Lasted Updated: 21st March 2025
Two of the biggest energy suppliers currently are Octopus Energy and E.ON Next. In this article, we will compare the two, looking at which one is better in terms of tariffs, prices, customer service, and reviews.
You can use the links below to skip to a particular section or scroll down to read our in-depth comparison in full.
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Who is E.ON Next?
E.ON Next is the latest part of the EON group. Their primary focus is to supply renewable energy to customers across the UK.
Essentially, E.ON Next was E.ON’s answer when the energy market saw several new suppliers using technology and other resources in order to drive down prices.
E.ON Next was created in 2020 and took on previous Npower customers, which E.ON brought out in 2019.
Who are Octopus Energy?
Octopus Energy is an energy provider that supplies renewable energy. Established in 2016 and part of the wider Octopus Group of companies, they are the largest investor in the UK solar industry.
In addition, Octopus Energy also invests in wind generation, energy through the anaerobic digestion of plants, and rapid response gas generation.
Octopus now has over two million customers across the UK and has won several awards, including the Uswitch Supplier of the Year and the Which? Energy Supplier of the year 2025.
Octopus has also taken on customers from recently collapsed suppliers, including Bulb and Avro Energy.
What’s the difference in tariff options?
E.ON Next
E.ON Next currently offers one variable tariff and three fixed tariffs:
Next Pledge Tracker
– As the price can change, you are not locked into a contract and so are free to switch to a different tariff or supplier at any time.
– This tariff doesn’t appear to require a smart meter and also comes with a discount if you pay via direct debit.
Next Fixed 16m
– The cost of this security however is a £50 exit fee, per fuel. So £100 if you want to move away your gas and electricity before the fixed term is up.
– This tariff also requires a smart meter to be already installed or for you to be happy to have one installed if not.
Next Fixed 24m
– Firstly, your contract is for 2 years
– Secondly, you are charged an exit fee of £100 per fuel. So £200 in total if you are a duel fuel customer.
E.ON Next Pledge Tracker 12m
– Prices are updated automatically every 3 months
– Guaranteed to be 3% lower than the price cap
– Need to pay monthly by Direct Debit
– Need to have a smart meter or else have one installed
– 100% renewable electricity
– £0 exit fee per fuel
Next Gust
– 100% renewable electricity generated by assets in the UK.
– Exclusive home energy tech discounts.
– Discount if you pay by Direct Debit.
Octopus
Currently, Octopus Energy is only offering two tariffs to new customers:
Flexible Octopus
– Offers 100% renewable electricity
– No exit fees
Octopus 14M Fixed
– No exit fees
– Only available to existing customers
Tracker Tariff
– No exit fees
– Only available with a smart meter
– Not available on signing up – see below for more details
– Unit rate is capped at 100p/kWh for electricity and 30p/kWh for gas (including VAT)
Octopus vs E.ON Next: Is Octopus cheaper than E.On Next?
We ran a like-for-like comparison directly on each supplier’s website to see the prices they offered for the abovementioned tariffs.
We used the following details:
- Dual Fuel supply
- Standard Meter
- Medium usage (3-bedroom house with four occupants)
- 2,900 kWh of electricity and 12,000 kWh of gas
- Postcode in the East Midlands
It is important to note that your actual quote will likely be different, as changing each aspect of the above criteria will result in a different amount quoted.
Let’s look at how they compare and see if Octopus Energy is cheaper than E.ON Next or is E.On cheaper than Octopus?
E.ON Next
On E.ON Next’s website, we were offered these prices:
| Tariff Name | Tariff Description | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Next Fixed 16m | 16 month, fixed contract. A smart meter is needed. £50 exit fee per fuel. | £142 |
| Next Fixed 24M | 2 year, fixed contract. A smart meter is needed. £100 exit fee per fuel. | £148 |
| Next Fixed 12M | 1 year, fixed contract. A smart meter is needed. £50 exit fee per fuel. | £151 |
| Next Gust | 1-year contract. A smart meter is needed. £50 exit fee per fuel. 100% renewable electricity generated by assets in the UK. | £151 |
| Next Pledge Tracker 12m | Flexible tariff where prices go up and down with the market. No contract. | £153 |
Octopus
We also looked at the Octopus Energy website to get a quote based on the same details above:
| Tariff Name | Tariff Description | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tracker Tariff | Smart tariff where prices change daily. No contract. No exit fees.* | £123 |
| OctopusFixed 14m | 14-month, fixed rate contract. No exit fees. | £143 |
| Flexible Octopus | Flexible tariff where prices go up and down with the market. No contract. | £146 |
The tracker tariff is only available to existing customers, but you can sign up on the flexible tariff above and then switch straight to the tracker. You can find out more in our Tracker Tariff article here.
