Octopus Energy British Gas (October 2026)
The main differences
Octopus leads on customer feedback and service scores, while British Gas has the lower tracker estimate with a £50 exit fee.
Octopus Energy may suit households that put customer feedback and service ratings first, while British Gas has the lower annual estimate shown. Octopus scores 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot against British Gas’s 4.4, and leads on Citizens Advice and Which? total scores. British Gas’s Cap Tracker Mar2028 v1 is estimated at £1,622 a year, compared with £1,664 for Flexible Octopus. The trade-off for that £42 annual difference is a £50 total exit fee on the tracker, while Flexible Octopus has none. Neither supplier wins on every important household need.
About Octopus Energy and British Gas
Who are Octopus Energy?
Octopus Energy began in 2016 with a technology-led approach. Its own technology has shaped how it runs energy accounts and develops products. It is part of Octopus Energy Group, whose work also covers renewable energy investment and technology used by other energy companies.
That wider group includes Octopus Energy Generation, which backs, builds and manages renewable energy projects. For households, Octopus combines conventional energy contracts with products that change how and when electricity is used. Its customer recognition includes awards for service and value, rather than simply recognition for its technology.
Products & services
Awards & recognition
Who is British Gas?
British Gas is part of Centrica, an energy and home-services group. Its household business combines energy supply with heating and home services under the British Gas and Hive brands. This gives it a different emphasis from a supplier focused mainly on energy accounts.
Its approach also includes smart electricity products for households moving towards electric heating, driving or battery storage. These sit alongside its established energy business, rather than replacing conventional contracts. British Gas received the Best Overall Improvement commendation in 2025, recognising an improvement in customer satisfaction rather than an overall service win.
Products & services
Awards & recognition
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Tariffs and pricing
British Gas’s Cap Tracker Mar2028 v1 has the lowest annual estimate shown at £1,622, compared with £1,664 for the variable Flexible Octopus tariff. That makes British Gas £42 cheaper a year, about £4 a month, but the tracker carries a £50 total exit fee, while Flexible Octopus has a £0 exit fee. Both tariffs have rates that can change, unlike the fixed deals.
Octopus Energy: Octopus 18M Fixed October 2026 v5 costs £1,831 a year, with an 18-month term and £150 total exit fee. That is £119 cheaper a year, about £10 a month, than the British Gas fixed deal shown. For a shorter commitment, Octopus 12M Fixed October 2026 v6 costs £1,886 a year, with a 12-month term and £100 total exit fee. It costs £55 more annually than the longer Octopus deal, but ends sooner and has a lower leaving fee.
British Gas: Fix and Fall Oct28 v5 costs £1,950 a year, with a 24-month term and £250 total exit fee. Standard Variable costs £1,672 a year and, unlike the tracker, has no exit fee. A fixed deal gives more certainty about energy prices, but does not fix the total bill. All the deals priced here use monthly Direct Debit.
Octopus Energy and British Gas tariff options
Octopus Energy tariffs
Flexible Octopus has variable rates. Octopus 12M Fixed October 2026 v6 fixes rates for 12 months, while Octopus 18M Fixed October 2026 v5 extends that protection to 18 months. The shorter deal ends sooner and has a lower total early-exit fee; the longer deal keeps rates fixed for longer. Fixed rates do not mean a fixed total bill.
Octopus Go suits home EV charging without automated vehicle integration. Intelligent Octopus Go instead schedules charging through a supported vehicle or charger and is currently offered with fixed rates. Agile Octopus changes prices every half-hour, exposing households to wholesale rises as well as falls. Its pricing formula and standing charge have a fixed term, but the term length is not stated here.[1][2]
Cosy Octopus supports heat pumps and other specified electric heating. Octopus Flux combines import and export for solar-and-battery homes, with customers setting their own battery schedule. Octopus smart import tariffs need half-hourly readings; their terms include a 30-day wait before changing to another smart tariff, and another 30-day wait after leaving for a standard tariff.[3]
Charge Pack is a separate battery-control feature, not a standalone tariff. It needs an approved operational battery, compatible import and export tariffs, the Octopus app, import and export smart-meter readings and half-hourly consent. Customers give Octopus ongoing control, connectivity and exclusive grid-flexibility rights for the battery, and cannot receive FiT payments from another provider. Octopus may ask for G98/G99 certification, a PV MCS certificate and FiT evidence. Sessions bring compensation, but their timing and number are not guaranteed; losing control access for more than 30 consecutive days can lead to removal.[4]
Eligibility
Have Octopus electricity supply; Have a connected SMETS2 or Secure SMETS1 meter giving half-hourly readings and accept the tariff terms.
