Universal Print vs Printix for MSPs: Cloud Print Still Needs an Owner
Universal Print vs Printix is not a printer feature shootout.
That framing gets MSPs into trouble.
Universal Print sits inside the Microsoft tenant. If the client already pays for Microsoft 365 Business Premium or E3, the first question is fair: can the MSP use what the client already owns? Printix has a different pitch. It gives the MSP a dedicated cloud print management layer, partner motion, secure print options, hybrid cloud printing, and user-based billing that can become a client-facing service line.
Both choices can work. Both can also become a support tax if the MSP treats "cloud print" like a settings change instead of a scoped project.
The real question is whether the client needs Microsoft-native print for a tame estate, or an MSP-owned print service with clearer partner operations, secure print, and print-specific controls.
The short answer on Universal Print vs Printix
Universal Print is the better first look when the client already has eligible Microsoft 365 licensing, predictable print volume, Windows devices managed by Intune, newer printers, and simple queues. It keeps the print service inside the Microsoft admin model and avoids adding another vendor when the environment does not need one.
Printix is the better first look when the MSP wants a dedicated cloud print management product with an MSP partner program, user-based pricing, secure print, hybrid cloud print features, partner portal access, and a stronger story for mixed or multi-site printer operations.
Scopable fits before the vendor choice. The expensive part is not the cloud print portal. It is printer inventory, licensing math, user groups, driver behavior, business app validation, rollback, support handoff, and the client owner who signs off before the first finance printer breaks at 8:11 AM.
Universal Print vs Printix at a glance
| Criterion | Universal Print | Printix | MSP read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core fit | Microsoft cloud print for eligible Microsoft 365 and Windows tenants | Cloud print management product from Tungsten Automation | Universal Print is Microsoft-native. Printix is print-management-first. |
| Licensing | Included with eligible commercial, education, and government Microsoft 365 or Windows subscriptions | User-based pricing with monthly and annual business plans | Universal Print may already be in the stack. Printix needs a clear per-client service line. |
| Volume model | Shared tenant print job pool | Active-user billing rather than Microsoft-style job pools | Universal Print needs usage monitoring. Printix needs active-user hygiene. |
| Printer connection | Direct registration for Universal Print ready printers, connector for others | Hybrid cloud print and secure cloud print management | Printer age, firmware, and network design decide the project. |
| Deployment | Azure Portal, PowerShell, Intune printer provisioning for common printers | Printix client, admin portal, partner portal, and customer tenant setup | Universal Print favors Microsoft operations. Printix gives the MSP a print-specific operating layer. |
| Secure print | Supported where the printer and flow allow it | Secure print is a core product message | Compliance-sensitive clients need a pilot, not brochure promises. |
| Partner motion | Microsoft tenant administration | MSP partner program, partner portal, sales and technical resources | Printix is more explicit about MSP packaging. |
Sources: Universal Print licensing, Universal Print setup, Printix MSP partner program, and Printix pricing.
What Universal Print actually gives the MSP
Universal Print gives the MSP a Microsoft-owned cloud print service with two practical moving parts: entitlement and print volume.
Microsoft says both end users and IT admins need eligible Universal Print licenses to print and manage printing. Eligible commercial subscriptions include Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 F3, Windows Enterprise plans, and standalone Universal Print.
The print volume model matters. Microsoft measures usage by completed print jobs. A tenant gets a shared monthly pool, and all licensed users consume from that same pool. Microsoft says Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, and Microsoft 365 E5 add 100 jobs per license per month. F3, Windows Enterprise, and standalone Universal Print add 5 jobs per license per month. Additional volume is sold in 500-job and 10,000-job add-ons.
That is good news for a 25-user office that prints proposals, invoices, and a few HR packets. It is not automatically good news for a medical office, warehouse, law firm, nonprofit, or school office that prints like the toner is free.
Universal Print also has a clear setup path. Universal Print ready printers can register directly with the service. Printers that are not ready can use the Universal Print connector. Admins share printers from Azure Portal or PowerShell, and Microsoft says common Universal Print printers can be automatically installed on Windows devices with Intune.
