A home inkjet page costs about 8.6 cents in ink and paper in the worked example here, while a home laser page costs about 4.4 cents. Divide the cartridge price by its page yield, then add paper, to find your own cost.

Top calculators agree on the formula but often stop at one cartridge type, or they leave paper out. Paper is small per page but real, and it changes the comparison. This guide works both printer types with paper included, then scales the result to a year of printing.

Use this formula: cost per page equals cartridge price divided by page yield, plus paper cost per sheet. Paper cost per sheet equals the ream price divided by sheets per ream. Page yields are measured at light text coverage, about 5 percent, so heavy colour pages cost more than the rated figure.

Worked example, inkjet: a $28 cartridge rated for 400 pages costs 28 divided by 400, which is 7 cents per page for ink. Paper at $8 for 500 sheets costs 8 divided by 500, which is 1.6 cents per sheet. Add them: 7 plus 1.6 equals 8.6 cents per page in total.

Worked example, laser: a $70 toner cartridge rated for 2,500 pages costs 70 divided by 2,500, which is 2.8 cents per page for toner. Paper is the same 1.6 cents. Add them: 2.8 plus 1.6 equals 4.4 cents per page in total. The laser page costs 8.6 minus 4.4, which is 4.2 cents less than the inkjet page.

Scale both to real printing. Printing 100 pages costs $8.60 on the inkjet, because 100 times 8.6 cents equals 860 cents. The same 100 pages cost $4.40 on the laser, because 100 times 4.4 cents equals 440 cents. The saving is $4.20 per 100 pages. At 1,200 pages a year, the saving is 12 times $4.20, which is $50.40 a year.

Colour changes the answer sharply. Mixed colour inkjet pages often cost 15 to 25 cents each or more, because several colours run together and coverage is higher than the 5 percent test page. If you print mostly photos, compare photo paper and ink use separately, and consider a print shop for occasional photos instead of buying a photo printer.

Cut the cost without buying a new printer. Print in draft mode for internal pages. Print double-sided. Use black only for text drafts. Buy the high-yield cartridge for your model, because a cheap cartridge with a low yield often costs more per page than a dearer high-yield one.

Q: What is the cheapest way to print at home?

A: For black-and-white text, a laser printer is usually cheapest, at about 4.4 cents per page in the example here, against about 8.6 cents for inkjet.

Q: How do I calculate my own cost per page?

A: Divide your cartridge price by its rated page yield, then add your paper cost per sheet. That total is your cost per page.

Q: Why do colour pages cost more?

A: Colour pages use several ink colours at higher coverage than the 5 percent test page, so they use more ink per page than black text.

Q: Is a print shop cheaper than home printing?

A: Sometimes, for occasional colour or photo pages. For regular black-and-white text, home laser printing is usually cheaper per page.