Octopus Energy Home Energy (September 2026)
Overview
There is no single best choice: compare price, service, app and green-energy evidence separately.
About Octopus Energy and Home Energy
Who are Octopus Energy?
Octopus Energy was set up in 2015 and has grown to become the UK's largest domestic energy supplier. It has expanded through its own growth and by taking on customers from other suppliers. The company focuses on smart technology and green energy, offering a rewards scheme and installing smart home hardware.
Who are Home Energy?
Home Energy is a family-owned supplier that opened in 2017 and is one of the UK's smaller domestic suppliers. It focuses on clear pricing and helpful customer support, aiming to keep its variable rates below the Ofgem price cap.
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Tariffs and pricing
Home Energy currently provides the cheaper overall deal. Its Fair Variable Dual tariff is priced at £1,453 a year, which is £146 annually (or £12 a month) less than the Flexible Octopus tariff. Both options are standard variable plans featuring no fixed term and zero exit fees.
For households preferring price certainty, Octopus Energy offers the Octopus 12M Fixed August 2026 v6 at £1,642 a year. This plan requires a 12-month contract and includes a £100 exit fee. We do not currently have pricing data for any fixed tariffs from Home Energy this month.
Tariff options
Octopus Energy
Octopus Energy offers standard variable and fixed tariffs, alongside smart and specialist options for electric vehicle drivers, heat pump owners, and homes with solar panels.
Home Energy
Home Energy focuses on keeping things simple with a flexible standard variable tariff, rather than offering complex smart or specialist deals.
Customer reviews
Octopus Energy receives higher scores in customer reviews, maintaining a 4.8 out of 5 Trustpilot rating across 857,633 reviews, with 90% of respondents awarding it five stars. Home Energy holds a 4.1 out of 5 rating from a smaller sample of 873 reviews. Although 72% of Home Energy's ratings are five-star, 19% are one-star, representing a larger negative share compared to the 3% seen for Octopus Energy.
Feedback indicates that Octopus users frequently highlight polite staff and prompt replies, although a portion report delayed email correspondence. Home Energy customers similarly note helpful staff and quick responses, but some cite difficulties managing their direct debits.
In the annual Which? member survey, Octopus Energy achieved a customer score of 74. The supplier received 4 out of 5 for overall customer service, 3 out of 5 for value for money, 8 out of 15 for complaints, and 5 out of 10 for smart meters. It also scored 10 out of 10 for helping those who need it, alongside 4 out of 5 for both ease of contacting and clarity of statements. Comparable Which? data is not currently available for Home Energy.
App quality
Octopus Energy records higher mobile app ratings than Home Energy. On the App Store, the Octopus application scores 4.8 out of 5 based on 254,000 ratings. On Google Play, it holds a 4.3 out of 5 rating with over 1,000,000 installs. Both versions have received very recent updates.
Home Energy's applications show lower scores, though these stem from small sample sizes. Its iOS app scores 2.3 from 7 ratings, while the Google Play version scores 2.2 from 16 ratings. This limited volume makes direct comparison with Octopus Energy's larger user base difficult. Additionally, the Home Energy apps have not been updated in approximately six months.
Recent App Store feedback for Octopus Energy reflects mixed experiences; some users note app errors that were subsequently resolved, while others mention billing concerns. The limited recent reviews for Home Energy indicate frustration over missing functionality, such as the inability to amend direct debits within the app.
Service and support
Octopus Energy places 4th in the Citizens Advice rankings, achieving an overall score of 3.67 out of 5. The supplier reports an average call centre wait time of 1 minute 17 seconds and answers 86.1% of emails within two days. Furthermore, Octopus has formal vulnerability commitments registered with Citizens Advice.
Citizens Advice service data is not currently available for Home Energy. For payment and contact options, Octopus Energy accepts Direct Debit, Cash/Cheque, and Prepayment, operating its phone lines from 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 4pm on Fridays.
Complaints and performance
In the first quarter of 2026, Octopus Energy received 538 complaints for every 100,000 customers. The supplier resolved 43% of these by the end of the next working day, and 80% within eight weeks. Home Energy has no complaints data available, so we cannot compare the two suppliers directly.
