Free AI Trading Bots: What Is Free and What Is Not
Some AI trading bots are free to start: open-source code like Freqtrade and Hummingbot, most of Pionex's built-in bots (you still pay the trading fee), and $0 plans from WunderTrading and Bitsgap. Free means no software bill, not no cost. You still pay trading fees and spreads, plus servers or AI model costs for open source, and you can lose money.
Free ai trading bot and ai trading bot free are cost questions. The useful split is what the software bill is, and what you still pay to trade. This page sorts options by type. It does not rank them. A broader product list is AI trading apps. The bot-versus-agent frame is AI crypto trading bot.
Four kinds of "free"
Free trading bot searches mix four different offers. Each one still has a cost beside the sticker.
Open-source software
The licence fee is zero. You still pay for a server, data, exchange fees, setup time, and any AI model the bot calls.
Built-in exchange bots
The bot runs inside the exchange account. You pay that exchange's trading fee, and some bot types add a charge of their own. Pionex is the sourced example below.
Free plans with limits
A $0 plan stays $0 and caps how many bots you can run. Exchange trading fees still apply. WunderTrading and Bitsgap publish plans like this.
Free trials
A trial ends. 3Commas and Cryptohopper publish trials of paid plans. After that, the subscription price applies, plus trading fees.
Free AI trading bot options compared
Free crypto trading bot readers want the catch in one place. Every cell below is from the vendor's own page, as of November 3, 2026. Rows are grouped by type, not by rank.
As of November 3, 2026.
| Option | Type | What is free | What you still pay | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freqtrade | Open source (GPL-3.0) | The software; Telegram and web UI; backtesting; FreqAI machine learning | Your server, data, exchange fees, Python skills and setup time | GitHub README |
| Hummingbot | Open source (Apache-2.0) | The framework; Condor, its "AI harness for building and running agentic strategies" | Your server, exchange or DEX fees, setup time, any LLM costs | GitHub README |
| Pionex | Built-in exchange bots | Most built-in bots (Spot Grid, Futures Grid, DCA Bot, Rebalancing Bot) are free to use and you pay only the trading fee. Pionex.AI is an AI agent platform, currently in beta. It has a free base tier and paid plans, and the Help Center says its agents do not trade on their own. | As of November 3, 2026, Pionex lists a spot fee of 0.05% maker and 0.05% taker. Futures Moon, Leveraged Grid and Margin Grid take 20% of profits when you close, reduce or withdraw. | Pionex fees and Help Center |
| WunderTrading | Free plan | "Lifetime Free plan with no time limit": 1 signal bot, 1 DCA bot, 1 grid bot | Exchange fees; paid tiers for more bots (prices not covered here) | WunderTrading pricing page |
| Bitsgap | Free plan | $0: 3 COMBO bots on Evedex, 20 active bots in Demo, manual trading, AI Chat | Exchange fees; Basic from $23 a month billed yearly for more | bitsgap.com/pricing |
| 3Commas | Free trial | Free trial of paid plans | Starter $20 a month ($15 billed yearly) and up | 3commas.io/pricing |
| Cryptohopper | Free trial | "Free 3 day trial for Explorer package" | Explorer $29 a month ($24.16 billed yearly) and up, excluding VAT | cryptohopper.com/pricing |
| Moby Agent | AI agent on Solana | "Free to download." "No subscriptions, no tiers to unlock the data." | A 0.75% swap fee (minimum $0.90 per swap), plus onchain fees. Your AI host's own plan, where that host charges one. | moby.win/download/ |
Sources, as of November 3, 2026: Pionex fees, Pionex trading fee overview, and Pionex.AI pricing plans.
Open source: free code, your own setup
Freqtrade's README calls it a free and open source crypto trading bot written in Python, under GPL-3.0. The GitHub API, checked for this page, showed 56,373 stars and a last push on November 3, 2026. The README says the project is for educational purposes only, recommends Dry-Run first, and expects Python knowledge. FreqAI is its machine-learning module. It does not remove the need to run the bot yourself.
