What fixed tariffs are offering in 2026
Fixed tariffs in 2026 typically lock your unit rate for 12 or 24 months. One-year deals from major suppliers currently sit at approximately 24-27p per kilowatt hour, depending on the supplier, region, and the precise term. Two-year deals tend to come in at the higher end of that range, reflecting the premium for longer-term price certainty.
Standing charges on fixed tariffs are broadly similar to the standard variable rate: approximately 50-60p per day, depending on region. The key differentiator is the unit rate. On a fixed tariff, that rate does not move for the duration of the contract, regardless of what happens to the wholesale market, the price cap, or the grid.
Fixed tariffs have been attractive at various points over the past five years. During the 2022 energy crisis, households on fixed deals below 30p were shielded from spot prices that briefly spiked above £1 per kilowatt hour. That episode drove a wave of fixing behaviour that has not fully reversed. Many households still view a fixed tariff as the sensible, cautious choice.
In 2026, that caution comes at a measurable cost. Fixed deals at 24-27p lock you into a rate that Agile beats consistently for engaged users throughout most of the year.
The psychological case for fixing
The argument for a fixed tariff is not financial. It is psychological, and it deserves to be taken seriously.
A fixed tariff means you know what you will pay. You can budget your energy costs for the year without uncertainty. You will not open a high bill in January and feel anxious about it. You will not spend time checking prices, setting timers, or thinking about electricity at all. You pay 25p, you use electricity, end of story.
For households managing on tight incomes where an unexpectedly high bill creates genuine hardship, this predictability has real monetary value. A bad month on a variable tariff might mean a bill £40-60 higher than expected. For some households, that matters significantly.
For households with high anxiety around variable costs, the peace of mind that a fixed tariff delivers is worth paying for. This is not irrational. It is a legitimate preference that should be weighed alongside the financial comparison.
The honest version of the fix vs flex question is therefore not purely about which is cheaper. It is about whether the financial saving from Agile justifies the cognitive engagement it requires. For most engaged households, it does by a wide margin. For some, the psychological cost of engagement erodes that advantage.
The financial case for Agile in 2026
The financial comparison is stark for households willing to engage with Agile.
A fixed tariff at 25p per kilowatt hour bills every unit of consumption at the same rate. On annual consumption of 3,000 kilowatt hours, the electricity unit cost is £750 before standing charges. That number does not change regardless of what the grid is doing, what time you run your appliances, or how windy this month has been.
An engaged Agile user, shifting 60% of consumption to cheap overnight and daytime slots and avoiding the peak window, achieves an average effective rate of approximately 12-15p across the year. On 3,000 kilowatt hours, that produces a unit cost of £360-450. The saving against the fixed tariff is £300-390 per year from the unit rate difference alone.
Add an electric vehicle and the case against fixing becomes overwhelming. EV charging at 25p fixed costs approximately £6.25 for a full 25kWh top-up, or £12.50 for a 50kWh charge. The same charge at Agile's average overnight rate of 4p costs £1 and £2 respectively. For a household driving 10,000 miles per year and charging approximately 2,500kWh annually, the EV charging saving alone against a fixed tariff is approximately £525 per year.
Check the live Agile dashboard on any weeknight after 11pm. The prices you see are what Agile customers pay right now. Compare those rates to a fixed 25p and the financial case for Agile becomes immediately concrete.
Risk comparison: the worst-case scenario on each tariff
A fair comparison requires examining the worst case on each side, not just the typical case.
The worst case on a fixed tariff is simple: you pay 25p for every unit of electricity you consume for the entire duration of the contract. Whether the wholesale market falls significantly below that rate, whether the price cap drops, whether Agile customers save £600 this year, you still pay 25p. The fixed tariff's worst case is its only case.
The worst case on Agile is a cold, high-demand winter month where you fail to shift consumption and expose yourself to multiple peak periods. In a genuinely bad month, an unmanaged Agile household might pay an average effective rate of 18-22p, modestly above the standard variable tariff but still below the fixed tariff rate if that fixed deal sat at 25p. The reason the Agile worst case is lower than instinct suggests is that overnight rates, even in cold January, typically remain below 15p. You would need to run all your consumption between 5pm and 8pm every single day to push your average above the fixed tariff rate.
For practical purposes, the Agile floor is significantly lower than the fixed tariff ceiling. The volatility of Agile mostly operates below the fixed rate, not above it.
| Dimension | Fixed Tariff | Octopus Agile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical unit rate | 24-27p - locked in | 12-15p effective avg (engaged user) |
| Overnight rate | 25p same as daytime | 2-8p typical overnight |
| Bill predictability | Fully predictable | Variable monthly |
| Annual saving vs price cap | 0 to modest | ~£440 typical; more with EV |
| Plunge pricing credits | No | Yes - 5-10 events/month |
| Exit fees | Typically £50-100 to exit early | No exit fees |
| Engagement required | None | Daily price checking for full benefit |
Who should fix and who should go Agile
The decision comes down to five factors, and they apply differently to each household.
Fix if you have a high-anxiety relationship with variable bills and the prospect of a higher-than-expected monthly energy charge causes genuine stress. The approximately £300-390 annual premium you pay for a fixed tariff over what an engaged Agile user saves is, for some households, a reasonable price for consistent peace of mind.
Fix if you are budgeting to the pound and cannot absorb a month where peak prices run higher than usual. Fixed rates give you a number you can plan around with certainty.
Fix if you genuinely cannot shift any consumption away from the 5-8pm peak and have no EV, no flexibility in your schedule, and no appliances that can run on timers. In this case, Agile's peak exposure could erode some of the overnight savings.
Go Agile if you have any flexibility at all over when you run high-draw appliances. A dishwasher that can run at midnight instead of 7pm saves approximately 20p per cycle. A washing machine on a midnight timer saves a similar amount. Over a year, those small shifts accumulate into the bulk of the £440 average saving.
Go Agile if you have an electric vehicle. This is where the financial case becomes essentially unarguable. Charging a 60kWh EV at 25p costs £15. Charging it at Agile's overnight rate of 4p costs £2.40. If you do that twice a week for a year, you save approximately £1,300 on EV charging alone. No fixed tariff available in 2026 competes with that.
Go Agile if you check your phone before bed. That single daily habit, taking 30 seconds with the AgileAlert dashboard to see tonight's rates, is enough to capture the majority of available savings without significantly changing your lifestyle.