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Octopus Energy vs Outfox The Market (2024 Comparison)

Last updated: 10th October 2024

In this article, we will compare energy suppliers Octopus Energy and Outfox The Market to see which could be the best supplier for you to switch to.

We look at the price, tariffs, how their customers rate them, their green credentials and more to see how they measure up where it matters.

Our top rated supplier Octopus Energy is currently offering £50 credit to any new customer that uses our referral link. Click below to see why we rate them so highly and get your £50.

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Who is Outfox The Market?

Since its inception in the summer of 2017, Outfox The Market has emerged as a refreshing competitor within the UK energy market, striving to disrupt the stronghold of the Big 6. With an emphasis on renewable energy and superior customer service Outfox The Market has managed to accumulate a customer base of over 100,000.

Initially, they pioneered a unique billing methodology, introducing a monthly membership scheme for customers. However, they have recently transitioned to the standard pricing structure among the majority of energy providers.

Who are Octopus Energy?

Although not one of the UK’s biggest suppliers, Octopus Energy now also has around 5 million customers, considering they have only been around since 2016, that’s pretty impressive.

It invests heavily in renewable energy and focuses on supplying its customers with renewable energy at a fair price.

Octopus has also taken on customers of suppliers that have recently collapsed including Bulb, Avro Energy, Engie, Flow Energy, GB Energy Supply, Gen4U and Iresa.

Octopus Energy vs Outfox The Market: What’s the difference in price?

We compared Octopus Energy and Outfox The Market with a head-to-head comparison to see who offers the best value for money across all tariffs.

For each comparison, 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 East Midlands

Let’s see if Octopus Energy is cheaper than Outfox The Market or vice versa.

Outfox The Market

Outfox The Market offered us two tariffs on their website, one fixed tariff and one variable:

Tariff NameTariff DescriptionMonthly Cost
Fix’d DualThis is a 12-month fixed tariff with £50 exit fees.£133
Fox Standard DualPrices can go up and down over time. No exit fees.£145
Source

Octopus

We used the same details to get a price from Octopus Energy.

Here are the prices they offered:

Tariff NameTariff DescriptionMonthly Cost
Tracker TariffSmart tariff where prices change daily. No contract. No exit fees.*£116
OctopusFixed 12m12-month, fixed rate contract. No exit fees.£137
Flexible OctopusFlexible tariff where prices go up and down with the market. No contract.£144
*Using an average rate over previous months for both fuels. Only available to existing customers. Source.

Conclusion: Is Octopus cheaper than Outfox the Market? If you are happy to switch to the Tracker tariff, then Octopus are the cheaper supplier. If you would prefer a standard variable or fixed tariff, then Outfox The Market are slightly cheaper for these tariffs.

What’s the difference in tariff options?

Here we compare the tariffs which Octopus and Outfox The Market offer their newest customers.

Firstly, let us look at Outfox The Market’s options:

Outfox The Market

Fox Standard Dual

– No Exit Fees
– Your prices could go up or down over time
– No Tariff End Date
– 100% green electricity

Fix’d Dual

– Tariff ends in 12 months
– 100% green electricity
– £25 exit fee per fuel

Octopus

At this time, Octopus is offering three tariffs:

Flexible Octopus

– This is a variable rate tariff
– Offers 100% renewable electricity
– No exit fees

Octopus 12M Fixed

– This is a 12-month contract with unit prices and standing charges fixed for that time
– No exit fees
– 100% renewable electricity

Tracker Tariff

– Unit rates change daily
– 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)
Conclusion: Regarding tariffs, there isn’t much between these two suppliers! Both offer a fixed tariff with no exit fees and 100% renewable electricity as standard.

However, in our opinion, Octopus came out just ahead due to their innovative Tracker tariff as an additional option.

Who has better customer reviews?

We took a look at what customers are saying about Octopus Energy and Outfox The Market on Trustpilot to understand how these energy suppliers stack up in terms of service and customer interactions.

We picked Trustpilot for our comparison because it’s the go-to review site for getting the full scoop on what genuine customers think about companies.

Here is what we found:

  • Outfox The Market scores 4.6 out of 5 based on over 39,000 reviews (source)
  • Octopus score 4.8 out of 5 based on over 400,000 reviews (source)

11% of Outfox The Market customers gave them a 1-star rating on Trustpilot with 70% of reviewers giving them a 5-star review.

