How to Choose a Printer For a Small Business

You’re going to use it daily for invoices, shipping labels, records, and countless other documents – so learning how to choose a printer for a small business can’t be taken lightly.

There are tons of options at your fingertips, and we’re going to help you narrow it down to the best printer for small businesses. These options below are dependable, affordable, and consistent in print quality:

• HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e: Fast all-in-one for busy offices that print, scan, and copy daily
• Canon MAXIFY GX5550: Ink tank workhorse for high volume and low cost per page
• Brother HL-L2460DW: Simple, reliable monochrome laser for text-heavy printing
• Epson EcoTank ET-18100: Wide-format color printer for design and photo-focused use
• OKI B432DN: High-speed black-and-white printer for invoices and reports
• HP Color LaserJet Pro M479fdw: Full-featured color laser – a true all-in-one machine

Upgrading from an old printer? Don’t toss the old supplies. We buy unused, factory-sealed ink and toner from major brands. Submit your items, get an offer, ship them in, and get paid – easy cash to help fund your new printer. Sell unused ink cartridges for top dollar today!

Quick Look at the Best Printer for Small Business

How to Choose a Printer For a Small Business

Before we get into the best printers for small business use, let’s take a step back and talk about how to choose a printer for a small business. This way, you’re equipped to narrow it down to the right one. There are a lot of moving pieces, but these are the variables that matter most.

What Do You Print Most?

First things first, get specific about what you actually print on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Don’t bother with documents you might print.

Text quality and speed will be your top priorities if you just handle invoices, packing slips, and forms. On the other hand, you’ll want to emphasize color accuracy if you print presentations, signage, or photos. Businesses that ship products should think about label handling and paper thickness.

Basically, your most common print job is going to guide every other decision you make in how to choose a printer for a small business. From there, it’s easier to narrow it down to inkjet vs laser.

Narrow it Down to Inkjet vs Laser

These are the two most common styles on the market, each with its pros and cons.

Inkjet printers handle color well and cost less upfront. They’re a good fit for businesses that print a mix of documents and visuals. Laser printers excel at fast, crisp text and handle higher volumes with less fuss.

Laser usually makes more sense in the long run if your work is mostly black-and-white documents. Ink tanks blur the line by offering inkjet color with lower running costs.

Print Volume and Monthly Workload

Be honest about how much you print in a typical month, because this is going to dictate how much you can reasonably spend on your printer. Light use means you’ll find a compact printer to be just fine.

But the more you print, the more you can justify spending on business-class models with stronger duty cycles. A printer pushed past its comfort zone wears out faster and spends more time offline. So, you’ll actually get a stronger ROI by upgrading.

Color or Black-and-White Printing Needs

Color printing costs more, even with super-efficient systems. If color is occasional, a color-capable printer makes sense. But paying for color hardware and supplies costs more without adding any value if every job is black text.

Some businesses run a fast monochrome printer for daily work and outsource color when needed. This can actually be more economical in some cases.

Compare Upfront Printer Cost to Long-Term Ink/Toner Costs

Learning how to choose a printer for a small business often means finding the BEST printer for small business you can actually afford.

But be careful – long-term ink costs can sneak up on you. Cheap printers often rely on expensive cartridges. Ink or toner can cost more than the machine itself over a year.

So, which printer has the cheapest ink? Ink tank printers and high-yield toner systems cost more upfront but save money over time. Look at cost per page, not just the price tag on the shelf.

That means you don’t just need to compare the Canon vs HP printer price. Consider the Canon vs HP printer ink cost as well and see what you’ll spend more on in the long run!

Do You Need All-in-One Features or is Print-Only Fine?

Some printers do nothing but print documents, and that’s just fine for a lot of small businesses. But maybe your operation needs scanning and copying as well – say, if you deal with contracts and records. Faxing still matters in some industries, too.

Like we’ve said throughout this guide on how to choose a printer for small business, think about what you actually need – not just what brands are telling you that you need.

Connectivity and Ease of Use

The less time spent troubleshooting connections, the better. A clear display and simple menus lead to fewer setup headaches. Wi-Fi and Ethernet make sharing easier. Mobile printing helps when staff work from phones or tablets.

These are features that genuinely benefit small businesses.

Reliability, Maintenance, and Downtime

A printer that jams, clogs, or errors out costs time. Business-focused models are designed for constant use, so these issues are less likely to interrupt your workflow. Replaceable parts, accessible ink systems, and readily available supplies all matter.

