Last Updated on 3 August 2026 by Dan Wilderness
Hello everyone! I’ve been a customer of Octopus Energy for just over 5 years now, being moved to them after they bought out the remains of Bulb. Today I thought I’d write a review of my experiences and if I’d recommend them as an energy supplier!
In this article I’ll be covering a few different specific bits of Octopus as well that come up as areas people tend to be curious about.
The first is Octoplus, which is the loyalty scheme for Octopus which gives a few variable benefits on top.
The second is Intelligent Octopus Go / Intelligent Octopus, which is a specific tariff aimed at those who own an EV to access cheap charging rates overnight.
(Please note: The Financial Wilderness may also receive a small payout if you make a purchase through a link on this site. It won’t affect the service you receive and we recommend only what we honestly believe to be the best available, not what gives us commission. You can read more about our affiliate policy on our disclaimers page.)
Quick Verdict on Octopus Energy
We’ve found Octopus Energy a good supplier.
I’ve found the service good and the pricing fair, but where I feel they really excel is their support for new technologies like EV and Solar with dedicated tariffs that generally do help you out as the customer. I have been unable to beat their EV rate as an overall cost.
The Octoplus loyalty scheme should be treated as a nice to have add-on – there’s some nice freebies but the guaranteed ones that people used to particular target in free coffees are now subject to a random scratchcard.
Who are Octopus Energy?
Octopus entered the power market in 2015, when reforms were introduced in the UK to encourage more competition amongst electricity providers. Many other names have fallen by the wayside – but Octopus has become a real contender surpassing many of the well established players and now contends amongst the UK’s biggest energy providers.
Octopus generally had a bit more of a sense of fun with its cuddly mascot (Constantine!) and focus on good customer service, not exactly something the UK energy industry has been particularly renowned for.
They’ve had a heavy focus on use of renewable energy and as we shall explore in the review below, offers a number of schemes to help support still emerging technologies such as the use of EV’s, heat pumps and solar power.
Why I like Octopus Energy
I’ve never really felt a huge need to move away from Octopus despite regularly reviewing my energy bills, and have had some good experiences with them. Here’s some reasons why:
Clear and easy app
I find the Octopus App very intuitive and easy to find whatever I need. I went through a home move recently and Octopus by far were the best example of being able to find the relevant forms and get it processed without challenge.
In the age of smart meters, I particularly like that I get advised of how much energy (in actuals rather than estimates) I’ve used the previous day and how much that will cost me. This means I can keep track of my spending and energy usage very easily.
Good pricing
I’ve found Octopus consistently at the better end of market pricing and consistently amongst the better of the big producers. I also like that it’s extremely clear in the app what tariffs are available to me and what the advantages or disadvantages would be of moving between a fixed or variable rate.
They are not the absolute cheapest provider on the market when I’ve put them into comparison sites (however the small providers coming out on top tend to have rock-bottom rate because the customer service is particularly poor). And on that note;
Effective Customer Service
I haven’t needed to call Octopus very much which is probably a good thing when it comes to your energy provider!
However when I have spoken to their customer services, I’ve found them friendly, organised and generally able to get my issue solved very quickly.
I will just note that the one issue I have had is getting an in house display after requesting one – I have been told one is on the way, but nothing has arrived to date after a fairly long period.
Support for EV’s/Solar/Batteries etc.
One thing I particularly like about Octopus is that they have a number of additional plans designed to get the most out of optional technology.
For instance, if you have an EV you can get an extra tariff called Intelligent Octopus or Intelligent Octopus Go, which interacts with your EV charger to charge your vehicle at times when electricity is at it’s absolute cheapest, saving you the most money.
(Since I wrote this I’ve bought an EV and now use Intelligent Octopus Go so I’ve provided more thoughts on this below).
If you have a heat pump you can get a tariff called Cosy Octopus, designed again to store water for heating your home at the cheapest times.
I really like this support for the customer – many companies would have these as sales pitches only and whilst obviously they’re hoping you install them, the tariffs are structured in such a way as to save the most money for you as the user. The efficiency appeals to me.
Octopus Wheel of Fortune
One nice little benefit of Octopus is that each month you’ll get a spin of their Wheel of Fortune, which can give you some bill credit each month – or Octoplus points if you’re a member of their loyalty scheme (more on that below).
You’ll even get a bonus spin each month if you have a smart meter!
Octopus Saving Sessions
Octopus run a promotion called Saving Sessions when grid power becomes particularly expensive as part of trying to balance out supply whilst giving you a good deal as a customer.
