Trading bots evaluated across key-custody posture, true operating cost, strategy capability, and operational reliability.
Ranked here: crypto trading bots that automate a reader's execution, whether grid, DCA or scripted, without being a new exchange. Not ranked here: exchanges themselves, trading libraries others build on, archived open-source bots, and bot products discontinued, unreachable, deprecated or pivoted away.
#1 of 6 · published ranking
Freqtrade
84ChainChoice Score
4199
Why it leads
Freqtrade scores higher than everything else in this ranking on its custody and its true cost.
Show the arithmetic
Best in this ranking on custody and true cost
Cost
$0.00 your total cost · Months you run it: 12 months
ReviewedNext review by Published Methodology v2026.11.1
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means every product ranked on this page was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
No provider can pay for a position in this table. The code that computes this order cannot read which links carry a referral code, and every build proves it. Every score below rebuilds from the published criteria.Ranking v2026.11.1 · 4 criteria · 6 products · same inputs, same order
How we review · 6 ranked of 17 assessed · 4 criteria · 0 sponsor weight
How we review
6ranked
17assessed
4criteria
0sponsor weight
Recommendation first, comparison only if needed.
Reviewed and rechecked on the current cycle.
Commercial relationships disclosed before clickout.
Personal comparison
What trading bots cost you
Your inputs update the cost column. The independent ranking stays fixed.
The published monthly plan times the months you run it. Excludes the exchange fees on the bot's own orders and any profit share.
RankProviderBest fitScoreYour cost
1
FreqtradeOpen-source Python bot that ships tooli...Top ranked
Custody — 10/10Trade-off: No company behind it — no support desk, no SLA, nobody to reimburse a strategy bug
84score
your total cost
Check availability for your country
Freqtrade · freqtrade.io. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
2
CryptohopperCloud-based trading bot with strategy m...
True cost — 6/10Trade-off: Marketplace strategy quality varies — many published strategies underperform vs buy-a...
67score
your total cost
Check availability for your country
Cryptohopper · cryptohopper.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Same score, not joint · ordered by weighted total (47.90 against 47.80)
3
GunbotSelf-hosted lifetime licence — validate...
Custody — 8/10Trade-off: The “lifetime” licence links to a wallet address and its GUNTHY token count, so it de...
67score
your total cost
Check availability for your country
Gunbot · gunbot.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Custody — 9/10Trade-off: Community-maintained connectors can silently rot on thinner venues — broken cancellat...
59score
your total cost
Check availability for your country
Hummingbot · hummingbot.org. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
5
3CommasMulti-exchange trading bots with DCA, g...
True cost — 5/10Trade-off: 2022 API-key disclosure incident (at least 100k Binance and KuCoin API keys exposed,...
58score
your total cost
Check availability for your country
3Commas · 3commas.io. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
6
HaasOnlineProfessional-grade bot platform with Ha...
Capability — 9/10Trade-off: Steep learning curve — HaasScript is real code, not a no-code builder
56score
Lowest at your inputs
Check availability for your country
HaasOnline · haasonline.com. Provider links appear once we know which country you are browsing from: ChainChoice links to providers only where it serves in full.
Commission: This provider pays ChainChoice nothing for this link. Disclosure
Crypto products are high risk. Check the provider is authorised where you live before you deposit.
Ranked on 4 published criteria weighted 30/26/24/20, which set goal alignment — 30 of the 86 points. The rest: regional access 20, evidence depth 18, ease of use 10, institutional trust 8. Profile match is shown in breakdowns but carries no weight.
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
Liveness failure: the operator stops, censors you or loses data.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: True cost of operation (26%), Strategy capability (24%).
Audit
Infrastructure
Methodology
2026.11.1
published 10 November 2026
Providers tracked
860+
across 121 categories
Last verified
3 November 2026
newest dated pricing or sentiment read
Named on the roster
2 people
managing directors · 6 automated processes
Decision guide
What matters most before choosing in this category
Weighted on key custody posture (30), true cost of operation (26), strategy capability (24), and operational reliability (20). The heaviest is key custody posture: Self-hosted keys, cloud-held keys, or full custody — and the breach history of that surface.
Are you running a rule you would otherwise execute by hand at hours you cannot cover?
Where are you willing to let your exchange API keys live?
What is the binding cost — the subscription, a volume cap, or per-fill exchange fees?
Default starting point
The #1 overall and the scoring weights
FreqtradeData checked Nov 2026
Open-source Python bot that ships tooling to invalidate its own backtests
Open-source Python bot that ships tooling to invalidate its own backtests. Strongest on key custody posture (10/10): Freqtrade is self-hosted: API keys live only in the user's own configuration on the user's machine, and a separate secrets file keeps them out of shared configs. No vendor holds keys, and no breach appears on DefiLlama's hacks list. Weakest on operational reliability (6/10): Freqtrade ships a release every month (2026.10 on 30 October 2026), but uptime is the user's own machine and support is community-only on Discord and GitHub, covering only the latest release and the development branch. Published price: Freqtrade documentation (freqtrade.io/en/stable), read 2026-11-03: "Freqtrade is a free and open source crypto trading bot written in Python." The monthly fee is 0: no subscription, commission or licence key, under GPL-3.0 (GitHub repository licence, spdx_id…
Best forCustody — 10/10
Main tradeoffNo company behind it — no support desk, no SLA, nobody to reimburse a strategy bug
Verify before signupFreqtrade documentation (freqtrade.io/en/stable), read 2026-11-03: "Freqtrade is a free and open source crypto trading bot written in Python." The monthly fee is 0: no subscription, commission or licence key, under GPL-3.0 (GitHub repository licence, spdx_id "GPL-3.0"), and the FAQ states "Freqtrade does not have a Crypto token offering." Real total cost: a machine running 24/7 ("To run this bot we recommend you a linux cloud instance with a minimum of: 2GB RAM 1GB disk space 2vCPU"), exchange trading fees, and the Python competence to build and maintain a strategy. Re-read 3 November 2026.
Weighted criteria
Key custody posture30%
True cost of operation26%
Strategy capability24%
Operational reliability20%
Methodology
How this category is reviewed
Reviewed on key-custody posture, true operating cost, strategy capability, and operational reliability. Advertised backtest returns are never scored.
The order on this page is the published ranking for this category. Every criterion, weight and source behind it is on the methodology page.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before choosing trading bots
Do I need a bot at all if I trade manually?
Not for occasional trades. A bot earns its risk once you are running a rule you would otherwise execute by hand at hours you cannot cover — and it never generates alpha on its own, it only executes the strategy you configured, including the flawed ones.
Are trading bots safe?
A bot executes the strategy you configured, including the flawed ones — it does not generate alpha. The scored risk is where the keys live and whether withdrawal permission is ever required.
What matters most when picking a trading bot?
Key-custody posture and the true cost at the binding constraint usually matter more than the sticker price. Advertised backtest returns are never scored — only whether they can be independently validated.
Reviewed3 November 2026Method4 criteriaCategorytrading_bots
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research
