The prices are closer than the headlines suggest. On urban 24-hour electricity at CRU typical usage, Electric Ireland’s 16% new-customer deal prints an Estimated Annual Bill of €1,612 against Yuno’s €1,702 — and its smart-meter 20% plan, at €1,522, beats Yuno’s smart card (€1,618) too. Yuno hits back where it is genuinely cheaper: gas at €1,332 vs €1,499, and the dual-fuel cards, where Yuno’s two printed fuels sum to about €2,746 against Electric Ireland’s €2,912. Both raised prices from July 2026 — Electric Ireland by 8% electricity and 7.7% gas, its first rise since October 2022; Yuno by 9.5% and 11%, its first ever, and mid-contract, because every Yuno plan is variable.
We score Yuno 7.9 and Electric Ireland 7.2, and both calls survive this head-to-head: Yuno’s value is real, and so is Electric Ireland’s steadiness. The honest split is by fuel and by temperament. Buying gas or both fuels and happy to live in an app? Yuno saves you real money in year one. Buying electricity only, or wanting paper bills, a phone line, prepay, NightSaver or the cheap €50 exit? The incumbent is — unusually for an incumbent — the better contract here. Whichever way you lean, diary month 11: the full market is on best energy for Ireland.
Quick comparison
Side by side from published August 2026 prices and contract terms. Green highlights the better figure on each measurable row.
| Electric Ireland | Yuno Energy | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 7.2 | 7.9 |
| Elec year 1 (EAB) | €1,522 | €1,618 |
| Elec year 2 (EAB) | €1,868 | €1,823 |
| Gas year 1 (EAB) | €1,499 | €1,332 |
| Gas year 2 (EAB) | €1,633 | €1,577 |
| Fuels | Electricity + Gas | Electricity + Gas |
| Dual fuel | Yes | Yes |
| Prepay option | Yes | No |
| Exit fees | €50 incl VAT per fuel if you leave a fixed-term plan early; nothing once the 12 months are up | €100 termination fee per fuel if you leave after the 14-day cooling-off but before the 12-month initial period ends — or if you leave without giving 30 days notice. Dual fuel means two fuels, so up to €200. Checked in the product T&Cs on yunoenergy.ie on 28 Aug 2026. |
Yuno wins the fuels the headlines never mention it winning
Put the rate cards side by side and the famous result inverts on the biggest fuel. These are each supplier’s published Estimated Annual Bills at CRU typical usage (4,200 kWh electricity, 11,000 kWh gas, urban standing charges), checked 28 August 2026:
| Like-for-like plan | Electric Ireland (year 1) | Yuno (year 1) | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24-hour electricity | €1,612 (16% off) | €1,702 | Electric Ireland, €90 |
| Smart-meter electricity | €1,522 (20% off) | €1,618 | Electric Ireland, €96 |
| Gas | €1,499 (10% off) | €1,332 | Yuno, €167 |
| Dual fuel | €2,912 (20% off) | ≈€2,746 | Yuno, ≈€166 |
Why does "cheapest supplier in Ireland" lose the electricity rows? Because Yuno’s crown rests on its dual-fuel card — 30.81c/kWh electricity plus 8.22c/kWh gas, the cheapest combination Yuno prints — while its standalone electricity discount runs 34.85c/kWh, which Electric Ireland’s 16% deal (31.95c) and 20% smart deal simply undercut this week. Welcome bonuses muddy the sticker without changing the ranking: Yuno credited €180–€200 at our check, Electric Ireland €60–€135, and neither is inside the EABs above. And note what is missing from Yuno’s side of the table entirely: NightSaver, prepay, and gas on a pay-as-you-go meter. If your meter is one of those, there is no Yuno price to compare — see cheapest electricity and cheapest gas for who else is in the race.
Two cliffs of similar height — but only one can move mid-fall
Both suppliers run the same play: a 12-month discount, then the standard rate. The bars are each supplier’s published urban EABs, year 1 in green and the year-2 standard card in rust:
The drops are almost identical — about €256 on Electric Ireland electricity, €240 on Yuno’s — so neither brand gets to lecture the other about teasers. The differences are subtler. Electric Ireland’s standard rate (38.04c/kWh, EAB €1,868) is one of the gentlest fall-backs in the market, and it went eleven years between the October 2022 and July 2026 rises. Yuno’s year-2 Standard Plan is dearer on electricity (€1,942) but cheaper on gas (€1,577 vs about €1,633) — and, crucially, every Yuno figure on this page is a variable rate that can be changed with notice at any point, as the July 2026 rise (+9.5% electricity, +11% gas, announced 29 May per RTÉ) proved mid-contract. The Electric Ireland customer knows what the cliff was when signing; the Yuno customer knows what it was that morning. How to time the jump either way is in year 1 vs year 2.
The best app in the matchup belongs to the supplier that gives you nothing else
On the app alone, Yuno wins without much argument. Daily predicted-bill updates, hour-by-hour usage, a billing date you pick yourself — it is billing software built in 2023 rather than retrofitted, and a Trustpilot score around 4.3 from roughly 2,000 reviews says the experience mostly delivers, though customers report slow welcome-bonus credits. The catch is that the app is not a channel, it is the contract: Yuno service is app-only and paperless by its terms, and asking for paper bills can see your tariff moved or the deal ended.