That is a clean Microsoft-native story when the estate is modern.
The catch is the same catch printers always bring to the party: trays, finishing, labels, accounting codes, weird drivers, stale firmware, line-of-business apps, and users who reinstall things because the queue "felt slow."
Where Universal Print wins
Universal Print wins when the client is already Microsoft-standard and the print estate is boring in the best possible way.
Good Universal Print candidates usually have:
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3, or E5 already in place
- Windows devices managed by Intune
- printers that are Universal Print ready or easy to connect
- simple office queues
- low enough print volume for the included tenant pool
- limited need for specialty finishing, label stock, secure release, or accounting codes
- a client preference to avoid adding another vendor
For these clients, Universal Print can reduce print server dependency without turning the project into a new managed service category.
The MSP still needs a scope. "Included in Microsoft" is not the same as "included in the agreement." Discovery, pilot testing, connector placement, Intune policy, printer sharing, usage reporting, and support handoff still take time.
If the client expects the MSP to move every queue, test every app, retrain users, and handle every next-day ticket, the work belongs in a quote.
What Printix changes
Printix changes the conversation from "can Microsoft handle this?" to "does the MSP want to sell and operate print management as a service?"
Printix positions its MSP partner program around bundling Printix into managed service offerings. Its partner page mentions the Partner Portal, tiered discounting, sales and technical resources, best practices, and account manager access through Printix or an authorized distributor. That matters because MSPs do not only buy software. They buy an operating model they can repeat across clients.
Printix pricing is also easier to map to a managed service line item. The pricing page describes monthly business pricing as postpaid variable pricing based on active users in the preceding month. Annual business pricing is prepaid for nominated active users. Printix also says tenants with fewer than 15 users have a minimum monthly service fee of EUR/USD 29.85.
That is not better or worse than Universal Print. It is different.
Universal Print has job pools. Printix has active users. Universal Print can feel cheaper when Microsoft licensing already covers the client. Printix can feel cleaner when the MSP wants to sell cloud print as a managed add-on and track who is active each month.
Where Printix earns its fee
Printix earns attention when print support is already a real service desk problem.
Good Printix candidates usually have:
- multi-site users who move between offices
- mixed Windows, Mac, mobile, or BYOD expectations
- secure print or release requirements
- clients that need a partner-backed print management service
- branch offices where print servers are aging out
- customer environments where printer installs keep becoming tickets
- enough print complexity to justify a separate line item
The MSP partner angle matters here. A one-off print project can live with a basic admin portal. A recurring service needs packaging, tenant handling, support resources, margin, and renewal discipline.
Printix does not remove project work. It changes the work. The MSP still has to deploy the client, map users, define printers, test workflows, set support expectations, manage active users, and decide what happens when someone leaves the client or stops using the service.
That last point is not accounting trivia. Printix says an active user is any user who logged into the client or admin interface at least once during the monthly billing cycle. If the MSP does not own user cleanup, billing drift shows up later.
Intune does not settle the whole argument
Intune makes Universal Print easier to deploy, but it does not make every print decision Microsoft-only.
Microsoft says commonly used Universal Print printers can be automatically installed on Windows devices through Intune. That is useful for MSPs that already manage devices there. It gives the service desk a policy-based deployment path instead of hand-installing queues like it is 2007.
Printix still deserves a look when the desired outcome is bigger than "install a printer on a Windows device." Secure print, partner operations, hybrid cloud printing, mixed endpoint needs, and print-specific reporting can justify a dedicated product.
The right test is not which portal looks nicer.
The right test is whether the client's real print workflow survives:
- finance printing invoices from the accounting app
- warehouse printing labels before shipping cutoff
- legal printing from case software with the right tray
- front desk users printing forms from a hosted app
- roaming users landing on the right site printer
- off-network users printing without a helpdesk ritual
If the pilot only prints a Windows test page, the MSP has tested almost nothing.
Pricing questions before the quote
Universal Print and Printix force different pricing conversations.
