Octopus Energy vs OVO Energy

This is the closest comparison on this site. OVO Energy isn't an old big six relic; they're a challenger brand, like Octopus. They launched in 2009, they've grown fast, they bought SSE's retail business in January 2020 and they now supply around four million UK households. Their customer service is genuinely good. Their app works well. They're a proper competitor.

So this isn't a case of "Octopus is great, they're terrible". It's more nuanced than that.

Pricing

OVO's standard variable tariff sits around the Ofgem price cap, similar to most suppliers. They offer one-year and two-year fixed deals that can be worth considering for price certainty. Keep in mind that OVO's fixed tariffs carry exit fees of £75 per fuel on a one-year deal or £95 per fuel on a two-year deal if you leave early (waived in the final 53 days of your contract). Octopus charges no exit fees on any tariff.

Octopus's standard Flexible tariff typically comes in slightly below the cap. On a standard tariff alone, the pricing difference between the two is small. Maybe £30-80 a year depending on usage and region. It's there, but it's not a dramatic gap.

Where Octopus pulls ahead on price is smart tariffs. If you can shift electricity usage off-peak, tariffs like Agile, Go or Tracker can reduce your bills by significantly more. OVO's time-of-use options are limited, so this saving simply isn't available to OVO customers in the same way.

Smart tariffs

This is where the biggest gap lies. Octopus has built an entire ecosystem of smart tariffs: Agile for half-hourly wholesale pricing, Go (8.5p/kWh off-peak) and Intelligent Go (7.5p/kWh off-peak) for EV owners, Tracker for daily wholesale rates, Cosy for heat pumps, Flux for solar and battery setups. Each one is tailored to a specific type of household.

OVO's standout smart product is Charge Anytime, which uses Kaluza's technology to smart-charge your EV when the grid is greenest. Monthly plans start at £27.50 and partnership rates with Volvo and Volkswagen Group vehicles can bring the effective cost down to 7p/kWh. It's a credible EV charging product. Beyond that, though, OVO's time-of-use options are limited. If you've got a heat pump, solar panels or a home battery, Octopus has dedicated tariffs for each. OVO doesn't match this range.

For households on a standard flat-rate tariff with no plans to change, this difference is less significant. If you've got any kind of home energy tech, though, Octopus offers substantially more opportunity to save.

Customer service

Here's where the comparison is closest. Octopus has a 4.8/5 Trustpilot rating from over 757,000+ reviews. OVO scores 4.6 out of 5 from roughly 261,000 reviews. Both are rated "Excellent" and both are genuinely impressive by energy company standards. Both get praised for responsive support, helpful staff and actually solving problems rather than just following scripts.

Octopus has the edge in sheer volume of reviews, which makes its high rating all the more robust. OVO's sample size is also substantial, though, and a 4.6 score from over a quarter of a million customers is not a fluke. On customer service, the gap between these two is narrow.

If customer service is your primary concern, you'd be reasonably well looked after with either supplier. That's something OVO deserves credit for.

Where OVO has strengths

Customer service is genuinely good. This bears repeating. In a market where most suppliers have terrible Trustpilot scores, OVO's 4.6 rating puts them firmly in the top tier alongside Octopus. If you're with OVO and happy with the service, you're not being badly served.

The app is solid. OVO's app is clean, well-designed and does the basics well. Usage tracking, bill management, meter readings. It's a good customer experience. The Octopus app is more feature-rich (particularly for smart tariff users), but OVO's app holds its own for standard account management.

Green credentials. OVO moved away from REGO certificates in 2023 and now buys electricity directly from renewable generators for its Greener Electricity customers. They've planted millions of trees through the OVO Foundation and partnerships with the Woodland Trust. Their OVO Beyond rewards programme encourages customers to shift usage to greener times. Both companies take green energy seriously; on this metric there's little to separate them.

Scale and stability. OVO absorbed SSE's retail customers in January 2020, making them one of the largest UK suppliers with around four million accounts. Their technology arm, Kaluza, powers billing and smart energy optimisation across several international partners. They've got the infrastructure and financial backing to be around for the long term. That matters if you value stability.

The verdict

OVO Energy is a good supplier. Their customer service is strong, their app works and their green credentials are real. They're a legitimate challenger brand rather than an old big six company coasting on inertia. If you're with OVO, you're not with a bad supplier.

Octopus edges ahead on pricing (slightly lower standard rates), smart tariff variety (significantly more options) and transparency (public API with live rates). The smart tariff gap is the decisive factor. If you've got any home energy technology, or you're interested in time-of-use pricing, Octopus offers materially more opportunity to reduce your bills.

If you're on a standard flat-rate tariff and you're happy with OVO's service, the case for switching is less urgent. The savings exist, but they're modest. If you've got an EV, solar panels, a battery or a heat pump, the case for Octopus becomes much stronger.

Want to see the actual numbers? The tariff comparison tool will show you live Octopus rates for your postcode.