The best printer for small business use is the one that works when you need it, without drama.

So, what are the best printers for small business? We’ll help you weigh the top 6 choices below.

Are You Replacing an Existing Printer For Your Business?

There’s almost always a shelf, drawer, or storage room full of ink and toner left behind when a small business upgrades to a new printer. You don’t have to let these go to waste. We buy unused, factory-sealed OEM ink and toner from major brands and turn it into cash you can put toward your new printer.

The process is super simple. Create an account, submit the cartridges you have, and name your price. We review the offer, accept or counter, and once terms are set, you ship the items and get paid fast.

We accept any quantity and types of printer ink, be it pigment ink vs dye ink, as long as the products are genuine, unopened, and in original packaging. So, take the next step towards upgrading today – and learn more about the best small business printers below.

The Best Printers For Small Business

We chose these printers based on real business needs: speed, reliability, running costs, and how well they hold up under daily use. Each solves a different problem, so you can match the printer to how your business actually prints

HP OfficeJet Pro 9135e

• Type: Color inkjet all-in-one (print, scan, copy, fax)
• Pros: Fast print speeds, strong text quality, large paper capacity, easy wireless sharing
• Cons: Ink costs add up for high-volume printing without a subscription

This printer fits busy offices that need one machine to handle everything without slowing down – invoices, contracts, and everyday color documents. It’s quick enough for multi-user offices and flexible enough for small businesses that need to print, scan, and copy often.

Canon MAXIFY GX5550

• Type: Ink tank printer
• Pros: Very low cost per page, high paper capacity, fast for an ink-based system
• Cons: Higher upfront price, print-only

This is the best printer for small businesses with high volume but wanting to keep long-term costs down. You get predictable costs with refillable tanks, and the speed is plenty solid for daily document runs. It’s print-only, so it works best when scanning and copying are handled elsewhere.

Brother HL-L2460DW

• Type: Monochrome laser printer
• Pros: Fast text printing, low cost per page
• Cons: No color, no all-in-one features

This is a straightforward monochrome laser printer for text-heavy businesses. It’s compact, quick, and reliable – perfect for invoices, shipping documents, and internal paperwork.

There’s very little maintenance involved, and toner lasts a long time compared to ink so it’s cost-effective as well. It keeps costs low if you don’t need color or scanning capabilities. We think it’s the best small business printer for small offices that want something dependable without extra features.

Epson EcoTank ET-18100

• Type: Ink tank color printer
• Pros: Excellent color output, very low ink costs
• Cons: No scanning or copying, larger footprint

Does your business rely on color and visuals in your printing process? This could be the best printer for small business use. It uses refillable ink tanks instead of cartridges, which keeps long-term ink costs down even with frequent color printing.

We also like that this small business printer supports wide-format output. That makes it useful for marketing materials, photos, and design work. It’s not meant for document scanning or copying, but for businesses producing color-heavy output, it’s a practical and economical option.

OKI B432DN

• Type: Monochrome LED laser printer
• Pros: Very fast output, strong build quality
• Cons: No color, print-only

You might not know this brand by name, but it very well could be the best printer for small business use in your operation. This monochrome LED laser printer is built for speed and durability. It handles high volumes without constant attention.

The OKI B432DN works when you need to print large batches of documents quickly and consistently. You don’t get color or all-in-one features, but what it does, it does well. It’s all you need for reports, invoices, or compliance documents, and you won’t deal with much downtime.

HP LaserJet Pro MFP M479fdw

• Type: Color laser all-in-one
• Pros: Sharp output, fast scanning, solid security
• Cons: Higher toner costs, larger size

Last but not least on our list of the best small business printers, we have another model from HP. This all-in-one laser printer is a good match for growing teams that need color, scanning, copying, and faxing in one reliable machine.

It prints clean text and consistent color, scans fast, and works well in a bustling shared office space without bogging down. Toner costs are higher than ink tanks, but performance stays consistent even under heavier workloads.

Closing Thoughts on How to Choose a Printer For a Small Business

We hope this guide on how to choose a printer for a small business has left you confident in your next steps! The best printer for small business is going to save you money and stress, while keeping you working in the right direction every day.

Just remember, you don’t have let old supplies sit unused when you upgrade. SellToner.com buys genuine, factory-sealed OEM ink and toner from all major brands and pays cash fast. Turn leftover ink from your old printer into money that helps offset your new printer today!