Paper money, live prices · as of Nov 10, 2026
Strategy Lab: every trading bot gets $1,000 of paper money
We give every open-source trading bot we can find $1,000 of pretend money and the same rules: the same 20 coins, five open trades at most and real exchange fees. This board shows what each one is worth today.
6 of 52 bots are up since they started. Holding the same 20 coins would be at $959.44, and 36 of 52 bots are ahead of that. It is early: with 3 days of record, most of the difference between bots is luck. The lab also holds 453 real-money results from vaults, AI agents and copy traders, each labelled with how we know it. Also see OKX copy traders and the AI trading leaderboard.
170bots tested, each with $1,000 of paper money
3days of live record so far (results count from day 30)
6 of 52are up since they started
623results in the lab you can check, paper and real money
What's in the lab: 623 results you can check
| What | How we know | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Open-source trading strategies | Paper money. We run the code ourselves, same rules for all | 170 |
| Leveraged strategies on futures | Paper money. We run the code ourselves, with funding fees and liquidations | 17 |
| Vaults and pools on Hyperliquid and Lighter | Real money. Computed by us from the venue's public data | 29 |
| AI models trading by themselves (Alpha Arena) | Real money. Recomputed by us from Hyperliquid's data | 38 |
| AI agents on prediction markets (Olas) | Real money. Computed from on-chain bets | 162 |
| Traders you can copy on OKX | Real money. Computed by us from OKX's public data | 194 |
| Bots on Polymarket | Their users' results, from Polymarket's builder data | 4 |
| AI trading apps on Hyperliquid | Their users' results, from public fills | 9 |
| dHEDGE vaults | Record building: we save each vault's share price daily | 33 |
| Paradex vaults | Record building: we save each vault's share price daily | 5 |
| Orderly vaults | Record building: we save each vault's share price daily | 2 |
| Kamino vaults | Record building: we save each vault's share price daily | 26 |
| GRVT vaults | Record building: we save each vault's share price daily | 11 |
| Hibachi vaults | Record building: we save each vault's share price daily | 3 |
| Lagoon vaults | Record building: we save each vault's share price daily | 48 |
| Metric pools | The venue's own figures, saved daily. No share price, so no record of ours | 42 |
The board
| Bot | Type | $1,000 is now | Against holding | Since yesterday | Worst drop | Backtest, 45 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holding the same 20 coins | Hold | $959.44 | – | −0.9% | – | – |
| 1. ClucHAwerk_BTC | Dip buying | – | – | – | +9.4% | |
| 2. HansenSmaOffsetV1 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +8.4% | |
| 3. true_lambo | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +8.3% | |
| 4. VWAP | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +4.8% | |
| 5. Buy the 10% dip | Dip buying | – | – | – | +4.7% | |
| 6. CombinedBinHClucAndMADV3 | Dip buying | – | – | – | +4.5% | |
| 7. NostalgiaForInfinityX8 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +3.6% | |
| 8. ClucHAnix | Dip buying | – | – | – | +2.9% | |
| 9. UniversalMACD | Trend following | $1,000.65 | +4.3% | 0.0% | −0.1% | +2.6% |
| 10. KC_BB | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +2.4% | |
| 11. Fakebuy | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +2.2% | |
| 12. Combined_NFIv7_SMA | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +2.2% | |
| 13. NostalgiaForInfinityV7_SMA | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +2.2% | |
| 14. BB_RTR | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +1.8% | |
| 15. ClucHAwerk_USD | Dip buying | – | – | – | +1.5% | |
| 16. ClucDCA | Dip buying | – | – | – | +1.5% | |
| 17. NFI5MOHO_WIP | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +1.4% | |
| 18. NostalgiaForInfinityX6 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +1.3% | |