Eligibility
Have Octopus supply and an operational air-source or ground-source heat pump, electric boiler or electric radiators; other heating systems need approval; Have a connected SMETS2 or Secure SMETS1 meter giving half-hourly readings and accept the tariff terms.
Eligibility
Have operational solar PV and a battery with Octopus import and export accounts; installation by Octopus is not required; Have an export MPAN and a connected SMETS2 or Secure SMETS1 meter recording import and export with half-hourly readings; Give Octopus your PV MCS certificate and distributor's G98/G99 certification; Permanently stop deemed FiT export payments and notify any other export payer; FiT generation payments remain unchanged; Set the battery's charging and discharge schedule yourself.
British Gas tariffs
Standard Variable and Cap Tracker Mar2028 v1 have variable rates, while Fix and Fall Oct28 v5 has a 24-month fixed term. These are different commitments: the fixed deal protects its rates for longer but has a higher total early-exit fee than the named cap-linked deal. Standard Variable avoids that early-exit commitment.
Heat Power gives overnight and afternoon lower-priced windows, while Charge Power targets existing battery owners. Store&Save has much narrower rules: it is for suitable homes without existing smart equipment getting their first battery through SunSave. It also hands battery scheduling to British Gas, unlike simply choosing when to charge a battery yourself.[5]
PeakSave Super Sunday suits households that can move electricity use into Sunday daytime. Export Premium, Export Extra and Export SEG pay for measured exports from qualifying generation. Premium and Extra need British Gas electricity supply, while the SEG scheme also accepts households whose electricity comes from another supplier.[6]
Eligibility
Have a home battery, with or without solar panels; Have British Gas supply, an online account and fixed Direct Debit payments; Have a smart meter sending half-hourly readings.
Eligibility
Start without an installed battery or other smart equipment such as solar panels or an EV charger, and get a new battery through SunSave. Have no export tariff or SEG, annual electricity use between 3,100 and 4,100 kWh, a smart meter giving half-hourly readings and fixed Direct Debit payments. Keep the battery connected and let British Gas manage charging and discharge.
Eligibility
British Gas must supply the property's electricity. Be in England, Scotland or Wales with solar PV, wind, hydro or anaerobic digestion up to 5 MW, or micro-CHP up to 50 kW. Have half-hourly export smart-meter readings, an MCS, Flexi-Orb or accreditation certificate, G98/G99 grid-connection proof and bank details. Developers and rent-a-roof participants are excluded.
Eligibility
British Gas must supply the property's electricity. Be in England, Scotland or Wales with solar PV, wind, hydro or anaerobic digestion up to 5 MW, or micro-CHP up to 50 kW. Have half-hourly export smart-meter readings, an MCS, Flexi-Orb or accreditation certificate, G98/G99 grid-connection proof and bank details. Developers and rent-a-roof participants are excluded.
Eligibility
Be in England, Scotland or Wales with solar PV, wind, hydro or anaerobic digestion up to 5 MW, or micro-CHP up to 50 kW. Have a smart meter recording half-hourly exports, an MCS, Flexi-Orb or accreditation certificate, G98/G99 grid-connection proof and bank details. British Gas electricity supply is not required for the general SEG scheme.
Customer reviews
Octopus Energy has a Trustpilot rating of 4.8 out of 5 from 880,701 reviews, compared with 4.4 from 357,334 for British Gas. Five-star reviews account for 90% of Octopus feedback and 66% of British Gas feedback, while the one-star shares are 3% and 20%. British Gas’s positive headline rating therefore sits alongside a substantially larger share of one-star reviews, which is worth weighing when choosing between them.