Is Octopus still the cheapest supplier?
Yes, as of March 2025, Octopus Energy remains the cheapest supplier for most people if they switch to their Tracker tariff. However, the most affordable option varies depending on individual usage and regional rates, making it essential to compare tariffs tailored to your specific energy needs.
This makes Octopus Energy the stand-out value-for-money supplier.
Octopus wins on value for money.
Who offers the greenest energy?
Renewable energy and sustainability are at the heart of both of these suppliers’ offerings.
Let’s take a look to see how they compare in this area:
E.ON Next
E.ON next advertise heavily that 100% of the electricity they generate is from renewable sources. This means that the electricity their customers use is sourced from their own renewable energy generation plants, supply agreements with independent renewable energy wind and solar plants, and purchase renewable electricity certificates.
On their website, E.ON Next states that they generate enough electricity at their biomass plant to supply 100,000 homes across the UK. While green gas is not mentioned at all on the one tariff on offer, we understand that E.ON Next has invested in green gas certificates for their greenest tariffs (not currently on offer).
Octopus
Just like E.ON Next, Octopus put their green energy credentials at the forefront of its offering. They offer 100% renewable electricity on all tariffs as standard. Much of this they generate at their own plants, and they invest heavily in the production of renewable electricity and green gas from biomass plants.
Octopus’s Supergreen customers also receive a carbon-neutral gas supply, which is offset by Octopus’s partnership with Renewable World.
Octopus Energy vs E.ON Next: Who has better customer reviews?
Trustpilot is the most reliable website to compare 100,000’s of genuine customer reviews. Here is our comparison based on the information available:
- E.ON Next scored 4.5 out of 5 based on over 155,000 reviews (source)
- Octopus scored 4.8 out of 5 based on over 550,000 reviews (source)
We have to assume the lower number of E.ON Next reviews is due to them only being around since 2020 as there is a significant difference.
Overall, 73% of E.ON Next customers rate them as ‘Excellent’. At the other end of the scale, 10% rated them as bad, and the additional 17% fell somewhere in between.
In the case of Octopus, 90% of their customers rate them as excellent, and just 3% rated them as bad. Leaving just 7% of customers somewhere between.
Both companies respond to customer reviews, both good and bad.
Both companies receive a high number of positive reviews. However, in the case of E.ON Next, when customers feel let down is the time it takes to answer the phone. Some customers state they have had to resort to messaging on Twitter to get a reply. It’s also clear that their customer service agents are a credit to them, with many of them being personally thanked on Trustpilot.
Similarly, Octopus customers more often state that the agent they spoke to was helpful and resolved their queries. There are also comments about switching is easy and that they are always clear and efficient when it comes to communications.
Who has the better website and app?
We tried out both E.ON Next and Octopus’s websites. Both are really well laid out, and we had no trouble finding our way around. It’s possible to view tariffs, bills, input meter readings and update any personal details.
You can download apps for both E.ON Next and Octopus Energy onto a smartphone or tablet. These apps have been designed for easy account management, where you can check your usage, bills and tariffs.
In Octopus’s case, over 150,000 customers rank their app well at 4.8 out of 5 stars. Mainly due to the app’s functionality and reliability.
The E.ON Next App is rated 4.8 out of 5 too, but this time from only 36,000 reviews, proving that they also have developed a well-functioning and user-friendly app.
Who has the better customer service?