| 19. BB_RPB_TSL_RNG | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +1.1% | |
| 20. BB_RPB_TSL_RNG_2 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +1.1% | |
| 21. NostalgiaForInfinityX7 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +1.0% | |
| 22. adaptive | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +0.8% | |
| 23. ClucMay72018 | Dip buying | $1,001.20 | +4.4% | 0.0% | −0.3% | +0.7% |
| 24. BinHV45 | Dip buying | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | +0.5% |
| 25. Hacklemost | Indicator mix | – | – | – | +0.3% | |
| 26. BreakEven | Indicator mix | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 27. ClucCrypROI_BTC | Dip buying | – | – | – | 0.0% | |
| 28. ClucCrypROI_ETH | Dip buying | – | – | – | 0.0% | |
| 29. ClucCrypSlow_BTC | Dip buying | – | – | – | 0.0% | |
| 30. ClucCrypSlow_ETH | Dip buying | – | – | – | 0.0% | |
| 31. Cluckie | Dip buying | – | – | – | 0.0% | |
| 32. DoesNothingStrategy | Control | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 33. RSIDirectionalWithTrendSlow | Dip buying | – | – | – | 0.0% | |
| 34. ReinforcedAverageStrategy | Trend following | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | – | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 35. ElliotV8_original_ichiv3 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −0.9% | |
| 36. BBRSITV | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.0% | |
| 37. BBRSITV3 | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.0% | |
| 38. Low_BB | Dip buying | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −1.0% |
| 39. Cluc4werk | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.1% | |
| 40. Cluc4werk_ETH | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.1% | |
| 41. BBRSITV4 | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.1% | |
| 42. Cluc5mDCA | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.2% | |
| 43. BBRSITV1 | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.2% | |
| 44. BBRSITV2 | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.3% | |
| 45. KAMACCIRSI_new | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.5% | |
| 46. Cluc7werk | Dip buying | – | – | – | −1.8% | |
| 47. Buy Bitcoin every week | Averaging in (DCA) | – | – | – | −2.1% | |
| 48. NASOSv5 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −2.9% | |
| 49. Cluc4 | Dip buying | – | – | – | −2.9% | |
| 50. RSIDirectionalWithTrend | Dip buying | – | – | – | −3.3% | |
| 51. Cluc5werk | Dip buying | – | – | – | −4.1% | |
| 52. CombinedBinHAndCluc | Dip buying | $995.40 | +3.7% | −0.8% | −1.2% | −4.2% |
| 53. ClucHAnix_5m | Dip buying | – | – | – | −4.4% | |
| 54. MACDCrossoverWithTrend | Trend following | – | – | – | −4.5% | |
| 55. Cluc5werk_ETH | Dip buying | – | – | – | −5.7% | |
| 56. StarRise | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −6.0% | |
| 57. EMAPriceCrossoverWithThreshold | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −6.0% | |
| 58. RSI dip buyer | Dip buying | – | – | – | −6.2% | |
| 59. Cluc5werk_USD | Dip buying | – | – | – | −6.4% | |
| 60. MACDStrategy_crossed | Trend following | $980.50 | +2.2% | −0.3% | −4.4% | −6.7% |
| 61. ClucHAwerk_ETH | Dip buying | – | – | – | −7.4% | |
| 62. hlhb | Trend following | $986.37 | +2.8% | −1.4% | −1.4% | −8.3% |
| 63. Slowbro | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −8.7% | |
| 64. Bollinger bounce | Dip buying | – | – | – | −9.6% | |
| 65. Strategy002 | Indicator mix | $1,006.05 | +4.9% | +1.3% | −1.3% | −9.8% |
| 66. Cluc5werk_BTC | Dip buying | – | – | – | −10.3% | |
| 67. Just holding Bitcoin | Hold | – | – | – | −11.4% | |
| 68. DoubleEMACrossoverWithTrend | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −12.4% | |
| 69. Strategy001 | Indicator mix | $952.07 | −0.8% | −1.9% | −5.3% | −12.7% |
| 70. StochRSITEMA | Dip buying | – | – | – | −12.9% | |
| 71. Strategy004 | Indicator mix | $1,007.97 | +5.1% | 0.0% | −0.5% | −13.0% |
| 72. conny | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −13.5% | |
