Do Trading Bots Actually Help, or Just Automate Bad Decisions?

[nannanana]

Recently I’ve been looking more closely at exchange-based trading bots, especially Grid and DCA strategies.

What interests me is that bots are often marketed as a way to remove emotions from trading, but they really only execute the rules we give them. If the range, position size, or strategy is wrong, automation can simply repeat the mistake more consistently.

I’ve been comparing several exchange implementations, including BYDFi’s Spot Grid, Spot DCA and Futures Grid. Spot Grid seems most logical when price stays inside a range, while DCA is more about systematic accumulation. Futures Grid looks much more sensitive because leverage and liquidation risk are involved.

For people here who have actually used exchange-built bots:

Do you prefer built-in bots or API-based bots?
How often do you change your grid range?
Do you stop bots manually when market conditions change?
Have you found DCA bots genuinely useful compared with simply placing recurring orders yourself?

I’m especially interested in experiences during strong trending markets, because that seems to be where a lot of automated strategies start behaving very differently from what users expect.

Disclosure: This post was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed/edited by me before posting.

[elda34b]

This sounds like a topic suitable for the trading board. Is there any reason why you're posting on this board instead of trading discussion? I'm not sure if anyone use the services you mentioned, but at least you'll have more visibility there.

Speaking of the topic itself, I think the answer is already clear. Even before AI is pushed everywhere, most people know bots won't help them from making bad calls if they use terrible strategy. I remember reading a discussion asking whether this exchange bot algorithm is good or not, which is very similar to one of your questions. Maybe that's where the AI assistance comes in I guess.

[JeromeTash]

Do you prefer built-in bots or API-based bots?

API-based bots any time, and they also give you so much flexibility on how you want your bot to run. I find those bots that are inbuilt in exchanges way too rigid.

How often do you change your grid range?

Not gonna lie, I don't use grid bots

Do you stop bots manually when market conditions change?

Better it stops automatically if you don't have enough screen time

Have you found DCA bots genuinely useful compared with simply placing recurring orders yourself?

Obviously DCA bots do it so much better

[joniboini]

I find those bots that are inbuilt in exchanges way too rigid.

It kinda make sense. They don't want to overcommit and develops an advanced tool when the market has so many of them. Unless they invested by buying one of them I guess. The only thing I can remember about exchange trading bot is a simple bot that automate my trading at certain range with trailing stop and nothing more. Not even changing what indicators to use.

[JeromeTash]

It kinda make sense. They don't want to overcommit and develops an advanced tool when the market has so many of them. Unless they invested by buying one of them I guess. The only thing I can remember about exchange trading bot is a simple bot that automate my trading at certain range with trailing stop and nothing more. Not even changing what indicators to use.

I sort of see those grid bots as a tool by exchanges to extract more trading fees from users while they don't really get that meaningful profit. I won't lie to you, I tried them out back in the day, but I did realize that a chunk of my profits ended up as trading fees. That is when I threw in the towel regarding those bots