Printer cost per page calculator

How to use the printer cost per page calculator

1. Enter how many pages you print a month and roughly what share include color.
2. For each printer, enter its price and the price and rated page yield of each cartridge or toner, then choose how it prints color: No color (mono), One tri-color cartridge or Separate C, M, Y.
3. Compare each printer’s cost per page, monthly cost and total, then read the verdict and the break-even month.

How ink and toner cost per page is calculated

Cost per page is a cartridge’s price divided by the pages it is rated to print: a $30 toner rated for 1,500 pages costs $0.020 (2.0¢) a page.

• Black page: black price ÷ black yield.
• Color page: the black cost plus each color supply’s price ÷ yield, for one tri-color cartridge or for cyan, magenta and yellow.
• Blended page: black and color costs weighted by your share of color pages.
• Totals: pages per month × blended cost is the monthly cost; the total adds the printer price to 12 × years × that figure.

For a mono printer, the calculator counts your color pages as black-only pages. Totals leave out paper, electricity and parts such as the drum units some laser printers use.

What ISO page yields mean

Many printer makers rate cartridges with the same ISO/IEC test methods, so yields can be compared across brands:

Each method tests at least nine cartridges on at least three printers at default settings on plain paper, printing until the printer reports the cartridge empty or the output visibly fades. The published yield must be at or below the lower 90% confidence bound of the average. The color pages leave out photos; inkjet photo yields have their own standard, ISO/IEC 29102.

Why “5% coverage”? Coverage is the share of the page covered by ink or toner. Before these standards, makers typically quoted yields at 5% coverage, and it is still shorthand for a light page of mostly text. Manufacturers describe the ISO/IEC 19752 page as roughly 5% coverage.

Why your real cost per page differs

A rated yield is a lab result for standard pages, not a promise. Ink use doesn’t scale neatly with coverage, and printers also spend ink on maintenance, so treat every result here as an estimate.

• Photos and heavy graphics cover far more of the page than the test documents.
• Printing now and then. The tests print in near-continuous batches, but inkjets also use ink to service the printhead after idle periods and in cleaning cycles. Clean only when a nozzle check shows gaps: our printer test page includes one, and the print quality guide covers next steps.
• Setup cartridges. A new printer’s first cartridges spend some ink priming it; the inkjet test uses separate priming cartridges to keep this out of the yield.
• One color running out. A tri-color cartridge is finished when its first color runs out, while separate cartridges let you replace only the empty one.
• Settings. Yields are measured at default quality; best-quality and photo modes generally use more ink.

Standard vs XL and high-yield cartridges

XL and high-yield versions cost more per cartridge but usually less per page. The catch is time: cartridges carry a use-by or install-by date, and ink in a rarely used inkjet can dry and clog the nozzles, so a big cartridge only saves money if you use it up. To compare both sizes for one printer, enter the same printer price in both columns.

Ink subscription plans

Some printer makers sell ink or toner by subscription: a monthly fee covers a set number of pages, and cartridges ship when the printer runs low. A photo counts the same as a page of text. Check the terms: extra pages cost more, rollover is capped, the printer must stay online, and with some plans the cartridges stop working if you cancel. Compare the fee for the plan you’d need with the per-month figures above.

Ink vs laser: the cheapest printer to run

The cheapest printer to run is the one with the lowest total over the years you’ll keep it, not the lowest price tag. As a rule of thumb, low-cost inkjets with small cartridges cost the most per page, lasers usually cost less for mostly black text, and refillable ink tank printers cost more to buy but much less per page. If you print little, a cheap printer can still win.

Where to find the page yield

Check the cartridge box or label, where the yield is usually shown as approximate or average pages, or the cartridge’s page on the maker’s website. Makers also publish yield lists, such as HP’s page yield site (opens in a new tab), Epson’s ink yields page (opens in a new tab) and Canon’s inkjet page yields (opens in a new tab). Compatible and refilled cartridges may not be tested to ISO methods, so treat their yields as estimates.

Worked example

The example compares a $79 inkjet with a $249 printer. Printer A’s $20 black cartridge is rated for 200 pages ($0.100 or 10.0¢ a page) and its $25 tri-color cartridge for 180 pages ($0.139), so a color page costs $0.239. At 100 pages a month with 20% in color, that blends to 0.8 × $0.100 + 0.2 × $0.239 = $0.128 a page, or $12.78 a month. Printer B’s high-yield supplies blend to $0.030 a page, or $3.00 a month. B costs $170 more but $9.78 a month less to run, so it’s cheaper after month 18 and saves $182.00 over three years ($357.00 versus $539.00).