Universal Print pricing starts with entitlement and job volume. The MSP should ask:
- Which Microsoft 365 licenses does the client already have?
- How many Universal Print jobs land in the tenant pool each month?
- Which users, printers, or departments burn the most jobs?
- Will the client need 500-job or 10,000-job add-on volume?
- Who monitors usage before the pool runs hot?
Printix pricing starts with active users and subscription shape. The MSP should ask:
- Which users need Printix access?
- Will the client use monthly active-user billing or annual nominated users?
- Does the small-tenant minimum apply?
- Who removes inactive users before billing drift starts?
- How will the MSP mark up, bundle, or pass through the service?
Neither model is free. One hides inside Microsoft licensing until volume or project work shows up. The other is explicit from the start.
Explicit is not bad. It is often easier to sell honestly.
Decision rules for MSPs
Use these rules before the demo gets shiny.
| Client pattern | First look | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 10 to 50 users, Business Premium, newer printers, simple queues | Universal Print | The Microsoft-native path may be enough, and the included job pool might cover normal use. |
| 50 to 250 users, several sites, roaming users, secure print expectations | Printix | The MSP may need a print-specific service layer with partner operations and user-based billing. |
| Microsoft-standard client with Intune and low print volume | Universal Print | Deployment and admin live where the MSP already works. |
| Client wants cloud print as a recurring managed service | Printix | Partner portal, discounting, and active-user billing fit a packaged service better. |
| High print volume but simple printer estate | Depends | Universal Print may work with add-on volume. Printix may price cleaner by active user. Run the math. |
| Labels, copiers, finishing, accounting codes, guest printing, macOS, or hosted apps | Pilot before choosing | Specialty workflows decide the answer. Vendor category does not. |
The boring rule works: pick Universal Print when Microsoft licensing and a tame print estate solve enough of the problem. Pick Printix when the MSP needs a repeatable print management service, not just cloud print access.
The MSP quote checklist
Do not quote this as "cloud print setup."
Use the same discipline you would use for an MSP scope of work:
| Workstream | What to include |
|---|---|
| Discovery | printer inventory, locations, user groups, device types, print volume, current deployment method |
| Licensing | Microsoft 365 entitlement, Universal Print job pool, Printix active users, small-tenant minimum, add-on volume |
| Pilot | pilot users, pilot printers, real business app tests, secure print test, driver validation |
| Deployment | Universal Print registration, connector setup, Intune policy, Printix client rollout, printer sharing |
| Workflow validation | labels, trays, finishing, accounting codes, hosted apps, off-network printing, secure release |
| User comms | what changes, how users find printers, what not to reinstall manually, where to report failures |
| Rollback | queue fallback, connector rollback, Printix client removal, print server hold criteria, owner approval |
| Handoff | support runbook, admin roles, usage review, billing cleanup, first 30-day ticket review |
Use the shared responsibility matrix for the client-owned parts: business app testing, approval, printer replacement decisions, and user communication.
Use the annual technology planning guide to stop every site from becoming a printer snowflake.
Where Scopable fits
Scopable does not replace Universal Print or Printix.
It sits before the promise gets expensive.
A print project needs assessment notes, client standards, licensing assumptions, budget fit, pilot criteria, quote math, approval, and project handoff. The vendor tool handles the print path. The MSP still owns the client outcome.
Scopable helps MSPs turn that outcome into scoped work before the quote lands in the PSA: printer inventory, license assumptions, support boundaries, rollback, and client signoff.
If you are tired of quoting printer projects from memory and then finding the weird copier after the agreement is signed, join Scopable early access.
Final verdict
Universal Print is the practical first look for Microsoft-heavy clients with eligible licenses, manageable print volume, Intune-managed Windows devices, and newer printers.
Printix is the practical first look when the MSP wants cloud print as a repeatable managed service with partner operations, user-based pricing, secure print, and better print-specific packaging.
Do not choose by brand gravity.
Inventory the printers, test the real workflows, run the pricing math, name the client owner, write the rollback rule, and quote the work. Cloud print is still print. Print is still weird. Somebody has to own it.
