British Gas Home Energy (August 2026)
Overview
British Gas offers better apps and clearer service data, but Home Energy currently provides a cheaper variable tariff.
British Gas leads this comparison due to its highly rated mobile apps, published customer service metrics, and broader range of tariff options. However, Home Energy currently offers a cheaper variable tariff, which may suit households focused on lowering their immediate costs.
About British Gas and Home Energy
Who is British Gas?
British Gas is one of the UK's oldest energy brands, with roots going back to 1812. Today, it is owned by Centrica plc and is one of the UK's largest energy suppliers, supplying millions of homes. It also offers home services, which include boiler cover, heating repairs, and Hive smart home devices. A key feature for its energy customers is the PeakSave scheme, which gives people with smart meters half-price electricity on Sundays. The supplier recently won the Best Overall Improvement award at the Uswitch Energy Awards in 2025.
Who is Home Energy?
Home Energy is a family-owned company and a newer and smaller supplier in the UK market. It was set up to make energy simpler, focusing on clear communication and removing complicated jargon. The supplier offers straightforward energy tariffs, clear billing, and an easy-to-use app. Its main goal is to offer low-cost energy with good customer service and no hidden fees. Because of its size, it does not currently hold major industry awards.
- [1] En.wikipedia.org: one of the UK's oldest energy brands
- [2] Energy-review.co.uk: boiler cover, heating repairs, and Hive smart home devices
- [3] Uswitch.com: PeakSave scheme
- [4] Uswitch.com: Best Overall Improvement award
- [5] Homeenergy.co.uk: family-owned company
- [6] Utilitymatchmaker.co.uk: newer and smaller supplier
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Tariffs and pricing
The cheapest overall tariff in this comparison comes from Home Energy. Its Fair Variable Dual tariff costs £1,625 a year, featuring a 0-month term and a £0 exit fee. In contrast, British Gas's most affordable option is the Cap Tracker Plus Sep27 v1 at £1,745 a year. This is also a variable tariff with a 0-month term, but it carries a £50 exit fee. Between these two variable deals, Home Energy costs £119 a year—or £10 a month—less.
For households seeking price certainty, British Gas provides a fixed deal. The Fix and Fall Aug28 v2 tariff is priced at £1,834 a year, requiring a 24-month commitment and a £150 exit fee. Home Energy does not currently feature a fixed tariff in our pricing data.
British Gas and Home Energy: Tariff Options
British Gas tariffs
British Gas offers a range of energy plans for households. These include standard variable rates, fixed deals, and specialist smart options for people with electric vehicles, heat pumps, or home batteries.
Home Energy tariffs
Home Energy focuses on keeping things simple with a basic, flexible energy plan. We did not identify fixed deals, tracker tariffs or specialist electric-vehicle options in its current published domestic range when checked.
Customer reviews
British Gas holds a 4.4 out of 5 Trustpilot rating, drawn from a substantial 350,018 reviews. Home Energy maintains a 4.0 out of 5 score, though this is based on a much smaller sample of 827 reviews. Analysing the highest ratings, 71% of Home Energy's reviews award five stars, compared to 65% for British Gas. Both suppliers receive one-star ratings from 20% of their reviewers.
Reviewers frequently note that British Gas provides polite staff, efficient repairs, and prompt problem resolution. Home Energy customers similarly highlight friendly personnel who address issues quickly, although some report extended waits for statements and unhelpful responses during the switching process.
In the annual Which? energy survey, British Gas achieves an overall score of 59%. Its category results include 2 out of 5 for both customer service and value for money, 5 out of 15 for complaints handling, and 3 out of 10 for smart meters. Home Energy does not appear in the current Which? dataset.
App quality and features
British Gas provides highly rated mobile applications, scoring 4.5 out of 5 from 13,000 App Store ratings and 4.1 out of 5 from 13,409 Google Play ratings, alongside over 1,000,000 Android installs. Home Energy's apps score 2.3 on the App Store (7 ratings) and 2.4 on Google Play (15 ratings). Since Home Energy has fewer than 50 ratings on both platforms, the sample size is insufficient for a direct comparison.
