Tracker tariff explained

Octopus Tracker is a smart tariff where your unit rates change every day with wholesale energy prices. It is simpler than Agile because there is one electricity price for the whole day and one gas price for the whole day, rather than 48 half-hourly electricity prices.

The short version: Tracker suits households that want wholesale-linked prices without half-hourly planning. It is less suitable if you need price certainty, cannot cope with temporary spikes, or would find daily bill changes stressful.

How Tracker works

Tracker has two parts:

• a daily unit rate for each kWh you use
• a daily standing charge

The unit rate follows a published formula. For electricity, Octopus uses the previous day’s N2EX GB Day-Ahead auction price. For gas, it uses the previous working day’s day-ahead or weekend price from Marex Spectron. Octopus then applies a regional formula to turn that wholesale price into the unit rate you pay.

That regional detail matters. The formula is not one national number, because network and supply costs vary across Great Britain. If you are comparing Tracker with Flexible, Agile or a fixed tariff, use your own region rather than a national average.

Octopus says Tracker is a 12-month fixed-term tariff. That does not mean the unit rates are fixed. It means the formula and the standing charge are set for your term, while the daily unit rates still move with the wholesale market.

What changed in 2026

Tracker is reviewed when the wider price-cap period changes. Octopus says customers who join or renew are put onto the latest Tracker formula, and the formula and standing charges can differ between versions.

The Tracker FAQs now show a formula for customers joining or renewing from 1 April 2026. They also say customers who joined before 1 April 2026 get the government Budget-related unit-rate reduction applied automatically. That makes another household’s screenshot especially weak evidence: two Tracker customers can be on different formula versions, regions or reduction treatment.

The useful comparison is not a national average. Check the current Tracker rate for your own region, then compare it with Flexible, a fix or a smart tariff that better matches your usage.

Ofgem’s July to September 2026 cap still matters as context, because it explains the standard variable tariff benchmark and why Octopus reviews Tracker around cap periods. It does not make Tracker a price-cap-protected default tariff. Ofgem caps unit rates and standing charges for standard variable tariffs; Tracker uses its own formula and its own much higher Price Cap Protect ceiling.

Price Cap Protect is not the Ofgem cap

Tracker has its own Price Cap Protect. Octopus currently says this caps the maximum daily Tracker unit rate at 100p/kWh for electricity and 30p/kWh for gas.

That protection is much higher than Ofgem’s standard variable tariff cap. It is there to stop extreme Tracker rates from going beyond Octopus’s stated ceiling, not to make Tracker behave like Flexible Octopus.

If a household could not afford a short period of much higher unit rates, Tracker may be the wrong choice even if it looks attractive on many normal days.

Tracker versus Agile

Tracker and Agile both follow wholesale prices, but they suit different habits.

Tracker gives one electricity price for the whole day. If tomorrow’s Tracker rate is low, the whole day is low. If it is high, the whole day is high. There is no special benefit from moving a washing machine from 4pm to 2am on the same Tracker day.

Agile changes every half hour. It can reward households that can move load into cheaper slots, especially EV charging, batteries or flexible appliance use. It can also punish peak-time use more sharply.

Tracker is the calmer option if you want some market exposure without managing half-hourly slots. Agile is the more active option if you can genuinely shift usage and are comfortable checking prices.

Tracker versus Flexible

Flexible Octopus is closer to the Ofgem price-cap world. Prices change less often and are easier to budget around. You may miss out when wholesale prices fall quickly, but you also avoid being exposed to daily market moves.

Tracker can do well when wholesale prices are low or falling. It can cost more when the wholesale market rises, especially during cold, low-wind or volatile periods. It is best thought of as a risk-and-reward tariff, not as an automatic saving.

Who Tracker may suit

Tracker may be worth considering if:

• you have a smart meter Octopus can read reliably
• you want one daily price rather than Agile’s 48 slots
• you can tolerate bills moving with the market
• you check prices often enough to spot expensive days
• you use both electricity and gas and want both to follow a transparent daily formula

It may be a poor fit if:

• you need predictable bills above all else
• a short wholesale spike would create stress or affordability problems
• you mainly want cheap overnight EV charging
• your smart meter readings are unreliable
• you would prefer a fixed-rate or price-cap-linked tariff for peace of mind

Smart meter requirements and billing evidence

You need a smart meter that Octopus can connect to. Octopus says Tracker needs either a second-generation SMETS2 meter or some first-generation SMETS1 meters, including Secure-branded meters it can connect to.

If you switch to Octopus first, expect a setup period while Octopus connects to your meter and receives the readings it needs. The current Octopus Tracker page says this generally takes around 14 days, though individual cases can vary.

Do not treat Tracker as ready until your online account confirms the smart-meter connection and Octopus has completed the tariff switch. If your meter is still in Economy 7 mode, Octopus says it may need to reconfigure the electricity meter to a single register before Tracker can work.

Tracker billing depends on Octopus meter data and tariff terms, not a third-party app estimate. The Tracker FAQs say Octopus tries to use actual consumption for each day, and can allocate consumption across days if data is missing. Keep manual readings, bills and any app or home-automation records as supporting evidence, but ask Octopus to explain the actual meter data and allocation method used for the bill.

Leaving Tracker

Octopus says there is no exit fee for leaving Tracker. The important catch is the rejoin rule. If you leave during the 12-month fixed term, you cannot rejoin Tracker for nine months.

If your term ends and you choose not to renew, Octopus says you do not have to wait nine months to rejoin later. Check the current Tracker FAQs before making a decision, because tariff versions and rules can change.

A practical way to decide

Start with your actual problem:

• if you want daily transparency without half-hourly planning, compare Tracker with Flexible
• if you have an EV, home battery or flexible load, compare Tracker with Agile, Go and Intelligent Octopus Go
• if you need stable monthly budgeting, check fixed and Flexible options before taking Tracker risk
• if your smart meter has missing readings, fix that before relying on Tracker or another smart tariff

You can use the tariff comparison tool to compare current local rates, then read the Agile guide and Go and Intelligent Go guide if your usage can move around the day.

If you decide Octopus is a good fit after checking the tariff details, the referral page explains how the Octopus referral link works before you start the switch.