Skip to main content

Head-to-head · Trading Bots

3Commas vs Pionex Pionex leads by 10 points.

Pionex scores 10 points above 3Commas, led by custody and reliability. 3Commas ranks #6 and Pionex #2 of 9 published trading bots. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.

3Commas58
Pionex68
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #6 and #2 of 9
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot 4 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-3COMMAS-VS-PIONEX-81a67eec
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

Pionex leads by 10 points

Pionex scores 10 points above 3Commas, led by custody and reliability.

3Commas #6 of 958
Pionex #2 of 968
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termPionex leads on 2 of 4 published criteria; 3Commas on 2. The terms sum to the gap.
TermPionex3CommasWeightPoints
Custody3/102/107.2+1.9for Pionex+1.0 of 32
True cost4/105/106.2−1.6for 3Commas−0.8 of 32
Capability4/105/105.8−1.5for 3Commas−0.8 of 32
Reliability6/102/104.8+5.0for Pionex+2.6 of 32
FrictionScore dimension6.72.710+10.4for Pionex
Trust recordScore dimension3.26.48−8.3for 3Commas
Measured dataScore dimension8.36.918+3.6for Pionex
Net of the terms+9.5
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+9.4
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6858+10.0

Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.

Quick facts

At a glance

Fact3CommasPionex
PricingSnapshotStarter $20/mo, Pro $50/mo, Expert $140/mo at monthly billing; annual billing $15 / $38 / $105 a month. Plan caps bind before price: Starter allows 1 active exchange API key, 5 DCA, 2 signal and 2 grid bots. EEA: 3Commas.eu closed on 1 July 2026 with no automatic migration of accounts, bots, orders, subscriptions or settings. New EEA registrations are closed, EEA country selection is blocked at sign-up, and Estonia remains a restricted location. In the company’s own incident FAQ, the December 2022 breach exposed ‘at least 100k Binance and Kucoin API keys and secrets’; 3Commas has never published a loss figure. Re-read 14 September 2026.Built-in bots carry no separate subscription or activation fee. Every order a bot fills pays the trading fee for that market. The Pionex fee schedule lists spot maker 0.050% and taker 0.050%, leveraged tokens 0.100% and 0.100%, and futures maker 0.020% and taker 0.050%, with lower fees for VIP tiers. A completed grid cycle pays fees on both the buy and the sell fill, and perpetual futures add funding. Custodial: Pionex is the exchange, and its terms allow it to place user assets with external providers ‘to custody and safekeep all or part of your digital assets’. US users trade on Webot (formerly Pionex.US), whose fee page states taker 0.5% and maker 0.1%. The May 2025 multistate consent order previously cited could not be re-read at a primary source on 14 September 2026 and is not asserted here.
Asset coverageEditorialAny pair tradable on connected exchanges; bot logic asset-agnosticSpot pairs across major and mid-cap assets; 16 native bot types
Region fitSnapshotus, globalus, europe, global
From the published criteria

Which should you pick?

3Commas

58#6 of 9
Pick it when
Pick 3Commas if true cost matters most — it scores 5/10 to Pionex's 4/10 there (weight 26).
Strength
Multi-exchange portfolio rebalancing
Tradeoff
2022 API-key disclosure incident (at least 100k Binance and KuCoin API keys exposed, per 3Commas’ own incident FAQ) — verify current 2FA + IP-allowlist hygiene before connecting size

Pionex

68#2 of 9
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Pionex if custody matters most — it scores 3/10 to 3Commas's 2/10 there (weight 30).
Strength
Beginners trying bot trading without API-key setup
Tradeoff
Custodial — Pionex holds your funds while bots execute
Self-identify in 10 seconds

Which one is actually for you?

3Commas

Choose 3Commas if true cost matters most

  • True cost: 5/10 against 4/10 for Pionex (weight 26)
  • Capability: 5/10 against 4/10 for Pionex (weight 24)
PionexLeads

Choose Pionex if custody matters most

  • Custody: 3/10 against 2/10 for 3Commas (weight 30)
  • Reliability: 6/10 against 2/10 for 3Commas (weight 20)
Criterion by criterion

Scorecard

Published criteria · weight in points of 868 of 8 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology

Custody

by 1 of 10weight 7.2 of 86Pionex leads
3Commas2 out of 10
Pionex3 out of 10

True cost

by 1 of 10weight 6.2 of 863Commas leads
3Commas5 out of 10
Pionex4 out of 10

Capability

by 1 of 10weight 5.8 of 863Commas leads
3Commas5 out of 10
Pionex4 out of 10

Reliability

by 4 of 10weight 4.8 of 86Pionex leads
3Commas2 out of 10
Pionex6 out of 10

Score dimensions

weights sum to 86

The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30.

Availabilityweight 20 of 86
3Commas20/20Pionex20/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
3Commas8.4/30Pionex9.8/30
Pionex leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86
3Commas2.7/10Pionex6.7/10
Pionex leads
Trust recordweight 8 of 86
3Commas6.4/8Pionex3.2/8
3Commas leads
Measured dataweight 18 of 86
3Commas6.9/18Pionex8.3/18
Pionex leads
Decision rulePublished order

Choose Pionex unless the term 3Commas leads on is the one you are buying.

Pick 3Commas if true cost matters most — it scores 5/10 to Pionex's 4/10 there (weight 26).

The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .

From the published order

Next best action

If this isn't your case

Other matchups worth comparing

How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
  • Liveness failure: the operator stops, censors you or loses data.
    Scored by Operational reliability · 20% (3Commas 2/10, Pionex 6/10)
  • Custody failure: whoever holds the assets loses or withholds them.
    Scored by Key custody posture · 30% (3Commas 2/10, Pionex 3/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Execution failure, Exit failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: True cost of operation (26%), Strategy capability (24%).
Questions

Frequently asked questions

Pionex scores 10 points above 3Commas, led by custody and reliability. Published scores, out of 100: 3Commas 58 (rank 6 of 9 trading bots), Pionex 68 (rank 2 of 9).

Related pages

Go deeper

Trust & process
Individual reviews
Other comparisons
Written and reviewed by Founder
Reviewed Next review by Methodology v2026.10.18
How this page is reviewed

Reviewed means both products compared here 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.

Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.

How we review · Review calendar · Corrections log · How we make money

Free advisorNo signup needed

Skip the comparison — get your best match

Answer a few quick questions and get one clear recommendation based on how you actually plan to use crypto — with rationale, tradeoffs, and a path to monitor the decision.

No signupFree first pass · PrivateNo spam · No account

Not financial advice · Independent · Always do your own research

Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research