How to get the best energy deal

Use our free, independent energy comparison service to compare gas and electricity prices and find the best provider for you.

Price comparison websites

Price comparison websites display tariffs in price order so you can compare potential savings against your current deal.

They don’t have to show every available tariff on the market, so if you don’t venture beyond one comparison site’s initial recommendations, you might miss out on the cheapest tariffs.

When you use a comparison site, remember that:

• Some tariffs are exclusive to one price comparison website.
• Some tariffs are only available directly from the supplier.
• Some price comparison websites show a limited selection of tariffs upfront, such as only those it can switch you to directly, or just available deals from the biggest companies. 

Check what the site says about which deals it displays automatically. Changing the filters might let you see a wider range of deals than is initially displayed.  

Bear in mind that you’ll need to contact the supplier directly if you pick a deal that the price comparison site can’t switch you to.

Other interesting energy tariffs 

Some energy suppliers offer tariffs that deviate from the standard variable or fixed options. These could well be of interest depending on your circumstances, but they won’t show up on typical comparison sites (including ours) so you’ll need to know to look out for them.

Tracker tariffs: Some energy providers offer tracker tariffs, which change in price every three months when the price cap is reset. They’re not currently among the cheapest available tariffs but do guarantee a discount on the price cap, regardless of how it changes. 

• EDF Energy sells a tariff that tracks £50 below the price cap (when opting for dual fuel). The Simply Tracker has discounted daily standing charges (rather than unit rates). EDF Energy says this means customers will see the same benefit regardless of how much energy they use. It charges an exit fee of £25 per fuel to leave early and you’ll need a smart meter.
• Outfox Energy’s tracker tariff is ‘guaranteed to be 5% cheaper than the price cap’. The supplier says that you can expect to save £100 a year compared to the price cap, on average. There’s an exit fee of £100 across both fuels. 
• Scottish Power has a cap tracker tariff that changes rates every three months when the price cap changes. It says this tariff will always be £7.50 (inc. VAT) cheaper per year per fuel than its Standard tariff. There are no exit fees.

Rewards tariffs: While these are not technically separate tariffs, some providers offer rewards to existing customers who use less energy during high-demand periods. 

• Octopus offers its ‘Octoplus’ rewards programme to all customers with smart meters. Members of the Octoplus scheme get free energy during certain periods and earn redeemable points by using less energy during high-demand periods. Points can be redeemed for products and services. 
• Sainsbury’s Energy offers up to triple Nectar points to customers on its Fix & Reward and Track & Reward tariffs, as well as bonus points for switching. Customers will earn up to triple points as long as they are signed up for the tariff.

Time-of-use or smart tariffs: Once only available for those with two-rate meters, tariffs with peak and off-peak rates are now available to households with working smart meters, as they can submit half-hourly automatic readings. Look at the time slots carefully, as the approach can differ. 

Some time-of-use tariffs may charge a large premium for energy used at peak times so might not suit your household if you can’t avoid these times. Other options may have less of a peak-time penalty but a shorter off-peak window (only the early hours of the morning, for example, or a weekly weekend afternoon slot). We’ve also spotted that for dual-fuel customers, you may have to pay extra for your gas rates if you have a smart tariff for your electricity. 

Smart tariffs often offer the best potential savings to those who have technology with a large electricity demand – charging an electric car, heating up electric storage heaters or running a heat pump, for example.

Specialist tariffs for green tech: If you do have an electric vehicle, solar panels, a heat pump or other green technology, you may find you can access dedicated tariffs that suit your usage and can lead to considerable savings. EV charger tariffs are increasingly common.

Find out more about types of energy tariff and time-of-use tariffs.

Fixed and variable energy tariffs: which is best for me?

Energy deals come in two basic types: fixed or variable. Which one would suit you better will depend on how much certainty you want over the price you pay.

Variable tariffs

Often also called standard tariffs, they change price each time your supplier changes its rates. 

If you’ve been with your supplier for a while, or didn’t switch after your fixed deal ended, it’s very likely that you’re on its standard, variable or default tariff.

Default tariffs are subject to a price cap. This is effectively an upper cap on the price charged for each unit of energy – not a cap on your total bill. The cap is reset by energy regulator Ofgem every three months.

You can leave a variable tariff whenever you like and you’re not tied in with a contract or exit fees.

Find out more: what is the energy price cap?

Fixed tariffs

These usually set the daily standing charge and rates you pay for each unit of gas and electricity you use for a certain period of time (for example, a year).

This means you’ll know that the rates won’t rise during your contract period. 

