Agile Octopus is a smart electricity tariff where the price you pay can change every 30 minutes, following movements in the wholesale electricity market.
Octopus publishes the following day’s prices in advance, giving you the opportunity to move electricity use into cheaper periods and avoid more expensive times.
Prices can sometimes become extremely cheap — or even fall below zero — but they can also rise significantly when electricity demand and wholesale prices are high.
Agile therefore works very differently from a conventional electricity tariff: when you use electricity can matter just as much as how much you use.
What to know about Agile Octopus
| What to know | Agile Octopus |
|---|---|
| Tariff type | Dynamic time-of-use electricity tariff |
| Price changes | Every 30 minutes |
| Prices each day | 48 different half-hourly rates |
| Next day’s prices | Normally published from around 4pm each day |
| Fixed cheap hours | No — the cheapest periods change each day |
| Typical expensive period | 4pm–7pm is generally more expensive |
| Negative prices | Possible — you can sometimes be paid to use electricity |
| Maximum unit rate | Currently capped at 100p/kWh |
| Smart meter | Required with half-hourly readings |
| Electricity or gas | Electricity only |
| Exit fee | None |
| Best suited to | Households able to shift significant electricity use into cheaper periods |
What is Agile Octopus?
Agile Octopus is a dynamic time-of-use electricity tariff from Octopus Energy.
Instead of having one electricity unit rate throughout the day, Agile has a different rate for every half-hour period.
That means there are 48 electricity prices every day.
Those rates are calculated using wholesale electricity prices and Octopus’s Agile pricing formula, with the following day’s prices published in advance.
There aren’t fixed cheap hours like you get with Octopus Go, Intelligent Octopus Go or Cosy Octopus.
Instead, the cheapest and most expensive periods can change from one day to the next.
This makes Agile particularly suited to households that can change when they use electricity.
How does Agile Octopus work?
Agile follows the wholesale electricity market much more closely than a conventional tariff.
For every half-hour period, Octopus calculates a different electricity price.
For example, one day could include:
- cheaper electricity overnight
- low prices around midday when renewable generation is high
- higher prices during the evening
- another cheaper period later at night
The pattern could then be completely different the following day.
Octopus uses the half-hourly consumption data from your smart meter to work out how much electricity you used during each price period.
So if you use 2 kWh while the Agile rate is low, those 2 kWh are charged at that lower rate.
Electricity used during a more expensive half hour is charged at that period’s higher rate.
The more electricity you can move into cheaper periods, the more opportunity there is to benefit from Agile.
When are Agile Octopus prices published?
Octopus publishes the following day’s Agile prices each afternoon.
Prices are usually available between 4pm and 10pm, although Octopus says they are normally published nearer 4pm.
Once published, you’ll be able to see all 48 half-hourly rates for the following day.
That means you can plan ahead rather than responding to electricity prices in real time.
For example, once tomorrow’s prices are available you could decide when to:
- charge an electric car
- charge a home battery
- run a dishwasher
- heat your hot water
- use a washing machine
- run other high-consumption appliances
Automation can make this considerably easier, particularly for homes with batteries, EV chargers and other smart devices.
Does Agile Octopus have guaranteed cheap hours?
Agile doesn’t have a permanently discounted overnight window. Instead, the cheapest periods are determined by wholesale electricity prices.
That means the cheapest electricity might appear:
- overnight
- in the middle of the day
- late in the evening
- or across several separate periods
The timings can change every day.
This is one of the most important things to understand about Agile.
You aren’t simply switching onto a tariff with cheap overnight electricity, you’re switching onto a tariff where electricity prices constantly respond to the market.
Why is Agile often more expensive from 4pm to 7pm?
Electricity demand across Britain is typically high during the early evening.
People return home, cook, use appliances and increase their electricity consumption at broadly the same time.
The electricity system therefore has to meet significantly higher demand.
Agile’s pricing formula also accounts for higher electricity network costs during this period.
As a result, 4pm–7pm is usually the most expensive part of the day on Agile.
Avoiding large amounts of electricity consumption during these hours can therefore be particularly important.
That doesn’t mean you need to completely stop using electricity.
Instead, it may make sense to move flexible loads — such as EV charging, battery charging, dishwashers or hot-water heating — into cheaper periods.
What is Agile Octopus Plunge Pricing?
One of Agile’s most unusual features is Plunge Pricing.
Sometimes there is more electricity available on the grid than consumers need.
This can happen when renewable generation is particularly high while electricity demand is relatively low.
Wholesale electricity prices can then become extremely cheap and occasionally fall below zero.
Agile can pass those negative prices through to customers.
If the Agile rate is negative during a particular half hour, you are effectively paid for the electricity you use during that period.
For example, if a price fell to -2p/kWh, each kilowatt-hour consumed during that half hour would generate a 2p credit rather than a charge.
Negative prices don’t happen every day and shouldn’t be treated as guaranteed.