Octopus come off slightly better when being reviewed by their customers. With 89% of their customers giving them a 5-star excellent rating. Most customers state they always receive friendly service and their queries are quickly resolved.

Both companies respond to customer reviews.

Conclusion: When it comes to customer reviews, Octopus have a slight edge over Outfox The Market with 89% of their customers rating the service as ‘Excellent’.

Who has the better app?

We reviewed both supplier’s apps to see how they compared:

Outfox The Market has developed an app available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The iOS version of the app doesn’t have any reviews yet, and the last update was made back in May 2021. Judging by the screenshots, the app seems pretty straightforward, offering basic options like bill payments and updating personal details.

On the Android side, the app has been downloaded over 10,000 times but holds a rather disappointing rating of 2.6 out of 5, based on 91 reviews. A common theme among the feedback is that users find the app challenging to use, particularly when it comes to submitting meter readings.

Octopus Energy offers apps on both the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store, receiving widespread acclaim from users on both platforms. The iOS app boasts an impressive rating of 4.8 out of 5 from more than 130,000 reviews, while the Android version has a strong rating of 4.7 out of 5 from over 28,000 reviews.

These apps enable users to fully manage their accounts, including bill payments, usage monitoring, and submitting meter readings for those without smart meters.

A unique feature of the app is its support for ‘Savings Sessions.‘ Users can get notifications about when these sessions are set to occur, register to participate, and even track the amount of energy they save through the app.

Conclusion: This one is a clear victory for Octopus. They have a much better-rated app for both iOS and Android that appears to offer many more features than the Outfox The Market app.

Octopus vs Outfox The Market: Who has the better customer service?

On the Citizens Advice website, you can see how energy suppliers perform in key areas when it comes to customer service. Every quarter Citizens Advice updates these stats.

Below we have picked out the key stats for these two suppliers:

OctopusOutfox the Market
Average call centre wait time02:2801:53
Emails responded to with 2 days77.3%99.6%
Fewer complaints received2 out of 52 out of 5
Contact waiting time3 out of 54 out of 5
Customer commitments5 out of 55 out of 5
Opening hours9 am – 5 pm (4 pm on Fridays)8.30 am – 5 pm (9am – 2pm Saturday)
Source: Citizens Advice
Conclusion: When it comes to customer service, Outfox The Market performs better in almost every single area. They have lower call centre waiting times, faster email response times and receive fewer complaints. Outfox win this round!

What are the main differences between the two?

We’ve compared each supplier in detail across some key categories, here is a summary of how they performed:

AreaSummaryWinner
Tariff OptionsWhen it comes to tariff choices, this is very close, but Octopus just won due to the option of being on their innovative Tracker tariff.Octopus
PriceWhen it comes to price, if you want the overall cheapest, then Octopus win here. If you only want a standard fixed or variable tariff, however, then Outfox are cheaper.Outfox
Customer ReviewsBoth suppliers have good reviews overall, but Octopus has a higher score.Octopus
AppOctopus are clear winner in this round, offering more features and much better reviews.Octopus
Customer ServiceOutfox were the winners in almost every area when it comes to customer serviceOutfox

Is Octopus Energy better than Outfox The Market?

In our opinion, Octopus Energy are the better option if you are prepared to move onto an innovative tariff with a smart meter to get the cheapest rates. Despite not performing as well as Outfox in terms of customer service, they do have very good reviews.

On the other hand, if you would prefer a standard fixed or variable tariff and are not bothered about the quality and features of an energy suppliers app, then Outfox The Market may be the better option for you.

Our top rated supplier Octopus Energy is currently offering £50 credit to any new customer that uses our referral link. Click below to see why we rate them so highly and get your £50.

Read our review

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.

1 Comment
  1. Reply Avatar of charles michael elliott
    Charles Michael Elliott August 15, 2024 at 5:01 pm

    I am looking to change supplier from outfox the market, I do not have a smartmeter, and I am getting quotes for solar panel installation.
    Do I need to get smartmeter installed before changing supplier, and should I wait until solar panels are installed prior to change?

Leave a reply

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