Electric Ireland’s app is competent rather than delightful, but it sits on top of everything else the incumbent does: paper bills if you want them, a phone queue staffed at ESB scale, Payzone counters and text top-ups for its Smarter Pay As You Go customers, and billing that has survived every meter type in the country. That breadth is the actual product — nobody at Electric Ireland will move your tariff because you asked for an envelope. If the household paying the bill does not live on a smartphone — an older relative, a shared house with one bill-payer, anyone with low digital confidence — this section is the whole comparison, and it is not close.
€50 versus €100 a fuel — and the notice rule that catches tidy leavers
Both contracts run 12 months with a 14-day cooling-off. After that they diverge sharply. Electric Ireland charges €50 including VAT per fuel to leave the fixed term early — €100 on dual — and nothing once the year is up. Yuno charges €100 per fuel, so up to €200 on dual fuel, and its terms add a second trigger: leave without giving 30 days’ notice and the fee can apply even around the end of the term. Yuno’s discount electricity cards also require a smart meter, and under industry rules that conversion is one-way — a condition Electric Ireland’s 24h and NightSaver plans simply do not have (its smart plans do; see ESB Networks on meter upgrades).
The trap in this matchup: Yuno’s prices are variable, but your term is not. If Yuno raises rates in month 5 — as it did for customers in July 2026 — you are still inside the 12-month period, and leaving costs €100 per fuel, up to €200 on dual, unless you are within a notice window around a price change. Check the change letter for your exit rights before paying the fee, and give 30 days’ notice in writing whenever you leave Yuno, even at the natural end of the contract.
Run the switch maths with those fees in. Moving mid-contract from Electric Ireland to Yuno for gas costs €50 and saves about €167 a year — defensible. Moving for electricity costs €50 to arrive at a dearer card. Coming back the other way from Yuno mid-term costs €100–€200 before you save a cent, which is why the right moment to decide is month 11, not month 5 — the mechanics are in how to switch energy supplier.
A certificate premium versus no green story at all
Neither supplier should be bought for its greenness. Electric Ireland’s standard supply follows the disclosed national fuel mix; its dearer Green plans are backed by Guarantee of Origin certificates rather than any separate Irish supply, which is bookkeeping more than generation. Yuno does not even tell that story — no green-badged tariff, no renewable claim on the cards, though it does pay a solid 17.16c/kWh export rate on discount plans if you have solar panels.
That gives Electric Ireland the win by default: a disclosed mix, a GO-certified option if you insist, and ESB group money genuinely building renewables — but a household that actually ranks green first is shopping the wrong pair entirely. The suppliers with evidence worth paying for are ranked in best green electricity, with Community Power the standout for community-owned generation.
Who should switch to Yuno — and who genuinely should not
Move to Yuno if you are buying gas or dual fuel, you have (or will take) a smart electricity meter and a gas credit meter, the app-only model suits how you already live, and you will diary month 11 and leave with 30 days’ notice. That customer pockets about €166–€167 a year against the incumbent’s equivalent deals, gets the better app for free, and never meets the €100 fee. Yuno also fights this fight against livelier opponents than the incumbent — see Yuno vs Energia.
Do not move if any of these is you. You are electricity-only — this week the maths simply favours Electric Ireland’s own cards. Your home runs on NightSaver, a gas pay-as-you-go meter, or prepay — Yuno has no product for you, while Electric Ireland covers every one of those (prepay shoppers should read prepay vs bill pay and Electric Ireland vs Prepay Power). You are mid-contract on a good discount anywhere — a cheap remaining term is usually worth more than a teaser, once exit fees are counted. Or the bill-payer is not comfortable running everything from a phone — a mandatory-app supplier is the wrong home for low digital confidence, full stop. Unsure which side you fall on? Answer five questions in find your energy.
Which should you choose?
It comes down to cost profile, contract terms, and how you like to deal with a supplier. Use this fast decision frame.
Choose Electric Ireland if
You are buying electricity only — Electric Ireland’s €1,612 (24h) and €1,522 (smart) new-customer cards undercut Yuno’s this week — or your home runs on a meter Yuno cannot serve: NightSaver, a gas pay-as-you-go meter, or prepay. You want paper bills or a phone queue to exist, you might leave early (€50 per fuel, not €100), and you value the gentlest standard-rate landing in the market if you drift past month 12.
Check Electric Ireland →
Choose Yuno Energy if
You are buying gas (€1,332 vs €1,499) or dual fuel (about €2,746 vs €2,912), you have or will accept a smart electricity meter and a gas credit meter, and you genuinely run your life from your phone. You will set a month-11 reminder and leave with 30 days’ notice at the end of the term, so the €100-per-fuel exit fee and the Standard Plan cliff never actually touch you.
Check Yuno Energy →Advertiser disclosure: we may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. That never affects scores or the winner.
