Comparison

Bright vs Octopus Watch

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Bright

Track your electricity and gas usage in real-time from your smart meters. This app helps you manage energy consumption and spend more efficiently, contributing to carbon reduction goals. Requires compatible hardware for full functionality.

Highlights
  • Real-time energy consumption monitoring
  • Electricity and gas usage tracking
  • Smart meter data access via DCC or CAD
  • Clamp-on sensor support for electricity
  • Energy spend management
  • Carbon efficiency goals
Features
Read full description

Monitor your energy consumption anytime, anywhere with Bright. For real-time data you need Glowmarkt compatible hardware (https://shop.glowmarkt.com/) - which works with either smart or traditional meters. People with SMETS2 (or E&A SMETS 1) meters can access their half hourly data with Bright for free, once they go through our verification process. Bright lets you check your energy consumption, this could be electricity and gas usage from your smart meters, via the DCC or our Consumer Access Device (CAD). Clamp-on technology sensors can support electricity usage monitoring. Our goal is to help you manage your energy consumption and spend more efficiently as we all strive to become more carbon efficient. To see our Frequently Asked Questions go to: https://glowmarkt.com/#/faqs/apps For more information or any questions please contact: support@glowmarkt.com Join the Glow community (https://forum.glowmarkt.com/).

About

Octopus Watch

Easily manage your Octopus Energy tariffs, track electricity rates, and identify optimal times to use appliances or charge your EV. Offers insights into usage, weather impacts, and export earnings. Optional subscription unlocks advanced features like 48-hour rate predictions and carbon integration.

Highlights
  • Track current and upcoming electricity rates
  • Identify cheapest times for appliances/EV charging
  • View historic usage and micro metrics
  • Receive rate change alerts
  • Compare tariffs
  • Export data to CSV
  • 48h Agile rate predictions (subscription)
Features
Read full description

Octopus Watch is the easiest tool to manage the (smart) tariffs provided by Octopus Energy in the UK. Octopus Watch is a paymium app for iOS offering both a standard version as a one-time purchase, and an optional subscription with additional features. Ready to supercharge your savings? Save significantly on your electricity bill, regardless of whether you're on Agile, Go, Cosy, Flux, Tracker, or any fixed tariffs (basic or eco 7). Thinking of joining Agile? Log into the app with just your postcode and check out local rates. If you want to see your consumption history, you'll need an Octopus Energy account and an active smart meter. Please note that support for Intelligent and Intelligent Go is currently limited, with only default off-peak times available. For the latest status on tariff support check out the wiki: https://wiki.smarthound.uk/octopus-watch/tariffs/ . With the standard version of Octopus Watch, you'll have all the tools at your fingertips to effectively manage your tariff: • View your current rates in an instant (including for gas trackers). • View your current electricity rates directly on your Apply Watch! • See all your upcoming rates in an easy chart and table. • Instantly get the cheapest times to run appliances or charge your EV, and save big! • Use the beautiful widget for current and upcoming prices on your home screen. • Receive alerts when the next day's Agile rates are available. • See your historic day-by-day usage. • Use the new micro metrics to quickly see trends in your usage. • See when your meter fails and how much data is missing. • Understand how weather influences your usage. • One tap comparison to see how your tariff compares to Agile, Go, and SVT. • Check your earnings from export (only available with an export meter). • Various options to change the app defaults to best suit your needs! • Export cleaned data to CSV for easy use in other apps such as Microsoft® Excel®. Want even more? A single subscription gets you access to these amazing features: • Up to 48h Agile rate predictions – plan your usage effectively and save even more! • If you have an export meter, also receive Agile export rate predictions. • Access 7-day weather forecasts across Great Britain for even better planning. • Instant notifications when next day's Agile prices fall below your chosen threshold. • Identify optimal half-hour blocks throughout the day to charge your EV or run appliances. • Carbon integration - see your environmental impact both now and in the past. • View your electricity generation regionally or nationally, and adjusted to your usage. • Choose the best slot based on either price or lowest carbon emissions on the grid. • One tap comparison to see how your tariff compares to most smart tariffs. • Advanced micro metrics over 14 or 28 days, including subscription-only metrics. • Day details – see your exact usage along with numerous statistics on a day-by-day basis. • Day details – see exactly which data is missing when your meter stops reporting. • Micro-optimise your usage with half-hour details within the app. • Generate straightforward electricity reports for any period in the last year. • Generate detailed gas reports, including heat pump efficiency information, for the last year. Thanks to Family Sharing you can install the app on all devices within the same family. Install it on your iPhone for an easy pocket reference, run it from your iPad to see the beautiful rate graph and double column table, or see the current rate with a flick of your wrist on your Apple Watch with dozens of complications to choose from. The choice is yours! Octopus Watch also supports subscription sharing, so one subscription gives you access to all the extras on all the iPhones and iPads in your household.

Screenshots

Bright4 screens
Octopus Watch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Bright at Free against Octopus Watch's $1.99. Bright also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Octopus Watch's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (65% vs 50%). On ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Bright is free to download; Octopus Watch costs $1.99 up front. Octopus Watch sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Bright asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bright holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Bright's written reviews are positive against 65% of Octopus Watch's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bright ships an update every 2 months, Octopus Watch every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on June 10, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Bright versus Octopus Watch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrightOctopus Watch
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews64.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.1
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHILDEBRAND TECHNOLOGY LTDKim Bauters

Customer experience

Bright

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral4.5%
Negative45.5%

Octopus Watch

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews79 reviews
Positive64.6%
Neutral10.1%
Negative25.3%

In-app purchases

None

Bright

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Octopus Watch

Subscriptions2
  • 1 Month Subscription$1.991 Month
  • 1 Year Subscription$11.991 Year

Questions

Is Bright free?
Bright is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Octopus Watch free?
Octopus Watch costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bright or Octopus Watch?
Bright is rated higher. Bright averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Octopus Watch averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Bright or Octopus Watch have ads?
Neither Bright nor Octopus Watch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bright or Octopus Watch?
Bright ships an update every 2 months, and Octopus Watch every 3 weeks. Most recently, Bright was updated on June 10, 2026 and Octopus Watch on September 23, 2026.

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