These are optional opt-in sessions where if your energy usage is lower than usual for a set period (which is usually between 1 and 3 hours) you’ll be rewarded with some Octopoints (more on these below) which can be converted into money off your bill.
Whilst in practice savings are only £1-£2, any money off energy bills is a nice bonus and I find I do modify my consumption and take advantage whenever these appear.
Octopus Free Electricity Sessions
On the other side, because much of Octopus’s power is provided by wind there are occasional periods where the grid is flooded with supply. As we presently lack the national infrastructure to store this, if the energy isn’t used it simply goes to waste.
As a result, Octopus gives it away when this happens! You get occasional periods of completely free energy, usually for 1-2 hours. I know I line up getting the washing machine, dishwasher and anything else I need running over the times one of these appear.
Octoplus Loyalty Scheme
Octopus also have a loyalty scheme in the form of Octoplus, which rewards you with Octopoints for cutting your usage.
How do I earn Octopoints?
Beyond the Wheel of Fortune that we mentioned above, you can earn Octopoints during Saving Sessions. These are periods where you’re rewarded for switching your energy usage to cheaper points in the day – such as evenings when peak demand isn’t being drawn on the network. If you’ve successfully reduced, you get rewarded!
What can I spend my Octopoints on?
You can spend your Octopoints directly on reducing your energy bills, or they are worth twice as much if you use “Shoptopus” (also found in the Octoplus section of the app) to buy Octopus Energy merchandise.
The Octoplus Scratch Card
On every Monday you’ll also get an Octoplus Scratch Card which will give you some kind of freebie each week.
You generally have to activate the scratch card on Monday to find out what you get, and will have a limited amount of time to redeem the reward, which nearly always seems to be the Sunday of that week.
So far my scratches have given me a free sausage roll or pasty item from Greggs, a coffee from Cafe Nero and a free Twister Ice Lolly from Sainsbury’s.
If it’s something you won’t use (for instance I’ve seen people online have won a Lidl bakery treat but don’t have a Lidl near them) you can elect to return it to the prize pool for someone else to win).
Do I get anything else with Octoplus?
There are a couple of nice extra offers with Octoplus . Here’s what available at present:
- 30 minutes free on a Forest Bike
- An £8 day pass for up to 5 people at National Trust Locations
- 2 tickets for £8 at Vue Cinemas
- 25% off at main meals Harvester, Stonehouse, Toby Carvery, Ember Inn and Sizzling Pubs.
What happened to the Octoplus free Cafe Nero and Greggs Coffee?
Octoplus used to feature a free weekly coffee from either Cafe Nero (which went very quickly) or from Greggs each week.
As there was a limited number of free coffee vouchers they were on a first come first served basis – and people started developing bots to try and grab the vouchers. This mean it became near impossible to actually get one.
So Octopus put the scratch card system in place instead. It’s been a bit controversial as getting the free coffee which was most people’s preferred choice has become much more of a matter of luck, but it has beaten those using the bots.
Is Octoplus worth it?
It’s a nice extra but very much a small bonus at present – the ability to earn points is pretty limited and you don’t get huge amounts for it. I used to argue it was very much worth it for the free Cafe Nero before they became incredibly hard to get – now I treat it as a nice extra.
You don’t lose anything by taking part so if you’re an Octopus customer we would recommend signing up for it, but it’s not necessarily worth specifically targeting Octopus as a supplier for this.
Octopus Intelligent Go / Octopus Intelligent Review
Since I wrote this article, I’ve purchased an electric car and with this changed my tariff to Octopus Intelligent Go, which I’ve found very beneficial.
What is Octopus Intelligent Go?
It’s essentially a “cheap night rate” tariff were you pay slightly more in the day, but have a significantly discounted overnight rate which is well below the average electricity price. The overnight rate is guaranteed to happen from 11.30pm to 5.30am, but just occasionally you’ll get some extra sessions when grid electricity is cheap.
At the time of writing that overnight rate is 8p per kwh, with the ability to take a variable rates or a fix rate on the other prices.
One important note with Octopus Intelligent Go is that they’ve recently changed the scheme to mean that your EV charging will be capped at 6 hours of cheap rate charging per day.
Any kind of cap sounds frustrating, but in truth this is enough to comfortably charge at least 50% in most EV’s. The app will give you the option to apply a charge cap – either you can stop after the six hours is up with what you have, or carry on to get to a desired charge target (but you’ll pay full price for this beyond the six hours).