Octopus reviewers often praise helpful, polite staff who explain bills, tariff changes and account questions clearly. Positive feedback also mentions quick replies and being able to contact real people. Less positive experiences tend to concern complex requests, with reports of slower responses, delays to installations and account changes, and problems left unresolved.
Positive British Gas feedback often concerns visiting engineers and home services. Reviewers value polite staff, efficient boiler maintenance or repairs, clear booking messages and explanations of completed work, giving this feedback a different focus from Octopus’s account-support comments. Negative reviews account for 23% of British Gas feedback, against 4% for Octopus, so dissatisfaction is more common among its reviewers. British Gas replies to 99% of negative reviews, typically within 24 hours, while Octopus replies to 97%, typically within a week.
Octopus also leads on the Which? total score, with 74% for Octopus against 59% for British Gas. Customers rated overall service 4 out of 5 and 2 out of 5 respectively. In the separate Which? supplier assessment, help for those who need it received 10 out of 10 for Octopus and 8 for British Gas.
App ratings and feedback
Both Android apps have at least one million installs, but Octopus is better rated on both platforms. It scores 4.8 out of 5 on iOS against British Gas’s 4.5, and 4.3 on Android against 4.2. The smaller Android gap means the ratings give iPhone users a stronger reason to favour Octopus than Android users.
British Gas iPhone users report some specific frustrations alongside the positive overall iOS rating. These include missing electricity-use information: one user said gas information returned after a smart-meter replacement, but electricity usage remained absent. Another found separate gas and electricity logins awkward. These are individual experiences rather than problems reported by every customer.
Service and support
Average response: 1.2 min (April to June 2026)
Hours: Monday 9am-5pm, Tuesday 9am-5pm, Wednesday 9am-5pm, Thursday 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-4pm
Replies: 86.4% within 2 days (April to June 2026)
Hours: 7 days/week
Hours: Available
Octopus has the higher Citizens Advice service score for April to June 2026, at 3.67 out of 5 and ranked 5th, compared with British Gas’s 2.61 and rank of 14th. In the same period, Octopus’s average call centre wait was 1 minute 9 seconds, and 86.4% of emails received a response within two days. There are no current figures for those two British Gas measures, so a direct comparison of response speeds is not possible.
For routine phone enquiries, Octopus opens Monday to Thursday, 9am–5pm, and Friday, 9am–4pm. Its email team is available seven days a week, providing a weekend contact route, though not a promise of an immediate reply. British Gas also offers webchat, but a current average response time is not available.
For April to June 2026, Octopus reported 91% of smart meters working. Actual readings were used for 96.33% of smart-meter bills and 93.99% of traditional-meter bills. These billing figures show how often readings were used rather than estimates, not how many bills were error-free.
| Billing and metering | Octopus Energy — April to June 2026 | British Gas — April to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Smart meters working correctly | 91% | Not reported |
| Bills based on readings — smart meters | 96.33% | Not reported |
| Bills based on readings — traditional meters | 93.99% | Not reported |
Complaints and performance
In Q2 2026, Octopus Energy reported 476 complaints per 100,000 customer accounts, compared with 944 for British Gas. Octopus had the lower complaint rate for this quarter. These figures count complaints, not individual customers affected.
For Q2 2026, Octopus reported resolving 43% of complaints on the same or next working day, compared with 42.5% at British Gas. Within eight weeks, Octopus resolved 80%, while British Gas resolved 85.5%. The early resolution figures were close, but British Gas resolved a larger share within eight weeks. These measures show how quickly complaints were closed, not whether customers were happy with the outcome.
Citizens Advice recorded 21.4 complaints per 10,000 customers for Octopus and 68.8 for British Gas in April to June 2026. These were complaints to advice bodies and the Energy Ombudsman, not complaints received directly by the suppliers. Octopus had the lower rate on this separate measure, which uses a different count and customer base from the supplier-reported figures.
The complaint themes below have no stated reporting period, so they cannot be tied to Q2 2026 or compared as a same-period breakdown. British Gas supplied percentage shares for its themes; Octopus did not.
