Referral Plug · Tools
Octopus Energy savings calculator
Is switching worth it for you? This tool prices your region and usage at the 1 July to 30 September 2026 energy price cap and at Octopus Flexible, then adds the £50 referral credit, so you can see the honest first-year number before you decide.
The harsh truth first: since the energy crisis, every large supplier’s standard tariff sits within a few pounds of the Ofgem cap, and Octopus is no exception. Octopus prices Flexible Octopus a little below the cap (mostly through standing charges), so as of 16 July 2026, a typical dual-fuel household pays between £12 and £13 a year less on Octopus Flexible than at their regional cap rates. For a typical switcher, the £50 referral credit is the bigger half of the first-year benefit.
Octopus rates checked 16 July 2026 from the Octopus API. Cap rates: Ofgem, 1 July to 30 September 2026 (opens in new tab). Maintained by Seb Place.
Estimate your saving
Your rates at the 1 July to 30 September 2026 price cap vs Octopus Flexible, plus the £50 referral credit.
Enter your postcode or choose a region to see what switching would do to your bill.
Direct Debit rates including VAT. Price cap: Ofgem, 1 July to 30 September 2026. Octopus Flexible: Octopus Energy API, checked 16 July 2026. Estimates, not quotes: your actual usage decides your bill.
Typical-household comparison, region by region
Annual cost for Ofgem’s typical dual-fuel household (2,500 kWh electricity, 9,500 kWh gas), paying by Direct Debit, including VAT. Cap rates for 1 July to 30 September 2026; Octopus Flexible rates checked 16 July 2026.
| Region | Price cap | Octopus Flexible | Rate difference | First year with £50 credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern England | £1,651 | £1,638 | £12/yr | £62 |
| East Midlands | £1,611 | £1,598 | £13/yr | £63 |
| London | £1,642 | £1,630 | £13/yr | £63 |
| Merseyside and North Wales | £1,749 | £1,736 | £13/yr | £63 |
| West Midlands | £1,648 | £1,636 | £12/yr | £62 |
| North East England | £1,663 | £1,651 | £12/yr | £62 |
| North West England | £1,621 | £1,608 | £13/yr | £63 |
| Southern England | £1,661 | £1,648 | £13/yr | £63 |
| South East England | £1,672 | £1,659 | £13/yr | £63 |
| South Wales | £1,681 | £1,669 | £12/yr | £62 |
| South West England | £1,686 | £1,673 | £13/yr | £63 |
| Yorkshire | £1,665 | £1,652 | £13/yr | £63 |
| South Scotland | £1,674 | £1,661 | £13/yr | £63 |
| North Scotland | £1,664 | £1,652 | £13/yr | £63 |
Positive numbers mean Octopus Flexible works out cheaper than the cap. The first-year column adds the one-off £50 refer-a-friend bill credit to the rate difference; from year two the rate difference alone applies. Every column is rounded to the pound independently, so a difference can be £1 off the subtraction of the two rounded totals.
How this calculator works, and what it assumes
- Price cap rates come from Ofgem’s published regional rates (opens in new tab) for 1 July to 30 September 2026: Direct Debit, single-rate meters, including VAT. We refresh them each quarter when Ofgem announces new levels (the next announcement is expected around 27 August 2026).
- Octopus rates are Flexible Octopus (product VAR-22-11-01, their standard variable tariff) Direct Debit rates from the public Octopus Energy API (opens in new tab), re-fetched at every site build: at most a day old, last checked 16 July 2026.
- The maths: annual cost = kWh × unit rate + 365 × daily standing charge, per fuel, then summed and rounded to the pound. “Typical” usage is Ofgem’s 2026 medium household (2,500 kWh electricity, 9,500 kWh gas a year); low is 1,600 + 6,000, high is 3,800 + 14,000.
- The £50 credit is the Octopus refer-a-friend reward: bill credit applied after your first Direct Debit payment, £50 to each side. It is a one-off, so it counts in year one only.
- A number you may have seen elsewhere: Ofgem quotes this cap as £1,663 a year for a typical dual-fuel Direct Debit household on the 2026 consumption values. The £1,862 figure from the May announcement is the same cap at the older 2023 values, retired on 1 July 2026. Both describe identical rates.
- What this can’t tell you: it covers single-rate Direct Debit tariffs only, so Economy 7, prepayment and standard credit are out of scope; Octopus can reprice Flexible within a quarter (we re-fetch daily); fixed tariffs, from Octopus or others, can beat both columns; and your actual usage, not a typical profile, decides your real bill.
For what switching is actually like (timescales, credit landing, no supply interruption), see our Octopus Energy referral guide and Seb’s six-year Octopus review. Weighing Octopus against E.ON Next? There’s an honest comparison of both referral schemes.
Octopus savings calculator FAQ
Is Octopus Energy cheaper than the price cap?
Usually slightly, yes. Octopus prices its standard variable tariff, Flexible Octopus, at or just below the Ofgem cap in every region. As of 16 July 2026, a typical dual-fuel household pays between £12 and £13 a year less on Octopus Flexible than at their regional cap rates (1 July to 30 September 2026, Direct Debit). Most of the gap comes from standing charges rather than unit rates, so it is a modest saving: for a typical switcher the £50 referral credit is worth more than the first year's rate difference.How much will I save by switching to Octopus Energy?
For a typical dual-fuel Direct Debit household, roughly £62 to £63 in the first year: a £12 to £13 annual rate difference vs the price cap, plus the £50 referral bill credit. After year one the credit is gone, so the ongoing saving is the rate difference alone. Use the calculator above with your own region and usage for a personal estimate.Do I still get the £50 referral credit if Octopus prices match the cap?
Yes. The £50 is a refer-a-friend bill credit, not a tariff discount: it is applied after your first Direct Debit payment regardless of how Flexible Octopus compares with the cap that quarter. The person whose link you use gets £50 too. Full scheme details are on our Octopus Energy referral code page.Which region saves the most by switching to Octopus?
At current rates, Yorkshire: £13 a year vs the cap for a typical household, plus the £50 credit in year one. The smallest rate difference is in West Midlands, at £12 a year. The full 14-region table is on this page.What happens when the price cap changes in October 2026?
Ofgem announces the October to December cap around 27 August 2026, and Octopus normally reprices Flexible Octopus from the same date. We update this page's cap rates when Ofgem publishes them, and the Octopus rates refresh automatically from the API, so the comparison stays current through the change. The referral credit is unaffected by cap movements.Where do these numbers come from?
Cap rates are Ofgem's published regional unit rates and standing charges for 1 July to 30 September 2026 (Direct Debit, single-rate, including VAT). Octopus rates are Flexible Octopus Direct Debit rates from the public Octopus Energy API, checked 16 July 2026. Annual costs are your kWh times the unit rate plus 365 days of standing charge, per fuel. The methodology section above has sources and assumptions in full.Does this calculator work for Economy 7, prepayment or fixed tariffs?
No. It compares single-rate Direct Debit tariffs only: the standard setup for most UK households. Economy 7 (two-rate) meters, prepayment meters and standard credit (paying on receipt of bill) all have different cap levels, and fixed deals from Octopus or anyone else can beat both figures shown here. Treat the result as a guide to the variable-tariff comparison, not a whole-market quote.