RISO vs. Laser Printers: The True Cost Per Page Comparison

Most offices run laser printers. They're familiar, reliable, and every copier dealer sells them. But if you're printing more than a few thousand pages a month, you might be spending two to five times more per page than you need to.

RISO's high speed inkjet technology offers a fundamentally different cost structure. Here's how the numbers actually compare.

The Per Page Math

A typical office color laser printer costs between 8 and 14 cents per page when you factor in toner, drums, fusers, and waste cartridges. Some managed print contracts bring that down to 6 to 8 cents, but that's still the floor for most laser technology.

RISO ComColor inkjet printers produce full color pages for under 2 cents per page. That's not a promotional number. It's the real cost of RISO's oil based pigment ink system, which uses no heat, no fuser, and no drum.

Where the Savings Come From

• No fuser unit: Laser printers use a heated fuser to bond toner to paper. Fusers wear out every 100K to 200K pages and cost hundreds to replace. RISO uses cold printing, where ink bonds to paper without heat.
• No drum replacement: Laser imaging drums degrade over time and are expensive consumables. RISO's inkjet heads have no equivalent wear part.
• No waste toner: Laser printers generate waste toner that requires disposal. Inkjet doesn't.
• Lower energy costs: RISO printers use 91% less energy than comparable laser printers because there's no fuser to heat up. No warm up time means no wasted electricity.
• Simpler supplies: RISO ink cartridges are the primary consumable. No toner, no drums, no fusers, no waste containers.

A Real World Example

Consider a school district printing 50,000 color pages per month:

• Laser at 8¢/page: $4,000/month, or $48,000/year
• RISO at 2¢/page: $1,000/month, or $12,000/year
• Annual savings: $36,000

That's real money that goes back to classrooms, not the copier budget. And for a large law firm printing 100,000+ pages per month, the savings multiply fast.

What About Print Quality?

RISO's oil based pigment ink produces sharp text and vibrant color suitable for documents, newsletters, flyers, and marketing materials. It dries instantly on contact with no smearing, no curling, no waiting.

For photo quality glossy prints, laser still has an edge. But for the 95% of office printing that's documents, handouts, and everyday color? RISO quality is excellent, and the cost savings are enormous.

Speed Advantage

RISO printers are also dramatically faster. The ComColor FT series prints at 100 to 160 pages per minute. The flagship GL9730 hits 165 ppm. Most office lasers max out at 40 to 60 ppm.

For high volume environments like school offices cranking out report cards, law firms printing discovery documents, and churches producing Sunday bulletins, this speed difference is transformational.

Is RISO Right for You?

RISO makes the most sense for organizations that print at least 10,000 pages per month and want to significantly reduce cost per page. The sweet spot is high volume environments: schools, law firms, government offices, churches, and commercial print operations.

If you're printing under 5,000 pages per month, a standard office copier may still be the better fit. But if your monthly page counts are high and your toner bills are painful, it's worth running the numbers on RISO.

CCLM Supply is an authorized RISO dealer in Louisville and Southern Indiana. We'll run a free cost analysis comparing your current fleet to RISO. Call 812.800.8316 or contact us online.