If your energy company raises its prices, you won’t be affected – but you won’t benefit if its prices drop, either.

However, you might also hear of tariffs that track the price cap being called ‘fixed’, despite their rates changing every three months. This is because they are a fixed length (for example, a year).

Sometimes they have exit fees, payable if you want to leave before the end of the contract.

Find out more: types of energy tariff

Should I fix my energy prices?

The slight increase in the price cap on 1 January 2026 has seen those on variable rates paying a bit more for energy from January to March. While some fixed tariffs have also risen slightly in price, a new year increase in the number of fixed tariffs available means that you can currently save even more with the cheapest deals than you would have at the end of 2025. 

A reduction in the proportion of energy bills that goes towards government policy costs is predicted to see a substantial fall in the energy price cap from 1 April, but this shouldn’t put you off switching to a fixed deal now. The government has confirmed that it expects the savings from its changes to be passed on to customers on fixed tariffs too.  

It’s important to check the conditions of any fixed tariff carefully before you sign up. 

Here’s what to check:

• How your payments will compare with the tariff you’re currently on. Use our free energy compare tool to estimate your current costs and savings.
• What your actual payments would be. For the most accurate estimate, multiply the rates by your energy use over the past year in kWh. Find this in your online account, app or on your latest annual statement.
• The length of the contract. If it’s very long, there’s time for energy prices to change a lot.
• Do you have to pay an exit fee to leave before the end of the tariff? If so, how much?
• Are there other conditions? Will you need a smart meter, only get paperless bills? Or must you buy other services from the company too?

Good customer service can be invaluable, and we know that some energy companies score poorly with their customers on this measure. 

Before you switch, check whether your chosen firm is among the best energy suppliers.

What would your bills be on a variable tariff?

To know whether a fixed deal will save you money, first you need to know how much you’ll pay over a year on your current tariff compared with the fix. Most households are currently on a variable, price-capped tariff. You’ll be on a variable tariff (sometimes called default or flexible) if you’ve not fixed a deal with your supplier recently. 

You can use our free energy comparison tool to help work out how much you can expect to pay over the duration of a contract on a fixed tariff.  

Make sure you choose the correct name for your tariff, and then check the exact amount of electricity and gas you use (in kWh) per year to get the most accurate estimate of your current spend. 

Your supplier may also include an estimated annual bill in your energy statements.

Note that your estimated future bills on a variable tariff will assume that you will pay the same for the contract’s duration. But it doesn’t really work like that. The energy price cap, set by Ofgem, limits the amount you can be charged if you’re on an out-of-contract variable energy tariff and it changes every three months. 

Online comparison services (including ours!) can’t take future predictions for price changes into account. So you should keep them in mind when considering how much you might pay in the next 12 months. Most experts expect variable (price-capped) tariff rates to remain high for the foreseeable future, but this isn’t guaranteed. 

Economy 7, Economy 10 and smart time of use tariffs

Time of use tariffs charge different rates for electricity used at different times of day. For example, you pay a more expensive rate for electricity used at times of peak demand in the daytime and a cheaper overnight rate.

Economy 7 and Economy 10 are two common time of use tariffs.

If you’re on one of these, you may have a special electricity meter that provides two different readings (also known as a two-rate meter). They are often used in conjuction with storage heaters or other overnight electric heating.

Smart meters can also be set up to charge different rates at different times. This means that all homes with smart meters will be able to access time of use tariffs in future. 

At the moment, these tariffs are mainly for electric vehicle owners. Companies use smart meter readings taken every half hour to provide cheaper overnight charging when it costs less for suppliers to buy electricity.

You may not need to have a smart meter already installed in order to sign up to one of these deals, but it will be a condition of the tariff that you get one fitted.

Find out more about time of use tariffs

Renewable energy tariffs

There’s no set definition of what a ‘renewable’ tariff is or has to include. Companies take different approaches including:

• Funding or generating renewable electricity or ‘green’ biogas.
• Buying the equivalent of what their customers use in renewable electricity.
• Matching their customers’ use with renewable power that they haven’t bought.
• Offering different proportions of renewable electricity and gas.
• Offering other social or environmental perks.

Find out: what’s the difference between green energy suppliers?

If you’re keen to support renewable electricity, check the details of your potential supplier’s arrangement and how it defines its green tariff.

Energy auto-switching services

Automatic switching services do more of the legwork for you than price comparison websites. 

They continuously compare and, with your permission, switch you to deals they calculate to be the best (based on information you provide) to keep you on a good rate.