| 73. BbandRsi | Dip buying | $990.48 | +3.2% | +1.7% | −5.7% | −13.8% |
| 74. DCA bot (5 safety orders, sells 1.5% up) | Averaging in (DCA) | – | – | – | −13.9% | |
| 75. Grid bot, wide (6 slices, 3% apart) | Grid | – | – | – | −14.0% | |
| 76. ClucHAwerk | Dip buying | – | – | – | −14.9% | |
| 77. Strategy001_custom_exit | Indicator mix | $965.27 | +0.6% | +0.2% | −5.8% | −15.2% |
| 78. BinHV27 | Dip buying | $1,011.54 | +5.4% | −0.7% | −1.2% | −15.4% |
| 79. Grid bot, tight (8 slices, 1.5% apart) | Grid | – | – | – | −16.1% | |
| 80. Strategy003 | Indicator mix | $993.34 | +3.5% | −0.2% | −1.0% | −16.2% |
| 81. CMCWinner | Dip buying | $1,003.34 | +4.6% | +0.1% | −0.2% | −16.2% |
| 82. DCA bot, cautious (4 equal safety orders, sells 2% up) | Averaging in (DCA) | – | – | – | −17.5% | |
| 83. Strategy005 | Indicator mix | $981.48 | +2.3% | −0.6% | −4.2% | −17.7% |
| 84. MultiMa | Trend following | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −17.9% |
| 85. ClucFiatROI | Dip buying | – | – | – | −18.2% | |
| 86. ClucFiatSlow | Dip buying | – | – | – | −18.2% | |
| 87. Guacamole | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −18.2% | |
| 88. Hacklemore3 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −18.6% | |
| 89. TDSequentialStrategy | Dip buying | $951.76 | −0.8% | −0.7% | −6.0% | −18.8% |
| 90. Hacklemore2 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −19.0% | |
| 91. SampleStrategy | Indicator mix | $978.33 | +2.0% | +0.7% | −4.8% | −19.2% |
| 92. SwingHighToSky | Trend following | $968.72 | +1.0% | −0.7% | −5.2% | −19.7% |
| 93. bbandrsi | Dip buying | – | – | – | −19.9% | |
| 94. Quickie | Scalping | $968.04 | +0.9% | −0.4% | −5.2% | −19.9% |
| 95. MACDStrategy | Trend following | $953.31 | −0.6% | −0.7% | −5.9% | −20.2% |
| 96. LuxOSC | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −20.3% | |
| 97. InformativeSample | Indicator mix | $965.75 | +0.7% | +0.2% | −6.1% | −20.4% |
| 98. YOLO | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −20.4% | |
| 99. XtraThicc | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −20.6% | |
| 100. BB_RPB_3c | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −20.7% | |
| 101. Holding five big coins | Hold | – | – | – | −21.1% | |
| 102. Diamond | Indicator mix | $965.55 | +0.6% | −0.2% | −5.0% | −21.2% |
| 103. CustomStoplossWithPSAR | Indicator mix | $952.74 | −0.7% | −1.2% | −5.8% | −21.3% |
| 104. FixedRiskRewardLoss | Indicator mix | $942.69 | −1.7% | −2.8% | −5.8% | −21.9% |
| 105. Kamaflage | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −22.1% | |
| 106. Lateralus | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −22.9% | |
| 107. Simple | Indicator mix | $970.62 | +1.2% | −0.3% | −5.0% | −23.2% |
| 108. mabStra | Trend following | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −23.6% |
| 109. Hacklemore_Slow | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −24.5% | |
| 110. Obelisk_TradePro_Ichi_v1_1 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −25.1% | |
| 111. HourBasedStrategy_5m | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −25.6% | |
| 112. PatternRecognition | Indicator mix | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −26.2% |
| 113. Lateralus_Slow | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −26.3% | |
| 114. HourBasedStrategy | Indicator mix | $964.02 | +0.5% | −1.0% | −5.2% | −26.8% |
| 115. ReinforcedSmoothScalp | Scalping | $959.16 | 0.0% | −1.4% | −3.9% | −27.5% |
| 116. PowerTower | Trend following | $947.06 | −1.3% | −0.8% | −6.9% | −27.5% |
| 117. SmoothOperator | Indicator mix | $961.80 | +0.2% | −0.2% | −5.8% | −27.7% |
| 118. ReinforcedQuickie | Scalping | $976.70 | +1.8% | −0.4% | −3.5% | −28.2% |
| 119. AwesomeMacd | Trend following | $969.82 | +1.1% | −3.0% | −5.0% | −28.5% |
| 120. TrendRiderStrategy | Trend following | $978.58 | +2.0% | +0.6% | −4.3% | −28.6% |
| 121. MACD cross | Trend following | – | – | – | −28.7% | |
| 122. Moving-average cross | Trend following | – | – | – | −29.1% | |
