Cartridge inkjets and refillable tank printers do the same basic job, but they collect their money at different times. Cartridge models usually ask less at checkout and more each time the ink runs out. Tank models ask for more upfront and much less for each refill.
A light-to-regular household example
The comparison below uses one printer for five years at 50 mono and 20 colour pages a month. It is not a universal answer; it is a transparent point on the curve where both machines are within their verified recommended workload.
What changes over five years
The cartridge printer wins the first transaction because the hardware costs less. The tank printer shifts more of the cost into that first transaction, then spreads a much smaller supply bill across the years that follow. The more pages you print, the more often the cartridge model repeats its expensive part of the cycle.
This is why purchase-price comparisons and ownership-cost comparisons can point in opposite directions without either number being wrong. They are answering different questions: what leaves your account today, and what the machine is estimated to consume over the period you keep it.
The failure mode on both sides
A tank printer can be excessive for someone who prints almost nothing. A cartridge printer can become punishing for a household or office that prints every day. The useful question is not which technology is always better; it is which cost structure fits your actual volume.