Hummingbot's README describes an open-source framework for bots on centralized and decentralized exchanges, under Apache-2.0. The same check showed 20,919 stars and a last push on October 20, 2026. Hummingbot says it has handled over $34 billion in trading volume across 140+ venues in the past year. That figure is Hummingbot's claim, not an independent audit, and it is volume, not a return. Condor is its "AI harness for building and running agentic strategies." Any model you attach can add its own bill.
The ai-hedge-fund repository (MIT) is free to read and is educational. Its own docs say it does not actually make any trades. The writeup is ai-hedge-fund. Open source trading bot is a high-difficulty search. This section is here so the cost is clear. It is not the title of the page. A build walkthrough is how to build an AI trading bot.
Built-in exchange bots
Pionex is the sourced example of bots that run inside the exchange account, so you do not create an outside API key for them. As of November 3, 2026, Pionex lists a spot fee of 0.05% maker and 0.05% taker. Most built-in bots (Spot Grid, Futures Grid, DCA Bot, Rebalancing Bot) are free to use and you pay only the trading fee. Futures Moon, Leveraged Grid and Margin Grid take 20% of profits when you close, reduce or withdraw. Pionex.AI is an AI agent platform, currently in beta. It has a free base tier and paid plans, and the Help Center says its agents do not trade on their own. Pionex.AI is not a free trading bot. No other Pionex price is stated on this page.
Free plans and free trials
WunderTrading's pricing page describes a lifetime Free plan with no time limit: 1 signal bot, 1 DCA bot, and 1 grid bot, plus 10 API keys per exchange on that plan. It also lists a 7-day Pro trial. Paid tier prices are rendered in a way that was not captured, so they are not covered here. WunderTrading requires withdrawal access to be disabled on API keys you connect.
Bitsgap's pricing page lists a $0 plan: 3 COMBO bots on Evedex, 20 active bots in Demo, unlimited manual trading, and AI Chat. It offers a 7-day PRO trial with no credit card. Basic is $23 a month billed yearly, or $29 monthly. The page lists 17 supported exchanges. Those are Bitsgap's figures.
3Commas's pricing page shows a free trial of paid plans. Starter is $15 a month billed yearly or $20 monthly, Pro is $38 or $50, and Expert is $105 or $140. This page states the trial, not a free plan. A homepage line elsewhere is not what the pricing page shows, so it is not repeated here.
Cryptohopper's pricing page says "Free 3 day trial for Explorer package." Explorer is $29.00 a month, or $24.16 a month billed yearly, excluding VAT. A free plan stays free. A trial ends. 3Commas alternatives compares these vendors by fit rather than by the sticker alone.
The costs a "free" bot still has
- Trading fees on every fill.
- The spread, and price impact when your order moves the market.
- A server and data, if you run the bot yourself.
- AI model or API costs, if the bot calls one.
- Your time to configure, watch, and shut it off.
- Losses, which no sticker price removes.
The CFTC's tip, from AI Won't Turn Trading Bots into Money Machines: consider the impact fees, spreads, and subscription costs would have on returns.
Do free AI trading bots work?
They place orders by the rules or the model you set up. That is the whole of "do they work." Whether those orders make money depends on the market, the strategy, and the costs above. The CFTC says AI technology can't predict the future, and it warns about bots and signal sellers that claim 100 percent win rates. A free sticker is not evidence either way. Is AI trading legit collects the red flags.
How to test a free bot safely
- Use dry-run or paper mode first, where the project offers it. Freqtrade's README points at Dry-Run.
- Then use a small amount of money you can lose.
- Create exchange API keys with withdrawal access turned off. WunderTrading requires that for its connections. Treat it as their rule, and as a good habit elsewhere.
- Run one strategy at a time so you can tell what the orders were for.
- Review the first week of trades before you raise the size.
