Printers, Copiers And Fax Machines: Buyer's Guide (2026)

By Michael Chen · Published April 9, 2026 · Updated June 8, 2026 · 16 min read

Choosing the right printers, copiers, and fax machines for your office used to mean picking a lane: print, copy, or fax. In 2026, the market looks very different. Most buyers end up choosing a single multifunction device — but the wrong one can cost thousands in wasted toner, paper jams, and service calls over its lifetime.

This guide covers every category: inkjet vs. laser, all-in-one MFPs, commercial floor copiers, standalone fax machines, and the growing case for replacing your office fax with a cloud service. We include real prices, specific model recommendations, and the buying mistakes that most offices regret.

What Are Printers, Copiers, and Fax Machines?

Understanding the differences between these devices matters before you buy — because the terms overlap, and marketers often use them interchangeably.

A printer outputs documents from a digital source — your computer, phone, or cloud storage. It requires a digital file to work.

A copier duplicates physical documents without connecting to a computer. You place a paper document on the glass or in the feeder, press copy, and get an exact duplicate. Modern office copiers are fast, high-volume machines designed for shared use across large teams.

A fax machine transmits and receives documents over a telephone line (or VoIP/internet connection). The sender scans a page; the machine converts it to audio tones and transmits it; the receiver's machine reconstructs the page on paper.

A multifunction printer (MFP) combines two or more of the above in one device. Most consumer and small-business MFPs handle all four: print, copy, scan, and fax. These are now the dominant product category — the global MFP market is projected to exceed $41 billion by 2030.

Types of Printers, Copiers, and Fax Machines

Inkjet All-in-One MFPs

Inkjet printers use liquid ink sprayed through tiny nozzles onto paper. They're the most common choice for home and light office use.

Best for: Home offices, occasional users, photo printing, low print volumes (under 500 pages/month).

Standard inkjet cartridges cost 7-15¢/page for black and 15-25¢/page for color — making them expensive if you print frequently. Nozzles can also dry out if the printer sits unused for weeks.

Ink tank / EcoTank systems (Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank) solve the cost problem. You fill large reservoirs with bottled ink at 0.3¢/page black and 0.9¢/page color. The upfront cost is higher ($250-$999), but the operating cost is the lowest of any inkjet.

Laser All-in-One MFPs

Laser printers use a heated drum and toner powder to fuse text and images onto paper. They're faster, more durable, and much cheaper per page than standard inkjets.

Monochrome (black-only) laser MFPs are the workhorses of office printing: 20-40 ppm, 2-5¢/page, no warm-up nozzle issues, paper trays of 250-500+ sheets. If your office primarily prints text documents, a mono laser MFP is almost always the right choice.

Color laser MFPs add color capability at ~15¢/page for color pages. They cost 20-30% more upfront than comparable mono lasers. Worth it only if your office regularly prints branded materials, presentations, or marketing documents.

Commercial Copiers / Office MFPs (Floor Models)

These are the large floor-standing machines found in medium and large offices. They print, copy, scan, and often fax at speeds of 25-125+ ppm. They're designed for shared use by 5-50+ users and monthly print volumes of 5,000-100,000+ pages.

Commercial copiers are almost always leased rather than purchased outright. A lease spreads cost, includes a service contract, and gives you upgrade rights when better technology arrives.

Standalone Fax Machines

Dedicated fax-only devices still exist — the Brother IntelliFAX FAX-2840 is the most widely available at around $200-$300 — but they serve an increasingly narrow use case: offices that receive extremely high fax volumes on dedicated phone lines and can't interrupt that line for printing.

For almost every other scenario, a fax-capable MFP or an online fax service is more practical.

Laser vs. Inkjet: Which Is Better for Your Office?

This is the single most important decision in selecting a printer. The right answer depends on your monthly print volume.

Real-world math: Printing 1,100 black pages per month costs $165 in ink on a standard inkjet vs. $55 on a laser printer. At 100 pages/month, laser saves roughly $120-$144 per year on consumables alone — enough to pay for a better machine within 2-3 years.

