Account
Vaping Vs Smoking Savings Calculator

Free UK Tool

Vaping vs Smoking: How Much Could You Save?

Switching from cigarettes to vaping can save a serious amount of money. Enter what you smoke and how you vape to see your saving now, and from 1 October 2026, when the new vape tax starts and tobacco duty rises on the same day.

What you smoke

UK average is about £16 to £18. Change it to your brand.

How you vape

Coils, empty pods and kits are hardware, so the vape tax does not apply to them. Only the e-liquid is taxed.

Right now

At today's prices

£5,466 a year

You could save

Per week£104.82
Per month£455.47
Per year£5,466

Smoking £501.88/mo vs vaping £46.41/mo

From October 2026

After the vape tax and tobacco duty rise

£5,369 a year

You could save

Per week£102.97
Per month£447.44
Per year£5,369

Smoking £517.93/mo vs vaping £70.50/mo

What the vape tax applies to: only the e-liquid. Coils, empty refillable pods and the device itself are hardware, so they are not taxed. Prefilled pods and big puff pods contain e-liquid, so from October 2026 the 22p per ml duty (plus VAT) does apply to them.

How much does smoking cost?

The cost of smoking adds up fast. At the UK average of about £16.50 for a pack of 20, smoking 20 a day costs around £115 a week, £500 a month and over £6,000 a year. Use the tool above as a cost of smoking calculator and a vaping cost calculator in one: it works out the cost of smoking versus vaping side by side, so you can see the difference in pounds. Even a 10-a-day habit runs to roughly £3,000 a year at today's prices.

What changes on 1 October 2026?

Two things happen on the same day, and the government has said this is deliberate, to keep the incentive to switch:

  • A new vape tax (Vaping Products Duty) of £2.20 per 10 ml of e-liquid, which is 22p per ml, charged at a flat rate whatever the nicotine strength. VAT is then added on top, so it works out at about 26p per ml.
  • A one-off rise in tobacco duty of £2.20 per 100 cigarettes, which is about 44p on a pack of 20 before VAT, so roughly 53p more per pack at the till.

The calculator shows your saving both now and after these changes, so you can see the difference. Even with the new vape tax, vaping stays much cheaper than smoking for most people, but the gap narrows a little.

Want to see exactly what the vape tax adds to your e-liquid each week?

Try the vape tax calculator

Why vaping usually costs less

The biggest saving comes from refilling. A refillable pod kit with refillable pods, filled with your own choice of e-liquid, is the cheapest way to vape. Because the vape tax only applies to the e-liquid, not the kit or the pods, refilling stays the best value even after October 2026. Prefilled pods and big puff kits are more convenient, but you pay for that convenience.

A pack-a-day smoker spends over £100 a week on cigarettes at today's prices. Refilling a kit with e-liquid is the cheapest way to vape, at a few pounds per bottle, so the weekly running cost is far lower. Prefilled pods and big puff kits cost a bit more to run than refilling with bottles, but still tend to work out cheaper than smoking. Disposables were banned in June 2025, so "big puff" now means a rechargeable pod kit with prefilled or refillable pods. The exact saving depends on how much you smoke, your brand, and how you vape, which is why this tool uses your own numbers.

Ready to switch, or want to cut your vaping costs? Browse refillable kits, nic salt e-liquids and shortfills, or see what nicotine strength you need.

Savings FAQs

At an average of about £16.50 for a pack of 20, a pack-a-day smoker spends around £6,000 a year. Twenty a day is one pack, so the yearly cost is roughly 365 times the pack price. Use the calculator above for your own figure.

For most people, yes, and usually by a wide margin. Refilling a kit with e-liquid costs far less to run than a daily cigarette habit. Prefilled pods and big puff kits cost a little more but still tend to beat smoking. The calculator shows the difference based on what you actually smoke and vape.

It adds 22p per ml of e-liquid (plus VAT) from 1 October 2026, so about 26p per ml. If you get through 3 ml a day that is roughly 79p a day. It raises the cost of vaping, but tobacco duty rises on the same day too, so vaping stays cheaper than smoking for most people.

Yes. On 1 October 2026 tobacco duty rises by a one-off £2.20 per 100 cigarettes, about 44p on a pack of 20 before VAT. The government set it to match the new vape tax so the incentive to switch is maintained.

Most smokers save hundreds to thousands of pounds a year. A pack-a-day smoker who switches to refilling typically saves around £5,000 a year even after the October 2026 vape tax. Enter your own numbers above for an exact figure.

Refilling a kit with e-liquid is often around £40 to £60 a month including coils. Prefilled pods and big puff kits usually cost more. Smoking 20 a day is over £500 a month, so the saving is large either way.

The tool multiplies your cigarettes a day by your pack price to get your smoking cost, then works out your vaping cost from how you vape: for refilling it is your ml a day times your price per 10 ml; for prefilled pods it is your pods a week times the price each. For the October 2026 view it adds the tobacco duty rise to the pack price and the new 22p-per-ml vape duty (plus VAT) to the e-liquid you get through. Figures are estimates based on your inputs.

More vape calculators and tools

This is one of our free vape calculators. Once you have your saving, work out the rest:

Vape tax calculatorVape to cigarette calculatorNicotine strength finderE-liquid mixing calculatorNic shot calculatorCoil building calculatorOhm's law calculatorAll vape tools

Ready to start saving? Browse refillable kits, nic salt e-liquids and shortfills.

Vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking but it is not risk-free, and is intended for adult smokers and vapers. If you don't smoke, don't vape. These figures are estimates based on the numbers you enter and current UK tax rules; your actual costs will vary. Not financial advice.

Sources: GOV.UK “Introduction of Vaping Products Duty from 1 October 2026” and “Changes to tobacco duty rates”; ONS average cigarette prices. Estimates only.