Epson EcoTank printer
Shares rank 3 of 5 printers by recommenders
People recommend it for cheap ink refilled from bottles and years of trouble-free home use. Critics report frequent print head clogs and ink wasted on cleaning.
People recommend it for cheap ink refilled from bottles and years of trouble-free home use. Critics report frequent print head clogs and ink wasted on cleaning.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 59%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 4.5 years
Median of the 4 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Cheap ink refilled from bottles
“We've been very happy with it and the ink isn't actually very expensive at all.”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “It's cheaper to buy a new printer every month” “Cartridges are non existent... you just get bottles of ink to refill it.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: What's a Good Physical Printer?” “I’ve been using mine for years and I only had to buy new ink once.”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “You Don't Love Systemd Timers Enough” Satisfied owners over years
“I’ve been using mine for years and I only had to buy new ink once.”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “You Don't Love Systemd Timers Enough” “I like the Epson ink tank printers and have been happy with them.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Printable Classics – Free printable classic books for hobby bookbinders” “Epson EcoTank has been a great system for my personal needs.”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “HP has new incentive to stop blocking third-party ink in its printers” Long life, few problems
“I haven't really had an issue with them yet even though I used thr poor thing very bad”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: What's a Good Physical Printer?” “I’ve been using mine for years and I only had to buy new ink once.”
Comment from 2 Jun 2026 in “You Don't Love Systemd Timers Enough” Good for occasional home printing
“it's superb for my simple use case (occasional low cost printing at home)”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Reparaible and open source paper printer” “Epson EcoTank has been a great system for my personal needs.”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “HP has new incentive to stop blocking third-party ink in its printers”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Print heads clog frequently
“It was recently fully clogged (Epson EcoTank) and I managed to get it back to fully printing after about 10 rounds of head cleaning”
Comment from 27 Oct 2026 in “A Printer Printing onto Paper” “Ecotank printers are worse in terms of clogging problems, because there is a tank and a hose vs a sealed cartridge”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Reparaible and open source paper printer” “They still clog, the printer still wastes a ton of ink on cleaning or adjustment”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “It's cheaper to buy a new printer every month” - Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Reparaible and open source paper printer”
- Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Reparaible and open source paper printer”
Wastes ink on cleaning cycles
“It was recently fully clogged (Epson EcoTank) and I managed to get it back to fully printing after about 10 rounds of head cleaning”
Comment from 27 Oct 2026 in “A Printer Printing onto Paper” “They still clog, the printer still wastes a ton of ink on cleaning or adjustment”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “It's cheaper to buy a new printer every month”
Other printers people recommend
The four most recommended other printers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brother laser printer | 56 | 21 | 73% | 12 | 10 yrs17 owners | Approved |
| OpenPrinter | 14 | 14 | 50% | 4 | — | — |
| Epson EcoTank printerThis page | 10 | 7 | 59% | 7 | 4.5 yrs4 owners | — |
| HP LaserJet | 10 | 6 | 63% | 7 | 25 yrs8 owners | — |
| Brother inkjet printer | 6 | 3 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
15 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It was recently fully clogged (Epson EcoTank) and I managed to get it back to fully printing after about 10 rounds of head cleaning”
“Cartridges are non existent... you just get bottles of ink to refill it.”
“I haven't really had an issue with them yet even though I used thr poor thing very bad”
“Ecotank printers are worse in terms of clogging problems, because there is a tank and a hose vs a sealed cartridge”
“what they really need is a built in print program that just prints a color exercise sheet every 2 weeks”
“battled print head clogs all the time”
“it's superb for my simple use case (occasional low cost printing at home)”
“The printer heads got clogged all the time.”
“I’ve been using mine for years and I only had to buy new ink once.”
“until the ink sponge filled up”
“Epson EcoTank has been a great system for my personal needs.”
“I like the Epson ink tank printers and have been happy with them.”
“prints faded noticeably in just three month”
“We've been very happy with it and the ink isn't actually very expensive at all.”
“They still clog, the printer still wastes a ton of ink on cleaning or adjustment”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.