Raw PrintA thermal receipt printer costs less than a week of coffee, but the software to drive it can quietly add up: a license per tablet, a plugin for the POS, a premium tier to remove a line of promo text. If you're trying to keep costs down, here are five Android apps that print to ESC/POS thermal printers, with an honest note on what each one gives you for free.
Disclosure: we make Raw Print, the first app on this list. Details for the other apps come from what their developers publish, checked in October 2026. Sources are at the end; check the current listing before you decide.
At a glance
| App | What "free" means | Connections |
|---|---|---|
| Raw Print | Free, nothing added to receipts, no ads | Bluetooth, BLE, USB |
| RawBT | Free with a notice on each printout; license removes it | Bluetooth, USB, Wi-Fi/Ethernet (port 9100) |
| Quick Printer | Free with a message at the end of the ticket; QR, barcodes and raw commands are Premium | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB |
| ESC POS Bluetooth Print Service | Free for 26 print jobs, then a premium license | Bluetooth |
| Open ESC/POS Print Service | Free and open source (GPL-3.0); you build it yourself | Bluetooth, USB, TCP |
1. Raw Print
A print service for 58 mm and 80 mm ESC/POS printers that's free with no catch: no ads, no watermark or "printed with" line, and no account.
- 3-tap setup that detects paper width and printer features, with one-tap fixes if the test receipt looks wrong
- Prints from any app through the Print menu, the share menu, links from web POS pages (including the
rawbt:format) and Android intents - Prints Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Chinese and emoji even on printers with only Latin letters
- Cash drawer and paper cutter support, automatic reconnection, Android 7.0 and up
Not for you if: you need a network (Wi-Fi/Ethernet) printer or a cat-style photo printer.
2. RawBT
A long-standing print service that connects to Bluetooth, USB and network printers (port 9100), supports Star-compatible commands and several photo thermal printers (Paperang, Peripage, cat/panda), and is widely used by web POS systems.
The catch: the free version prints a notice on each printout. A license removes it; its developer says speed and quality are otherwise the same, and the license doesn't include support.
3. Quick Printer (ESC POS Print)
Adds receipt printers over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB, and prints text shared from other apps. Simple tags handle formatting such as bold, big text, alignment, tables, paper cut and cash drawer, which suits apps that can only share plain text.
The catch: the free version prints a message at the end of the ticket, and QR codes, barcodes, raw commands and custom image sizes are Premium features.
4. ESC POS Bluetooth Print Service
Puts a Bluetooth receipt printer into Android's Print menu and share menu, and lists support for generic Bluetooth printers and brands like Epson, Star, Woosim, HOIN, Bixolon, Zebra, SUNMI and ZKC.
The catch: it's a trial rather than a free tier. You get 26 print jobs, then you need a premium license.
5. Open ESC/POS Print Service
An open-source print service (GPL-3.0) for ESC/POS receipt printers and CPCL label printers over Bluetooth, USB and TCP. It prints from any app, accepts HTML through an intent and has per-printer speed settings.
The catch: there's no ready-made Play Store release on its GitHub page, so you'll need someone to build and install it. Best for developers.
How to keep printing costs down
- Count devices, not apps. A cheap license multiplied by every phone and tablet adds up. Price the whole rollout before you choose.
- Avoid per-receipt branding. A promo line on every receipt costs paper and looks unprofessional. Check what the free version prints.
- Use what Android already has. A print service that plugs into the Android Print menu works with Chrome, Gmail and Drive without extra plugins.
- Pick the right paper width. 58 mm rolls are cheaper and fit portable printers; 80 mm suits itemised bills and kitchen tickets.
- Test with your printer. Most apps work with most ESC/POS printers, but run a day of real receipts before you commit.
Sources
- RawBT app description (developer 402D), as published on APKMirror
- Quick Printer README on GitHub
- ESC POS Bluetooth Print Service listing (Looped Labs), as published on BlueStacks
- Open ESC/POS Print Service repository on GitHub
App names on this page belong to their respective developers. Raw Print is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.