Is Vaping Still Cheaper Than Smoking After the 2026 Duty?

Updated: October 2026 · By David Phillips, Lead Content Writer, Vape Superstore

TL;DR

A 10-a-day UK smoker spends about £3,250 a year on cigarettes in 2026. With the Vaping Products Duty now in force, a refillable pod kit costs about £490 a year to use, netting you an annual saving of around £2,760. Before the duty, the same setup cost about £300 a year.

Vaping will still be cheaper than smoking after the Vape Tax. The duty adds a flat £2.20 per 10ml of e-liquid, plus 20% VAT. Even so, refillable vaping costs about a sixth of a 10-a-day habit and around a thirteenth of a 20-a-day habit.

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The Cost of Smoking Has Never Been Higher

A typical UK smoker spends about £3,470 a year on cigarettes. For perspective, Ofgem's price cap puts a typical household's annual energy bill at £1,723 from October 2026. A 20-a-day habit now costs about £6,940 a year.

The average pack of 20 cost £17.80 in January 2026. HMRC estimates the 1 October 2026 tobacco duty rise adds £1.21 to that, so I've used an estimated £19.01 a pack throughout this article.

Here’s how vaping and smoking costs compare before and after the duty.

Single-use disposables were banned on 1 June 2025. Your two cheapest legal options now are prefilled pod kits and refillable vape kits.

What This Guide Covers

The Cost of Vaping vs Smoking

A refillable vape works out dramatically cheaper than cigarettes. A 10-a-day smoker spends roughly seven times more per year on tobacco than a duty-paid refillable vaper, while a 20-a-day smoker spends over 14 times more.

Smoking figures use £17.80 a pack before 1 October and an estimated £19.01 from 1 October (January 2026 average plus HMRC's estimated £1.21 rise). Vaping figures from 1 October are estimated duty-paid costs. There's more on tobacco prices in Cigarette Prices in the UK 2026 further down.

Even a big-puff prefilled pod kit saves you about £2,875 a year versus 10-a-day smoking, almost matching refillables for savings while being far simpler to use.

Cost Comparison by Smoker Type

Here’s how the estimated savings change by smoker type.

5-Year and 10-Year Cumulative Savings

Here's waht savings look like after the vaping duty.

The Vape Duty Is Here: What It Really Means for Your Spend

Since 1 October 2026, HMRC's new Vaping Products Duty (VPD) has added a flat £2.20 of excise duty to every 10ml of e-liquid sold in the UK, nicotine-free liquids included. Standard 20% VAT is then applied on top of the duty, so the real increase at the checkout is about £2.64 per 10ml.

The duty was announced in the Spring Budget 2024. It's a flat rate, whatever the nicotine strength, aimed at keeping things simple for retailers, but it does mean the percentage hike is highest on cheaper bottles like shortfills.

Duty applies to stock made or imported from 1 October. Retailers can keep selling pre-duty stock until 31 March 2027, which is why some products still show their old prices.

Estimated 2026 Prices After the Duty

Even at the new rates, a refillable vape kit using six 10ml bottles a month costs an estimated £41 a month, or £490 a year, hardware costs included.

For a moderate vaper, the duty adds an estimated £190 a year.

For more detail, read our deep dive: The UK Vape Tax 2026 - Expectations and Implications.

How Much Does Reusable Vaping Cost a Year?

Refillable vape kits in the UK cost an estimated £490 a year to run now the Vaping Products Duty is in force, up from about £300 before 1 October 2026. A starter kit costs £10–£25 upfront, with monthly hardware costs for coils (£10) and e-liquid (an estimated £31 for six duty-paid bottles). Multi-buy deals can lower e-liquid prices even more.

A refillable pod kit needs coils to vaporise the e-liquid and they typically last between 1-2 weeks, depending on your use. This works out to approximately £10 a month or £120 per year. Coils and empty pods carry no vape duty, so this part of the bill hasn't changed.

How much e-liquid you use will depend on your personal consumption and your nicotine strength. A moderate vaper will use, on average, 6 x 10ml bottles per month, so you'll spend about £370 a year on e-liquid, up from £180.

While our pre-duty stock lasts, you can still buy nic salts at the old prices. Check the multi-buy deals on our Nicotine Salt E-Liquids page.

What Does a Refillable Vape Kit Actually Cost to Run?

Here’s an example of a beginner refillable vape setup before and after the duty.

How Much Do Prefilled Pod Kits Cost?

