Before you spend €230 on a tank printer, do this calculation (it could save you hundreds of euros)
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Tank printers —Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank, HP Smart Tank— are sold as the ultimate escape from the "ink rip-off". And for some people they are. For most, though, they're €230 that will take you almost two decades to recoup. The difference between the two cases comes down to a single question: how much do you print each month?
Here's the exact calculation, with 2026 figures, so you don't get swept along by the marketing.
The tank mirage
The sales pitch is irresistible: "forget expensive cartridges, just refill with ink bottles for pennies a page". And it's true: the cost per page of a tank printer is ridiculous, around €0.005–0.01.
The problem is that this sum hides the most important part: you're already paying €180–300 up front to get access to that cheap ink. And if you already have a working printer at home, that money comes out of your pocket today, to save a few cents tomorrow.
The right question isn't "is tank ink cheaper?" (it is). It's: "do I print enough to pay off the machine before it goes obsolete?"
The three options, with real numbers (2026)
Let's compare the three routes for a household that prints around 100 pages a month (1,200 a year) over 3 years. Indicative figures for the Spanish market:
| Option | Equipment (upfront cost) | Cost per page | Ink over 3 years (3,600 pages) | 3-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Your current printer + COMPATIBLE cartridges | €0 (you already have it) | ~€0.03 | ~€108 | ~€108 |
| B. Buy a tank printer + its ink | ~€230 | ~€0.006 | ~€22 | ~€252 |
| C. Your current printer + ORIGINAL cartridges | €0 | ~€0.10 | ~€360 | ~€360 |
Read the table slowly, because it's counterintuitive:
- The option they push hardest (the tank one, €252) is more expensive than sticking with your printer using compatible cartridges (€108).
- The "classic" option (original cartridges, €360) is, by far, the worst.
- At this print level, switching to a tank printer means losing money. What's bleeding you dry isn't your printer: it's the original cartridges.
The break-even point: the number that decides everything
A tank printer only starts to pay off when the per-page saving recovers that ~€230 you paid up front.
You save around €0.024 per page compared with a compatible cartridge (€0.03 vs €0.006). To recover €230:
€230 ÷ €0.024 ≈ 9,600 pages
In other words, the tank printer only wins if you print more than ~250–300 pages a month on a sustained basis. Below that —which is where the vast majority of households sit— you're better off keeping your printer and using compatible cartridges.
When a tank printer IS worth it
Let's be honest, because sometimes it's the right call:
- You genuinely print a lot: more than 250–300 pages a month (small business, freelancers, exam candidates, large families with mountains of notes).
- Your current printer is broken or very old and you're going to buy a new one anyway. If you're going to spend the money regardless, a tank printer has a better long-term cost than a cartridge + original combo.
- You print a lot of colour photos and the volume is high and steady.
In those cases, go ahead: the high volume pays off the machine in one or two years.
When NOT to (and what to do instead)
For everyone else —the majority— a tank printer means buying a solution to a problem you can already fix for free:
- You print fewer than 200 pages a month.
- Your printer works perfectly.
- You print "in bursts" (some weeks a lot, others nothing).
Here the smart move is crystal clear: keep your printer and stop buying original cartridges. The extra cost isn't in the machine, it's in the brand-name ink. Switching to compatible cartridges brings your cost per page down from ~€0.10 to ~€0.03 without spending a euro on a new printer.
👉 Find the compatible cartridge for your model: compatible cartridges and toner at star-toner.com. Same print results, up to 70% cheaper than the original.
"OK, but do compatibles print just as well?"
It's the number one worry, and a fair one. The short answer: a quality compatible cartridge meets the same per-page yield standard (ISO norm) and, for everyday documents and home photos, you won't notice the difference. We explain it in depth (with tests) in original vs compatible toner: we printed them side by side.
Three rules so you don't go wrong buying compatibles:
- Check the exact model of your printer before ordering. If you're unsure, we'll help you in how to know which toner your printer needs.
- Watch out for firmware: HP and other brands sometimes block non-original cartridges with updates. It can be avoided; we cover it here: HP firmware that blocks cartridges.
- Buy from a shop with a warranty, not from murky marketplaces. Your consumer rights cover you just the same with compatibles: the legal warranty for compatible cartridges in Spain.
In short
| Your situation | The smart decision |
|---|---|
| You print < 200 pages/month | Keep your printer + compatible cartridges |
| You print 200–300 pages/month | Grey area: compatibles still win unless you're heading higher |
| You print > 300 pages/month, steadily | A tank printer starts to pay off |
| Your printer is broken | Consider a tank printer as a replacement |
A tank printer isn't a scam, but it's no magic either. Before you spend €230, do the sum above with your real volume. For 8 out of 10 people, the calculation ends up in the same place: the printer you already own + compatible cartridges.
Frequently asked questions
Is an EcoTank, a MegaTank or a Smart Tank better? Between them, it depends on the model and on whether you print more text or photos; we compare them in detail in our EcoTank vs MegaTank vs Smart Tank comparison. But the prior question —and the one that saves you the most money— is whether you need a tank printer at all.
How much do you really save with compatible cartridges? As a rough guide, the cost per page drops from ~€0.10 (original) to ~€0.03 (compatible), a saving of around 60–70% on ink without changing your printer.
Do compatible cartridges damage the printer? A quality compatible won't harm the machine or void your legal warranty. The real risk is firmware blocks, which are avoidable, and products of dubious origin: always buy with a warranty.
How many pages does a normal person print per month? A typical household prints around 30–100 pages a month. At that volume, a tank printer takes many years to pay off: compatibles are almost always the cheaper option.
If my printer is old, should I buy a tank printer or stick with compatibles? If it works, stick with compatibles. If it's broken and you're going to buy no matter what, a tank printer has a good long-term cost if you print a lot; if not, a simple printer + compatibles works out cheaper.