Washington Post: Americans waste $10 billion each year on name-brand ink. So we tested low-cost options including remanufactured cartridges, ink injection kits — and even making our own.
My advice: get a mono laser printer. Printing is handy but relatively infrequent for a lot of people these days. If that’s your use case, mono laser is the way to go. Toner does not dry out or go bad.
I’ve got a Canon Pixima 5000 series. My family tends to print a good percentage in color (because thankfully I don’t have to print many documents in this day and age). It uses individual color cartridges (C, M, Y, K and a second large K), so if one goes out you just replace that color. I generally pick up the off brand refills on Amazon for fairly cheap. Last time I got a 5 pack of sets for $20. It’s lasted us 2 years at this point. The ink carts are literally JUST ink and a foam block. No electronics or drm like HP. Highly recommend.