Key Buying Factors: What to Evaluate Before You Purchase

1. Print Speed (ppm)

Print speed is measured in pages per minute (ppm). Buy a machine rated 20-30% higher than your calculated peak need — a machine running at 80-90% capacity wears out faster and creates bottlenecks.

• 1-5 users: 20-25 ppm
• 5-15 users: 25-40 ppm
• 15-50 users: 40-60 ppm
• 50+ users: 60+ ppm (floor copier territory)

2. Monthly Duty Cycle

The duty cycle is the maximum pages a machine can handle per month without damage. Choose a machine with a duty cycle 3-4x your average monthly volume. If you print 2,000 pages/month, you want a machine rated for at least 6,000-8,000 pages/month.

3. Total Cost of Ownership (3-Year TCO)

Upfront price is the least important number. Calculate:

• Purchase price (or lease cost × 36)
• Expected pages/month × cost per page × 36
• Estimated maintenance/toner costs

A $99 inkjet printing 500 pages/month at 12¢/page costs $2,259 in ink alone over 3 years. A $299 laser at 3¢/page costs $639 in toner — saving $1,600 net.

4. Paper Capacity

• Home: 100-150 sheet tray is fine
• SOHO (1-5 users): minimum 250 sheets
• Small office (5-15 users): 500+ sheets, ideally with a secondary bypass tray
• Medium-large office: 1,000+ sheet capacity with multiple trays

Constant paper refilling is a hidden productivity drain. Under-buy on paper capacity and someone is always the person walking to the printer with a ream.

5. Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)

An ADF lets you stack multiple pages for automatic scanning or copying without manual feeding. Look for:

• Minimum 20-sheet ADF for occasional copying
• 50-sheet ADF for regular multi-page document work
• Single-pass duplex ADF for two-sided scanning without re-feeding — saves significant time in document-heavy offices

6. Duplex Printing

Automatic two-sided printing is standard on any office-grade MFP. It cuts paper use in half and looks professional. If a printer only supports manual duplexing (flip and re-feed), skip it for any office use.

7. Connectivity

• Wi-Fi + Ethernet: Both required for shared office use. Ethernet is more stable for high-volume environments.
• AirPrint: Required for Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
• Mopria: Android equivalent of AirPrint
• Wi-Fi Direct / NFC: Tap-to-print for guests or quick mobile jobs
• Cloud integration: Scan-to-Google Drive, Dropbox, SharePoint, or OneDrive; eliminates manual file transfer

8. Print Resolution

• 600 dpi: Standard for text documents
• 1,200 dpi: Fonts, fine graphics, professional documents
• 2,400+ dpi: Marketing materials, detailed photos

For everyday office documents, 600 dpi is sufficient. 1,200 dpi matters for legal documents with small print, or any materials you're sending to clients.

9. Fax Features (If You Need Fax)

If your MFP will handle fax:

• Super G3 modem (33.6 Kbps): The fastest standard fax protocol — transmits a page in about 2.5 seconds. Standard G3 (14.4 Kbps) is twice as slow.
• 16MB+ fax memory: Queues 400+ received pages so you don't lose faxes when paper runs out
• 200+ speed dials: For broadcast faxing to multiple recipients
• Fax forwarding and scheduling: Forward received faxes to email; schedule outbound fax during off-peak hours

Top Models Reviewed

Best Budget All-in-One with Fax

Best Mid-Range Inkjet AIO

Best Ink Tank AIO (Lowest Running Cost)

Best Monochrome Laser AIO

Best Color Laser AIO

Best Standalone Fax Machine (If You Must)

How Much Do Printers, Copiers, and Fax Machines Cost?

Desktop All-in-One MFPs

Commercial Copiers / Floor MFPs

Service Contracts and Cost-Per-Copy

Most commercial copiers come with a cost-per-copy (CPC) service contract:

• Black & white: $0.01–$0.015 per page
• Color: $0.06–$0.12 per page

This includes all maintenance, parts, and toner — which is why leasing with a CPC contract is the standard approach for commercial copiers. According to Gartner, businesses that use managed print services reduce their print spending by 20-30% versus managing devices individually.

Do You Still Need a Physical Fax Machine in 2026?

The honest answer: for most offices, no.

