Long term, the cheapest way to vape after the tax is a refillable vape kit with bottled e-liquid. If you want the lowest upfront cost and the least to manage, it is a 600 puff style 2ml prefilled kit.
The duty is charged per millilitre (ml), so from 1 October 2026 every way of vaping gets dearer, but not by the same amount. This page explains the costs of each vape format with the duty included, then lists the levers that bring the weekly number down.
What the vape tax adds to every bottle and pod
The Vaping Products Duty adds 22p per millilitre (ml) to all e-liquid, with VAT on top. This makes the real cost about 26p per ml. It applies to e-liquids with or without nicotine, and starts on 1 October 2026.
10ml bottle: about £2.64 more
100ml shortfill: about £26.40 more
2ml prefilled pod: about 53p more
Devices are never taxed. Kits, empty pods and coils cost the same after October as before, and that fact does a lot of work later in this page.
Every liquid format costed per millilitre
The order does not change, but the price gaps close up. A shortfill is roughly eleven times cheaper per millilitre than a small prefilled pod today and roughly three times cheaper after the duty.
In percentage terms, the tax hits the cheapest liquid hardest: a £7.99 shortfill cannot legally sell for much under £34 once duty-paid stock is all that is left.
Why your millilitres matter more than your bottle price
Our own numbers, from nearly 18,000 customers, put the typical vaper at 5.7 to 10.3ml a day, with prefilled pod users well under that and sub-ohm vapers well over. A per-millilitre tax turns that difference into money. Ten millilitres a day through a sub-ohm kit collects about £2.64 of duty every day; two millilitres through a tight pod kit collects about 53p.
That is why the biggest saving is not a cheaper bottle. It is getting your millilitres from a bottle instead of a prefilled set, and knowing your own daily number before you decide how to buy.
The four main setups, costed per week
Replacement pods and coils go on top and stay untaxed: a four-pack of XROS pods is £9.99 and the pack covers two to three weeks of daily use.
Long term, the refillable kit with bottled liquid wins it, and it is not close. If the priority is the lowest upfront cost and the least to manage, the 600 puff 2ml kits are the pick: the kit is a few pounds, each pod collects only 53p of duty and there is nothing to fill.
The format that comes off worst is the big puff and larger-capacity prefilled kits with their refill sets. Their liquid costs roughly double that of a bottled e-liquid per millilitre, the format is built around getting through plenty of it, and a single 12ml refill set picks up £3.17 of duty in one go.
The sub-ohm row makes the other point: even the cheapest liquid per millilitre adds up fast at ten millilitres a day.
Eight ways to bring the cost of vaping down
Buy the biggest bottle you will finish: per millilitre a 100ml shortfill beats ten separate 10mls even after the duty, and stored cool, sealed and upright it keeps for over a year
Shortfill user? Look at longfills: the flavour comes as a concentrate in a bigger bottle and you add the base yourself. Germany has taxed e-liquid per millilitre since 2022 and longfills became the format German vapers moved to;
Settle your flavours while stock is cheap: trial brands and flavours through the sell-through window, because a duty-priced bottle you do not enjoy is the dearest liquid there is. Buy the ones you know you will finish
Buy through the sell-through window, not just before October: shops can sell stock bought before 1 October at pre-duty prices until 31 March 2027, so the cheap shelves last into the new year, thinning fastest on the popular lines. Every 100ml bought at pre-duty prices keeps about £26.40 in your pocket. The full detail is in the tax guide
Go rechargeable, not throwaway: a 600 puff pod kit from £2.99 splits your spend, because the kit half never carries duty and only the pods do
Make pods and coils last: fill before the pod is dry, let fresh liquid soak in before the first puff, and a coil gives you its full life instead of burning out week one
Watch the deals pages
Order to the free-delivery line
Are pods cheaper than disposable vapes?
Single-use vapes have not been legal to sell in the UK since June 2025, so at the till the question answers itself. Their replacements do the same job for less anyway: the battery that used to go in the bin is now a kit you keep from £2.99, and each sealed 2ml pod costs from £1.75, with only the pod half ever carrying the duty.
Work out your own numbers
If you are weighing vaping against smoking, the maths is far simpler: even with the duty included, a vaper spends a fraction of a 20-a-day smoker's £116 a week.
Vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking but it is not risk-free, and it is intended for adult smokers and existing vapers. If you do not smoke, do not vape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are pods cheaper than disposable vapes?
Yes, and single-use vapes have not been legal to sell in the UK since June 2025 anyway. A rechargeable prefilled pod kit costs a few pounds once, then each sealed 2ml pod costs from £1.75. Because the kit is never taxed, only the pod picks up the 53p of duty from October, which keeps the format one of the cheapest simple ways to vape.
Which prefilled pods cost the least per day?
On the shelf the larger refill sets look cheapest per millilitre, but the duty and heavier use close that gap quickly: a single 12ml set collects £3.17 of duty against 53p on a 2ml pod. For a pod-a-day vaper the simple 600 puff 2ml pods from £1.75 stay the easiest prefilled option to budget for, and if the weekly cost matters most, the real answer is a refillable kit with bottled e-liquid.
Will the cheapest way to vape change after the tax?
The order stays the same but the gaps shrink. Shortfills stay the cheapest liquid per millilitre, then nic salts, then prefilled refills, all with the same flat 22p per millilitre added. What changes is that how much you get through matters more than what you pay per bottle, so a refillable vape kit with bottled e-liquid becomes the clear cheapest way to vape overall.
Is vaping still cheaper than smoking after the vape tax?
Yes, by a wide margin. A 20-a-day smoker spends about £116 a week on cigarettes. Even the dearest common vaping setup after the duty, a prefilled pod a day, is under £20 a week, and a pod kit on nic salts is under £15 including pods. Tobacco duty rises on the same day the vape duty starts, so the gap keeps widening.