The 10 Best Thermal Label Printers
This wiki has been updated 21 times since it was first published in February of 2019. If you run a business, whether from your home or a commercial location, one of these thermal printers can help you create professional-quality labels for shipping, postage, file folders, price tags, and more, and you'll never have to buy expensive ink or toner cartridges. We've included models that work with a variety of sizes and formats, and some of them are fast enough for high-volume use. When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
1. Rollo Commercial Grade
2. Zebra GK420d
3. Arkscan 2054A
Editor's Notes
December 01, 2020:
On this latest review of thermal label printers, we noticed the Brother Professional has become a little harder to obtain online. As the Brother QL-700 has more advanced models on offer, we decided to remove this item as well, and use the Brother QL-820NWB to replace both, satisfying the previous criteria fulfilled by the QL-700, while providing all the extra connectivity options previously offered by the Professional.
The JingChen B3 Bluetooth is currently unavailable, so we added the Munbyn Monochrome instead. It's a desktop model instead of a handheld one like the JingChen (and it needs a wired connection to your computer), but it supports all standard label sizes, it recognizes them automatically, and prints them off fast, making it ideal for those who run a small business online, or buy and sell a lot through auction sites.
Finally, we added the Epson ReadyPrint T20. Although, strictly speaking, this is a printer for receipts and not a label-making machine, we figured that if users are searching this list because they're in the business of sending a lot of packages, it's likely that in some cases they could be shop-owners as well. This model is a reliable, fast-printing machine that won't break the bank and should more than take care of any point-of-sale printing needs.
March 29, 2019:
If you sell products on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or another e-commerce platform, a number of the printers on our list can help you create a variety of large-format shipping labels. The Rollo Commercial Grade is the best option for high-volume use as it prints very quickly, automatically adjusts to the size of the label you're using, and has a simple setup process. The Zebra GK420d has similar capabilities, and the company offers a free software that helps you create custom designs, but it's much more expensive than most of our other selections. The Brother Professional is another comparable model that offers the added benefits of wireless printing and a built-in automatic cutter. The Dymo 4XL allows you to quickly print directly from Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, and other popular programs, but some users have issues with it spitting out blank or partially-printed labels in the middle of a batch.
For smaller formats, the JingChen B3 Bluetooth and Puqu Wireless are handheld models that are perfect for making price tags and product labels for your business, or for labeling cooking ingredients, craft supplies, and just about anything else you want to organize around the house. The Dymo 450 Twin Turbo can hold two rolls of paper at once, which is especially useful if you print labels in a lot of different sizes, but the software is not very user-friendly.
4. Puqu Wireless
5. Brother QL-820NWB
6. Munbyn Monochrome
7. Epson ReadyPrint T20
8. Dymo 450 Twin Turbo
9. Fangtek High Speed
10. Dymo 4XL
Since leaving his native England back in 2009, Ed has traveled to most corners of the globe exploring different cultures and trying to make a buck or two as he goes. This has included busking with his guitar, drawing caricatures, hustling at pool, and even acting in Bollywood, although more recently he has been teaching English to adults after gaining his CELTA in Ho Chi Minh City. Sweden has been his adopted home for the last nine years, where he mostly worked in schools as a teacher. As well as playing, performing and recording music, he enjoys long walks with his dog while listening to audiobooks, sailing, growing his own vegetables and playing snooker, ping pong, and frisbee.