The 5 Best Home Printers of 2026, Ranked by Real Users
Most home printers fail at the same job: being ready when you actually need them. The ink dried out, the paper jammed, or the thing simply forgot your Wi-Fi network. After sorting through the current lineup, five machines stood out for very different buyers: Best Overall for the household that wants one machine to do it all, Best Budget for light and occasional printing, Best for Home Offices for remote work, Best Laser for people who only print documents, and Best Ink Tank Value for anyone tired of buying cartridges. The Canon PIXMA TR8620a takes the top spot because it is the rare printer that handles photos, multi-page scans, and faxing without asking you to compromise. Here is how each pick earns its place.
| Product | Ease Of Use | Print Quality | Print Speed | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Best BudgetCanon PIXMA TS3720 | 9.0 | 7.5 | 6.0 | 9.5 | See PriceAmazon |
 Best for Home OfficesHP OfficeJet Pro 8135e | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | See PriceAmazon |
 Best Ink Tank ValueCanon MegaTank G3270 | 8.5 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 9.5 | See PriceAmazon |
 Best LaserBrother HL-L2480DW | 9.0 | 8.5 | 9.0 | 7.5 | See PriceAmazon |
 Best OverallCanon PIXMA TR8620a | 8.5 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | See PriceAmazon |
Canon PIXMA TS3720
Best for
This is the printer for the person who prints ten pages a month and resents paying more. School permission slips, return labels, the occasional boarding pass: the TS3720 handles all of it without drama. If you print every week or need automatic two-sided printing, you will outgrow it, and the HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e is the honest upgrade.
Why we love it
I keep coming back to how little there is to get wrong here. Setup takes minutes, the 1.5-inch LCD walks you through it, and dual-band Wi-Fi means it actually stays connected, which is more than I can say for some printers triple the price. Print quality is genuinely good for documents and perfectly fine for the occasional photo. The trade-off is speed: at 7.7 black pages per minute, a 30-page document takes about four minutes, while the HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e finishes it in 90 seconds. And it only prints single-sided, so duplex jobs need manual flipping. But for light use, nothing else at $59 does print, copy, and scan this reliably.
Pros
- $59 price from a reliable brand
- Print, copy, and scan in one compact unit
- Dual-band Wi-Fi for stable wireless setup
- Prints borderless photos up to 8.5 x 11 inches
Cons
- Single-sided printing only, so double-sided documents take manual flipping
- 7.7 black pages per minute is slow if your printing ever ramps up
- Two-cartridge system means replacement ink costs add up fast for heavier use
Verdict
Yes, if you print a few pages a month and want the cheapest way to do it well. If you print weekly or need two-sided documents, step up to the HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e instead.
HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e
Best for
You work from home and your printer earns its keep: weekly reports, invoices, contracts to sign and scan back. You need speed, a feeder for multi-page scans, and two-sided printing without thinking about it. Pure document minimalists who never need color should look at the Brother HL-L2480DW instead.
Why we love it
This is the workhorse pick, and the numbers tell the story: 20 black pages per minute is nearly triple the Canon PIXMA TS3720 at 7.7, and the 225-sheet tray holds almost four times the paper of a 60-sheet budget tray. The auto document feeder and auto duplex mean a ten-page contract scans and copies itself while you get coffee. I also like that it is a true 4-in-1 with fax, which still matters for medical and legal paperwork. Photo printing is fine but not its strength; the Canon PIXMA TR8620a produces nicer photos. The real caveat is ink economics: at high volumes, cartridges get expensive fast, and that is exactly the buyer the Canon MegaTank G3270 serves better.
Pros
- 20 ppm black and 10 ppm color printing
- Auto document feeder plus auto two-sided printing
- 225-sheet input tray
- Print, scan, copy, and fax in one unit
Cons
- Cartridge ink costs sting at high volumes; tank printers win on cost per page
- No photo-paper specialty; photo quality trails the Canon PIXMA models
- HP+ and Instant Ink trials nudge you toward a subscription
Verdict
Yes, if your printer is a work tool rather than an occasional appliance. If your volume is very high, the Canon MegaTank G3270 will cost less to run; if you print mostly black text, consider the Brother HL-L2480DW.
Canon MegaTank G3270
Best for
Your household prints constantly: homework, crafts, work documents, photos for the fridge. You have done the math on cartridges and it is not pretty. Light printers will never use enough ink to justify it; the Canon PIXMA TS3720 is their answer.
Why we love it
The economics are almost unfair. One set of inks prints up to 6,000 black-and-white or 7,700 color pages, and the box includes up to two years of ink, which Canon estimates can save up to $1,000 versus cartridges. For a family printing a few hundred pages a month, this printer pays for its $159 price in under a year. Print quality is solid for documents and good for photos, though the Canon PIXMA TR8620a edges it on photo finesse. You give up the auto document feeder and fax, so heavy scanners should note that.
