Cheap ID Card Printers

Entry-level ID card printers — affordable, reliable, and perfectly capable of producing professional-looking staff IDs, membership cards, and visitor passes. If you're printing a few hundred cards a year and don't need advanced encoding or dual-sided printing, these models do the job without overcomplicating things.

We stock entry-level printers from Evolis, IDP Smart, and Magicard — all with genuine ribbons and accessories available. Delivery across Ireland. Browse our printer ribbons and printer bundles.

Cheapest Printers

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Choosing a cheap ID card printer that will not let you down

There is a version of this purchase that goes badly: a club or small business buys the first plastic card printer it finds online, discovers the ribbons cost more than expected, and quietly goes back to laminated paper. The way to avoid it is to be honest about volume. If you print a few hundred photo ID cards a year, single-sided, with no encoding, an entry-level printer is not a compromise. It is the right tool, and the three here, from €940 ex VAT, are the models Irish schools, gyms and offices settle on.

All three are single-sided, direct-to-card printers. They print onto standard CR80 blank cards, connect over USB, and turn out a photo ID card in under a minute. What separates them is the brand, which decides your ribbon prices for the next five years.

Entry-level plastic card printers compared

PrinterSidesConnectionPrice ex VAT
Magicard Pronto100SingleUSB€940
Fargo DTC1250eSingleUSB€1,035
Zebra ZC100SingleUSB€1,070

The Pronto100 is the compact desk printer and the usual pick for a reception or club office. The DTC1250e sits in the Fargo range, where ribbons are widely stocked in Ireland. The ZC100 suits anyone already running Zebra kit who wants one supplier for consumables.

What a budget printer still needs

A cheap ID card printer costs the same to feed as a dear one. Budget for a YMCKO colour ribbon and a cleaning kit every ribbon or two. The consumables are on the Pronto100 ribbons, DTC1250 ribbons and ZC100 ribbons pages, and blank white cards come in packs of 100. If you would rather printer, ribbon, cards and software arrived together, look at the ID card printer bundles; when you outgrow one side, the dual-sided printers are next.

Further reading

Frequently asked questions

Which cheap ID card printer suits a small business?

For a staff ID scheme of under 300 cards a year, any of the three will do. Pick on ribbon availability and on whether you might want dual-sided printing later.

Can a budget printer print photo ID cards?

Yes. All three print full-colour photos, text and barcodes onto PVC. What you give up against a professional printer is speed, encoding and dual-sided printing, not photo quality.

Do I need special software to print plastic ID cards?

Each printer ships with a Windows driver and works with any card design software.

Not sure which of the three to buy? Call 01 555 5555 and we will talk through your card volume and dispatch the right one from Dublin.