70% of healthcare providers still rely on fax for transmitting protected health information — but increasingly, they're using online fax services that receive faxes digitally, not hardware sitting in a supply room. The fax protocol remains, but the physical machine is disappearing.

For offices that need fax capability, here's how to choose:

Physical fax machines have three failure points that online services eliminate:

1. Paper jams — a jammed machine misses incoming faxes
2. Phone line dependency — PSTN line issues drop connections mid-transmission
3. After-hours gaps — a machine out of paper at 6 PM misses everything received overnight

Online fax services like mFax Business receive faxes to a virtual number 24/7, deliver them as email attachments, and store them in a searchable archive. For healthcare and legal offices, HIPAA compliance and delivery receipts are built in.

When to Use an Online Fax Service Instead

Even if you have a perfectly good all-in-one MFP with built-in fax, there are situations where switching to an online fax service makes operational sense:

• Remote teams: Your MFP is in one office but team members work from multiple locations or home
• HIPAA requirements: Physical fax machines require physical security controls, access logs, and cover sheet policies — online services automate compliance documentation
• Volume spikes: During tax season or open enrollment, fax volume can spike 5-10x; cloud services scale without hardware changes
• Business continuity: If your office is closed (weather, emergency), cloud fax keeps working
• Cost: mFax Business starts at about $9/mo (billed annually) — less than the annual cost of toner, paper, and phone line rental for a standalone fax machine. You build your own plan, choosing the exact seats and pages you need, so you pay only for what you use

For a deeper look at transitioning from physical fax to cloud, see our guide to virtual fax numbers for business.

8 Buying Mistakes to Avoid

Security Considerations for Office Printers

Office printers are often the most overlooked security vulnerability in a corporate network. Modern MFPs store documents in internal memory or on a hard drive — and they're connected to your network.

Key security practices:

• Enable PIN printing (held jobs release only when user enters a code at the machine — prevents sensitive documents sitting in the output tray)
• Encrypted hard drive: Enterprise MFPs should have hardware-encrypted storage; wipe the drive before disposal or lease return
• User authentication: Require login before printing or scanning in regulated environments
• Firmware updates: Enable automatic firmware updates; outdated firmware is the most common printer vulnerability

For healthcare offices, the HIPAA requirements for fax and printing apply to your MFP just as much as to your fax machine. An unattended printout of PHI in an output tray is a reportable breach.

Environmental Considerations

If your organization has sustainability requirements or federal purchasing constraints, look for:

• ENERGY STAR certification: ENERGY STAR certified copiers use approximately 65% less energy than non-certified models. Printers and fax machines save about 15%. The EPA maintains a searchable database of certified imaging equipment at energystar.gov.
• EPEAT certification: Required for many federal and state government purchases. Covers the full product lifecycle including materials, end-of-life recycling, and packaging.
• Duplex as default: Set duplex as the default print mode — paper waste drops 30-50% for most offices without any user behavior change.
• Sleep mode timing: Reduce the auto-sleep delay to 5-10 minutes for machines that sit idle for long periods.

Buyer's Checklist: Before You Order

Use this checklist before placing any order for a printer, copier, or fax machine:

Sending Faxes Without the Hardware

If fax capability is a significant part of what you're evaluating — but you're not excited about maintaining hardware, phone lines, and toner for it — mFax is worth considering before you buy.

For personal faxing, the mFax app lets you send a fax from your iPhone or Android in under 2 minutes. Upload a PDF, enter the fax number, done. No machine, no phone line, no toner.

For business teams, mFax Business gives your organization a virtual fax number, team accounts, HIPAA-compliant transmission, delivery receipts, and a searchable fax archive — starting at about $9/mo. There are no rigid fixed tiers: you build your own plan with a live calculator, dialing in the exact seats and pages you need. Over 5 million users have sent 2 million+ faxes through the platform with a 98% delivery success rate.

If you still need a physical printer, buy the best MFP for your print and copy needs — and handle fax digitally. You'll spend less, deal with fewer machine failures, and get better reliability on the fax side.

Learn more about how sending faxes from a printer compares to cloud-based options, or explore our guide to setting up a fax machine if you're committed to hardware.