Energy-Review.co.uk

Who is cheaper than British Gas? (2024)

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.

For many, Octopus Energy will be the cheapest, big-name supplier.
Get a quote and £50 credit when you switch using this link.

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 NameTariff NameGas Unit RateElectric Unit RateGas Standing ChargeElectric Standing Charge
Octopus EnergyOctopus 12M Fixed5.67p22.63p29.43p54.84p
British GasThe Fixed 12M6.09p23.77p23.26p40.46p
E.ON NextNext Fixed 12m5.74p23.35pp31.10p56p
OVO Energy1 Year Fixed6.05p21.41p31.49p56.90p
ScottishPowerFlexi Oct 20255.84p22.99p31.48p56.90p

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.

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 NameTariff DescriptionMonthly Cost
The Fixed One v33A fixed tariff for 1 year. Exit fee of £75 per fuel.£158.68
Standard Variable Tariff v16A variable tariff. No exit fees.£165.02

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 NameTariff DescriptionMonthly Cost
Octopus Tracker TariffA smart tariff where prices change daily£120*
Flexible OctopusA variable tariff. No exit fees.£127
Octopus Fixed 12mFixed 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.

Next, we will take a look and see if OVO are cheaper than British Gas:

Tariff NameTariff DescriptionMonthly Cost
1 Year FixedA fixed tariff for 1 year. Exit fee of £75 per fuel.£158
Simpler EnergyA 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.

Another contender is E.ON Next, let’s look and see if they are cheaper than British Gas:

Tariff NameTariff DescriptionMonthly Cost
Next Fixed 12m v6A fixed tariff for 1 year. Exit fee of £75 per fuel.£157.51
Next FlexA 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.

Finally, we’ll see if ScottishPower are cheaper than British Gas.

Tariff NameTariff DescriptionMonthly Cost
Help Beat Cancer Flexi Price Energy Feb 2025Fixed until 2025. £120 per fuel exit fee.£161.42
Standard VariableA 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.

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.

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 NameTrustpilot ScoreCitizensAdvice
British Gas4.22.9
Octopus Energy4.82.9
OVO4.53.3
E.ON Next4.43.1
ScottishPower4.33.3

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:

Rob
Rob

Hi, I'm Rob and I run Energy-Review.co.uk. I initially started this project 5 years ago 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 spent have 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.

3 Comments
  1. 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?

  2. 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.

  3. sign me up please

Leave a reply

Get £50 Credit from Octopus!Special offer for new customers

Beat the Price Cap!

Switch to Octopus through our link below and get £50 credit in your Octopus account.

Why Octopus?

  • Currently the cheapest supplier (Oct 2024)*
  • The highest-rated supplier on Trustpilot (4.8/5)

Click below to get a free quote in minutes and get your £50 credit.

Energy-Review.co.uk
Logo