Octopus Energy vs British Gas

British Gas still matters because it serves a huge slice of the market and a lot of people start there when they move home, come off an old fixed deal or want boiler cover in the same account as their energy. That does not automatically make it the best fit. It just means the comparison is worth doing properly rather than assuming one supplier wins on name alone.

Pricing

British Gas's standard variable tariff usually sits at or very near the Ofgem cap, which is normal for a large supplier. Its current tariff page also points customers toward fixed, tracker-style and Fix and Fall offers, with the usual need to check the actual quote, term and exit conditions before treating a headline as better value. That makes the old lazy idea that British Gas is always expensive too blunt to be useful, but it does not remove the need to compare the full annual bill.

Octopus Flexible is often pitched a little under the cap and the bigger upside is what happens after that. If you can move demand away from the expensive part of the day, Octopus gives you more ways to cut bills through Go, Intelligent Go, Agile, Tracker or Cosy. For a flat-usage household with no EV or heat pump, the saving may be modest. For a more flexible home, the gap can widen quickly.

Smart tariffs

This is the section where the comparison changes most for EV homes. British Gas is not just standard tariffs plus PeakSave any more. Its EV Power page now frames the product as a simple whole-home overnight window for any EV and home charger, with a separate Charge Power route for homes that have a battery, or solar and battery, as well as an EV. Hive Power+ is a compatible-charger add-on that credits part of managed EV charging back to the bill, so compare it as a billing feature on top of a British Gas tariff rather than as a normal household tariff.

The useful distinction is control. British Gas EV Power gives you a fixed midnight-to-5am household window and expects you to schedule the car, charger or battery around that. Hive Power+ adds managed charging for supported Hive setups and credits part of eligible EV charging back to the bill, while Charge Power adds a battery-focused overnight route. Octopus Go is similarly simple, with a later 00:30 to 05:30 whole-home window. Intelligent Go is the closer smart-charging comparison because Octopus schedules eligible cars or chargers and can create extra cheap whole-home slots while the scheduled car charge is running.

Use today's local supplier pages when comparing them, rather than relying on a figure quoted in an evergreen comparison page. The real difference is not just the headline pence figure, it is how the rest of the home is billed once your setup gets more complicated. Battery homes should also check whether they want the supplier tariff to control the pattern, the charger app to control it, or a separate battery/inverter routine to do the work.

PeakSave is still useful to mention, because it can knock money off Sunday daytime use for smart-meter customers. British Gas says it gives half-price electricity from 11am to 4pm on Sundays, with extra Green Flex events when supply conditions suit. That can be handy if you can move cooking, laundry, battery charging or other heavy use into the window. It is still not the same thing as being on a fully fledged time-of-use tariff.

EV billing model check

Before comparing British Gas with Octopus, check which part of the bill the EV product actually changes. British Gas EV Power is easiest to understand as a fixed overnight whole-home window, with scheduling handled by the charger or car app. Hive Power+ then sits on top as a compatible-charger bill-credit feature for eligible managed EV charging, and Charge Power is the narrower home-battery route for households that want to charge a battery, and possibly an EV, in the same overnight period.

Octopus Go is also a fixed whole-home window, but starts later and ends later. Intelligent Go is different again because Octopus schedules the car and any extra smart-charging slots apply to the home while they run. For a simple overnight charger, either supplier can be worth pricing up. For an EV plus battery, solar export or flexible household load, Octopus usually gives you more combinations to test before you commit. Whichever route you test, keep app screenshots as evidence rather than the final bill: smart-tariff billing depends on the supplier's meter data and tariff terms.

Customer service and day-to-day experience

Both suppliers now score well enough that this is no longer a simple "small modern supplier good, old incumbent bad" story. British Gas reviews are much stronger than they used to be and its scale still matters if you like the reassurance of a familiar national brand. Octopus still has an edge on clarity, tariff explainers and the sense that the energy account is designed around helping you make decisions rather than just paying the bill.

British Gas does have one practical strength that Octopus does not try to match in the same way: HomeCare and the wider engineer operation. If you want boiler cover, annual servicing and emergency help from the same company that sends the energy bill, that convenience can matter. It should not drive the whole comparison on its own, but it is a real reason some households stay put.

Who each supplier suits best

If you are close to a tariff end date, the most useful move is to compare the actual offer in front of you rather than the supplier logo. Look at the full unit rates, standing charges, exit-fee terms and whether the tariff genuinely fits your home routine. That is especially true if you are weighing a British Gas fix against Octopus Flexible or one of Octopus's smart tariffs.

The verdict

Octopus remains the stronger all-round shortlist for many people who want flexibility, smarter tariff options and a cleaner path into EV, heat-pump or solar-friendly energy use. British Gas deserves a fairer hearing than some older comparison pages give it, because it now has more serious smart products and can sometimes put forward a genuinely competitive fixed offer. The reason to shortlist Octopus early is that its range makes more sense once you want to do more than sit on a standard tariff and wait for the next price-cap reset.

If you are coming off British Gas and want to sanity-check your next move, the best next step is to compare the Octopus options that match your home rather than jumping straight to a referral page. Start with the tariff comparison tool, then read the Octopus Go guide or the Intelligent Go guide if an EV is part of the decision.

If you do decide to switch after that, there is a step-by-step switching guide and the referral page is there once you know Octopus is the right fit.

Octopus Energy rates update automatically. Other supplier rates and public charging costs were correct as of July 2026 and may have changed.