Printer Lease Options Compared, Side by Side
Four ways to put a printer in your office, and the device choices that follow. Work out which one fits your team, then get a like for like quote.
Last updated: September 2026
Most Australian offices choose between four options: a lease, a business rental, short term hire, or buying outright. The right one depends on how long you need the device and whether you want the capital cost on your books.
Enquired on Monday and had a printer installed by Friday. Fast, easy, and exactly what we needed.
We have been using Global Document Solutions for about eight years now and would not go anywhere else.
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Quick formChoosing how you fund the machine
This is the first decision, and it sets everything that follows. A lease and a business rental both run 36 to 60 months and bundle the device, service, parts and toner into one monthly figure from $160 a month ex GST. Short term hire is a different arrangement, and it is not one we offer.
Buying outright suits a stable, high volume operation with capital to spend and the appetite to absorb maintenance internally. Everyone else usually lands on a lease.
- Leasing against buying, on the numbersWhich leaves you better off over five years, and why the answer changes with your page count.
- Hire, lease or rent: what the three words meanThe three terms are used interchangeably in Australia. They are not the same thing.
- Operating against finance leaseHow the two structures sit on your balance sheet, and which one your accountant will prefer.
- Work it out with your own numbersPut your monthly page count in and compare leasing against buying for your office.
Choosing the machine itself
Once the funding question is settled, the device decision is about page size, colour and volume. Those three inputs set the device tier, and the device tier sets the monthly figure.
Getting this wrong is expensive in a different way: an undersized device slows the office down every day of a five year term.
- A3 against A4, and colour against monoWhat each choice does to the monthly figure, and when A3 is genuinely worth it.
- How to choose the right office printerMatching the device to your team size, page volume and the documents you actually produce.
- What the monthly figure coversEverything bundled into the one line, and the one thing you still buy separately.
Enquired on Monday and had a printer installed by Friday. Fast, easy, and exactly what we needed.
We have been using Global Document Solutions for about eight years now and would not go anywhere else.
Tell us what you print and we will match the option
Quick formChoosing how the fleet is managed
A single device needs no management. A fleet across several floors or several sites does, and that is where a managed service differs from a plain lease.
The difference is not the hardware. It is who watches consumable levels, who reports on usage, and who owns the problem when a device stops.
- Managed print against a plain leaseWhat a managed service adds once you are running more than a handful of devices.
- One agreement across several officesHow multi site businesses put every location on a single monthly invoice.
- Compare the brands we leaseKyocera, HP, Toshiba and Brother set against each other, and against brands we do not lease.
The other two questions
Common questions
What is the difference between leasing and renting a printer in Australia?
In practice, very little.
Both commonly run 36 to 60 months and both bundle the device, service, parts and toner into one monthly figure.
The distinction that matters is at the end of the term: a rental carries no ownership position, so the device is returned or the agreement is renewed.
Can I hire a printer for a few weeks?
Not from us.
Our agreements run 36 to 60 months.
If your requirement has an end date inside a year, a short term hire specialist will serve you better.
Many Australian businesses say hire when they mean a standard business rental, which is the arrangement we do provide.
Do I need an A3 device or is A4 enough?
A4 handles most text work.
A3 earns its place when you regularly produce quote packs, floor plans, booklets or anything larger than a standard page.
An A3 multifunction also consolidates print, copy and scan onto one service contract.
Is a managed print service worth it for a small office?
Usually not for one or two devices, where a plain lease already includes service, parts and toner.
It starts to pay once you are running a fleet, or several sites, and you need usage reporting and one accountable point of contact.
Which option is cheapest?
Over a five year horizon the gap between leasing and buying is narrower than most people expect, because a lease bundles service, parts and toner that an owner pays separately.
The honest answer depends on your page volume, which is what the lease against buy calculator is for.