| 123. Hacklemore | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −29.6% | |
| 124. gettinMoist | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −30.1% | |
| 125. hansencandlepatternV1 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −31.4% | |
| 126. AdxSmas | Trend following | $966.82 | +0.8% | −0.3% | −5.2% | −32.0% |
| 127. ADXMomentum | Trend following | $939.89 | −2.0% | −4.5% | −6.1% | −32.2% |
| 128. The coin flipper | Control | – | – | – | −32.5% | |
| 129. Above the 20-day average | Trend following | – | – | – | −32.9% | |
| 130. AverageStrategy | Trend following | $1,000.00 | +4.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −33.3% |
| 131. WaveTrendStra | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −35.8% | |
| 132. Supertrend | Trend following | $984.45 | +2.6% | −1.5% | −3.9% | −36.0% |
| 133. MultiRSI | Dip buying | $975.97 | +1.7% | −2.0% | −2.5% | −36.9% |
| 134. 20-candle breakout | Breakout | – | – | – | −38.6% | |
| 135. Bandtastic | Dip buying | $924.41 | −3.7% | −4.0% | −7.7% | −40.6% |
| 136. Fast moving-average cross | Trend following | – | – | – | −41.5% | |
| 137. Freqtrade_backtest_validation_freqtrade1 | Indicator mix | $940.66 | −2.0% | −2.5% | −6.0% | −42.6% |
| 138. heikin | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −43.6% | |
| 139. EMA_Trailing_Stoploss_LessMagic | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −47.0% | |
| 140. SmoothScalp | Scalping | $933.65 | −2.7% | −0.9% | −6.6% | −49.5% |
| 141. CofiBitStrategy | Indicator mix | $956.90 | −0.3% | −2.3% | −4.3% | −51.1% |
| 142. EMASkipPump | Trend following | $907.69 | −5.4% | −2.9% | −9.2% | −54.6% |
| 143. EMA_Trailing_Stoploss | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −58.9% | |
| 144. UziChan | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −69.2% | |
| 145. UziChanTB | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −69.2% | |
| 146. ASDTSRockwellTrading | Indicator mix | $839.20 | −12.5% | −7.2% | −16.4% | −87.5% |
| 147. TechnicalExampleStrategy | Indicator mix | $845.69 | −11.9% | −5.6% | −15.4% | −88.4% |
| 148. Scalp | Scalping | $732.22 | −23.7% | −8.4% | −26.8% | −95.6% |
| 149. UziChan2 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −98.0% | |
| 150. UziChanTB2 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −98.0% | |
| 151. Magic_Trailing_Stoploss | Indicator mix | – | – | – | −98.2% | |
| 152. BBMod | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 153. BigZ03 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 154. BigZ04 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 155. BigZ04_TSL4 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 156. BigZ06 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 157. BigZ07 | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 158. BinHV27F | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 159. ClucCrypROI | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 160. ClucCrypSlow | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 161. ClucHAnix_5m1 | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 162. ClucHAnix_5mTB1 | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 163. ClucHAnix_hhll | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 164. ClucHAnix_hhll_TB | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 165. CombinedBinHClucAndMADV9 | Dip buying | – | – | – | – | |
| 166. E0V1E | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 167. E0V1EN | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 168. NoLost | Indicator mix | – | – | – | – | |
| 169. SafeCluc | Dip buying | – | – | – | – |
Flagged: look at future prices in tests
| Bot | Type | $1,000 is now | Against holding | Since yesterday | Worst drop | Backtest, 45 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCIStrategy Flagged: looks at future prices in tests | Dip buying | $970.65 | +1.2% | −1.5% | −3.0% | −24.3% |
Paper money with leverage
What leverage alone does
