What Is Agile Octopus?
Agile Octopus is a time-of-use electricity tariff where your unit price changes every 30 minutes, directly tracking wholesale energy market prices. Unlike traditional tariffs where you pay the same rate around the clock — currently around 27p/kWh on the standard variable rate — Agile lets you take advantage of price fluctuations throughout the day.
Prices for the next day are published by 4pm, giving you a full evening to plan when to run energy-intensive appliances. This makes Agile ideal for anyone with flexibility in when they use electricity. The tariff has been available since February 2018, making it one of the longest-running smart tariffs in the UK.
To access Agile Octopus, you need to be an Octopus Energy customer with a compatible smart meter. You can switch to Octopus in about 5 minutes and then request the Agile tariff through your online account or the Octopus app.
How Half-Hourly Pricing Works
Every day, the UK electricity wholesale market sets prices for each half-hour slot of the following day. Agile Octopus passes these prices directly to you with a small markup for distribution and operational costs. This means your rate at 2am might be 8p/kWh while your rate at 5:30pm could be 45p/kWh — reflecting real supply and demand.
Typical rate ranges on Agile Octopus:
Plunge Pricing — Get Paid to Use Electricity
One of Agile's most remarkable features is plunge pricing. When the UK grid has excess renewable energy — typically during very windy nights or sunny weekends when demand is low — wholesale prices can go negative. On Agile, these negative prices are passed directly to you, meaning you're effectively paid to use electricity.
While plunge pricing events don't happen every day, they're becoming more frequent as the UK's renewable capacity grows. Octopus Energy is investing heavily in this transition with £15 billion committed to offshore wind and over 240 renewable energy projects across 10 countries. The more renewables on the grid, the more opportunities for negative pricing on Agile.
Smart Device Integration
Agile Octopus integrates with a wide range of smart home devices and platforms, allowing you to automate energy usage around the cheapest half-hour periods:
- IFTTT — create automations that trigger appliances when Agile prices drop below a threshold
- Home Assistant — full API integration for advanced home automation
- Smart plugs — schedule heavy-draw devices to run during the cheapest slots
- EV chargers — many smart chargers can read Agile prices and charge during the cheapest overnight periods
- Home batteries — charge from the grid when prices are low or negative, discharge when prices peak
For solar panel owners, Agile pairs well with battery systems. You can import cheap electricity overnight, use solar during the day, and export during peak pricing periods. Learn more in our solar and battery guide.
Who Is Agile Octopus Best For?
Great for
- ✓ Tech-savvy users who enjoy optimising
- ✓ Households with solar panels and/or batteries
- ✓ EV owners who can charge overnight
- ✓ People with flexible schedules
- ✓ Those with smart home automation
- ✓ Anyone who enjoys checking energy prices
Not ideal for
- ✗ Those wanting predictable, fixed bills
- ✗ Heavy daytime electricity users
- ✗ Households that can't shift usage patterns
- ✗ Those without a smart meter
If predictability matters more, consider Octopus Tracker (one price per day) or the standard Flexible tariff.
Smart Meter Requirement
Agile Octopus requires a SMETS2 smart meter or a SMETS1 Secure meter enrolled in the Data Communications Company (DCC) network. This is because the tariff needs half-hourly consumption data to bill you correctly at each period's rate.
If you don't have a smart meter, Octopus Energy will install one for free. You can request an installation through the app or website after switching. Once installed, you can switch to any smart tariff including Agile, Tracker, or Intelligent Go.