Prefilled pod kits are easier to use than refillable kits, but generally cost more in the long run. The duty is charged per ml, so the bigger the refill container, the more expensive it will be upfront.

How the Duty Affects Prefilled Pods

Here's the breakdown for the most common Prefilled Pod Kit types.

Here’s an example based on one replacement pod pack per week.

How to Keep Your Vaping Costs Down After the Duty

1. Buy pre-duty stock while it lasts. Retailers can sell it until 31 March 2027, and ours is still at its original price.
2. Choose refillable over big puff prefilled. On the figures above, a refillable kit costs about £105 a year less than a Titan X at one pod a week.
3. Using less liquid reduces the amount of duty you pay. MTL setups generally get through less liquid than sub-ohm ones.
4. Use multi-buys and bundles. Multi-buy deals still bring the price per bottle down. Kit bundles include pods and e-liquid, and the kit and pods carry no duty.
5. Look after your coils. A burnt coil wastes liquid you've already paid duty on. Our guide to fixing burnt vape coils walks you through how to prevent this.

Our Vaping Starter Kit Recommendations

Vape kits, coils and empty pods are not affected by the vape duty, so hardware prices haven't changed. The duty only affects e-liquid. Here are some of the best performing brands for refillable and prefilled vaping.

The Vaporesso XROS Series kits are simple enough that beginners can get up and running in minutes, easy to refill with their unclippable mouthpieces, and the Corex 3.0 coils deliver a flavourful and consistent vape experience. The XROS 6 is compact and solidly made, with an 1800mAh battery and fast charging (around 50% in 10 minutes). The XROS 6 Mini has a 1600mAh battery, and its bundle comes with Corex 3.0 pods and three 10ml nic salts will be cheaper than buying separately.

The OXVA brand also provides flavourful, simple to use vapes with a host of handy quality of life features. They offer a wide selection of refillable pod kits that provide you with lightweight simple options like the OXVA Xlim Go Lite or more feature rich and eye-catching ones like the OXVA Pro 3.

For quick, on-the-go vaping, the Vampire Vape 10K is hard to beat. It's a lightweight, durable prefilled pod vape that delivers up to 10,000 puffs per refill.

The Lost Mary BM600 Pod Kit mirrors its disposable predecessor, providing up to 600 puffs per pod, and will feel instantly familiar to anyone who used the original Lost Mary range before the disposables ban. If you want a longer lasting version, look at the Lost Mary BM6000 Pod Kit.

Vaping vs Nicotine Pouches: Cost Per Day

Nicotine pouches are also worth comparing on cost, especially if you need an option when vaping isn't practical, such as in the office or on a flight. Pouches aren't affected by the Vaping Products Duty, so their prices didn't change on 1 October.

Pouches fall in the middle on cost: they are far cheaper than smoking, but around three to five times the cost of estimated duty-paid vaping for a tin-a-day user. Budget pouches bring that down to under twice the cost. You can also combine the two, by using a refillable vape outdoors, and pouches for indoor situations. Learn more about nicotine pouches if you're thinking about giving them a try.

The Cost of Cigarettes in the UK in 2026

UK cigarette prices have more than tripled since 2007. The ONS (Office for National Statistics) Retail Price Index for a 20-pack of king-size filter cigarettes shows the average price rising from £5.33 in 2007 to £16.60 in January 2025, the last month they published. ASH Scotland puts the average pack at £17.80 as of January 2026. Rolling tobacco averaged £25.25 per 30g pouch in January 2026.

On 1 October 2026, the tobacco duty rose again by RPI + 2% plus a one-off £2.20 per 100 cigarettes. HMRC estimates the rise adds £1.21 to a pack of 20 and £2.54 to 30g of rolling tobacco. That gives you an estimated average of about £19.01 a pack and £27.79 per 30g, the figures I've used throughout this guide.

Cost of Tobacco in the UK 2026

Estimates based on £19.01 per 20-pack and £27.79 per 30g of rolling tobacco (about 50 roll-ups): January 2026 averages plus HMRC's estimated 1 October 2026 rise.

Duty Stamps: How to Tell Your E-Liquid Is Duty-Paid

Duty-paid vaping products will now carry a vaping duty stamp, much like the ones on cigarette packs. The duty will be rolled out in stages:

From April 2027, a 10ml bottle selling for £2 with no stamp is a red flag. The duty hasn't been paid, and it may not be a compliant UK product either.

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