On this page· 7 sections
🏆The Ranking
First, the disclosure that should sit above any “best supplier” page: this site earns a £50 referral credit when someone switches to Octopus Energy through our link. We rank Octopus first below, and you should weigh that with our interest in mind. What we can offer in return is that every figure links to an independent source, the method is written down, and the categories where Octopus does not win are stated as clearly as the ones where it does.
- 1Octopus Energy
Trustpilot 4.8/5 (800K+) · Which?: Recommended, 9 years running · Exit fees: None on variable; £50/fuel on 12M Fixed
- 2EDF Energy
Trustpilot 4.8/5 (221K) · Which?: Not recommended · Exit fees: Charged on fixes
- 3OVO Energy
Trustpilot 4.6/5 (270K) · Which?: Not recommended · Exit fees: Applies if >53 days left on a fix
- 4Utility Warehouse
Trustpilot ~4.6/5 (fewer reviews) · Which?: Featured for bundles, not energy alone · Exit fees: Charged on fixes
- 5E.ON Next
Trustpilot 4.5/5 (201K) · Which?: Not recommended · Exit fees: £25–£50 per fuel
- 6Scottish Power
Trustpilot 4.3/5 (124K) · Which?: Not recommended (62%) · Exit fees: £50 per fuel
- 7So Energy
Trustpilot ~4.2–4.4/5 · Which?: Featured in past surveys · Exit fees: Charged on fixes
- 8British Gas
Trustpilot Significantly lower · Which?: Not recommended · Exit fees: Charged on fixes
The order is driven by service evidence first, then exit fees, then tariff range, then what stands behind the green claim. Price is deliberately not a ranking factor, for a reason explained below: on standard tariffs it barely separates them.
📊Side by Side
| Supplier | Trustpilot | Which? status | Exit fees on fixes | Behind the green claim | Smart tariffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus Energy | 4.8/5 (800K+) | Recommended, 9 years running | None on variable; £50/fuel on 12M Fixed | 100% renewable-backed, ~4GW own generation | Agile, Tracker, Intelligent Go, Cosy, Flux + fixed |
| EDF Energy | 4.8/5 (221K) | Not recommended | Charged on fixes | 100% zero-carbon, mostly nuclear | EV and heat pump tariffs, narrower range |
| OVO Energy | 4.6/5 (270K) | Not recommended | Applies if >53 days left on a fix | ~2% renewable as standard; +£8/mo add-on | EV add-ons, limited dynamic tariffs |
| Utility Warehouse | ~4.6/5 (fewer reviews) | Featured for bundles, not energy alone | Charged on fixes | Standard fuel mix on most tariffs | None — bundle-led pricing |
| E.ON Next | 4.5/5 (201K) | Not recommended | £25–£50 per fuel | 100% renewable-backed (REGO) | Next Drive EV tariff, otherwise conventional |
| Scottish Power | 4.3/5 (124K) | Not recommended (62%) | £50 per fuel | ~29% renewable supply; 100% renewable own generation | EV tariff, otherwise conventional |
| So Energy | ~4.2–4.4/5 | Featured in past surveys | Charged on fixes | 100% renewable-backed (REGO) | Mostly simple fixed tariffs |
| British Gas | Significantly lower | Not recommended | Charged on fixes | Partial renewable mix | PeakSave, EV tariff; otherwise conventional |
Trustpilot figures as shown on each supplier's public profile at the time of our individual comparisons; Which? status from its most recent annual energy survey. Sources: Trustpilot, Which?.
🎯Best For…
4.8/5 from 800K+ reviews and nine consecutive Which? recommendations. EDF's 4.8 is the closest challenger, from about a quarter of the review base.
More →Intelligent Octopus Go: scheduled charging at ~7p/kWh against a 26.32p cap rate, with the widest car and charger compatibility list.
More →Outgoing at 12p/kWh export vs ~4.1p SEG elsewhere; Flux and Intelligent Flux for battery owners. Nobody else offers this range.
More →Cosy Octopus is the only mainstream tariff designed around heat-pump running patterns. EDF has a heat pump tariff but a narrower ecosystem.
More →Octopus's 12-month fix charges £50 per fuel to leave early, at the low end of the £25–£150 range elsewhere (E.ON Next's Next Pledge is lower at £25), and nothing in the final 49 days. Variable tariffs carry no exit fees.
More →Scottish Power generates 100% renewable power itself (though its supply mix is ~29%). Octopus backs its supply with ~4GW of own and contracted generation.