| Leverage | $1,000 is now | Worst drop | Liquidations | Backtest, 45 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hold Bitcoin | ||||
| 1x | – | – | −11.1% | |
| 2x | – | – | −23.3% | |
| 3x | – | – | −35.4% | |
| 5x | – | – | −59.6% | |
| 10x | – | – | −96.8% | |
| Trend, long and short | ||||
| 1x | – | – | −9.9% | |
| 3x | – | – | −27.7% | |
| 5x | – | – | −42.0% | |
| RSI dip buying | ||||
| 1x | – | – | −6.1% | |
| 3x | – | – | −19.5% | |
| 5x | – | – | −37.8% | |
Futures strategies from the open-source collections
| Bot | $1,000 is now | Worst drop | Liquidations | Backtest, 45 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAdxSmaStrategy | – | – | −0.9% | |
| FSampleStrategy | – | – | −18.2% | |
| FSupertrendStrategy | – | – | −27.2% | |
| SampleStrategy | – | – | −19.9% | |
| TrendFollowingStrategy | – | – | −21.5% | |
| VolatilitySystem | – | – | +4.9% |
Real money: vaults and pools
| Vault or pool | $1,000 put in 30 days ago is now | $1,000 at the start is now | Worst drop | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. [ Systemic Strategies ] L/S Grids | $1,246.40 | $1,466.00 | −24.6% | $9.4M |
| 2. Orbit Value Strategies | $1,125.10 | $1,035.40 | −20.7% | $1.5M |
| 3. AceVault Hyper01 | $1,102.70 | $1,265.00 | −22.3% | $873k |
| 4. Steady Wealth Builder | $1,058.40 | $1,255.70 | −8.2% | $78k |
| 5. Candle Effect v2 | $1,034.10 | $1,196.00 | −2.3% | $64k |
| 6. FuturAI Labs - High Sharpe, Low Volatility | $1,018.90 | $1,087.20 | −0.4% | $410k |
| 7. Christ is King | $1,014.10 | $1,205.00 | −8.5% | $148k |
| 8. Stratwise Multi-Asset Public | $1,012.50 | $1,079.50 | −2.0% | $374k |
| 9. BTC vs ALTS and NEWS/DIPS | $1,000.00 | $1,381.00 | −3.8% | $409k |
| 10. Edge & Hedge (L/S Factors) | $985.20 | $1,165.30 | −26.3% | $1.7M |
| 11. AIQuantPulse | $975.50 | $980.40 | −10.8% | $1.1M |
| 12. Growi HF | $974.00 | $1,232.50 | −12.2% | $13.5M |
| 13. Akka Hyper AI | $965.40 | $1,056.70 | −5.0% | $106k |
| 14. FC Genesis - Quantum | $925.70 | $867.10 | −13.8% | $2.0M |
| 15. Ultron | $885.00 | $976.10 | −28.8% | $1.0M |
| 16. Black Ops | $873.30 | $921.10 | −25.9% | $1.3M |
| 17. DOUBLETOP Vault | $851.10 | $1,130.00 | −16.8% | $6.5M |
Real money: AI models trading by themselves
| AI model | $1,000 at the start became | Trades |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Qwen3 Max | $1,203.50 | 456 |
| 2. DeepSeek Chat V3.1 | $1,068.50 | 341 |
| 3. Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $700.60 | 320 |
| 4. Grok 4 | $548.60 | 346 |
| 5. Gemini 2.5 Pro | $423.40 | 1286 |
| 6. GPT-5 | $365.90 | 684 |
Real money: AI agents on prediction markets
| Agent | Every $1,000 of settled bets came back as | Money settled |
|---|---|---|
| Omen (Gnosis) | ||
| 1. Olas agent 3779 | $1,290.70 | $1,643 |
| 2. Olas agent 3215 | $1,286.40 | $732 |
| 3. Olas agent 3812 | $1,236.90 | $76 |
| 4. Olas agent 3785 | $1,202.00 | $284 |
| 5. Olas agent 2363 | $1,179.20 | $119 |
| Polymarket | ||
| 1. Olas agent 37 | $1,108.40 | $51 |
| 2. Olas agent 43 | $1,084.70 | $41 |
| 3. Olas agent 47 | $1,078.80 | $134 |
| 4. Olas agent 31 | $1,078.50 | $59 |
| 5. Olas agent 321 | $1,049.30 | $68 |
Real money: traders you can copy on OKX
| Lead trader | $1,000 put in 30 days ago is now | Worst drop |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Disti | $3,140.58 | −23.9% |
| 2. Xiaoyao Lee | $1,002.75 | −11.2% |
| 3. AGD88888 | $1,540.77 | −6.7% |
| 4. leaf-ye | $1,177.83 | −19.0% |
| 5. dontbbb | $1,328.96 | −7.2% |
By type of strategy
| Type | Bots | Up since they started | Typical $1,000 now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hold | 2 | – | – |
| Trend following | 21 | – | – |
| Dip buying | 57 | – | – |
| Breakout | 1 | – | – |
| Grid | 2 | – | – |
| Averaging in (DCA) | 3 | – | – |
| Scalping | 5 | – | – |
| Control | 2 | – | – |
| Indicator mix | 77 | – | – |
Daily results
Run one yourself
Every bot on this board is free, open-source code. To run one you need three things:
- The bot software. Freqtrade is free. Start in dry-run (paper) mode, as we do here.
