Last reviewed: 11th October 2024
British Gas, one of the UK’s leading energy providers, has long been the go-to choice for many. However, as budgets tighten, it is worth considering who is cheaper than British Gas and if there is a better supplier for you.
By switching suppliers, you could potentially save a substantial amount of money each year.
In this post, we’ll look at British Gas’s current charges and a few alternative suppliers to see who is cheaper.
We will also look at which suppliers are better than British Gas, in case price is not your only consideration.
Get a quote and £50 credit when you switch using this link.
Which suppliers are cheaper than British Gas right now?
Here is a quick comparison of which suppliers are cheaper than British Gas based on Unit Rate and Standing Charge for gas and electricity.
Supplier Name | Tariff Name | Gas Unit Rate | Electric Unit Rate | Gas Standing Charge | Electric Standing Charge |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Octopus Energy | Octopus 12M Fixed | 5.67p | 22.63p | 29.43p | 54.84p |
British Gas | The Fixed 12M | 6.09p | 23.77p | 23.26p | 40.46p |
E.ON Next | Next Fixed 12m | 5.74p | 23.35pp | 31.10p | 56p |
OVO Energy | 1 Year Fixed | 6.05p | 21.41p | 31.49p | 56.90p |
ScottishPower | Flexi Oct 2025 | 5.84p | 22.99p | 31.48p | 56.90p |
These prices are for a property in the East Midlands, using the average amount of gas and electricity for a 3-bedroom house, paying by direct debit and using a smart meter.
The table above gives a quick guide on which tariffs are currently cheaper than British Gas, but keep reading for more details on each supplier.
British Gas
As a benchmark, these are the current prices for customers on new British Gas tariffs. As the Energy Price cap restricts how much suppliers can charge, if you are an existing customer of British Gas’ Standard Variable Tariff, you are likely paying similar to the variable tariff below.
Again, these prices are for a property in the East Midlands, using the average amount of gas and electricity for a 3-bedroom house, paying by direct debit and using a smart meter.
To keep things simple, we have just picked the cheapest variable and cheapest fixed tariff currently available:
Tariff Name | Tariff Description | Monthly Cost |
---|---|---|
The Fixed One v33 | A fixed tariff for 1 year. Exit fee of £75 per fuel. | £158.68 |
Standard Variable Tariff v16 | A variable tariff. No exit fees. | £165.02 |
Octopus Energy
First, we’ll look at whether Octopus Energy are cheaper than British Gas. Octopus are a much smaller supplier than British Gas but have consistently been one of the cheaper suppliers in the past.
Here are the results from our quote search using the same details as for British Gas:
Tariff Name | Tariff Description | Monthly Cost |
---|---|---|
Octopus Tracker Tariff | A smart tariff where prices change daily | £120* |
Flexible Octopus | A variable tariff. No exit fees. | £127 |
Octopus Fixed 12m | Fixed tariff. No exit fees. | £135 |
Octopus now have a fixed tariff available to new customers. They also offer a ‘smart’ tariff called tracker where prices change daily. You can find more information in our Octopus Tracker Tariff Review.
*For this comparison, we have manually calculated the cost using the average price for the last 30 days.
As you can see, Octopus Energy would likely be a considerably cheaper option for you than British Gas if you are looking for both a fixed or variable tariff. If you are happy to switch to the Tracker tariff, then you could save even more per month.
OVO
Next, we will take a look and see if OVO are cheaper than British Gas:
Tariff Name | Tariff Description | Monthly Cost |
---|---|---|
1 Year Fixed | A fixed tariff for 1 year. Exit fee of £75 per fuel. | £158 |
Simpler Energy | A variable tariff. No exit fees. | £166 |
As you can see from the above, OVO’s fixed tariff is a tiny bit cheaper with their variable tariff slightly more expensive.
The difference is so close, it is difficult to say here that OVO are cheaper than British Gas, therefore if you are an existing British Gas customer, there is likely little point switching based on price alone.
E.ON Next
Another contender is E.ON Next, let’s look and see if they are cheaper than British Gas:
Tariff Name | Tariff Description | Monthly Cost |
---|---|---|
Next Fixed 12m v6 | A fixed tariff for 1 year. Exit fee of £75 per fuel. | £157.51 |
Next Flex | A variable tariff. No exit fees. | £165.01 |
E.ON Next are cheaper than British Gas when it comes to their 12-month fixed rate tariff but their variable tariffs are effectively the same price. Again, whether the price difference is enough for you to switch suppliers is a decision you will need to make.
ScottishPower
Finally, we’ll see if ScottishPower are cheaper than British Gas.
Tariff Name | Tariff Description | Monthly Cost |
---|---|---|
Help Beat Cancer Flexi Price Energy Feb 2025 | Fixed until 2025. £120 per fuel exit fee. | £161.42 |
Standard Variable | A variable tariff. No exit fees. | £165.02 |
ScottishPower are not cheaper than British Gas according to our comparison. Their fixed rate tariff is more expensive and their standard variable tariff costs about the same.
If you are only focused on price, then switching to Scottish Power from British Gas is likely not going to be a good idea.
Who is cheaper than British Gas?
From the main suppliers we have looked at here, the following suppliers could get you a cheaper deal than British Gas:
Clicking on the links above will take you straight to the suppliers get a quote page, so you can get a personalised quote.
As quotes will vary based on factors such as your usage and location, it is important to get a quote from each supplier yourself before deciding which one is cheaper for you.
It is also worth considering any early exit fees you may have to pay by leaving your existing deal. If you are on a variable tariff, you will likely not have an Exit Fee to pay, but if you are on a Fixed tariff, then you may.
Who is better than British Gas?
When switching suppliers, price is not the only factor to consider. Based on Trustpilot scores and scores from CitizensAdvice, we have put the table below showing which suppliers could be considered to be better than British Gas:
Supplier Name | Trustpilot Score | CitizensAdvice |
---|---|---|
British Gas | 4.2 | 2.9 |
Octopus Energy | 4.8 | 2.9 |
OVO | 4.5 | 3.3 |
E.ON Next | 4.4 | 3.1 |
ScottishPower | 4.3 | 3.3 |
From this, you can see that Octopus Energy and ScottishPower are the top two picks that are better than British Gas. The other suppliers mentioned are also better for customer reviews and customer service.
It is important to remember that there other factors you can compare too, like the usability of each supplier’s apps, how green their energy is, customer service response times and their complaints record. We have various guides on our site that look at this in more detail for each supplier.
You can find some key ones below:
Hi, Harry, I am with British Gas. I use 2 kWh per day but I think I can get it lower than that. More than half my bill is the standing charge. I think it is 60p per day. Which company would give me a better deal?
hi harry.i am with eon next don’t know why my electric is an extra £40 a month i was paying £150 monthly hust put it up to £170.just my wife and i in small 2 bedroom bungalow.can you help.thanks daniel fitzgerald.
sign me up please