When picking an automated energy switching service, there’s a pretty big decision to be made straight off the bat: do I go for a free or paid service? Switchd is the only service that offers both, so we thought we’d be best placed to give you an outline of the difference between the two options…

Free Plans

Free energy switching services are essentially automated comparison sites. You enter a few details, they check the energy market for a tariff that suits you, and they switch you over.

There is a key detail that most free auto switchers won’t tell you about, though: how they make their money. Free auto switchers earn a commission from every supplier that they switch a customer to. The catch is that over 50% of the over 20,000 energy tariffs do not offer a commission. There are even some energy providers with great deals who avoid paying commission altogether.

This means that free switchers aren’t switching you to the cheapest deal, they’re switching you to the cheapest deal that pays them. This is how the free version of our service works, and we find that on average a customer will save over £100 less than with the paid plan.

Paid Plans

Our paid services charge a fee in order to remain totally independent and un-swayed by commission. This means that unlike comparison websites and our free competitors we will always get you the best deal on the market.

Our algorithm checks every single tariff in the market and selects the best one for you. The only suppliers that we avoid are those that offer poor customer service – we know that it’s important to our customers that they’re treated well in addition to getting a great deal.

Once you've signed up, we find you the best deal, switch you, and then our algorithm gets back to work ensuring you stay on the best deal there is. We switch the average household once a year.