However, they can create particularly useful opportunities for households with flexible electricity demand.
How high can Agile Octopus prices go?
Agile prices can rise significantly when wholesale electricity becomes expensive.
Octopus currently caps the Agile electricity unit rate at 100p/kWh.
That is considerably higher than the unit rates normally associated with standard household electricity tariffs.
The cap protects customers from even more extreme wholesale price spikes, but Agile customers still need to be comfortable with potentially expensive half-hour periods.
Prices can rise as well as fall, and there is no guarantee that Agile will always be cheaper than another tariff.
Is Agile Octopus protected by the Ofgem price cap?
Agile doesn’t work in the same way as a standard variable tariff such as Flexible Octopus.
Its half-hourly electricity prices are linked to wholesale electricity costs rather than simply being set around the Ofgem energy price cap.
Agile instead has its own maximum unit rate, currently 100p/kWh.
This means individual Agile half-hour periods can be considerably more expensive than the unit rate you might see on a conventional tariff.
The trade-off is that Agile can also provide access to much cheaper electricity when wholesale prices fall.
Is Agile Octopus a fixed tariff?
Agile is a variable-rate tariff because your electricity unit price changes every half hour.
However, customers joining current versions of Agile have a fixed-term pricing arrangement.
During that term, the formula Octopus uses to calculate your Agile prices and your daily standing charge are fixed.
Your actual electricity unit rate isn’t fixed.
Instead, the formula produces a different rate for each half-hour period depending on the wholesale market.
So, in simple terms:
Fixed: your Agile pricing formula and standing charge for the tariff term.
Variable: the electricity price produced by that formula every 30 minutes.
Do I need a smart meter for Agile Octopus?
Yes.
Octopus needs to know exactly how much electricity you use during every half-hour period so that it can apply the correct Agile rate.
You’ll therefore need a compatible smart meter that Octopus can communicate with and receive half-hourly readings from.
Octopus supports compatible second-generation SMETS2 meters and certain first-generation SMETS1 meters.
If Octopus can’t receive the required half-hourly data, you won’t be able to use Agile correctly.
Who is Agile Octopus best for?
Agile can be particularly interesting for households with a significant amount of flexible electricity consumption.
That could include people with:
- an electric car
- a home battery
- solar panels
- a heat pump
- electric heating
- an immersion heater
- smart appliances
- home automation
You don’t need any of those technologies to use Agile.
However, the more electricity you can move away from expensive periods and into cheaper ones, the more opportunity there is to take advantage of the tariff.
Agile may therefore suit you if you’re comfortable checking electricity prices and adjusting when you use energy.
Who should avoid Agile Octopus?
Agile may be less suitable if most of your electricity use is difficult to move.
This could be particularly relevant if your household naturally uses a lot of electricity between 4pm and 7pm.
It may also be less attractive if:
- you want predictable electricity costs
- you don’t want to think about when you use electricity
- you can’t move high-consumption appliances into cheaper periods
- you would prefer a guaranteed cheap charging window
- short-term electricity price spikes would concern you
A conventional tariff can be much simpler because the timing of your consumption has little or no effect on what you pay per kWh.
Agile trades some of that simplicity for greater opportunities to take advantage of changing electricity prices.
How can I make the most of Agile Octopus?
The basic principle is straightforward:
Use more electricity when Agile prices are low and less when prices are high.
You don’t necessarily need to change every part of your day.
Instead, focus on the biggest flexible loads in your home.
For example, you could:
- charge an EV during the cheapest overnight periods
- charge a home battery when electricity is inexpensive
- discharge a battery during expensive periods
- heat your hot water during cheaper half hours
- schedule a dishwasher or washing machine
- pre-heat your home before expensive periods
- take advantage of negative-price events
Moving even a few high-consumption activities can have a much greater impact than trying to manually optimise every appliance.
Can Agile Octopus be automated?
Yes, and automation is one of the areas where Agile becomes particularly interesting.
Octopus provides access to Agile pricing data through its API, meaning compatible smart-home systems can respond automatically to electricity prices.
For example, a system could be configured to:
- charge a battery when electricity falls below a chosen price
- pause charging when electricity becomes expensive
- heat water during the cheapest periods
- run appliances when prices fall
- react to negative Agile prices
This can remove much of the need to manually monitor 48 prices every day.
The amount of automation available will depend on your equipment and the software or smart-home system you’re using.
Is Agile Octopus good for an electric car?
Agile can work well with an electric car because EV charging represents a large amount of flexible electricity consumption.
You can look at the following day’s prices and schedule your car to charge during the cheapest periods.
However, Agile isn’t a dedicated EV tariff.
There is no guaranteed cheap overnight charging rate.
Some nights may provide extremely cheap electricity, while others may not.
If you regularly charge an EV at home, it’s therefore worth comparing Agile with dedicated EV tariffs such as Octopus Go and Intelligent Octopus Go.
Those tariffs provide predictable cheaper charging periods.
Agile provides dynamic pricing instead.
