Switchd Review: Best Auto-switching Energy Service in 2022?

Switchd Review

Constantly switching your energy provider to stay on the cheapest rates can be quite a time consuming task. Thankfully Switchd aims to remove all the hassle by monitoring the market for the cheapest rates and automatically switching you to a new supplier if they find a cheaper rate.

Sound too good to be true? In this Switchd review I’ll go over how it works to help you understand if they’re right for you and how to get started.

How does Switchd work?

The premise behind Switchd is that you sign up with them and grant them control over selecting your energy provider. Switchd then search through thousands of different energy tariffs every day, comparing them to your current tariff to see if you can save money.

Once they identify a saving of at least £50 per year, they notify you and initiate an energy switch to the new provider.

How Much Does Switchd Cost?

Switchd offers four different auto-energy switching plans, all having different features and costs shown below.

Services / PlansFreeLiteStandardPremium
Automatic supplier switching
Compare all available suppliers
Support via chat & email
Support via phone
Dedicated support agent
Estimated savings£300+£400+£400+£400+
Monthly Fee*Free£1.99£3.49£4.99
*All plans are free until you’ve saved £50

So, which one is the best plan to choose? In my opinion, their Lite plan is my first choice, then their Free plan and I’ll explain why.

First thing I want to highlight is how the free plan works, and critically, how it’s free. The way Switchd earns money from the free plan is that they will only search for energy suppliers that are willing to pay a commission when they transfer you to a new supplier.

By only including suppliers that will pay a commission, they are limited to a smaller selection of suppliers, potentially restricting you from getting the best deal. To gain access to all available suppliers you need to choose a paid plan, starting from £1.99 per month, or £23.88 per year.

The question then becomes, will paying £23.88 per year to access to more suppliers save you more money?

With the savings estimates, from the savings estimates and reviews it appears like £23.88 is worth the extra money to gain access to the full list of energy suppliers.

For the Standard and Premium plans, in my opinion, the increase in price for more enhanced levels of support aren’t needed. Looking through their customer reviews which we’ll get onto in more detail shortly, they’re quick at answering any questions via email and their chat system.

So unless you’re not great with technology and need a more personalised service speaking to someone directly, you’re probably better off going with the cheaper option and saving more money.

How to Sign Up

If all this sounds appealing to you, then you can get started right away. All you need is to provide Switchd with a bit of information, including details about your property and your current energy usage.

Ideally if you have a recent energy bill to hand that would be best to get the most accurate energy estimate. Then in less than 2 minutes you can have a quote estimating how much money you’ll save each year.

Go to Switchd here and get a quote.

Are Exit Fees Included in the Saving Calculation?

Yes, when you sign up Switchd they will be aware of your current contract, including any exit fees. When they’re searching the market to find a better deal they’ll take this into account and only switch your supplier if you’ve save £50 on top of any exit fees.

This means even if you’ve recently changed supplier you can still sign up. What’s even better is they won’t charge you anything until they’ve saved you at least £50, not a bad return for little to no work.

Does Switchd Have Exit Fees for their Paid Plans?

No, you’re free to cancel at any time. You can do this within your dashboard under “User Settings” or call them directly.

If you do cancel your account, it doesn’t cancel your energy service as your energy contract is directly with the energy supplier. This will continue as normal and you will be back in control of having to monitor the market to make sure you’re on the cheapest energy deal.

Can I Switch to a Green Tariff?

Yes, when you sign up you are given a set of preferences that Switchd use to cross references their available suppliers. These preferences include whether you only want to use either renewable or green tariffs.

Customer Reviews

On Trustpilot, Switchd is rated 4.4 with over 300 reviews and 88% of them being either great or excellent. A lot of these reviews highlights how easy the service is to use and how happy they are to be saving money on their energy bills.

Unfortunately, 9% of the reviews are rated as bad, however looking through the detail, a lot of them seem to relate to people either providing wrong estimated energy usage and delays in energy switches.

To help counter this make ensure you have a positive experience, please make sure your energy estimates are as accurate as possible and when Switchd notifies you of a switch taking place, to just keep monitoring it to make sure it goes through properly. It’s in your interest as the faster the switch goes through the more money you save, so should be worth a minute or two of checking.

Switchd Alternatives

There are starting to be quite a few entrants into the auto-energy switching market, each having their own advantages and disadvantages.

For a complete understanding of all of your options, check out this post on the best auto-switching energy service in the UK.

Switchd vs Look After My Bills

Look After My Bills is the current market leader in the auto-switching energy market. They are very similar in the way they operate and have the largest customer base.

However, Look After My Bills only offers a free plan which is the same as the free plan offered by Switchd. This has the same limitation where they are restricted to only those energy suppliers that will offer a commission for new customers.

This is where the paid plans offered by Switchd may potentially give them the edge to save you more money by giving you access to a wider range of energy suppliers.

Conclusion / Recommendation

Overall Switchd is an excellent option for those looking for a hassle-free way to save money on their energy bills. No longer do you have to constantly keep your energy bills in the back of your mind, wondering whether you’re getting the best price.

Both the free and the paid plans give you the opportunity to save money on your energy bills, and they won’t charge you anything until they’ve saved you at least £50. That pays for over 2 years of their paid service as a minimum saving, not bad in my view.

To get started, go to Switchd and get a quote in minutes.