There is no single "best" — there is best for a question
Search "best energy comparison site Australia" and every result claims to be the best. The honest answer is that comparison sites are built on different business models, and the model shapes what you actually get. Before you trust any tool with your bill, it is worth understanding three things: how many plans it covers, who pays for it to exist, and whether it costs plans against your real usage or a rough estimate.
This guide sets out those three tests plainly, names where each type of site genuinely does well, and explains where EnergySorted fits. We built EnergySorted, so treat this as an argued case rather than a neutral referee — but every claim here is a structural fact you can verify, not an opinion about anyone.
Test one: how much of the market does it cover?
Some comparison services show only retailers they have a commercial relationship with — a "panel". That can be a genuinely useful shortlist, but it is not the whole market, and the cheapest plan for you may simply not be on it. Others aim for whole-of-market coverage of every retailer listed with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
The free government tool, Energy Made Easy, has broad coverage. So do a handful of independent sites. EnergySorted compares 16,000+ plans from every AER-listed retailer — not a paid panel — so a plan is never hidden from you because a retailer did not pay to appear.
Test two: who pays — and therefore who does it work for?
This is the test most people never think to apply. Many commercial comparison sites are free to you because retailers pay them a commission or referral fee when you sign up. That funds a genuinely convenient service, but it also creates an obvious tension: the site earns more from some outcomes than others.
EnergySorted takes the opposite approach. You pay a small yearly subscription (around $39), and we take no retailer commissions at all. That is a deliberate trade — you pay so that the retailer never does, which means the recommendation answers to you and nobody else. The free government tool is also commission-free; it is funded by the AER.
Test three: real usage, or a guess?
Two plans can look almost identical on a headline rate and cost you very different amounts, because your usage pattern — how much runs at peak versus off-peak, how much solar you export, your gas step usage — decides the real bill. A tool that asks for a rough estimate can only give you a rough answer.
EnergySorted costs every plan against your actual usage read from an uploaded bill: peak, off-peak and shoulder splits, solar feed-in, and gas stepped rates. It then keeps working after the switch — tracking your bills over time with a Bill Health Score, forecasting the next one, and explaining why a bill changed. Most comparison tools give you a one-off quote and stop there.
So which should you use?
If you want a free, government-run, no-signup snapshot, Energy Made Easy is an excellent and trustworthy starting point. If you want the convenience of a call centre doing the switch for you and do not mind a panel, a commercial comparison service can suit. If you want whole-market coverage, a recommendation nobody paid to influence, costing on your real usage, and ongoing tracking across electricity, gas and fuel — that is exactly what EnergySorted is built for, and why we charge you instead of the retailer.