- Keep keys out of shared files and out of chat.
Solana-specific bot shapes are on Solana trading bot.
Where a Moby Agent fits
Moby is not a bot subscription. It is free to download, with no subscription, and it charges per swap. It is a side agentic wallet next to your main app, not a replacement. Set up a Moby Agent with its own wallet and your spending guardrails, then connect it to the AI you use. Moby Agents trade Solana tokens, paid in USDC, including tokenized stocks. Each user gets one agent, with its own wallet separate from your main in-app wallet. The agent cannot withdraw or send funds. You set your agent's limits on max per trade, daily buy volume and market-cap range from the Moby app, and Moby checks them server-side on every buy your agent makes.
"Free to download." and "No subscriptions, no tiers to unlock the data." Those lines only make sense next to the fee: A 0.75% swap fee (minimum $0.90 per swap), plus onchain fees. The download FAQ on download Moby says the same thing. Host cost, and only this: Gemini CLI needs a paid Gemini API key or enterprise access, and ChatGPT works on Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces that allow custom MCP servers (web). This page does not quote any other host's price.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free AI trading bot?
Yes, in a few forms. Freqtrade and Hummingbot are free open-source software. On Pionex, most built-in bots (Spot Grid, Futures Grid, DCA Bot, Rebalancing Bot) are free to use and you pay only the trading fee. Futures Moon, Leveraged Grid and Margin Grid take 20% of profits when you close, reduce or withdraw. WunderTrading and Bitsgap list $0 plans with limits. In every case you still pay trading fees, and you can lose money.
What is the best free AI trading bot?
It depends on your skills. If you code, Freqtrade and Hummingbot are free and well maintained. If you do not, a built-in exchange bot or a hosted free plan is simpler. Compare the trading fees, limits and where your funds sit, not only the price tag.
Do free AI trading bots actually work?
They do what they are set up to do: place orders by rules or by a model. Whether that makes money depends on the market, the strategy and the costs. The CFTC warns that AI cannot predict the future and that promises of guaranteed returns are a red flag.
What do free trading bots still cost?
Trading fees on every fill, spreads and price impact, and for open-source bots your server, data and AI model costs, plus setup time. The CFTC tells traders to consider the impact fees, spreads and subscription costs would have on returns.
Is an open-source trading bot safe?
The code is public, which helps, but you are responsible for running it safely. Use exchange API keys with withdrawal access turned off, test in dry-run or paper mode first, and keep keys out of shared files.
Is Moby free?
Moby is free to download, with no subscriptions and no tiers to unlock the data. Moby charges a 0.75% swap fee (minimum $0.90 per swap), plus onchain fees when you trade.
Try it with a Moby Agent
Set up a Moby Agent with its own wallet and your spending guardrails, then connect it to the AI you use.
You set your agent's limits on max per trade, daily buy volume and market-cap range from the Moby app, and Moby checks them server-side on every buy your agent makes.
Moby Agents trade Solana tokens, paid in USDC, including tokenized stocks.
Each user gets one agent, with its own wallet separate from your main in-app wallet. The agent cannot withdraw or send funds.
Connect it from Codex, Claude Code (CLI), Gemini CLI (with a paid Gemini API key or enterprise access) and Grok CLI, with the agent key. In ChatGPT, paste your personal Moby connector URL from the app. ChatGPT: works on Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces that allow custom MCP servers (web). Any MCP client that can send an Authorization header can connect using the generic setup.
Tell your agent your exits and it places real take-profit and stop-loss orders on Moby, including a one-call bracket.
A 0.75% swap fee (minimum $0.90 per swap), plus onchain fees.
10% of the Moby fee back in $MOBY on every swap, 20% after your first swap, up to 30% as you climb tiers.
Start at Moby Agents. The product frame is agentic trading.
Trading crypto and tokenized stocks is risky and you can lose money. Nothing on this page is investment advice. Facts about other products are from their own sites as of November 3, 2026; check them for current details.