- An exchange account and an API key that can trade but can't withdraw (how to set that up). These tests use Binance spot prices. Open Binance →
- Somewhere to keep it running. See VPS hosts for trading bots.
FAQ
Which Freqtrade strategy does best?
Right now the top three by 45-day backtest are ClucHAwerk_BTC (+9.4%), HansenSmaOffsetV1 (+8.4%), true_lambo (+8.3%), with fees included. That is a backtest, not a track record: the order will switch to the live record once it has 7 days. A strategy that wins in one market can lose in the next, so test it in dry-run first. Not financial advice.
Do free open-source trading bots make money?
In the last 45 days, 25 of 170 strategies made money in our backtest, with exchange fees. A backtest is not a track record: the live record, which starts the day a strategy enters the lab, is the number that counts.
What does “$1,000 is now” mean?
Every bot starts with a $1,000 paper wallet on the day it enters the lab. The number is what that wallet would be worth today, after exchange fees, counting only prices from after that day. No real money is traded.
What is the difference between the backtest and the live record?
The backtest replays the last 45 days, which the strategy's author could have tuned it for. The live record only uses prices from after the day we added the strategy, so it can't have been tuned on them. We rank by the backtest only until the live record has 7 days, and only call a result verified after 30.
What does the lookahead flag mean?
Some strategies accidentally use a candle's future values, which makes backtests look far better than real trading. We run Freqtrade's own lookahead analysis on every strategy once and flag any that fail. Flagged strategies are listed separately and never ranked.
Is this spot trading or leveraged?
The main board is spot only, with no leverage and no shorting. A separate section tests leveraged and short strategies on perpetual futures, with funding fees and liquidations, and is never ranked together with the spot board.
Which bots and algos are in the lab?
Today the lab holds 623 results you can check: 170 open-source strategies we run ourselves on paper money, and real-money results for vaults and pools, AI models, AI agents on prediction markets and copy traders, computed from public venue data. A result gets in only if we can produce the number ourselves.
Method and limits
- Market data: Binance spot candles for 20 large coins against USDT, public data, no exchange keys anywhere.
- Rules for every bot: $1,000 paper wallet, at most five open trades, Binance's spot trading fee on every fill. Spot only: no leverage, no shorting.
- Backtest: the last 45 days, run again every day. Shown for context, always labelled, never called a track record.
- Live record: from the day a bot entered the lab, re-run daily on prices it couldn't have been tuned on. Ranking switches to it at 7 days; verified at 30.
- Worst drop: the largest fall of the wallet from an earlier high, with open positions valued at every hour's price. Freqtrade's own figure only moves when a trade closes, which makes a bot that sits on a losing position look safer than it was; we publish both in the open data.
- The yardstick: “holding the same 20 coins” is the average change of those coins over the same days, with no trading. “Against holding” compares each bot with holding from the day that bot entered the lab, and the live ranking uses it, so a bot that entered later is not helped or hurt by its start date.
- Not run: 28 more files in the lab can't be tested under these rules (they need futures, or fail to load). They're in the open data with the reason.
- Code is frozen: a bot's code is fixed on the day it enters the lab, and its SHA-256 is published with its result. A new version of a strategy enters as a new bot.
- Lookahead check: Freqtrade's own lookahead analysis, once per strategy.
- Real money lists: vaults, pools, AI models, AI agents and copy traders we don't run. Their numbers come from the venue's public data or the public chain, each list keeps the gates and order of its own page, and the lists are never ranked together.
Limits
- Paper fills assume you get the candle's price; real fills can be worse in fast markets.
- A short live record is mostly luck. Read the days before the dollars.
- The authors publish these strategies for education. Past results don't predict future results.