What their green electricity claims mean
Octopus Energy: renewable buying and generation
Octopus buys electricity from sources including wind, solar and hydro. Its supplier-wide electricity disclosure for 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 records renewables alongside nuclear power. Both contribute to its zero-carbon electricity mix, but nuclear power is not renewable.
Its purchasing includes contracts with more than 700 UK renewable generators. These Power Purchase Agreements, usually called PPAs, are agreements to buy a generator's electricity. Octopus also describes more than 250 community-energy purchase agreements, where local projects own and run generation and reinvest profits in local charitable or environmental work.
There is also a distinction between buying electricity and matching a named tariff's use with certificates. On Agile Octopus and Octopus Flux, Octopus says it matches every megawatt-hour used with a Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificate from British renewable generation. These certificates record renewable electricity put into the shared grid; they do not promise renewable electricity at every hour.
Beyond buying power, Octopus describes owned and adopted wind turbines in Yorkshire, South Wales and Lincolnshire. Separately, group business Octopus Energy Generation reported £8.5 billion of assets under management and 5.7 GW across its portfolio in May 2026. That is a managed investment portfolio, separate from the fuel allocation of a household tariff.
British Gas: renewables, nuclear and named tariff promises
The British Gas Trading Limited disclosure for 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 includes substantial renewable and nuclear shares, alongside gas, coal and other fuels. Nuclear and renewables together account for its reported 91% zero-carbon share. This is the trading company's overall electricity supply mix, not the mix of every household product.
The same disclosure separates product groups. Renewable Energy - Residential records 100% renewable electricity for that period, while All Other Products records 40% renewable and 47% nuclear electricity. Those labels describe different supply groups; the residential renewable figure does not apply to every British Gas contract.
For a specific current household promise, Heat Power uses REGO matching. British Gas buys certificates to match the electricity customers buy on that tariff with renewable generation. Electricity still reaches the home through the shared grid. This is an electricity commitment attached to Heat Power, separate from the wider company's fuel mix and from a household's gas use.
The annual disclosures cover different years and different named supplier scopes. They describe electricity supplied over those periods, not the live mix on the grid.
Our verdict
| If you care most about | Choose |
|---|---|
| The lowest annual cost shown | British Gas |
| Overall customer service | Octopus Energy |
| A well-rated mobile app | Octopus Energy |
Octopus leads on customer feedback and service scores, while British Gas has the lower tracker estimate with a £50 exit fee.
Octopus is the stronger choice for households that put customer feedback and service ratings first. Reviewers often value its clear explanations and helpful staff, while its higher Citizens Advice score and Which? customer-service rating add to that appeal. Its apps are also better rated on both platforms, although the Android gap is small. It is not without service frustrations: negative feedback includes complex account and installation problems. Flexible Octopus also costs more than the British Gas tracker shown.
British Gas may suit households that place more weight on the lower running-cost estimate than on the service-rating gap. Its tracker has changing rates and a £50 total exit fee, which matters against a £42 annual price difference if you may switch again soon. Octopus has the stronger customer and service scores, while British Gas offers the lower tracker estimate with that leaving fee. Neither is an overall winner: the choice rests on how much weight you give price and service.
- Higher Trustpilot, Citizens Advice and Which? total scores.
- Better-rated iOS and Android apps.
- Flexible Octopus has no exit fee.
- Lower-priced fixed deal shown, plus a shorter fixed alternative.
- Flexible Octopus costs £42 more a year than the British Gas tracker shown.
- Some reviewers report delays with complex requests and installations.
- Cap Tracker Mar2028 v1 has the lower annual estimate shown.
- Reviewers praise visiting engineers and clear appointment messages.
- Replies to 99% of negative Trustpilot reviews, typically within 24 hours.
- One-star reviews make up 20% of Trustpilot feedback.
- Lower Citizens Advice and Which? total scores.
- Cap Tracker Mar2028 v1 carries a £50 total exit fee.
Frequently asked questions
Does the British Gas tracker have an exit fee?
Yes. Cap Tracker Mar2028 v1 carries a £50 total dual-fuel exit fee, despite having rates that can change. Flexible Octopus has a £0 exit fee.
