This page scores the products people search for on five criteria that decide outcomes: what the AI does, who holds the funds, whether published performance is live or simulated, how you pay, and how you leave. It ends with a verdict by user type rather than a single winner.
Product descriptions come from each company's public material at last review. Verify status, custody, and fees on the product's current documentation before funding anything.
Key takeaways
- Score, do not rank. Five criteria separate these products far more than trailing return does.
- Ask what "AI" does: assists configuration, selects strategies, generates rules, or operates a provider-defined mandate. A product can combine these.
- Custody splits the field in two: exchange API keys, or a permission in your own wallet.
- Any product showing performance should say whether it is live or backtested where you would act on it. Hold all of them to that.
The scorecard
| Product | What the AI does | Custody | Performance disclosure | Fee model | Exit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deploy Finance | Quant-model agents execute a fixed mandate: market-neutral funding capture, or directional trading across spot, perpetuals, and HIP-3 markets | Your own wallet; session key can trade, not withdraw | Superstar publishes backtests, not a live track record | No subscription; gas, exchange fees, and Superstar builder fee | Revoke, use the exit flow, then withdraw |
| Stoic AI | Provider-defined automated strategies; Coinbase Crypto Index is one option | Coinbase custody via OAuth for that integration; check other venues | Its Coinbase page labels combined backtested and live periods | Subscription or strategy-specific terms | Revoke authorization; review holdings and exchange withdrawal |
| Cryptohopper | Algorithm Intelligence can choose among supplied strategies; marketplace signals | Exchange custody for connected exchange products | Verify whether figures are live, simulated, or illustrative | Subscription tiers | Stop bot; review open orders and exchange withdrawal |
| 3Commas | AI Assistant configures DCA bots and backtests | Exchange, via API key; Hyperliquid wallet connection | Backtests on your configuration | Subscription tiers | Stop bot; exchange withdrawal |
| Bitsgap | Assistant and templates across exchanges | Exchange, via API key | Backtests on your configuration | Subscription tiers | Stop bot; exchange withdrawal |
| Pionex | Templates; arbitrage and grid bots built into the exchange | Exchange | Bot-level trailing figures | Trading fees | Stop bot; exchange withdrawal |
| Bybit TradeGPT | LLM assistant answers questions and surfaces ideas | Exchange | Not applicable; it does not trade | Trading fees | Not applicable |
| Kryll | Current site emphasizes Web3 research and portfolio intelligence | Product-specific; verify whether it needs a wallet connection | Research output is not an execution record | Check current plans | Product-specific |
| AKX | LLM compiles trading intent; execution and marketplace features | Company describes execution-only wallet permissions | Check feature access and whether figures are live or simulated | Confirm current product terms | Confirm revocation and withdrawal workflow |
| GT Protocol | AI agents build, backtest, and run strategies on Binance and Hyperliquid | Depends on connected account and authorization | Generated-strategy backtests require their assumptions | Site describes profit-based charges and membership options | Confirm stop, revocation, and venue withdrawal workflow |
Criterion 1: what the AI does
There are four answers.
An assistant that configures. 3Commas, Bitsgap, and Bybit's TradeGPT use a model to help you set up or think. The trading is rules or you.
Strategy selection and marketplaces. Cryptohopper's Algorithm Intelligence can evaluate and choose among strategies you supply. A marketplace lets you select external strategies or signals. These are different forms of automation; check each performance disclosure.
An LLM that writes strategies. AKX and GT Protocol turn a sentence into a rule set, backtest it, and can run it. The model decides how to express your view; the view is yours.
A provider-defined strategy. Deploy Finance's agents run defined strategies end to end; Stoic AI also offers provider-defined automation on connected accounts. Income: Funding Rates holds a hedged position and collects funding; Superstar trades spot, perpetuals, and HIP-3 markets directionally, with selective outcome-market positions. The user still chooses the strategy and allocation, approves access, and monitors exposure.
A user who wants to express a view needs the third. A user who wants an outcome without a view needs the fourth. A user who wants to keep every decision needs the first.
Criterion 2: custody
Many products on the scorecard run on an exchange account through API keys or OAuth authorization with trading permission. Funds stay on the exchange, and the bot is a remote control. Trade-only permissions restrict withdrawals through that connection and do not change exchange custody. They still allow trades that can lose money.
The account model varies by product and integration. Deploy Finance's agents hold a session key scoped to trading on whitelisted venues, unable to transfer or withdraw; the session-key page describes the boundary. AKX presents a self-custodial wallet model. 3Commas and Coinrule also offer Hyperliquid wallet connections alongside their exchange integrations.
Custody decides what happens to your funds on the day the platform or the exchange has a problem, which is why it outweighs any feature.
Criterion 3: performance disclosure
When a product publishes performance, check what the number measures. Marketplace figures may be live, simulated, or illustrative; listing survival can distort the comparison. A backtest is a simulation. A projected APY depends on assumptions.
The standard to hold products to: performance shown where a user might act on it should say whether it is live or simulated, over what period, and with what assumptions. A return shown with no qualifier may still be accurate, but you cannot tell what it measures.
Criterion 4: fee model
Compare subscriptions, profit shares, builder fees, and exchange trading costs separately. Deploy has no subscription or management fee on deposits; Superstar adds a dynamic builder fee. The fees page explains the agent-specific costs.
The fee that matters for a bot is the one that scales with trade count. A high-frequency grid on a high taker fee can lose to fees before it loses to the market. Model the expected trades per day against the fee before comparing anything else.
