevent clogging, with negligible ink costs.

• Several times a week — Any technology works. At this frequency, inkjet nozzles stay clear, so pick based on whether you need colour, photos, or the lowest running costs.

For more specific recommendations at low volumes, see our guide to the best printer for infrequent use.

What About Ink Subscription Services?

HP Instant Ink can seem tempting for infrequent printers. The free tier covers 15 pages per month, and paid plans start at £2.49 for 50 pages.

Here’s why I’d avoid it for infrequent printing: if you cancel, HP remotely disables the cartridges in your printer — even ones with ink remaining. You’re also locked into HP’s pricing. If they raise rates, you pay more or lose your printing capability. For something you only use occasionally, that’s a lot of dependency on a subscription.

A laser printer or EcoTank gives you full control over your consumables without ongoing commitments. Buy toner, install it, print when you need to. No subscriptions, no remote-disabling, no surprises.

Summary

For infrequent printing, laser beats inkjet on reliability, total cost, and sheer frustration avoidance. Toner can’t dry out. That single fact eliminates the biggest cost driver for light printers — wasted ink on cleaning cycles and cartridge replacements.

The only exception is when you need colour at low volumes. An ink tank printer like the Epson EcoTank is a reasonable compromise — provided you print often enough (at least weekly) to keep the nozzles clear.

Buy a laser. Stop throwing money at dried-out cartridges. Your blood pressure will thank you.