Recent iOS feedback for Home Energy leans negative, with users noting limited functionality and billing issues. Both suppliers issue updates to expand features; British Gas recently enabled pre-payment customers to view their emergency credit status, while Home Energy introduced options to join the Priority Services Register and configure Direct Debits.
Service and support
In the latest Citizens Advice ratings, British Gas scores 2.61 out of 5, placing 13th overall. The supplier answers phone calls in an average of 51 seconds and responds to 97.9% of emails within two days. Additionally, it maintains formal vulnerability commitments registered with Citizens Advice.
Because Home Energy currently lacks independent data from Citizens Advice, a direct comparison of call wait times and email response speeds is not possible. For those needing to contact British Gas, telephone support operates on weekdays from 8am to 6pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm.
Complaints and performance
In the first quarter of 2026, British Gas received 1,122 complaints for every 100,000 customers. There is no complaints data available for Home Energy, so we cannot compare the two suppliers directly.
When dealing with issues, British Gas solved 54.2% of complaints by the end of the next working day. It also solved 85.3% of complaints within eight weeks.
Half of the complaints made to British Gas were about billing. Another 20% were about payments, and 11% were about credit management. Customer service and metering made up the rest of the top five reasons.
To help fix these issues, British Gas says it is improving its refund processes so customers get their money back faster. It is also recruiting more staff to support customers and investing in smart meters to fix problems with existing meters and displays.
Green Energy Comparison
British Gas
The British Gas electricity fuel mix is largely nuclear, with some fossil fuel and renewables. Centrica aims to be net zero by 2040 and to help its customers reach net zero by 2050. It supports this by selling and installing green technology such as heat pumps, solar panels, home batteries, and electric vehicle chargers. Through its PeakSave scheme, it also encourages customers to use electricity when demand is lower and the national grid is greener.
Home Energy
Home Energy's published 2024 fuel-mix data show electricity sourced mainly from gas, with coal and nuclear also contributing; renewable generation accounts for a very small share.[1]
Our verdict
| If you care most about | Choose |
|---|---|
| The lowest annual cost on our assumptions | Home Energy |
| A well-rated mobile app | British Gas |
British Gas has stronger app evidence and published service metrics, while Home Energy currently provides a cheaper variable tariff.
British Gas demonstrates stronger performance across available app and service data, making it a suitable choice for households prioritising account management tools and published support metrics. Conversely, Home Energy provides a cheaper variable tariff, which may appeal to customers primarily focused on lowering their estimated annual cost.
Households seeking established customer service metrics and highly rated digital tools may find British Gas to be the more appropriate option. If securing a cheaper variable tariff is the primary goal, Home Energy costs less upfront, though its lack of independent service data makes its support quality harder to verify.
- Highly rated mobile apps with regular updates
- Published independent customer service data
- Offers fixed and specialist smart tariffs
- More expensive standard variable tariff
- Low Which? scores for customer service and value
- Variable tariff is £119 a year cheaper
- High proportion of five-star Trustpilot reviews
- No exit fees on its cheapest tariff
- Low volume of app ratings limits quality assessment
- Lacks independent service data from Citizens Advice
- No fixed tariffs currently priced in our data
Frequently asked questions
Which supplier is better overall, British Gas or Home Energy?
British Gas wins our comparison because it has highly rated mobile apps, clear customer service metrics, and a wider range of tariffs. However, Home Energy offers a cheaper variable tariff, which may suit those looking to lower their bills.
Does British Gas or Home Energy offer a cheaper variable tariff?
Home Energy currently offers the cheaper variable tariff. Its Fair Variable Dual tariff costs £1,625 a year, which is £119 less than the cheapest variable option from British Gas.
How do customers rate British Gas and Home Energy?
British Gas has a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot from over 350,000 reviews. Home Energy scores 4.0 out of 5, though this is based on a much smaller sample of just over 800 reviews.
