Octopus Flux vs Intelligent Octopus Go
Two very different Octopus tariffs, both pitched at homes with solar and a battery. One’s built to make your exports work harder. The other’s built around dirt-cheap overnight charging. Here’s which one actually suits your setup.
The Core Difference, in One Sentence
Octopus Flux is built to reward exporting your surplus solar at the right time. Intelligent Octopus Go is built to reward buying grid electricity cheaply at the right time. They’re solving two different problems, and which one wins for you comes down to whether your solar system generates a genuine surplus most days, or whether you’re more often topping up from the grid, especially if there’s an EV in the driveway.
☀️ Octopus Flux
- Combined import + export tariff in one plan
- Cheap import window: 02:00–05:00
- Peak window: 16:00–19:00, both import and export rates rise
- You (or the automated Intelligent Flux version) time battery discharge to hit the peak export window
- Needs solar panels and an Export MPAN to sign up
🔌 Intelligent Octopus Go
- Import-only tariff — export handled separately
- Flexed cheap window: roughly 23:30–05:30 (up to 6 hours, smart-scheduled)
- Overnight rate around 7p/kWh
- Charges EV and/or compatible battery automatically at the cheapest, greenest slot
- Pair with Outgoing Octopus separately if you want export income too
How Octopus Flux’s Day Actually Looks
Flux splits every 24 hours into three pricing bands. The whole strategy of the tariff is built around these:
Cheap import
Peak
The idea is simple in principle: charge your battery (or import a top-up) during the cheap overnight window if your solar hasn’t fully filled it, then discharge and export hard during the evening peak, when both what you pay and what you earn shift in your favour. Intelligent Flux is the automated version, using solar forecasts, grid demand and wholesale pricing to time this for you on compatible battery hardware, including GivEnergy, Tesla Powerwall, FoxESS and SolarEdge systems, rather than you setting a manual schedule yourself.
How Intelligent Octopus Go Actually Works
Intelligent Go takes a completely different approach. Rather than splitting the day into fixed bands, it uses a flexed overnight window, roughly 23:30 to 05:30, and Octopus’s own scheduling system picks up to six hours within that window based on when electricity is cheapest and cleanest on the grid. Standard (non-intelligent) Octopus Go, by comparison, gives you a simpler fixed four-hour window, typically 00:30–04:30, at a similar rate but with less flexibility.
Crucially, Intelligent Go doesn’t come with a built-in export rate. If you’re generating surplus solar you want to sell back, you’ll need to pair it with a separate export tariff, most commonly Outgoing Octopus, currently paying a flat 12p/kWh after being reduced from 15p on 1 March 2026.
It’s not just for EVs
Despite the name association with electric vehicles, Intelligent Octopus Go can schedule cheap overnight charging for a compatible home battery too, not only a car. If your household has both an EV and a battery, it can charge both during the same cheap window — genuinely useful, and one of the strongest reasons to pick Go over Flux when a car’s in the mix.
What This Looks Like in Real Money
Rates vary by region and change quarterly, so treat these as realistic 2026 ballpark figures rather than a guaranteed quote for your postcode. Here’s the shape of it for a household with a 4kW+ solar array and a 5kWh+ battery:
| Tariff | Cheap import rate | Export rate | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outgoing Octopus (flat) | Standard variable | 12p/kWh, any time | Solar-only, no battery to shift timing |
| Octopus Go | ~7.5p, 4-hr fixed window | Separate tariff needed | Simple overnight EV charging |
| Intelligent Octopus Go | ~7p, up to 6-hr flexed window | Separate tariff needed | EV + battery households prioritising cheap charging |
| Octopus Flux | Cheap 02:00–05:00 | Higher rate, 16:00–19:00 peak | Solar + battery, manual control, no EV needed |
| Intelligent Flux | Cheap 02:00–05:00 (automated) | ~30p at peak, automated | Solar + battery wanting hands-off peak-export automation |
Reported Annual Uplift Over a Flat Export Tariff
Approximate figures reported across UK solar installers and comparison sites, 2026
*The Intelligent Go figure combines both EV charging savings and battery charging savings together, which is why it can outstrip Flux for households running both — it isn’t a direct like-for-like export comparison. Always check current rates for your own postcode before deciding.
So Which One Actually Wins for You?
Solar + battery, no EV
You’ve got a decent-sized array and battery, you can avoid importing during 4–7pm, and you’d rather your surplus earn its keep at peak export rates than sit on a flat 12p/kWh deal.
Solar + battery + EV
Charging a car changes the maths. A flexed six-hour window at roughly 7p/kWh covering both car and battery usually beats chasing peak export alone, especially on evenings you’re not home to manage discharge timing.
Want Flux’s upside, hands-off
Same time-band structure as standard Flux, but Octopus’s own algorithm handles charge and discharge timing on your compatible battery, generally squeezing out a better result than most people manage manually.
Small system, simplicity first
Smaller solar array, modest battery, or you just don’t want to think about timing at all. A simple cheap-overnight rate paired with a flat export tariff is easy to understand and still beats a standard variable deal.
A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Switch
- Free switching, no exit fees — Octopus lets you move between its own tariffs freely, so trialling Flux for a couple of months before committing is a genuinely low-risk way to compare real numbers against your current plan.
- Battery compatibility matters for the automated versions — Intelligent Flux and Intelligent Go’s smart-scheduling only works on supported battery hardware. Check your own brand against the current compatible list before assuming you’ll get the automated benefit. See our battery brand comparison for where things currently stand.
- Rates are reviewed quarterly — Outgoing Octopus dropped from 15p to 12p on 1 March 2026 as one example. Always confirm live rates for your postcode before switching, rather than relying purely on last year’s figures.
- No battery yet? Flux and Intelligent Flux generally need one to make real sense. Our guide on adding a battery to existing solar panels covers whether it’s worth it for your system size.
Don’t forget the baseline: the Smart Export Guarantee
Every export tariff, including Flux and Outgoing Octopus, sits within the UK’s wider Smart Export Guarantee framework, which Ofgem oversees. It’s worth knowing what the SEG actually guarantees before comparing individual supplier tariffs — our own Best SEG Tariff Rates UK 2026 roundup covers the wider market alongside Octopus specifically.
Octopus Flux vs Intelligent Octopus Go: Your Questions Answered
The Honest Bottom Line
Neither tariff is objectively “better” — they’re solving different problems. Flux rewards a solar and battery system that can hold back its surplus and sell it at the right moment. Intelligent Go rewards a household that needs to buy a lot of cheap overnight electricity, whether that’s for a car, a battery, or both. Work out which side of that equation your household actually sits on, and the right choice gets a lot more obvious.
Want to run your own numbers before switching? Our Solar Panel Calculator is a good place to start.
Rates and eligibility referenced in this article are illustrative 2026 figures gathered from Octopus Energy’s own tariff pages and independent UK solar installer sources, and are correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Tariff terms, time bands and rates are reviewed quarterly and vary by region and postcode — always confirm current details directly with Octopus Energy before switching.
