Best Octopus Energy tariff: which one is right for you

There isn't one best Octopus tariff — there's a best tariff for your home, and it depends on whether you drive an electric car, generate solar power, heat with a heat pump, already have a working smart meter, and how much you value a price that never moves. Most people join on a standard tariff first, then switch onto a cleverer time-of-use deal for free once they're set up. This guide walks through every option — and you can use the tariff-finder quiz on this page if you'd rather skip straight to your match.

There isn't one best Octopus tariff — there's a best tariff for your home, and it depends on whether you drive an electric car, generate solar power, heat with a heat pump, already have a working smart meter, and how much you value a price that never moves. Most people join on a standard tariff first, then switch onto a cleverer time-of-use deal for free once they're set up. This guide walks through every option — and you can use the tariff-finder quiz on this page if you'd rather skip straight to your match.

Start with how you actually use energy

Octopus deliberately runs a wide range of tariffs rather than one catch-all deal, so choosing well is really about matching your usage pattern to the right product. The big questions are practical: do you have an EV to charge overnight, solar panels exporting power, a heat pump that runs steadily through the day, and do you already have a working smart meter? Your answers point you cleanly at one tariff over another. If you'd rather not read every option in full, the tariff-finder quiz on this page asks a handful of those questions and sends you to the page that fits — the summaries below cover the same ground in more depth. One thing worth knowing up front: most of the money-saving smart tariffs need you to be an Octopus customer with a working smart meter first, so the usual path is to join on a standard tariff, then move onto a smart one at no cost once you're up and running.

Flexible Octopus: the sensible default for most homes

Flexible Octopus is the standard variable tariff, and it's where the majority of customers sit. Its rates track the energy price cap, so what you pay rises and falls with the cap each quarter, and there are no exit fees if you want to move tariff later. You don't need a smart meter, there's nothing to actively manage, and it's the simplest possible way to become a customer. For anyone who just wants a well-run supplier without thinking about half-hourly pricing or charging windows, this is the obvious starting point — and because it's the tariff you join on, it's also the natural springboard to every smart tariff below. The honest trade-off is that 'standard variable' means exactly that: you're exposed to cap changes, and if you have the kit and the habits to run a time-of-use tariff, you'll usually do better on one of those instead.

Octopus 12M Fixed: for people who want a price that won't move

If the thing that unsettles you is your bill jumping again, a fixed tariff locks your unit rates and standing charge for twelve months. The current version is open to everyone, needs no smart meter, and — unusually for a fix — carries no exit fees, so you're not trapped if your circumstances change. That certainty matters more than usual right now: the energy price cap rose by around 13.5% in July 2026, to roughly £1,862 a year for a typical dual-fuel home, which is exactly the kind of move a fix is designed to insulate you from. The balanced caveat is that fixing is a bet — you're paying for predictability, and if the cap later falls you could end up paying more than someone on a variable deal. We don't quote the fixed price here because it changes; check the current version on Octopus's own site. For certainty-seekers it's the cleanest option, and you still pick up the £50 referral credit on the way in.

Tracker and Agile: for engaged households who'll follow the price

These two reward people who like to be hands-on. Octopus Tracker sets your unit rate daily, following wholesale energy prices, so on calm, low-demand days it can be very cheap — but you take the rough with the smooth, and prices can climb when wholesale costs spike. Octopus Agile goes further, with rates that change every half hour and that occasionally drop below zero, effectively paying you to use power at the right moments; it suits anyone who can shift big loads such as the dishwasher, washing machine or EV charging into cheaper windows. Both need you to be a customer with a working smart meter, because the pricing depends on half-hourly readings. They genuinely shine for flexible, engaged households, but they're a poor fit if you want a predictable bill or can't move your usage around — so go in clear-eyed about the variability rather than chasing the headline cheap days.

Driving electric? Octopus Go and Intelligent Octopus Go

For EV owners, the cheap-overnight tariffs are where the real savings live. Octopus Go gives you a low fixed rate during a set off-peak window each night — ideal if you want to schedule charging yourself and know exactly when the cheap hours run. Intelligent Octopus Go is the smarter sibling: you tell the app when you need the car ready and how much charge you want, and Octopus schedules the charging for you, often across a longer cheap window, with that low rate applying to your whole home during those hours. It needs a compatible car or charger, but for most EV drivers it's the easiest way to charge cheaply without micromanaging timers. The key thing with both is that the cheap overnight rate is balanced by a higher daytime rate, so they pay off when a meaningful chunk of your usage — especially charging — genuinely happens at night.

Heat pump or solar panels? Cosy Octopus and Outgoing Octopus

Two tariffs serve specific kit. Cosy Octopus is built for heat pumps: it offers cheaper rate windows spread across the day so you can pre-heat your home and hot water when power is cheapest, which suits the steady, lower-output way a heat pump runs compared with a gas boiler. Outgoing Octopus is the other side of the coin — an export tariff that pays you for the electricity your solar panels send back to the grid, and it pairs naturally with an import tariff and a home battery if you have one. Both reward a particular setup rather than the average home, so they earn their place precisely when you have the hardware to make them work. As with the other smart tariffs, you'll need to be a customer with a working smart meter to move onto them — which is the cue for how to get started.

How to join — and collect £50 while you choose

Here's the practical sequence. You don't have to pick your perfect smart tariff before you join — almost everyone starts on Flexible Octopus or the fixed deal, and once you're a customer with a working smart meter you can switch onto Tracker, Agile, Go, Intelligent Octopus Go, Cosy or Outgoing for free, as often as you like. The one decision that pays you is how you sign up: join by clicking the referral link on this page and Octopus credits you £50 in energy account credit — not cash, but a real reduction on your bills. It's automatic, with no code to enter and nothing to claim; the credit lands once your switch completes and your first Direct Debit clears, usually around four weeks after you join, occasionally longer if your old supplier drags its feet. It costs you nothing extra, but the route matters: sign up through a price-comparison site and the referral is dropped, so the £50 doesn't land. Octopus is the UK's largest electricity supplier, runs on 100% renewable electricity and is a long-standing Which? Recommended Provider with an 'Excellent' Trustpilot score of around 4.8 out of 5 — so whichever tariff you land on, you're moving to a supplier you'd likely be glad of anyway. We're an independent guide rather than Octopus itself, and you complete the whole sign-up on Octopus's own website. Use the referral link on this page, then take your time choosing the tariff that fits.

FAQs

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