If you want a better energy deal with minimal effort, an auto-switching service could be worth a try. But be aware that there are few tariffs that will save you much at the moment.

Before using an auto-switching service, check the following:

• Terms and conditions. These should tell you how it picks which tariffs to switch you to.
• Which energy suppliers it works with. Some services don’t compare every deal available. If owned by a price comparison website, for example, they may only display deals from companies they have financial agreements with.
• Policies on switching you to companies with a poor reputation for customer service. Some auto-switching services won’t switch customers to suppliers they don’t feel are up to scratch. This can help you avoid some poorly performing companies, but means you might save less than you would with a price comparison website. 
• Whether it’s a free or paid-for service. Services that charge subscription fees typically cover the whole market, so may include cheaper deals than those tied to specific suppliers. But you’ll need to balance this against how much the fees could eat into your savings. 

Switching directly with an energy company

Energy companies aren’t allowed to sell cheaper deals to new customers than existing ones at the moment. 

Check that you’re on the cheapest option with your current supplier, as well as comparing offerings from other companies.

You can usually get a quote from a new energy provider via its website by entering your postcode and some information about your energy use. If you’re happy with the quote, you can then follow through with the switch online or over the phone.

Find out how to switch energy supplier

Refer-a-friend and other switching incentives

Suppliers sometimes offer financial rewards for switching to them, including via refer-a-friend schemes that reward both the existing and new customer. 

If you’re invited to switch via one of these, check the following:

• The price of the tariff you’ll be signing up to – is it the supplier’s cheapest deal?
• How the price compares with other deals on the market once the incentive payment is factored in.
• Whether there are other conditions attached to the switching incentive – for example, being a customer for a certain period or getting a smart meter – and whether you’re happy with these.
• Whether the supplier charges exit fees if you want to leave.
• How good the supplier’s customer service is. See the best energy companies.

Should I bundle gas and electricity with broadband or boiler cover?

The following firms offer boiler cover, broadband or other services as well as energy:

If you’re tempted to buy more than gas and electricity from your energy company, first check how much it would cost to buy the equivalent products from separate firms.

Find out whether you need boiler cover

Look out for energy exit fees

If you’re considering a fixed tariff, check whether you’d have to pay to leave before the end of the contract (for example, if you found a cheaper deal).

We often see exit fees of between £50 and £100 per fuel on a one-year tariff, but don’t always let this put you off switching.

• Not all fixed deals have exit fees. If yours doesn’t, you’ll be protected against rising prices, but if prices go down you can switch at any time at no cost.
• Your supplier can’t charge an exit fee if you switch in the last 49 days of your fixed tariff.
• You shouldn’t have to pay exit fees if you’re moving home, provided you keep your tariff and just change the address. 
• If you switch tariffs but stay with the same provider, some may waive the exit fee, so it’s worth asking.

Pay by direct debit to save money

Paying by monthly direct debit is usually the cheapest way to pay for energy. 

Your supplier will estimate how much gas and electricity you’ll use in a year and charge you for a 12th of this each month. 

It usually costs more to pay when you receive your bill – your tariff will be more expensive than a direct debit one. You’ll also have to pay more in winter (when you’re using central heating) than in summer. 

Prepayment meter customers on price-capped tariffs pay slightly less than direct debit customers. But there’s less choice of cheaper fixed tariffs for prepayment customers.

Find out whether a prepayment energy meter is right for you.

For tips on using less energy to bring down your bills, see our guides to 10 ways to save on energy bills and how to insulate your home

How to stop your energy company overcharging

Whether or not you’ve just switched, try these tips to keep your bills accurate:

• Send meter readings to your supplier at least monthly (if your smart meter isn’t already doing this). This makes sure you’re only charged for the energy you’re actually using. Otherwise, your energy company will estimate your usage.
• Occasionally check your account to make sure your meter readings are getting through, as we’ve heard from people whose smart meters have stopped sending readings. 
• If your energy company raises its prices, send meter readings on the day the rise takes effect. This way, you get the lower price for the maximum period.
• Question direct debit changes if you don’t agree. Contact your energy company and ask it to explain how and why it has calculated the change.
• Ask for excess credit back. If you have more than three months’ payments in your energy account, consider asking for a refund or to lower your monthly payments.
• Complain if your direct debit payments increase without notice. Energy firms should give you 10 days’ warning before taking the new amount. If yours doesn’t, complain and ask for compensation. You can also make a claim under the Direct Debit Guarantee.
• Complain if you have been billed incorrectly. Use our letter template to complain to your energy supplier about being overcharged.