We checked data on the Citizens Advice website to compare information on the customer service offered by each supplier. We believe they offer the most unbiased view based purely on facts obtained from Ofgem and the suppliers directly.
| Octopus | E.ON Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Average call centre wait time | 02:44 | 02:41 |
| Emails responded to with 2 days | 79.9% | 80.2% |
| Fewer complaints received | 3/5 | 2/5 |
| Contact waiting time | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Customer commitments | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Opening hours | 9 am – 5 pm (4 pm Friday) | 8 am – 8 pm (8 am – 6 pm Saturday) |
Due to this being so close, this round is a tie between Octopus and E.ON Next.
Which supplier has fewer complaints?
We looked at the complaint data each energy provider openly provides. We’ve looked at the latest available data, which is Q2 2024 for Octopus and Q4 2024 for E.ON Next.
We have summarised the data in the table below:
| Octopus Energy | E.ON Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Complaints per 100,000 customers | 1,598 | 959 |
| Resolved next working day | 71% | 60% |
| Resolved in 8 weeks | 87% | 92% |
E.On Next wins when it comes to complaints.
What are the main differences between the two?
These two suppliers have offerings that are similar to each other. They both focus on green energy generation, offer similar tariffs and similar performance in customer service. There are some important differences between the two, however.
Here is a recap of how they measured up in each area:
| Area | Summary | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Tariff Options | Octopus offers more tariff options including the innovative Tracker tariff, so won here. | Octopus |
| Price | Octopus Energy had fewer complaints for the quarter we compared despite being slower to resolve them, but they still won here. | Octopus |
| Greenest Energy | Both Octopus and E.ON Next were evenly matched when we compared their green credentials | Draw |
| Customer Reviews | Octopus had the best customer reviews on Trustpilot, so wins this one. | Octopus |
| Website/App | E.ON Next wins when it comes to customer service. They were faster on emails and phones. | Octopus |
| Customer Service | There was very little between the two suppliers when it came to customer service. | Draw |
| Complaints | E.On Next had fewer complaints and resolved more within 8 weeks. | E.On Next |
Is Octopus Energy better than E.ON Next?
This head-to-head comparison was close, but Octopus Energy won the battle, coming out in front in four categories, with E.ON Next only winning two.
If you’d like to switch from E.ON Next to Octopus, you can do so using our Octopus refer a friend.
Want to know even more about each supplier? You can find out more in our Octopus Energy review and E.ON Next review.
Just want to point out an error in the conclusion of the fewer complaints. The conclusion stated that Octopus resolve more complaints next day and in eight weeks, however the stats presented say that Eon resolve more in eight weeks at 92% than Octopus at 87%. Given you have made the review mainly about stats I would have hoped more checking before publishing. It begs the question are all the other stats correct?
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It looks like we may have updated the table, but not the conclusion. We have corrected this now.
I am a very heavy electricity user living off the gas main. I have solar panels (on FIT and deemed export tariff so not interested in exporting electricity), an AC connected battery which I can charge up at off peak rates in addition to storing excess solar generation, heat pump and an all electric car which I charge at night.
The review would be more comprehensive if it also considered off peak users. I have recently switched to Eon Next Drive V3 tariff which is cheaper then anything Octopus can offer me at the moment. Over 85% of my annual consumption is off peak and with 7 hours of off peak electricity at 6.9p / kWh. Octopus Flex tariff only gives 3 hours cheap at 13.85 p / kWh and day rates which are cheaper but that are countered by a peak rate which is dearer. Overall much dearer for me.
At the moment Eon Next Drive is the best tariff for me and I’m very pleased with the customer service from Eon Next.
Please revise this review as it is incomplete without Economy 7 night rate.
Many homes rely on night rate heat storage or in some cases, battery storage for daytime use when solar is less effective in Winter.
I have been with Octopus for 4 years and am looking for cheaper Economy 7 rate for battery storage of all daytime consumption (99%) not the typical 40-50 E7 usage.
Please revise this review as it is incomplete without Economy 7 night rate.
Many homes rely on night rate heat storage or in some cases, battery storage for daytime use when solar is less effective in Winter.
I have been with Octopus for 4 years and am looking for cheaper Economy 7 rate for battery storage of all daytime consumption (99%) not the typical 40-50 E7 usage.