Rent or build a trading bot: what is actually cheaper?

Option 1: Rent a bot (subscription model)

Examples: 3Commas, Cryptohopper, specialized forex services, or community-based models like our setup.

Cost: €0-500 per month, often €100-200 mid-tier. Some services take percentage of profit (10-30%) instead of flat fee.

Pros: works immediately, no technical skills needed, support available, often with community.

Cons: you trust someone else's code, can't modify the strategy, and if the service stops you have nothing.

Option 2: Build it yourself

Direct cost: €0 (open source) to €60/month (TradingView Pro for backtesting + alerts).

Indirect cost: 200-400 hours learning curve. Plus 6 months live testing before you trust the bot with serious capital.

Plus: VPS €5-20/month, broker fees, optionally additional data feeds (€20-100/month for a good economic calendar API).

Real cost over 12 months

Option 1 (rent): €1,200-€6,000 in subscriptions, plus optionally 30% commission on profit. No time investment beyond setup.

Option 2 (build): €60-€500 in tools and hosting, plus 250+ hours time. At €25/hour opportunity cost that is €6,250 in time. Plus your loss budget during learning phase typically €300-€1,000.

Net: building yourself costs about the same in time as renting in cash, but only after 12 months do you have something that works.

When which model

Rent: if you have money but no time, or if you want to test trading before diving in.

Build: if you want to develop programming skills for your career anyway, and have 250+ hours over the next 12 months.

Our model

Our bot is free to use. We earn 30% on your winning weeks via a commission deal with the broker. You lose? We lose too.

No subscription, no fixed monthly fee. Only profit share. That aligns our incentives with yours, unlike subscription models where you pay regardless of bot performance.