Choosing the right tariff

Reviewed May 2026: this guide reflects Octopus's current public tariff pages, including fixed-only wording on Go, Intelligent Go and Cosy, Flux being unavailable to new switchers and postcode-based pricing. Use it to narrow the shortlist, then check your own postcode before switching.

Octopus has several tariffs because different homes use energy in very different ways. The right choice is less about finding the tariff with the loudest headline rate and more about matching the tariff to your equipment, meter setup and appetite for shifting usage.

A simple flat tariff can be the best answer for some homes. A smart tariff can be much better if you have an EV, battery, solar panels or electric heating. The important thing is to avoid choosing a tariff that needs behaviour or hardware you do not actually have.

Start with what you have

Your equipment narrows the decision quickly. Check the closest match first, then use the effort section further down as a sense check.

You have an electric vehicle

Your main Octopus options are Go and Intelligent Go.

Go is the simpler EV tariff. It gives a lower overnight rate from 00:30 to 05:30 and works with any EV and charger. At the time of writing, the off-peak unit rate shown by the local rate feed is 9.5p/kWh, but rates vary by region and can change for new fixed products. Check the current Octopus Go page before relying on a number.

Intelligent Go is more automated. It gives six whole-home cheap hours from 23:30 to 05:30 and can schedule compatible cars or chargers when Octopus chooses cheaper, greener charging slots. At the time of writing, the local rate feed shows 8.0p/kWh for the cheap rate, but eligibility, region and product version still matter. Check the current Intelligent Octopus Go page and confirm your car or charger is compatible.

Pick Go if you want a predictable overnight window and do not want compatibility checks to dominate the decision. Pick Intelligent Go if your hardware is eligible and you are happy to let the app schedule charging. Neither choice is automatic if most of your charging happens away from home.

You have solar panels

For solar households, the decision has two parts: what you pay for imported electricity and what you are paid for exported electricity.

Outgoing Octopus is the straightforward export option. It pays a flat export rate and is easier to understand. Agile Outgoing changes with wholesale prices and can suit homes with batteries that can export at better times. Octopus says Outgoing can only be paired with certain import tariffs, so check the current Outgoing page before assuming your preferred combination is allowed.

Flux used to be the neat solar-and-battery answer because it combined import and export around three daily periods. It is now unavailable to new switchers during volatile prices, so treat Flux as existing-customer context rather than the default recommendation for a new switch.

With a battery: compare Agile import, Outgoing or Agile Outgoing export and your battery automation. The best setup depends on whether you usually charge cheaply, export at better times or keep stored power for your own evening use.

Without a battery: a simple import tariff plus Outgoing may be easier than chasing half-hourly prices. Agile can still work if you can shift washing, dishwashing or other use into cheaper periods, but solar generation alone does not remove the evening import problem.

You have a heat pump or electric heating

Cosy is built for homes with heat pumps, electric boilers or electric radiators. Octopus describes it as a three-rate smart tariff with cheaper periods from 04:00 to 07:00, 13:00 to 16:00 and 22:00 to 00:00, plus a higher 16:00 to 19:00 peak.

Cosy suits homes that can pre-heat before the expensive early-evening period and stay comfortable afterwards. It is not automatically best for every heat-pump household. A poorly insulated home, a heating setup that needs steady power through the peak or a household that dislikes time bands may do better with a simpler tariff.

Check the current Cosy page and your postcode prices before switching. Do not judge it only by the cheap periods; the peak period matters just as much.

You have a battery but no solar

A standalone battery can still be useful with Octopus, but it is an optimisation project rather than a normal switch-and-forget setup.

Agile is often the tariff to examine first because it gives half-hourly prices and can reward automated charging during cheap or negative-price periods. It can also punish poor timing when peak prices rise. Octopus says Agile can spike up to 100p/kWh under Price Cap Protect, so the battery control matters.

Go or Intelligent Go can also make sense if you have an EV, because the overnight window may let you charge both the car and some household load. Without an EV, check the current tariff rules carefully before assuming an EV tariff is available.

You have no EV, solar, battery or heat pump

If your home is fairly ordinary, the shortlist is usually Flexible, Tracker or Agile.

Flexible is the calm option. One tariff structure, no half-hourly optimisation and no smart-tariff behaviour needed. It is often the sensible starting point if you want Octopus but do not want to manage energy around time bands.

Tracker changes price each day based on a published formula. It can be attractive when wholesale prices are lower, but Octopus’s own page warns that winter prices can rise sharply and Price Cap Protect still allows much higher maximum prices than the Ofgem cap. Treat it as transparent rather than risk-free.

Agile changes every half hour. It is best if you can avoid the expensive early-evening period and shift meaningful use into cheaper periods. Without automation, a battery or a naturally flexible routine, it can become more effort than it is worth.

How much effort do you want to put in?

Be honest about this. A technically better tariff can be the wrong choice if it depends on habits you will not keep.

I just want it to work: start with Flexible or a simple fixed tariff. You can still use Octopus’s app, referral credit and customer tools without turning your bills into a project.

I can set a routine and leave it: Go, Intelligent Go or Cosy may fit well if you have the right equipment. The tariff works best when the car, charger or heating pattern does the work quietly in the background.

I will check prices occasionally: Tracker can work if one daily price is enough information for you. It is less fiddly than Agile but still exposes you to market movement.

I am happy to automate: Agile with a battery, smart controls or a genuinely flexible routine offers the most room to optimise. It also asks the most of you when prices are volatile.

Check compatibility before you switch

Most Octopus smart tariffs need a smart meter that can send half-hourly readings. Some SMETS1 meters work and some do not. Octopus usually has to connect to the meter after you become a customer before the smart-tariff switch can complete.

EV tariffs also need an EV and, depending on the tariff, a compatible car or charger. Solar export needs the right export setup, usually including export metering and an export MPAN. Heat-pump and electric-heating tariffs have eligibility rules too.

This means the public tariff page is only the first check. The second check is your own Octopus account, postcode and equipment.

You can usually move later

One useful thing about Octopus is that you are not normally locked into one decision forever. Flexible, Agile and Tracker are generally easier to move between than fixed smart tariffs. Go, Intelligent Go and Cosy may be fixed products at the time you check them. The exact terms can change, so read the current tariff terms before treating a move as friction-free.

A sensible approach is to choose the tariff that fits your current household, monitor your first few bills and change course if the usage pattern does not match the theory.

Quick reference

Tariff	Best for	Effort level	Smart meter needed?
Flexible	Simple billing and low admin	None	No
Agile	Batteries, flexible routines and automation	High	Yes
Go	EV owners who want a simple overnight window	Low	Yes
Intelligent Go	EV owners with compatible hardware and smart scheduling	Low-Medium	Yes
Tracker	People who want daily wholesale-linked pricing and accept risk	Low-Medium	Yes
Flux	Existing solar and battery customers only while unavailable to new switchers	Low	Yes
Cosy	Heat pumps, electric boilers and electric radiators	Low-Medium	Yes

Still not sure? Use the tariff comparison tool to look at live regional rates. You can also try the tariff quiz for a more guided answer. If you decide Octopus is the right fit, the referral-code page explains how Matt’s Octopus referral link works before you start the switch.