The fastest Octopus Agile tracker for UK smart-meter homes
AgileWatch UK shows the live Octopus Agile unit rates today for your region, colour-coded from plunge (negative) pricing through to the 4–7pm peak. Enter your postcode once and we remember your DNO region on this device. Switch between Import and Agile Outgoing solar export rates in one tap, download any day as CSV, and use the cheapest-window calculator to find the exact time — and cost — to charge your EV, home battery or run the washing machine.
Tomorrow's prices are published every afternoon between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM UK time; the dashboard counts down to the release and switches over automatically. See tomorrow's Octopus Agile rates, track plunge pricing, or compare Agile Outgoing export rates.
How Octopus Agile Prices Are Calculated (Updated for April 2026)
Octopus Agile is a half-hourly “time-of-use” tariff. Instead of one flat unit rate, you pay a different price for each of the 48 half-hour slots in the day. Those prices are set the afternoon before, and they track the real cost of electricity on the wholesale market.
- Day-ahead wholesale auction. Every day, generators and suppliers trade electricity for the next day in half-hourly blocks on the day-ahead markets run by EPEX SPOT and Nord Pool. The auction clears in the early afternoon UK time.
- Regional distribution multiplier. Octopus multiplies the wholesale price by a factor that reflects network, balancing and policy costs in each of the 14 DNO regions, so London, Scotland and the South West all see slightly different prices for the same half-hour.
- 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM peak uplift. A fixed pence-per-kWh adder is applied to the six evening peak slots, when the grid is under the most strain. This is why the 4–7pm window is reliably the most expensive time to use electricity.
- April 2026 levy reduction. From April 2026, government policy costs that used to sit on electricity bills were reduced, taking roughly 3.5p/kWh (inc. VAT) off the unit-rate formula. Agile customers see that reduction in every half-hour slot.
- Price Cap Protect. However high wholesale prices go, Agile unit rates are capped at 100p/kWh (£1/kWh) inc. VAT. There is no floor, which is why rates can fall below zero during “plunge pricing”.
- 5% VAT is then added for domestic customers. Export rates on Agile Outgoing carry no VAT.
The result is published to the Octopus Energy API between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM UK time, and AgileWatch UK reads it the moment it appears.
Octopus Agile vs. Octopus Go vs. Octopus Tracker vs. Flexible Octopus
| Tariff | Rate update frequency | Price cap | Negative pricing | Ideal household |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus Agile | Every 30 minutes (48 prices a day, published ~4pm the day before) | 100p/kWh Price Cap Protect | Yes — paid to use power in plunge slots | Smart home battery, heat pump or EV owners who can shift load |
| Octopus Go | Fixed cheap 4–5 hour overnight EV window, flat rate the rest of the day | Fixed day and night rates (no wholesale exposure) | No | EV-only households who just want a cheap overnight charge |
| Octopus Tracker | Daily — one unit rate per day, following wholesale prices | Capped by Octopus (published cap per region) | No | Solar PV homes and households that cannot shift usage |
| Flexible Octopus | Changes with the Ofgem price cap (quarterly) | At or below the Ofgem price cap | No | Standard homes wanting simplicity and predictable bills |
Octopus Agile FAQ
What time do Octopus Agile rates for tomorrow get published?
Every afternoon between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM UK time. Octopus converts the results of the day-ahead wholesale electricity auction (which clears around 3:00 PM UK time) into tomorrow's 48 half-hourly Agile prices. AgileWatch UK shows a live countdown to 4:00 PM and switches to tomorrow's rates automatically as soon as they appear.
How do I find my Octopus Agile DNO region letter?
Type your postcode into the search box at the top of the dashboard. We look up your Grid Supply Point group from the Octopus Energy API (for example _C for London) and save your region on this device. The letter is also the last character of your tariff code on your bill, e.g. E-1R-AGILE-24-10-01-C. There are 14 regions, A to P — the letters I and O are not used.
Why do Octopus Agile prices spike between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM?
The early evening is when national demand peaks: people get home, cook and switch on heating while solar output falls away. Wholesale prices rise, network costs are highest and Agile adds a fixed peak uplift to every half-hour from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Moving flexible loads such as EV charging, dishwashers and immersion heaters out of this window is the single biggest way to save on Agile.
What is Octopus Plunge Pricing and how do I get paid to use electricity?
Plunge pricing happens when strong wind or solar generation meets low demand and wholesale prices go negative. On Agile, the unit rate for those half-hours drops to 0p or below, so you are credited for every kWh you use. Charging an EV or home battery, heating your hot water tank or running the washing machine during a plunge slot earns you money. AgileWatch shows an electric-blue alert whenever a slot today or tomorrow is at or below 0p/kWh.
Does Octopus Agile have exit fees or a fixed contract?
No. Octopus Agile is a variable tariff with no exit fees and no fixed term, so you can switch to another tariff (such as Flexible Octopus or Octopus Tracker) if wholesale prices rise in winter and switch back later.
Octopus Agile prices in every UK region
- A Eastern England Norwich, Ipswich, Cambridge
- B East Midlands Nottingham, Leicester, Derby
- C London Greater London, Central London, Westminster
- D Merseyside & Northern Wales Liverpool, Chester, Wrexham
- E West Midlands Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton
- F North Eastern England Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough
- G North Western England Manchester, Preston, Blackpool
- H Southern England Southampton, Portsmouth, Reading
- J South Eastern England Brighton, Canterbury, Guildford
- K Southern Wales Cardiff, Swansea, Newport
- L South Western England Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth
- M Yorkshire Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford
- N Southern Scotland Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling
- P Northern Scotland Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness