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Toner cost per page calculator

Find out what a page really costs in toner at the coverage you print, how many pages each cartridge gives and how many you’ll buy a year. Original and compatible, side by side.

Free, no sign-up. Figures stay in your browser. All amounts ex VAT.

Your cartridges (ex VAT)

Option A: original (OEM)

At ISO 5% coverage, from the box or data sheet.

Option B: compatible

As stated by the supplier.

How you print

A typed letter is around 5%. Reports with tables or logos run 7–10%; colour pages with photos often 15–20% per colour. For a colour cartridge, enter the coverage of that colour.

Cost per page

OEM

1.20pa page

Pages per cartridge
10,000
Cartridges a year
2.4
Toner a year
£288.00

CompatibleCheaper

0.70pa page

Pages per cartridge
8,000
Cartridges a year
3.0
Toner a year
£168.00

Compatible saves a year

£120.00

41.7% less per page, at 24,000 pages a year

Cost per page at other coverage

Toner cost per page for each option at different coverage
CoverageOEMCompatible
5.0%0.80p0.47p
7.5%(yours)1.20p0.70p
10.0%1.60p0.93p
15.0%2.40p1.40p
20.0%3.20p1.87p

Doubling the coverage doubles the toner cost per page. Pricing a contract? Put these figures into the click charge calculator.

How it’s calculated

The yield on a toner box is measured at 5% coverage: a page that is about one twentieth toner. Real pages with tables, logos and images use more, so the cartridge runs out sooner and every page costs more.

The calculator adjusts the rated yield to your coverage, then works out the cost per page and the toner you’ll need for a year, for two cartridges at once.

Pages per cartridge at your coverage
rated yield × 5 ÷ your coverage %
Toner cost per page
cartridge price ÷ pages per cartridge at your coverage
Cartridges a year
pages a month × 12 ÷ pages per cartridge at your coverage
Toner a year
cartridges a year × cartridge price
Saving a year
toner a year (dearer option) − toner a year (cheaper option)
Real coverage from a used cartridge
5 × rated yield ÷ pages it actually printed

Assumptions

  • All figures are ex VAT.
  • Rated yields are at ISO 5% coverage, and pages per cartridge scale in proportion to coverage.
  • Cartridges a year is an average, so it can be a fraction. Round up for the number you’ll actually order.
  • Both cartridges are used to the end. Toner wasted on cleaning cycles, failed cartridges and returns is not included.
  • Drums, waste toner and other consumables are separate. For their cost per page, use the click charge calculator.

Worked example

An office prints 2,000 pages a month at 7.5% coverage. The original cartridge costs £120 and is rated at 15,000 pages. A compatible costs £56 and is rated at 12,000 pages. These are the figures the calculator opens with.

  1. Step 1 · Pages per cartridge

    OEM 15,000 × 5 ÷ 7.5 = 10,000. Compatible 12,000 × 5 ÷ 7.5 = 8,000

  2. Step 2 · Cost per page

    OEM £120 ÷ 10,000 = 1.20p. Compatible £56 ÷ 8,000 = 0.70p

  3. Step 3 · Cartridges a year

    24,000 pages ÷ 10,000 = 2.4 OEM. 24,000 ÷ 8,000 = 3.0 compatible

  4. Step 4 · Toner a year

    OEM 2.4 × £120 = £288.00. Compatible 3 × £56 = £168.00

The compatible saves £120.00 a year, 41.7% less per page, even though it needs more cartridges. At 5% coverage the OEM would be 0.80p a page; at 7.5% it is 1.20p, which is why coverage matters as much as price.

Add this calculator to your website

Dealers, trade bodies and bloggers can put this toner cost calculator on their own page for free. Paste the code into your page’s HTML: the calculator keeps its own height, works on phones and keeps the figures in the visitor’s browser.

Free to use. Please keep the credit line.

Questions

How do you work out toner cost per page?
Divide the cartridge price by the number of pages it really prints. The rated yield on the box is measured at 5% coverage, so first adjust it to your coverage: pages = rated yield × 5 ÷ your coverage %. A £120 cartridge rated at 15,000 pages gives 10,000 pages at 7.5% coverage, which is 1.20p a page.
What does 5% coverage mean?
Coverage is the share of the page covered in toner. Cartridge yields are tested under ISO/IEC 19752 for mono and ISO/IEC 19798 for colour, using test pages at about 5% coverage, roughly a typed letter. Most real office printing is heavier, so most cartridges print fewer pages than their rated yield.
How do I find my real coverage?
Note the page count when you fit a cartridge and again when it runs out. Then coverage ≈ 5 × rated yield ÷ pages printed. For example, a cartridge rated at 15,000 pages that ran out after 10,000 pages was used at about 7.5%. Many printers also report coverage or toner use on their status page.
Are compatible toner cartridges cheaper per page?
Often, but compare the cost per page, not the cartridge price. Compatible cartridges sometimes have a lower rated yield than the original, and a cartridge that leaks or fails costs you time and a replacement. Use the supplier’s stated yield and test a few before switching a whole fleet.
Does this work for colour cartridges?
Yes, one cartridge at a time. Enter the price and yield of, say, the cyan cartridge and the coverage of cyan on your pages. To cost a whole colour page, add black, cyan, magenta and yellow together, or use the click charge calculator, which does that for you.
Are the figures ex VAT?
Enter prices without VAT and all results are without VAT. If you can’t reclaim VAT, add 20%.

From the team behind SubClik

Send toner before it runs out.

The SubClik Agent reads each printer’s toner levels every day and works out how many days each cartridge has left, so toner goes out before the customer runs dry. Low toner is reported within a minute, and a Toner to send list records what you posted. SubClik Monitor is free for up to 10 printers.

See toner forecastsSubClik Monitor

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