Which approach works better can depend on your charging requirements and how actively you want to manage them.
Is Agile Octopus good for a home battery?
A home battery can be very useful with Agile.
Rather than simply shifting when appliances run, a battery allows you to shift the electricity itself.
You could potentially charge the battery when Agile electricity is cheap and use that stored electricity later when Agile becomes expensive.
For example:
- Agile prices fall overnight.
- Your battery charges from the grid.
- Agile prices rise during the 4pm–7pm period.
- Your home runs from the battery rather than importing expensive electricity.
Periods of very cheap or negative electricity can make this strategy particularly interesting.
Battery losses, capacity, charging speeds and your export tariff should all be taken into account when deciding whether charging from the grid makes financial sense.
Can I use Agile Octopus with solar panels?
Yes.
Solar panels don’t prevent you from using Agile for your imported electricity.
During daylight hours, your solar panels may reduce the amount of electricity you need to buy from the grid.
A solar-and-battery household can potentially take this further by combining its own generation with Agile’s changing import prices.
For example, a battery could store solar electricity or cheap grid electricity and then supply the home when Agile prices are higher.
Your import and export tariffs should be considered together when deciding how best to manage solar and battery storage.
Is Agile Octopus good for a heat pump?
It can be.
A heat pump uses a relatively large amount of electricity, giving you more consumption that could potentially be shifted into cheaper periods.
For example, you may be able to warm your property before an expensive evening period and reduce heating demand while Agile prices are higher.
However, Agile prices aren’t predictable in the same way as the fixed daily periods on Cosy Octopus.
Cosy is specifically designed around electric heating and provides the same three cheaper periods each day.
Agile may offer greater pricing opportunities but requires more active management.
For heat-pump households, the choice can therefore depend on whether you prefer predictable cheaper periods or fully dynamic half-hourly pricing.
Does Agile Octopus have exit fees?
No.
Octopus currently applies no exit fee to Agile.
That means you can move onto another eligible Octopus tariff or switch supplier without paying an Agile exit penalty.
Octopus’s wider smart-tariff terms currently state that customers who switch away from a smart import tariff can’t switch back to a smart import tariff within 30 days.
It’s therefore worth checking the applicable terms before moving away if you think you may want to return shortly afterwards.
How do I switch to Agile Octopus?
I’m already an Octopus Energy customer
If you’re already with Octopus, you’ll need a compatible smart meter that Octopus can communicate with.
Octopus must be able to receive half-hourly readings from it.
Once the smart-meter connection is working, you’ll be asked to accept the Agile terms and conditions before the tariff switch is completed.
I’m not currently with Octopus
If another supplier currently provides your electricity, you’ll normally need to move your electricity supply to Octopus first.
You’ll initially join Octopus on another tariff while Octopus connects to your existing smart meter or arranges a compatible meter if required.
Once Octopus can receive the necessary half-hourly readings, you can complete the move onto Agile.
Agile Octopus FAQs
How often do Agile Octopus prices change?
Agile electricity prices change every 30 minutes, giving you 48 different price periods each day.
When are tomorrow’s Agile prices released?
Octopus normally publishes the following day’s prices during the late afternoon, usually nearer 4pm, although publication can sometimes be later.
Does Agile have fixed cheap hours?
No. The cheapest periods change according to the wholesale electricity market.
Is Agile always expensive between 4pm and 7pm?
The 4pm–7pm period is generally more expensive because electricity demand and network costs are higher, but actual Agile rates still vary each day.
Can Agile Octopus prices go negative?
Yes. Wholesale electricity prices can occasionally become negative and Agile can pass negative rates through to customers, meaning you can effectively be paid to consume electricity.
What is the maximum Agile Octopus rate?
Octopus currently caps Agile electricity prices at 100p/kWh.
Do I need a smart meter?
Yes. Octopus needs compatible half-hourly smart-meter readings to apply the correct price to your electricity consumption.
Is there Agile Octopus for gas?
No. Agile is an electricity tariff. Your gas supply would need to be on a separate tariff.
Do I need an EV, solar panels or battery?
No. You don’t need any specific low-carbon technology to join Agile. However, EVs, batteries and other flexible electrical loads can make it easier to shift significant consumption into cheaper periods.
Is Agile the same as Tracker?
No. Tracker changes its electricity rate once per day. Agile changes every 30 minutes.
Is Agile Octopus the same as Agile Outgoing?
No. Agile Octopus is an electricity import tariff, while Agile Outgoing pays you for electricity exported to the grid.
Does Agile Octopus have an exit fee?
No. Agile currently has no exit fee.
Can I leave Agile if prices become expensive?
Yes. You can switch away from Agile without an Agile exit fee. Check the current smart-tariff terms if you’re planning to move between smart tariffs, as rejoining restrictions can apply.
Tariff rates, eligibility and terms can change. Always check the prices and tariff terms shown by Octopus Energy before switching.
Last checked: September 2026