More →EDF's supply is zero-carbon, primarily nuclear. If carbon rather than renewables is your measure, it's a legitimate first choice.
More →UW's proposition is multi-service discounting. If you want one bill for energy, broadband and mobile and will accept a conventional tariff, it's the specialist.
More →It changes weekly and by region. No supplier reliably tops the fixed tables, Octopus included. Whoever you choose, check the exit fee — Octopus's 12-month fix charges £50 per fuel.
More →Octopus is app- and email-led and its phone queues lengthen at busy times. If you want to resolve everything by voice, British Gas or EDF's larger call operations may suit you better.
More →🔬How We Ranked
Service evidence first. Two independent measures: the Trustpilot score weighted by how many reviews sit behind it, and Which?'s annual survey, which suppliers can't buy into. A 4.8 from 800,000 reviews outranks a 4.8 from 220,000; a Which? Recommended badge outranks a near-miss.
Exit fees second. Because the cap makes standard tariffs near-identical, the fixed deal is where households actually choose — and exit fees decide whether a fix is a ceiling or a trap. Octopus charges none on its variable tariffs and £50 per fuel on its 12-month fix, at the low end of the £25–£150 range elsewhere. With forecasts now putting January at around £2,180 — roughly 27% above October — the cost of leaving a fix matters more this winter than most.
Tariff range third. The savings that dwarf a supplier switch — 7p EV charging, 12p export, heat-pump windows — only exist at suppliers that offer the tariffs. We credit breadth and penalise its absence.
Green credentials fourth, and sceptically. “100% renewable” on a REGO certificate is a paperwork claim available to anyone. We look at what a supplier generates or contracts itself, and we note where a supplier is honest about a low renewable share (OVO) rather than dressing it up.
Price deliberately excluded from the ranking, for the reasons in the next section — and because putting it in would have let us imply a saving from switching to a standard tariff that the cap doesn't allow.
💷On “Cheapest”
Ask “which supplier is cheapest” and the honest answer disappoints: on standard tariffs, none of them. The Ofgem cap sets the maximum for every large supplier's default tariff, and they all price at or a fraction under it — £1,723 a year for a typical household from October 2026. Move from British Gas's standard tariff to Octopus's Flexible and the bill barely moves.
Fixed deals do differ, and the cheapest on a given day could be any of a dozen names. But a fixed table is a snapshot: it changes weekly and by region, and a page that named a winner would be wrong by the time you read it. Use a comparison site for today's cheapest fix; use this page to decide whether the supplier behind it is somewhere you want to be locked in for a year — and what it costs to leave if not.
Where suppliers genuinely diverge on price is smart tariffs. Charging an EV at ~7p instead of 26.32p, exporting solar at 12p instead of 4.1p, running a heat pump on windows built for it — these are savings of hundreds of pounds a year that only exist at suppliers offering the tariff, and that is where Octopus's lead is real rather than rhetorical. Our savings calculator shows what they'd mean for your usage.
⚔️The Head-to-Heads
Each supplier above has a detailed comparison against Octopus, written for people currently with that supplier and wondering whether to move.
The UK's biggest legacy supplier against the biggest challenger.
Nuclear zero-carbon vs renewable generation; matched Trustpilot scores.
Third-largest supplier, £25–£50 exit fees per fuel.
Post-takeover OVO and its 2% renewable standard tariff.
Wind generation vs supply mix; £50 exit fees per fuel.
Bundled discounting against smart tariffs.
Two green suppliers, very different scale.
Prepay-only specialist against Octopus Smart Pay As You Go.
100% renewable specialist vs zero-carbon at scale; priced outside the cap.
What the transfer to Octopus meant and what to do now.
✅Verdict
Verdict: Octopus Energy is the best all-round supplier in 2026 on the independent evidence — with EDF the strongest alternative and Scottish Power the pick for own-generation purists.
The ranking rests on things you can check: the only Which? Recommended large supplier, the highest volume-weighted Trustpilot score, no exit fees on variable tariffs and a low £50-per-fuel fee on its 12-month fix, and a smart tariff range nobody else matches. It does not rest on price, because on standard tariffs the cap makes price a tie. If you want the cheapest fix on the day, use a comparison site; if you want a supplier whose fix is cheap to leave, the answer is above.
Still unsure? Is Octopus Energy any good takes the complaints seriously, and the full review scores each area. If you switch through our referral link, £50 free credit is applied once the switch completes — see how switching works.
Sources: Trustpilot — Octopus Energy · Which? — Octopus Energy review · Ofgem — energy price cap. Figures last checked September 2026.