Flexible Octopus review (September 2026)

Against the price cap in London

The Ofgem cap for a single-rate direct debit meter here is 26.35p per kWh plus 44.78p a day. Today this tariff averaged 0.00p below the cap unit rate.

This compares one day’s unit rates only. What you pay also depends on the standing charge and on when you use electricity, so treat this as an indication rather than a saving. Cap period 2026-07-01 to 2026-09-30.

Estimated annual cost

£810a year

2,500 kWh a year in London, at 26.35p per kWh plus 41.50p a day standing charge.

This tariff charges one rate at all times, so the figure is arithmetic rather than a forecast. It moves only when the rate does.

On an Economy 7 meter

Flexible Octopus is also sold on a two-register meter, charging 32.45p per kWh by day and 13.71p per kWh at night, plus 41.07p a day.

The seven off-peak hours vary by location and supplier, so check the schedule you were given rather than assuming midnight to 7am. Economy 7 only pays if enough of your usage — storage heating, hot water, an EV — falls inside them. See Ofgem’s Economy 7 guide. Octopus Energy quotes £986 a year for a 3,400 kWh Economy 7 household, which is a higher consumption figure than the single-rate one, so the two totals are not directly comparable.

Tariff code E-2R-VAR-22-11-01-C.

Gas

Today’s gas rate is 7.50p per kWh, plus 29.38p a day standing charge.

Gas is priced once per day with no time-of-use element, so there is nothing to shift and no cheaper hours to aim for. Tariff code G-1R-VAR-22-11-01-C.

What you need

• No smart meter needed, unlike every smart tariff on this site
• Economy 7 needs a meter with two registers, which not every home has
• Available across Great Britain, priced by distribution region

What drives what you pay

• The Ofgem cap, which moves quarterly and applies to everyone on a variable tariff
• How much you use, since there is no timing advantage to capture
• Your region, and whether you pay by direct debit
• On Economy 7, the share of your usage that falls in the night window

If you have an EV

An EV tariff may be simpler if most of your flexible electricity is car charging. Intelligent Octopus Go schedules compatible cars or chargers; Octopus Go and EDF Go Electric use fixed overnight windows.

If you have solar without a battery

The import tariff and the rate paid for exported electricity are separate decisions. A straightforward export tariff can be more useful than a peak-weighted battery tariff when generation is exported as it happens.

If you have solar and a home battery

A paired import/export tariff may fit better because a battery can charge in a cheap period and discharge or export in a more valuable one. The gross rate spread is not the same as profit after losses and degradation.

If you have a heat pump

A heat-pump tariff may align its cheaper periods with space and hot-water heating. Whether it wins depends on insulation, controls and how much heat can move away from expensive periods.

Agile Octopus

Agile can beat Flexible substantially if you shift usage, and lose to it if you cannot. Flexible is the safe option; Agile is the one with both upside and downside. The cap comparison on the Agile page shows where it currently sits.

Octopus Tracker

Tracker follows wholesale costs rather than the cap, so it can sit below Flexible for long stretches and above it during a spike. Flexible is steadier; Tracker is usually cheaper on average and occasionally worse.

Octopus 12M Fixed

A fix locks the rate for a year, which protects against a rising cap and costs you if the cap falls. Flexible does the opposite. Choose on whether you value certainty over the average outcome.