Two national giants, two different pricing shapes
<a href="/retailers/agl">AGL</a> and <a href="/retailers/origin-energy">Origin</a> are the two biggest energy retailers in Australia, and because both operate at national scale they compete hard on headline offers. But "big and national" does not mean "priced the same". They differ in the balance they strike between the daily supply charge and the usage rate, in how they structure discounts and sign-up credits, and in what they pay for exported solar. Any of those levers can make one cheaper than the other for a given household while the reverse is true next door.
The honest answer to "AGL or Origin?" is that it depends on your usage and your state. Both publish market offers priced against the reference price, both offer electricity and gas (so a dual-fuel household may value keeping them together), and both regularly refresh their deals. Neither is universally cheaper — which is precisely why you compare them on your own numbers rather than on a brand reputation.
What to compare between them, line by line
Start with the two building blocks: the daily supply charge and the usage rate. If you are a low user, the supply charge dominates your bill, so whichever retailer has the lower daily charge tends to win; if you are a high user, the usage rate matters more. Then look at the discount structure — is the headline saving guaranteed, or conditional on paying by the due date? A plan with a big pay-on-time discount only beats a plan with a smaller guaranteed one if you never miss a due date.
Next, check the solar feed-in tariff if you have panels, because a better feed-in rate can outweigh a slightly higher usage rate for a solar-heavy home. Finally, note the benefit period on each offer and what the rates revert to afterwards. Both retailers use benefit periods, so a plan that is cheapest today may not be in 13 months. These are the fields that decide it — not which brand you have heard of more.
Who each genuinely suits
AGL suits households that value a large, long-established retailer with a broad range of plans, solar and battery options, and app-based bill management, and who want electricity and gas under one roof. Origin, equally, suits people who want national coverage, dual fuel, and its own ecosystem of tools and rewards. In truth the two are more alike in what they offer than either’s marketing suggests; the meaningful difference on any given day is the price of the specific plan against your usage.
That is the point most comparisons miss. Because both change their offers regularly, the winner between AGL and Origin can flip month to month and postcode to postcode. There is no durable "AGL is cheaper" or "Origin is cheaper" answer — there is only cheaper for your usage, in your network, this month.
How to settle it on your actual bill
Rather than guess, cost both retailers’ plans against your real usage. EnergySorted reads your actual peak, off-peak and shoulder usage, your solar export and your gas steps from an uploaded bill, then costs every AGL and Origin plan — alongside every other AER-listed retailer — and ranks them cheapest-first. It proves the result against what you are paying now, so you see the real difference in dollars, not a headline percentage.
Because EnergySorted takes no retailer commissions (it is funded by a small subscription, around $39 a year) neither AGL nor Origin can pay to rank higher, and it re-checks nightly so you are told if the winner changes after your next benefit period ends. If you would rather browse first, see <a href="/retailers">all retailers</a> or read our <a href="/resources/best-electricity-retailer-australia">best electricity retailer</a> guide, then <a href="/resources/how-to-switch">how to switch</a> when you are ready.