ulb vs Pure Planet

Which of these green energy suppliers offers the best deal? In a choice between Bulb or Pure Planet you can find out which supplier is best on price, green energy and customer service.

On the surface both Pure Planet and Bulb seem like very similar suppliers, however there are some differences such as Pure Planet not having telephone support and having a higher fixed direct debit for winter but lower monthly payments in summer.

Bulb does have a contact number (0300 30 30 635) but like most energy suppliers (and in fact most companies) they'd prefer you use online chat or email them for non-urgent support.

In terms of size Bulb Energy is considered a large supplier whilst Pure Planet is a small supplier. Both suppliers have been around since 2015.

Bulb or Pure Planet, which is cheaper?

Lowest Price	£88.98/month	£83.46/month
100% Green Cost	£88.98/month	£83.46/month
Range of tariffs	1 Tariff	2 Tariffs
Electricity	100% Renewable	100% Renewable
Gas	100% offset (4% green gas)	100% offset
Trustpilot rating	4.6/5	4.6/5
Exit fees	None	£30 per fuel

Bulb only has one rate which is a variable tariff which at the time of this comparison costs £88.98 a month for the average UK household. Pure Planet has a variable and 12 month fixed rate, the cheapest of the two is the fixed rate costing £83.46 a month for the average household.

Overall Pure Planet is the cheaper of the two suppliers by about £5 a month. I've averaged the cost for Pure as they do not charge a fixed monthly rate but instead charge more in winter as people tend to use more energy and less in summer when households typically use less energy.

Even though Pure is cheaper some may prefer the equal monthly payments as it makes it easier to budget with 12 equal monthly direct debits. They charge £66.77 a month from April to September and the higher rate from October to March is £100.15 compared to Bulb's fixed rate of £88.98 all year round.

The 100% Green Variable tariff from Pure Planet is also cheaper than Bulb's 100% renewable energy Vari Fair tariff at £83.80 per month compared to Bulb at £88.98.

So in terms of cost Pure Planet Energy is about £5 a month cheaper although you have to pay the higher winter and lower summer direct debits rather than a fixed monthly amount all year round which may turn off some people.

Bulb is a better choice if you prefer larger suppliers and are more concerned about making a greater environmental impact.

As prices and tariffs change the best way to make sure you are getting a good price is to compare energy rates for yourself.

Green Energy: Bulb vs Pure Planet

Both suppliers offer 100% renewable electricity and 100% carbon offset gas as standard. Bulb talk quite a bit about their green energy on their website but Pure Planet are a little more vague about where their green energy comes from.

Unfortunately renewable energy is being marketed under the guise of 100% renewable but that could mean anything from buying REGO certificates but then not backing that up with the purchase of clean energy from renewable sources to generating and investing in green technology.

There's a great discussion on the Pure Planet community forums about their green energy which is worth a read. It's quite complex but illustrates that the need for clearer labelling by UK energy firms so that customers can easily identify which green energy suppliers are offering what they say they are.

Bulb is a good example of a green energy provider and I've gone into some detail about Bulb renewable energy. To summarise they have direct relationships with renewable energy generators and are also the UK's largest buyer of Green gas. About 4% of the gas they supply is biomethane (Green Gas).

Bulb Energy has a better record of proven investment in renewable energy and with the 4% biogas makes Bulb a greener deal if that is one of your priorities.

If you are interested in who supplies the greenest energy then take a look at our comparison of Good Energy vs Bulb.

Is Bulb or Pure Planet a better energy supplier?

When it comes to deciding between these two suppliers based on customer service and how good an energy supplier they are it is very close. To be honest you are choosing between two really good energy companies.

Pure Planet or Bulb on Trustpilot scores

Both suppliers have a 4.6 out of 5 score on Trustpilot which makes them very good but not excellent. Bulb was rated 4.7 a few months ago but they are still classed as one of the better suppliers. You can get an idea of how both suppliers fair overall by taking a look at our best energy provider list to see how they compare against the rest of the market.

Overall with its lower prices and slightly better performance on complaints it makes Pure Planet a marginally better choice.

Bulb has a 4.6 out of 5 score with a total of 70,412 reviews. Out of those reviews 4% rated the company as bad. Pure Planet also has 4.6 out of 5 but with 15,382 reviewers, that's still quite significant. Out of all those reviews 5% rated them as a bad supplier. So as you can see the scores are very close making it difficult to tell them apart on their Trustpilot review score.

Pure Planet vs Bulb for official complaints

Ofgem publishes the complaint figures for UK suppliers. The latest figures available at the time of this comparison are the Q4 2020 figures as the numbers are published quarterly.

The number of complaints received by Bulb in this period was 2,259 complaints per 100,000 customers. Over the same period Pure Planet received 105 complaints per 10,000 customers. Smaller suppliers are measured against 10,000 customer but it equates to the equivalent of 1,050 per 100,000 customers to get a comparable figure.

Smaller suppliers generally tend to have fewer complaints but we can see in this head to head comparison that Pure Planet receives far fewer complaints.

When it comes to resolving customer complaints Pure Planet was able to resolve 54% of issues by the end of next working day and 96% within eight weeks.

Bulb was able to resolve 41% of customer complaints by the end of the next working day and 94% within eight weeks.

On customer resolution Pure Planet performs better. Not only did they receive fewer complaints to start with but they managed to resolve more issues and in a faster timescale.