How to buy a trading bot: subscribe or build calculator

Subscription fee per monthFrom the vendor's pricing page

Volume or credit fee (%)Optional; a share of the monthly volume

Monthly volumeOptional; the volume that fee applies to

One-off build quoteFrom the developer's written quote

Hosting per monthOptional; your server or cloud bill

Data per monthOptional; market data fees

Maintenance hours per monthOptional; your own estimate

Hourly rateOptional; for maintenance and changes

Change requests per yearOptional; your own estimate

Hours per change requestOptional; your own estimate

Months to compare1 to 120. Every field starts empty: no market default

Month the build's total catches up—

Subscribe: total over the months—

Build: total over the months—

Difference at the end—

Subscribe: cost per month—

Build: running cost per month—

Every field starts empty: the form has no market default and no Fincode price, because no figure here could stand for your case. The result compares costs only. Trading results are not an input, and a bot can lose money whichever way you buy it.

How to buy a trading bot: what you are buying

You are buying software that places orders from rules, not a result, and it comes in three forms.

• Subscription: a hosted service with a monthly fee, sometimes with volume or credit fees. The vendor runs it, and your API keys usually sit on its servers.
• License: software you install and run yourself, for a one-off or yearly fee. You handle the server, the keys and the updates.
• Custom build: a developer writes it to your rules for a quoted price. You pay for hosting, data and maintenance afterward.

Red flags, whichever form you pick:

• Promised or guaranteed returns. The CFTC's advisory calls claims of high or guaranteed returns red flags of fraud.
• A request for an API key with withdrawal rights. Trading software does not need them.
• Backtest figures or win rates sold as expected returns.
• No written answer on the code, the keys, or what happens if the vendor stops.

Fincode sells custom software, so this page is not neutral on that point. That software is built from rules you have written; strategies, signals and account management are not part of it.

How the comparison is calculated

Each option gets a cumulative cost per month, from your own figures only:

Subscribe, per month = subscription fee + monthly volume × volume or credit fee

Build, per month = hosting + data + maintenance hours × hourly rate + change requests per year × hours per request × hourly rate ÷ 12

Subscribe, total after m months = subscribe per month × m

Build, total after m months = build quote + build per month × m

Crossover = build quote ÷ (subscribe per month − build per month), rounded up

The crossover is the first month the build's total is no longer above the subscription's. If the build costs as much or more every month, there is none, and the tool says so. Exchange fees and slippage are left out because you pay them either way. The crypto trading bot pricing guide has a fuller monthly formula and dated vendor prices, which this page does not repeat.

Made-up example

What the numbers leave out

A lower total can still be the wrong choice, so ask these four questions next to the numbers.

• Who owns the source code? With a subscription you usually own nothing. With a build, ownership is whatever the contract says, so get it in writing.
• Where do the keys sit? On the vendor's servers or your own, and with which permissions. OWASP's secrets management guidance covers storage and rotation, and API key security for trading bots applies it.
• What happens if the vendor closes? A hosted bot stops with its vendor. A custom bot depends on someone being able to maintain the code.
• Who maintains API changes? Exchanges change their APIs. A subscription covers this in its fee; a build needs the maintenance hours you typed.

The questions to put to a developer are in crypto trading bot developer, and what drives a build's price is in trading bot cost. Custom work itself is described under custom crypto trading bot development.

Are trading bots worth it?

This page can answer that only in cost terms: a bot costs money every month, whether its rules work or not, and it can lose money on top of that cost. The tool tells you what you would pay and when one way of paying overtakes the other. It cannot tell you whether a strategy works, and no price makes a losing set of rules worth running. Crypto assets add their own risk: FINRA calls the risk of losing all of your investment significant.

Which values to enter

• Subscription: the fee from the vendor's current pricing page, on the billing period you would actually pay. Add a volume or credit fee only if the plan charges one.
• Build quote: from a written quote for your scope, not a figure from an article.
• Running costs: your own hosting and data bills. Leave empty what does not apply.
• Maintenance and changes: your own estimate of hours, at the rate you would pay.
• Months: how long you expect to run it, from 1 to 120.

Compare like with like: the two options should do the same job on the same markets.

Frequently asked questions

How do I buy a trading bot?

Decide which form you want: a subscription, a license or a custom build. Check who holds the keys, who owns the code and what happens if the vendor stops. Walk away from any promised return.

How much do trading bots cost?

It depends on the form and the scope, so this page holds no prices. Type the figures you were actually quoted. The crypto trading bot pricing guide lists dated vendor prices.

Are trading bots worth it?

This page answers only in cost terms. A bot costs money every month and can also lose money, and no calculator can tell you that your rules will work.

When does building become cheaper than subscribing?

When the monthly saving has paid back the quote: the quote divided by the subscription's monthly cost minus the build's monthly cost, rounded up. If the build costs as much or more each month, it never does.

Why does the form start empty?

Any default would read as a market figure, and prices differ too much by vendor and scope for one to stand in. The button fills in a made-up example so that you can see how it works.

Does the result include trading fees or profits?

No. Exchange fees and slippage are the same either way and are left out, and trading results are not an input, so no return or loss appears in the result.

Sources

• CFTC Release 8854-24 (January 25, 2024): customer advisory on AI trading bot and arbitrage claims (opens in a new tab)
• FINRA: Crypto assets, risks (opens in a new tab)
• OWASP Cheat Sheet Series: Secrets Management (opens in a new tab)

This calculator is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice. Results depend on the values you enter; fees, margin rules and tax rules differ by exchange and country and change over time, so check the official source and ask a licensed adviser about your own situation. Sources, checks and corrections: see the editorial policy.