Pros
- Up to 2 years of ink included in the box
- 6,000 black and 7,700 color pages per ink set
- Refillable tanks end cartridge swaps
- Wireless print, copy, and scan
Cons
- Single-sided printing only
- No fax and no automatic document feeder
- Bulkier than cartridge equivalents for the same features
Verdict
Yes, if you print enough that ink costs keep you up at night. If you need an auto document feeder or fax, the Canon PIXMA TR8620a is worth the extra; if you print rarely, the Canon PIXMA TS3720 costs less upfront.
Brother HL-L2480DW
Best for
Your printing is contracts, manuscripts, tax forms, and school worksheets: black text on white paper, week after week. You have been burned by an inkjet whose nozzles clogged after a month idle, and you never want that conversation again. Anyone who prints color photos should stop here and pick an inkjet instead.
Why we love it
This is the reliability pick. Toner is a powder, so it cannot dry out, which means the HL-L2480DW prints perfectly after sitting untouched for three months, something no inkjet in this guide can promise. Text comes out crisp, and the 250-sheet tray dwarfs the 60-sheet trays on budget inkjets like the Canon PIXMA TS3720. The 2.7-inch touchscreen makes cloud printing and scan-to-cloud genuinely painless, and connectivity covers dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB. At $249.99 it is the priciest pick and prints zero color, so the value score reflects that trade-off honestly.
Pros
- Laser text stays sharp; toner never dries out
- 250-sheet paper tray plus manual feed slot
- 2.7-inch touchscreen with cloud print and scan
- Dual-band Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and USB connectivity
Cons
- Monochrome only: no color printing at all
- Highest upfront price in this guide at $249.99
- No fax function
Verdict
Yes, if your printing is nearly all black-and-white documents and you value reliability over color. If you print photos or color charts even occasionally, the Canon PIXMA TR8620a serves you better.
Canon PIXMA TR8620a
Best for
Your household prints a bit of everything: homework with color charts, the occasional 4x6 photo, contracts that need signing and faxing back. You want one machine that never makes you wish you had bought the step-up model. Pure budget buyers should grab the Canon PIXMA TS3720 instead.
Why we love it
This is the only printer here that genuinely does everything. Five functions: printing, copying, scanning, faxing, and real photo printing, plus an auto document feeder and auto two-sided printing that the budget picks lack. At 15 black and 10 color images per minute it is roughly twice as fast as the Canon PIXMA TS3720, and photo quality is the best in this guide, noticeably richer than the HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e. The honest caveat is running cost: heavy printers will spend more on cartridges over two years than the Canon MegaTank G3270 costs to buy and feed.
Pros
- True 5-function: print, copy, scan, fax, plus photo printing
- Auto document feeder and auto two-sided printing
- 15 ipm black and 10 ipm color print speeds
- 200-sheet total paper capacity
Cons
- Cartridge ink gets pricey at high volumes; the ink tank pick wins there
- $199 is double the budget pick for light printers
- Noisy compared to the laser pick during long jobs
Verdict
Yes, if you want one printer that does everything well without babying it. If you print very heavily, the Canon MegaTank G3270 costs less to run; if you print almost exclusively black text, the Brother HL-L2480DW is the smarter buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it really cost to run a home printer?
It depends on the ink system. A standard cartridge printer can cost 5 to 10 cents per black-and-white page once you buy replacements, so 500 pages a year easily doubles the machine's price. Tank printers ship with thousands of pages of ink in the box and refills cost a fraction per page, which is why high-volume households come out ahead with the Canon MegaTank G3270 despite the higher upfront price.
Is a laser printer better than an inkjet for home use?
For text-heavy printing, yes: a monochrome laser prints sharper text, runs faster, and the toner never dries out between uses, which is the number one killer of infrequently used inkjets. Choose inkjet only if you need color for photos, charts, or school projects; otherwise the Brother HL-L2480DW is the pick.
Do I need a printer with an automatic document feeder?
If you ever scan or copy more than a couple of pages at once, yes: without a feeder you lift the lid and reposition every single sheet, while with one you stack the pages and walk away. It is standard on the Canon PIXMA TR8620a and HP OfficeJet Pro 8135e. Its absence is the main reason budget printers stay budget.
Can I print from my phone?
All five picks support wireless printing from iOS and Android through their companion apps, plus standard protocols like AirPrint and Mopria, so you can print a boarding pass or a school form without ever opening a laptop. Setup takes a few minutes on your home Wi-Fi.
Honorable Mentions
Epson EcoTank ET-2800
Each ink bottle set is equivalent to about 90 individual cartridges, and it ships with up to 2 years of ink. It costs $40 more than the Canon MegaTank pick for a very similar cartridge-free experience.
See PriceAmazonHP DeskJet 2855e
Includes 3 months of Instant Ink with HP+ activation, so the ink math works out if you print steadily. Print speeds of 7.5 black and 5.5 color pages per minute are modest, and the 60-sheet tray needs frequent refills.
See PriceAmazonCanon PIXMA TR4720
A true 4-in-1 with print, copy, scan, and fax plus an auto document feeder and auto two-sided printing for $99.99. It loses to the overall pick on photo quality and speed, but nothing else touches this feature list at the price.
See PriceAmazon
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