Criterion 5: exit
On an exchange-connected bot, exiting means stopping the bot and then withdrawing from the exchange under its rules. On Deploy, revoke the trading permission, use the supported exit flow, and withdraw from the Funding Wallet. Revocation alone does not close positions or move funds. On a marketplace strategy, it means leaving a position the strategist may still be in.
Test the exit with a small amount before the deposit grows. The withdrawal tips page covers what to expect on Deploy; each other product's help centre covers its own.
The products, one by one
The scorecard separates product models. Use each linked official source to verify the strategy, integration, and access available to you; those can change independently.
Deploy Finance
Deploy Finance runs two live agents, funded in USDC from a wallet you control. Income: Funding Rates holds a hedged position and collects perpetual funding; Superstar trades spot, perpetuals, and HIP-3 markets directionally, with selective outcome-market positions. You choose an agent and an allocation and approve a session key, and the agent then handles entries, exits, and risk controls. The key can trade but cannot transfer or withdraw, and revoking it ends the agent's access. It suits someone who wants a defined strategy run for them rather than one they write or tune.
Stoic AI
Stoic AI offers provider-defined automated strategies on connected accounts. Its Coinbase Crypto Index uses OAuth authorization with trading permission; assets remain on Coinbase. Check the specific strategy, performance disclosure, plan, and venue permissions.
Cryptohopper
Cryptohopper is cloud-hosted bot software: trading bots, copy bots, market-making and exchange-arbitrage bots, a strategy builder, backtesting, and AI features that help design or choose strategies. You connect a supported exchange through API keys or its Fast Connect flow, and Cryptohopper states that it does not hold custody; funds stay on the exchange. Features, exchanges, and bot limits depend on the subscription plan. It suits a trader who wants many tools in one place and is willing to configure them.
3Commas
3Commas is exchange-connected trading software built around DCA, Grid, and Signal bots, plus SmartTrade and a developer API. Its AI Assistant turns a plain-language strategy description into a bot configuration, runs a historical backtest, and lets you adjust settings before launch; 3Commas itself cautions that backtests do not predict results. The exchange connection is an API key with trade permission and no withdrawal rights, and funds stay on the connected exchange. Check 3Commas pricing for current plans and bot limits. It suits a trader who wants to design and run several bots. The Deploy Finance vs 3Commas page goes further.
Bitsgap
Bitsgap is a multi-exchange trading terminal with automated bots and portfolio tools, running on the exchange accounts you connect. You configure each bot yourself, and funds stay on each connected exchange. Bot types, plan limits, and supported venues vary, so check Bitsgap's site for the current list. It suits someone who trades on several exchanges and wants one interface for bots across all of them.
Pionex
Pionex is an exchange with trading bots built in. Grid, DCA, and arbitrage bots run inside your Pionex account, so there is no separate platform or API key to manage. The trade-off is that the exchange holds your funds and the bots trade only Pionex's own markets. Products and supported assets vary by jurisdiction; Pionex's site lists what is available where you are. It suits a beginner who wants the fewest moving parts and accepts exchange custody.
Bybit TradeGPT
TradeGPT is an LLM assistant inside Bybit that answers market questions and surfaces trade ideas. It does not place trades, so custody and exit do not apply to it; any trade it prompts happens on your Bybit account under Bybit's terms. Bybit's automation is a separate product line: grid, DCA, martingale, and combo bots plus copy trading, all running on the exchange account. TradeGPT suits someone who wants help thinking and intends to execute every trade themselves.
Kryll
Kryll's current site emphasizes SmartFolio portfolio tracking, X-Ray analysis, and other Web3 intelligence tools. Older descriptions of its visual bot builder and exchange marketplace do not establish that those products remain available. Evaluate current execution capabilities separately from research tools.
AKX
AKX presents AlphaOS for converting trading intent into strategies on Hyperliquid with execution-only wallet permissions. Its roadmap still lists a Q4 2026 public release, alongside live and early-access claims. Confirm access to the feature you intend to use rather than inferring availability from the AlphaOS name.
GT Protocol
GT Protocol presents strategy generation, backtesting, and execution on Binance and Hyperliquid, with Telegram and Claude/MCP interfaces. Its FAQ describes profit-based fees and membership options. Verify trading scope, withdrawal control, costs, and eligibility for the account you connect.
Coinrule
Coinrule is a no-code rules engine: you define "if this, then that" conditions on prices and indicators, and it executes them. On exchanges it connects through an API key. For Hyperliquid perpetuals it uses wallet signing, so you trade onchain without handing over custody or creating API keys. It suits a trader who wants to write their own rules without writing code.
Verdict, by user type
- You want a researched strategy run for you from your own wallet: Deploy Finance. Income: Funding Rates for a market-neutral funding strategy; Superstar for a directional one.
- You have a view and want AI to turn it into a running strategy: AKX or GT Protocol, after confirming the custody model of the account it runs on.
- You want a full bot workshop on your exchange account: 3Commas or Cryptohopper, with AI helping you configure or choose.
- You want the simplest possible bot with no third party: Pionex's built-in bots, with exchange custody.
- You want help thinking and intend to keep every decision: a chat assistant such as TradeGPT, or a general assistant with the right tools; the Claude for crypto page covers that.
Learn more
- Best AI agents for trading crypto
- Best AI trading agents for perpetual markets
- Best automated crypto trading bot
- Best AI crypto trading bot for Coinbase users
- Fees
- Risks
Start with Deploy Finance
Create a self-custodial Deploy Finance wallet and review the live agents.