Are the British Gas and Home Energy apps easy to use?
British Gas has very strong app ratings, scoring 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store and 4.1 on Google Play. Home Energy's apps have very few ratings, making it hard to judge their quality, though recent reviews mention some bugs.
How fast does British Gas answer the phone?
According to Citizens Advice, British Gas takes an average of 51 seconds to answer customer calls. Home Energy does not currently have independent call wait time data available.
Should I switch to British Gas or Home Energy?
If you want highly rated apps and a supplier with established customer service data, British Gas is the stronger choice. If your main priority is finding a cheaper variable tariff, Home Energy currently costs less.
Does Home Energy offer a fixed energy deal?
We do not currently have pricing data for a fixed tariff from Home Energy. British Gas does offer a 24-month fixed deal.
Does Home Energy regularly update its mobile app?
Home Energy's most recent recorded app release added features such as Direct Debit setup, but its iOS app has not been updated in over 150 days.
Do these suppliers charge exit fees on their cheapest tariffs?
Home Energy does not charge an exit fee on its cheapest variable tariff. British Gas charges a £50 exit fee on its cheapest variable option.
Is British Gas open on weekends?
Yes, British Gas phone lines are open on Saturdays from 9am to 2pm, but they are closed on Sundays.
What changed this month
This month, British Gas's iOS sampled negative reviews fell from 2 to 0, British Gas's cheapest tariff term fell from 24 months to 0 months, and British Gas's variable tariffs available rose from 1 to 2. There were 27 other data changes this month — see the full changelog below for details.
Data changes this month (38)
British Gas
- Trustpilot reviews345,969 → 350,018
- iOS sampled reviews avg stars2 → no longer available
- iOS sampled negative reviews2 → 0
- Play Store rating4.0481653 → 4.0881915
- Play Store ratings count13,077 → 13,409
- Play Store days since last update14 → 10
- Play Store positive ratings %76.2 → 77.4
- Play Store negative ratings %20 → 19.1
- Play Store neutral ratings %3.7 → 3.4
- Play Store net-positive %56.2 → 58.3
- Avg social media response time55 → no longer available
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,804.81 → £1,744.71
- Cheapest fixed tariff£1,702.64 → £1,833.95
- Cheapest tariff£1,702.64 → £1,744.71
- Cheapest tariff exit fee£150 → £50
- Cheapest tariff term24 months → 0 months
- Fixed tariffs available2 → 1
- Variable tariffs available1 → 2
- Shortest fixed term14 months → 24 months
Home Energy
- Trustpilot reviews811 → 827
- Trustpilot 4-star %5 → 4
- Trustpilot 1-star %19 → 20
- Trustpilot negative reviews replied %92 → 95
- Trustpilot positive reviews %76 → 75
- Trustpilot negative reviews %22 → 23
- Trustpilot net-positive %54 → 52
- iOS app days since last update500 → 158
- iOS sampled reviews avg stars2 → 1
- iOS sampled negative reviews2 → 3
- Play Store rating2.357143 → 2.4
- Play Store ratings count14 → 15
- Play Store days since last update136 → 159
- Play Store positive ratings %28.6 → 26.7
- Play Store negative ratings %57.1 → 53.3
- Play Store neutral ratings %14.3 → 20
- Play Store net-positive %-28.5 → -26.6
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,507.25 → £1,625.43
- Cheapest tariff£1,507.25 → £1,625.43
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Written by
Rob Gibbs
Hi, I'm Rob, and I run Energy-Review.co.uk. I initially started this project in 2018 when I was looking to switch energy suppliers and found there wasn't a website that provided simple, data-backed reviews on all the suppliers available. Since then, I have spent a lot of time (too much, some may say!) looking at all publicly available data about each supplier and writing reviews using this information. These reviews are updated as regularly as possible, and any data is backed up by a source where necessary. I have also started writing guides on various energy-related topics, which hopefully you will find useful. If you find any issues, please use our contact form to let us know.