Subscription or pay-as-you-go: when does it pay off?

How a charging subscription works

Most Danish charging operators sell a subscription where you pay a fixed amount each month and, in return, get a lower price per kWh when you charge on the operator's own network. Instead of the pay-as-you-go price — the full price you pay without a subscription — you get a discount on the electricity itself in exchange for a monthly fee.

Some subscriptions are built differently: for a higher fixed amount you get free charging on the operator's own network, so you effectively pay nothing per kWh. The catch is that the discount, or the free charging, almost always applies only to the operator's own chargers — charge with a different operator and you typically fall back to a normal or even higher price.

Pay-as-you-go is the opposite: no commitment and no monthly fee, but the full price every time. For the occasional charger it is simple and fair; for someone who charges a lot, it quickly gets expensive.

Break-even: the math behind it

Whether a subscription pays off comes down to one question: does the discount earn back the monthly fee? Every kWh you charge on the network saves you the difference between the pay-as-you-go price and the subscription price. Multiplied by how many kWh you charge per month, that is your total saving — and it has to be larger than the fixed fee before you come out ahead.

A simplified example: if you save 2 kr per kWh and pay 100 kr a month, you have to charge 50 kWh on the network before the subscription breaks even. Everything above that is pure saving. The more kilometres you drive — and therefore the more kWh you charge in public — the sooner you pass break-even.

That is exactly the calculation the calculator here on the site does for you. Based on your monthly driving, your share of home charging and your routes, it shows how many km each subscription needs before it beats pay-as-you-go — so you can see whether you fall above or below the line.

When does pay-as-you-go win?

Pay-as-you-go is cheapest when you simply do not charge enough in public for the discount to earn back a fixed fee. If you drive few kilometres, or most of your charging happens at home, you are paying for a subscription you barely use.

Changing routes pull in the same direction: if you charge across many different networks, you rarely build up enough volume on any single network for its discount to matter. In that case, no commitment and full flexibility is often the better deal.

• You drive under roughly 1,000 km per month on public charging.
• You charge mostly at home and only use public chargers now and then.
• You do not want to commit or keep track of a monthly fee.

When does the subscription win?

The subscription wins when you charge enough in public for the discount to more than cover the fee. If you drive many kilometres a month and charge most of it on the go rather than at home, you quickly rack up the kWh needed to pass break-even.

It does require that the subscription's network actually covers the places you drive. A cheap subscription on a network with few chargers along your routes is no help — you end up charging pay-as-you-go anyway. The operator pages here on the site show how densely each network covers, and the map shows the chargers in your area.

If you drive a great deal, a subscription with free charging on its own network can be the cheapest of all: the fixed price is spread across so many kWh that the cost per charge drops right down — provided the network covers your everyday driving.

Roaming cards: a middle ground

Between the operator-tied subscription and pure pay-as-you-go sit the roaming cards. With one card or one app you get access to many different networks across operators, so you avoid a handful of apps and one-off payments. The price is typically a surcharge per kWh on top of the operator's base price — you pay a little extra for the convenience and the broad coverage.

Roaming suits someone whose needs are rare or changing: if you drive unpredictable routes and just want to be able to charge wherever it suits you without committing to one network, a single card across many chargers is often worth more than a narrow discount. If, on the other hand, you drive regularly on the same network, the focused subscription usually wins on price.