What Is Octopus Tracker?
Octopus Tracker is what Octopus Energy calls “Britain's most transparent energy tariff”. Rather than paying a fixed rate that's been marked up to cover supplier risk, Tracker passes the wholesale energy market price directly to you on a daily basis. When wholesale prices fall, your bills fall. When they rise, your bills rise — but with a crucial safety net.
Unlike the standard Flexible Octopus tariff (currently around 27p/kWh for electricity and 6p/kWh for gas), Tracker reflects what energy actually costs on the open market each day. Over time, this typically works out cheaper because you're not paying a risk premium for the supplier to guarantee a fixed rate.
Tracker covers both electricity and gas — one of its advantages over Agile Octopus which is electricity-only. You can switch to Octopus in about 5 minutes and then request Tracker through the app.
How Daily Pricing Works
Each day, Tracker sets one price for electricity and one for gas based on wholesale market rates. This price applies for the full 24-hour period from midnight to midnight. Unlike Agile's half-hourly pricing, you don't need to time your energy usage — your rate is the same whether you use electricity at 3am or 3pm.
The daily rate is calculated from the day-ahead wholesale market price plus a fixed margin for distribution, network costs, and Octopus's operating costs. This formula is published openly, so anyone can verify the maths. This transparency is why Octopus calls it Britain's most transparent tariff.
Prices tend to be lowest during periods of high renewable generation (windy and sunny days) and highest during cold, still winter days when demand is high and wind generation is low. Over a full year, many Tracker customers pay less than they would on the standard variable rate.
Built-in Price Caps
One of Tracker's key safety features is its built-in price caps. No matter what happens in the wholesale market, your Tracker rate will never exceed:
These caps sit well above normal wholesale prices, so they rarely come into play. They exist as a safety net for extreme market events — like the energy crisis of 2022 — giving you the benefit of wholesale pricing without unlimited risk. The Ofgem price cap of £1,641/year for a typical household provides an additional layer of consumer protection.
Tracker vs Agile — Which Should You Choose?
In short: if you want wholesale transparency without the need to time your usage, Tracker is the better choice. If you're willing to actively shift usage to cheaper periods and want the possibility of negative pricing, go with Agile Octopus. Both are free to switch between, so you can try one and move to the other.
Who Is Tracker Best For?
Tracker works best for households who want to benefit from wholesale pricing without the complexity of half-hourly rate management. It's ideal for:
- Price-conscious households — who want to track what energy really costs
- Those who want transparency — the formula is public, every rate is verifiable
- Dual-fuel customers — Tracker covers both electricity and gas
- People who prefer simplicity — one price per day is much simpler than managing 48 half-hour slots
- Customers with smart meters — required for accurate daily billing
Read our full Octopus Energy review for more on the overall customer experience, or browse all tariff options to compare.
Smart Meter Requirement
Octopus Tracker requires a SMETS2 smart meter for accurate daily consumption tracking. If you don't have one, Octopus Energy will install one for free after you switch. You can start on the standard Flexible tariff and move to Tracker once your smart meter is fitted.
Smart meters also give you access to other innovative tariffs like Agile Octopus and Intelligent Octopus Go, so it's well worth getting one installed.