Green energy comparison
Octopus Energy
Octopus Energy offers a 100% zero-carbon electricity mix. Based on Citizens Advice data, it supplies a mostly renewable mix, with some nuclear power. The company invests heavily in green energy, funding renewable generation projects and driving the rollout of heat pumps and solar panels. It has invested over £6 billion in renewable energy generation across 10 countries to help build a greener power grid. It also runs a specific tariff that gives customers cheaper electricity when their local wind turbine is spinning.
Home Energy
Home Energy supplies a mixed fuel source for its electricity. Its fuel mix is largely renewable energy and natural gas, with some nuclear power and a small amount of coal. The company states that its renewable share leads its shift towards sustainability, while natural gas ensures reliability. We did not identify a dedicated green tariff in Home Energy's current published domestic range when checked.
Our verdict
| If you care most about | Choose |
|---|---|
| The lowest annual cost on our assumptions | Home Energy |
There is no single best choice: compare price, service, app and green-energy evidence separately.
Use the decision table to match the available evidence to the factors that matter most to your household.
- Cheapest variable tariff at £1,598 / year
- 4.8 Trustpilot from 857,633 reviews
- Top-4 Citizens Advice ranking
- iOS app rated 4.8 out of 5
- 86% of emails answered within 2 days
- 12% of Google Play ratings are negative
- Cheapest variable tariff at £1,453 / year
- 4.1 Trustpilot from 873 reviews
- 19% of Trustpilot reviews are 1-star
- 63% of Google Play ratings are negative
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Octopus Energy or Home Energy?
On the stored annual-cost assumptions, Octopus Energy is £1,598 and Home Energy is £1,453. Home Energy is lower by about £146 a year.
Can Octopus Energy and Home Energy complaint rates be compared directly?
No direct complaint-rate winner is declared because Octopus Energy and Home Energy do not both have figures for the same stated reporting period.
Which supplier leads on customer service?
The supplied data does not support a like-for-like customer-service winner.
Which supplier has the better app evidence?
The supplied data does not support a like-for-like app winner.
Do tariff eligibility rules matter?
Yes. Specialist, time-of-use, EV, heat-pump and export tariffs can have equipment, meter or account requirements. Check the current supplier terms before applying.
Which supplier has the greener evidence?
The supplied data does not support a like-for-like green-energy winner. This row is based on published fuel-mix percentages.
Which is better overall, Octopus Energy or Home Energy?
There is no single overall winner in this repaired draft. Price, service, app and green-energy evidence are kept as separate choices in the decision table.
When was this comparison updated?
The structured source payload is for September 2026.
What changed this month
This month, Home Energy's iOS sampled reviews avg stars rose from 1 to 2, Octopus Energy's iOS app days since last update fell from 6 to 1, and Home Energy's play store net-positive % fell from -26.6 to -43.7. There were 27 other data changes this month — see the full changelog below for details.
Data changes this month (35)
Octopus Energy
- Trustpilot reviews837,814 → 857,633
- iOS app ratings count249,000 → 254,000
- iOS app days since last update6 → 1
- iOS sampled reviews avg stars2 → 1.67
- Play Store rating4.3956046 → 4.3669577
- Play Store ratings count47,091 → 47,238
- Play Store days since last update2 → 1
- Play Store positive ratings %85.5 → 84.5
- Play Store negative ratings %11 → 11.7
- Play Store neutral ratings %3.5 → 3.7
- Play Store net-positive %74.5 → 72.8
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,792.32 → £1,598.38
- Cheapest fixed tariff£1,841.19 → £1,641.76
- Cheapest tariff£1,792.32 → £1,598.38
- Tariff count3 → 2
- Fixed tariffs available2 → 1
Home Energy
- Trustpilot rating4 → 4.1
- Trustpilot reviews827 → 873
- Trustpilot 5-star %71 → 72
- Trustpilot 1-star %20 → 19
- Trustpilot positive reviews %75 → 76
- Trustpilot negative reviews %23 → 22
- Trustpilot net-positive %52 → 54
- iOS app days since last update158 → 188
- iOS sampled reviews avg stars1 → 2
- iOS sampled negative reviews3 → 2
- Play Store rating2.4 → 2.1875
- Play Store ratings count15 → 16
- Play Store days since last update159 → 189
- Play Store positive ratings %26.7 → 18.8
- Play Store negative ratings %53.3 → 62.5
- Play Store neutral ratings %20 → 18.8
- Play Store net-positive %-26.6 → -43.7
- Cheapest variable tariff£1,625.43 → £1,452.53
- Cheapest tariff£1,625.43 → £1,452.53
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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.