I am an office administrator for a 180-person company. I manage all office equipment and print supply ordering, roughly $72,000 annually across 8 vendors. I report to operations and finance. When I took over purchasing in 2020, I assumed printers were printers. Then I watched a $99 inkjet turn into a $400 problem in six months.
So let me compare two devices procurement teams keep asking about: the Epson 3720 printer, also known as the WorkForce Pro WF-3720, and a desktop thermal printer. They are not direct substitutes. One prints documents, color pages, and scans. The other prints labels, receipts, and tickets. But buyers mix them up because both can look cheap upfront. I will compare them on five dimensions: actual use case, cost per page, connectivity, maintenance, and service options. My standard is total cost per useful output, not sticker price.
Dimension 1: What Each Device Actually Prints
The Epson 3720 is a color inkjet all-in-one. It prints, scans, copies, and handles letter or legal paper. It is built for contracts, invoices, presentation handouts, and everyday office documents. The thermal printer is monochrome only. It prints on thermal paper or labels. It is great for shipping labels, barcodes, receipts, and tickets. It does not scan. It does not print color. It does not replace a document printer.
From the outside, a thermal printer looks like a cheaper Epson printer. The reality is that it is a completely different workflow. If you print 20-page color proposals, a thermal printer cannot help you. If you print 500 shipping labels a day, the Epson 3720 is the wrong tool. Not ideal, but that is the trade-off.
Conclusion for this dimension: the Epson 3720 wins general office documents. The thermal printer wins high-volume labels and receipts. They are not competitors in the usual sense.
Dimension 2: Cost Per Page and the Markup Calculator
On hardware price alone, the thermal printer often looks cheaper. Publicly listed prices in January 2025 put the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3720 around $99 to $179 for new or refurbished units, depending on availability. Desktop thermal printers range from about $50 to $300. But hardware price is not the whole story.
Publicly listed prices in January 2025: Epson WorkForce Pro WF-3720 around $99 to $179. Desktop thermal printers around $50 to $300. Verify current pricing before buying.
The Epson 3720 uses ink cartridges. Cartridge yields vary by color and capacity, so check current page yields before you compare. A thermal printer uses thermal labels or receipt paper. In bulk, thermal labels often run about $0.02 to $0.10 per label. That can be very cheap per label, but it is not a fair comparison to a letter-size document.
Here is where a markup calculator matters. If you bill clients for print, do not use hardware price to set your rates. Use a markup calculator that includes media, ink or thermal paper, maintenance, labor, and downtime. I once found a vendor quoting $0.03 per label, which looked great. Then I noticed the software subscription was $29 per month. On 200 labels per month, that added $0.145 per label. Our markup calculator caught it. That flipped the decision.
What most people do not realize is that thermal printers can be cheap to buy and expensive to own if you need custom label sizes or vendor-locked media. The Epson 3720 can also get expensive per page because it uses cartridges. If low-cost document printing is your main goal, compare with an EcoTank Epson printer before buying the 3720.
Conclusion: thermal wins cost per label. The Epson 3720 is reasonable for low-volume color documents. Neither is the cheapest choice for high-volume monochrome office printing.
Dimension 3: Connectivity, Wi-Fi, and Shared Office Setup
The Epson 3720 supports Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB, and mobile printing. Setup is straightforward through the control panel or the Epson app. For a shared office, assign a static IP or DHCP reservation. Do not let it float on DHCP if six people need to print to it.
Thermal printers vary wildly here. Some have Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. Many cheap models are USB-only. If you need multiple workstations to print labels, check the connection options before you buy. Why does this matter? Because a $70 USB-only thermal printer can cost more in labor than a $150 network model. I learned that the hard way in 2022.
Side note: if you also manage a consumer printer, the Wi-Fi steps are similar across brands. For how to connect Canon TS3522 printer to wifi, go to the printer control panel, open Network Settings, choose Wireless LAN, select your SSID, and enter the password. For the Epson 3720, use the Wi-Fi Setup Wizard or WPS. But in a shared office, do not rely on WPS. Use a fixed IP and document it.
Conclusion: the Epson 3720 is easier to deploy in a mixed office network. The thermal printer can be just as good, but only if you buy a network-capable model and configure it properly.
Dimension 4: Maintenance, Reliability, and Service
The Epson 3720 has feed rollers, printheads, and ink cartridges. It can clog if it sits unused for weeks. The thermal printer has fewer moving parts, but it still has a printhead, media path, and adhesive buildup issues. Thermal printers often need less day-to-day attention, but when they fail, they can fail hard if they are the only label printer in the building.
Service is another difference. When our Epson 3720 developed a repeating vertical line out of warranty, searching for epson printer technician near me found a local certified tech who fixed it in one visit for $120. Manufacturer depot repair would have taken 10 to 14 days. For thermal printers, many problems are driver or media calibration issues. Remote support often solves them, but local repair options are thinner.
The upside of buying the cheapest thermal printer is saving maybe $100. The risk is no network, no local service, and a two-week lead time on replacement. I kept asking myself: is $100 worth potentially missing 200 shipments? No. That is not a good trade.
Conclusion: thermal printers are simpler but less repairable locally. The Epson 3720 has broader service options but more consumable maintenance.
Dimension 5: Efficiency and Workflow Fit
Efficiency is competitiveness. The right device removes steps. The Epson 3720 scans to email and duplex prints, which cut our invoice approval cycle from 5 days to 2. The thermal printer, paired with shipping software, cut label creation from 4 minutes to 45 seconds per order. Both improve efficiency, but for different tasks.
I went back and forth between the Epson 3720 and a thermal printer for two weeks. The Epson offered color, scanning, and a familiar interface. The thermal printer offered speed for labels and lower media cost. Ultimately, I chose both: Epson 3720 for the front office, thermal printer for shipping. Buying one to replace the other would have been a mistake.
Speed is not everything. Fit is.
Selection Guide: Which Should You Buy?
Choose the Epson 3720 printer if:
- You need color documents, scanning, and copying.
- Monthly volume is low to moderate, a few hundred pages.
- You want Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and mobile printing.
- You can tolerate cartridge costs or manage ink carefully.
Choose a thermal printer if:
- You print shipping labels, barcodes, receipts, or tickets.
- You need monochrome only.
- You can standardize on one media size and source.
- You need high-speed, low-cost-per-label output.
Consider an EcoTank Epson printer if:
- You print lots of color documents and want low cost per page.
- You do not need the exact WF-3720 form factor.
Bottom line: for a general office, the Epson 3720 is the more flexible epson-printer. For logistics or retail, the thermal printer is the efficiency play. Do not let a low sticker price decide. Run the total cost, check connectivity, and confirm service options. And if you are stuck supporting a Canon TS3522, the Wi-Fi steps above will get it online. Just keep consumer printers out of your critical shipping workflow.
