Understanding Octopus tariffs

Octopus has more tariff choice than most suppliers. That is useful, but it can also make the first decision feel harder than it needs to be.

The simplest way to think about it is this: some Octopus tariffs are built for certainty, some are built around wholesale prices and some are built around shifting electricity use into cheaper times. The right answer depends less on the tariff name and more on your home, your technology and how much flexibility you genuinely have.

The three basic tariff types

Most Octopus options fit into one of three groups.

Standard variable tariffs move when wider energy prices and the Ofgem price cap change. Flexible Octopus is the main example. It is simple, familiar and does not need a smart meter, but it is not designed to reward shifting usage around the day. The July to September 2026 cap rise is useful context for Flexible-style tariffs, not a promise that every fixed or smart tariff follows the same movement.

Fixed tariffs lock the unit rates and standing charges for a set term. Octopus Go, Intelligent Octopus Go and Cosy are currently offered as fixed smart tariffs. They can be attractive if the cheap windows suit your home, but you should check the term, exit fee and eligibility before switching.

Wholesale-linked tariffs move more often. Agile changes electricity prices every half hour. Tracker changes unit rates daily using a published formula. These can be good when prices are favourable, but they are not a guarantee of lower bills every month.

Smart tariffs are not all the same

Octopus uses the phrase smart tariff for tariffs that rely on smart-meter data or smart scheduling. That does not mean every smart tariff suits every smart home.

• Agile suits households that can react to half-hourly prices, especially homes with batteries, EVs or flexible routines.
• Tracker suits households that want daily wholesale-linked prices without managing 48 electricity slots.
• Go suits EV drivers who want a fixed five-hour overnight cheap window and do not need Intelligent scheduling.
• Intelligent Octopus Go suits compatible EV or charger households that want smart scheduling plus a six-hour overnight cheap window.
• Cosy suits some heat-pump or electric-heating homes that can shift heating into its cheaper periods.
• Solar and battery households may also need to think about export tariffs, not just import tariffs.

A smart meter is only part of the question. Your meter also needs to send the readings Octopus requires, and some tariffs need specific cars, chargers, batteries or heating setups. Charger, inverter, vehicle and home-automation apps can help explain what happened, but Octopus smart-tariff billing depends on compatible smart meters, half-hourly readings and tariff terms rather than third-party app data.

Standing charges still matter

Every tariff has a daily standing charge as well as unit rates. The standing charge is the fixed amount you pay each day before using any energy.

Ofgem publishes average standing charges for each price-cap period, but those figures are benchmarks for default tariffs rather than a personalised Octopus quote. For 1 July to 30 September 2026, Ofgem’s Direct Debit averages are 57.19p/day for electricity and 29.04p/day for gas, including VAT. Your region, payment method, meter type and tariff can all change the numbers.

Standing charges are easy to ignore because they look small. Over a year, a 57p electricity standing charge is more than £200 before any electricity usage is counted. If you are a low-use household, standing charges can affect the decision more than the headline unit rate.

Regional prices and tariff codes

Energy prices vary by region. Great Britain is split into electricity and gas regions, and network costs differ between them. That is why a tariff can look slightly different in Scotland, London, Wales or the South West.

When you see a tariff code such as E-1R-AGILE-23-12-06-A, it is not just technical clutter. It tells Octopus and comparison tools which fuel, tariff version and region the rate belongs to. You do not need to memorise tariff codes, but you should avoid comparing a national average with a postcode-specific quote and treating them as the same thing.

How the Ofgem price cap fits in

The Ofgem price cap limits the unit rates and standing charges suppliers can charge on standard variable default tariffs. It is not a cap on your total bill. If you use more energy, you still pay more.

For 1 July to 30 September 2026, Ofgem says the typical dual-fuel Direct Debit cap rises to £1,862 a year under the old typical-use values. The average unit rates are 26.11p/kWh for electricity and 7.33p/kWh for gas, including VAT. From 1 July, Ofgem is also moving to lower Typical Domestic Consumption Values, which is why some headline cap comparisons can show a different annual figure. Treat the unit rates, standing charges and your own usage as the useful comparison, not the headline annual bill alone.

Tracker and Agile have their own protections and terms. For example, Tracker’s Price Cap Protect is a separate maximum daily unit-rate ceiling, not the Ofgem standard variable tariff cap. If price certainty matters, compare the tariff rules rather than assuming the phrase “cap” always means the same thing.

The current Octopus line-up in plain English

Flexible Octopus is the standard variable tariff. It is the easiest option to understand and does not require a smart meter. It suits households that want simplicity while they decide whether a smarter option is worth it.

Agile Octopus changes electricity prices every half hour. It can suit homes that can shift usage away from expensive periods or make use of cheap and negative-price slots.

Octopus Go is aimed at EV drivers. It gives a fixed cheap window from 00:30 to 05:30, currently shown in this site’s rate feed as 9.5p/kWh for the off-peak unit rate. Check the live Octopus Go page for your postcode before relying on the number.

Intelligent Octopus Go is the smart-charging EV tariff. It gives a 23:30 to 05:30 cheap window, currently shown here as 8.0p/kWh, and may add extra cheap slots when Octopus controls compatible charging. Check car, charger and smart-meter compatibility before planning around it.

Octopus Tracker changes unit rates daily using a published wholesale-linked formula. It can suit people who want market-linked prices without Agile’s half-hourly planning, but it needs tolerance for price movement.

Octopus Flux is the manual solar-and-battery import/export route. It is designed for homes with solar panels and a battery that can schedule import and export around the Flux time bands, so the practical check is still smart-meter data, export setup, MCS evidence and whether the battery routine really fits.

Intelligent Octopus Flux is the separate automated battery route. Octopus currently describes it as temporarily unavailable while prices are volatile, with standard Flux as the route to check in the meantime. If it reopens, do not assume it fits every battery; check the live eligibility flow, exact battery support, solar setup and your comfort with Octopus controlling the battery schedule.

Outgoing Octopus is an export tariff family for homes sending electricity back to the grid. Solar households often need to compare import and export together, because the best import tariff alone may not give the best overall result.

Cosy Octopus has cheaper electricity periods aimed at heating homes that can shift demand. It can work for some heat-pump households, but it needs the heating schedule and home comfort pattern to fit the cheap windows.

Snug Octopus is aimed at homes with traditional storage heaters and compatible smart-meter auxiliary load control. It is not a general-purpose cheap overnight tariff or a direct replacement for every Economy 7 setup.

A practical way to choose

Start with the constraint, not the brand name.

• If you want the simplest default option, compare Flexible with any fixed offers Octopus shows for your postcode.
• If you have an EV that you charge at home, compare Go and Intelligent Octopus Go first.
• If your EV, charger or smart meter is not compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go, do not assume you can get the smart slots. Go is the simpler EV route when the car is charged at home and Octopus can use compatible smart-meter readings.
• If you have solar or a battery, compare import and export together.
• If you have a heat pump, check whether your heating schedule can actually use Cosy-style cheaper periods.
• If you want wholesale exposure, compare Tracker and Agile against your ability to handle price movement.
• If budgeting certainty matters more than chasing cheap periods, be cautious with wholesale-linked tariffs.

Once you have a shortlist, use postcode-specific rates rather than national averages. The tariff comparison tool can help, and the choosing the right tariff guide gives a more step-by-step route through the decision.

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