As the majority of your power consumption will be used by your EV, this works out to a really significant saving and makes running an EV very cheap. I worked out I am getting approximately 225 miles of driving for just under £5 for this, which is great!
In order to apply this, Intelligent Go works with a compatible home EV charger (I have an Ohme Pro which Octopus installed). It’ll time any charging for the car to only take place when it detects a cheap rate is available, unless I override it because I need an immediate charge.
Another bonus of the intelligent plans is that when you’re getting the cheap rate, your whole house gets it – not just your electric car charging.
Octopus Intelligent Go vs. Octopus Go
The difference between the two tariffs is eligibility and the length of the cheap energy period.
Eligibility is determined by if you have a compatible smart charger and EV to be able to interact with Octopus’s signals about cheaper rates. If you do, you can and should go with Intelligent Go.
If you don’t, Octopus Go is slightly more expensive in it’s night rate (9.5p per kwh) and only for five hours rather than six – however it is compatible with all EV chargers, even older ones.
Do I need an Electric Car / EV to use an Octopus EV Tariff?
Yes, you must have an EV and add it as a device in the Octopus App for one of the Octopus EV Tariffs to apply.
Side note, we have shared our experiences of using an Electric Car / EV here!
Do I need a smart meter for an Octopus Intelligent Tariff?
You will, yes. The reasoning for this is that a meter needs to be able to identify usage at half hourly intervals to determine what can be charged at cheaper rates, something not available with non-smart electricity meters.
Can I use two Electric Cars / EVs with Octopus Intelligent Go?
Yes but with a workaround. The app is only set up to accommodate one EV automatically, which is my one gripe about Intelligent Go that I think could be improved.
However, if you set your other car to manually charge at the timeslots for the Intelligent Go cheap rates, you will get the benefit of charging at the lower cost.
How do I switch to Octopus Energy?
You can sign up to Octopus energy right here! (FYI: This is our referral link which makes you a saving as per the below).
Octopus Energy Signup Discount
If you sign up to Octopus Energy via our link, you’ll get £50 off your first bill. (For full disclosure we’ll get £50 as well, but as per our editorial policy we don’t endorse anything we don’t or wouldn’t use ourselves!)
FAQ’s about Octopus Energy
Can I use dual fuel (Gas and Electricity) with Octopus?
Yes, you can use Octopus for Gas as well as Electricity.
How long is an Octopus Energy Contract?
If you take a fixed deal Octopus Energy contracts are 12 months, although you can often pay an exit fee to leave early.
If you’re not on a fixed contract you can simply leave.
Can Octopus Energy Install a Smart Meter?
Yes, Octopus Energy can install a smart meter for you for free by request. A smart meter is the recommended option as this will automatically take your meter readings and also allow you to track your usage through the app.
Is a Smart Meter obligatory with Octopus Energy?
No, although it is the recommended option.
How do I link additional devices like an EV charger?
In the Octopus App, click on Devices in the bottom bar then Add a Device. You can add an electric vehicle, charger, battery or heat pump this way.
Is Octopus Energy worth switching to?
Verdict: Yes, we really think it is. We’ve consistently had a great service and experience with Octopus and found it price competitive and particularly good with our EV.
I was able to find companies that could beat Octopus for supplying electricity and gas on it’s own locally, but when switching to the EV-specialists tariffs no-one was able to beat them locally after accounting for car charging. I also had my EV charger installed via Octopus and found it very professionally done without issue.
Unlike many energy companies, they are well set up to encourage your energy usage to lean towards being efficient as possible and keep your energy bills down – really important after price spikes of the last few years.
I particularly like their continued support of emerging technologies. As yet I haven’t tried their heat pump and solar options, but they have both dedicated tariffs for these to help make them as efficient as possible, and also offer installation options if you’re thinking of making use of these technologies.
We’ve mentioned a few other little extras like Octoplus and the Saving Sessions. We recommend treating these as nice to have – you might get a free coffee or treat, but and probably will find something useful, but we wouldn’t recommend it as being enough to switch to Octopus on it’s own. We would suggest it’s no-brainer to sign up if on Octopus though.
I’ve given the service 5 stars as I simply haven’t been able to find anything to fault, and as a result recommend Octopus Energy as worth switching to.
Again, our referral link which gives you (and us) £50 credit for signing up can be found here.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about Octopus Energy we’d love to hear from you! Just drop us a note in the comments below.
And that’s it!
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