Is switching energy supplier still worth it in August 2026?

[Marnie]

With the price cap covering most standard variable tariffs now, I've started wondering whether switching supplier actually saves anything meaningful anymore, or whether it's basically a wash and the differences are more about service quality than price.

A few things I'm trying to weigh up:

• Standing charges seem to vary more between suppliers than the unit rate does, is that still the main place to find savings?
• Fixed tariffs occasionally undercut the cap by a bit, but they lock you in, worth the tradeoff or not?
• How painless is the actual switch these days, still no supply interruption and no need to contact your old supplier, or has that changed?
• Is it mostly the app and customer service that separates suppliers now rather than the actual rates?

Be good to hear from anyone who's switched recently, whether the numbers actually worked out, and what the process was like start to finish.

[RogueDepot]

Hey Marnie, I switched from British Gas to Octopus back in April and it's been a solid move so far.

The fixed tariff I locked into (12M Fixed v16) was about £1,650/year on my usage, which was roughly £200 less than the cap at the time. No exit fees either, so I figured worst case I could jump ship if prices tanked in October.

Only thing that's annoyed me is the app kept trying to upsell me on their 'Intelligent' tariff for EV charging - I don't even own an electric car.

But customer service has been decent. Had a meter reading query in June and they sorted it within 48 hours, which is faster than British Gas ever managed.