Can I choose a shorter Octopus fixed deal?
Octopus 12M Fixed October 2026 v6 has a 12-month term, an estimate of £1,886 a year and a £100 total exit fee. It costs £55 more annually than the 18-month deal shown, but ends sooner and has a lower leaving fee.
When can I phone Octopus about my account?
Octopus’s routine phone hours are Monday to Thursday, 9am–5pm, and Friday, 9am–4pm. Its email team is available seven days a week, but that does not promise an immediate response.
Do British Gas’s positive reviews mainly concern energy accounts?
Much of the positive feedback discussed here concerns engineers, boiler maintenance and repairs, including clear appointment messages and explanations. Its 4.4 out of 5 Trustpilot rating therefore reflects home-service experiences as well as energy-account feedback.
What problems do British Gas iPhone users mention?
Some iPhone users report missing electricity-use information. One described the issue after a smart-meter replacement, while another found separate gas and electricity logins awkward. These individual reports sit alongside an overall App Store rating of 4.5 out of 5.
How often are Octopus bills based on actual meter readings?
For April to June 2026, 96.33% of Octopus smart-meter bills and 93.99% of traditional-meter bills were based on actual readings. These percentages describe bills using readings rather than estimates, not the share of bills without errors.
What changed this month
This month, Octopus Energy's iOS app days since last update rose from 1 to 25, Octopus Energy's play store days since last update rose from 1 to 17, and Octopus Energy's iOS sampled positive reviews fell from 1 to 0. There were 39 other data changes this month — see the full changelog below for details.
Data changes this month (50)
Octopus Energy
- Trustpilot reviews857,633 → 880,701
- Trustpilot negative reviews replied %96 → 97
- iOS app ratings count254,000 → 263,000
- iOS app days since last update1 → 25
- iOS sampled reviews avg stars2.5 → no longer available
- iOS sampled positive reviews1 → 0
- iOS sampled negative reviews1 → 0
- Play Store rating4.3669577 → 4.328419
- Play Store ratings count47,238 → 47,449
- Play Store days since last update1 → 17
- Play Store positive ratings %84.5 → 83.2
- Play Store negative ratings %11.7 → 12.6
- Play Store neutral ratings %3.7 → 4.2
- Play Store net-positive %72.8 → 70.6
- Citizens Advice rank4 → 5
- Complaints per 10,000 customers21.3 → 21.4
- Avg call centre wait time77 → 69
- Emails responded within 2 days %86.1 → 86.4
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,598.38 → £1,664.22
- Cheapest fixed tariff£1,641.76 → £1,831.1
- Cheapest tariff£1,598.38 → £1,664.22
- Cheapest fixed tariff exit fee£100 → £150
- Cheapest fixed tariff term12 months → 18 months
- Tariffs with comparison prices2 → 3
- Fixed tariffs with comparison prices1 → 2
- Longest fixed term12 months → 18 months
British Gas
- Trustpilot rating4.5 → 4.4
- Trustpilot reviews353,681 → 357,334
- iOS app ratings count14,000 → 15,000
- iOS app days since last update15 → 29
- Play Store rating4.1812863 → 4.2234955
- Play Store ratings count13,701 → 13,984
- Play Store days since last update18 → 30
- Play Store positive ratings %80.1 → 81.6
- Play Store negative ratings %16.4 → 15.5
- Play Store neutral ratings %3.4 → 2.9
- Play Store net-positive %63.7 → 66.1
- Citizens Advice rank13 → 14
- Complaints per 10,000 customers68.7 → 68.8
- Avg call centre wait time51 → no longer available
- Avg social media response time55 → no longer available
- Emails responded within 2 days %97.9 → no longer available
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,550.78 → £1,622.18
- Cheapest fixed tariff£1,649.29 → £1,950.21
- Cheapest tariff£1,550.78 → £1,622.18
- Cheapest fixed tariff exit fee£200 → £250
- Cheapest fixed tariff term21 months → 24 months
- Tariffs with comparison prices5 → 3
- Fixed tariffs with comparison prices3 → 1
- Shortest fixed term21 months → 24 months
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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.