3Commas Review

If you've spent any time looking at crypto trading bots, you've almost certainly come across 3Commas. Founded in 2017, it's one of the oldest players in the automated crypto trading space — and that longevity brings both advantages and baggage worth examining.

What Is 3Commas?#

3Commas is a cloud-based crypto trading automation platform registered as 3C Trade Tech Ltd. in the British Virgin Islands. The platform lets you build and run trading bots across 16 supported exchanges without needing to code — though it rewards technical users who know their way around TradingView and Pine Script.

The platform has evolved significantly since its early days. What started as a SmartTrade terminal has grown into a full suite of trading bots, backtesting tools, portfolio management, and — most recently — an AI-powered strategy research platform called QuantPilot.

The Bot Arsenal#

3Commas offers three main bot types, each targeting a different trading style:

DCA Bot — The workhorse. Buys at opportune moments using Dollar Cost Averaging logic. You configure safety orders, take profit targets, and deal start conditions. Available in single-pair and multi-pair modes. This is what most 3Commas users run.

Grid Bot — Trades within a set price range, buying low and selling high at predefined grid levels. Best suited for sideways or ranging markets. Spot trading only.

Signal Bot — This is where 3Commas really differentiates itself. Built specifically for TradingView users, it lets you pipe Pine Script strategies and TradingView alerts directly into live trades. With 100+ built-in deal start signals, it's the most TradingView-integrated bot on the market.

Beyond bots, the SmartTrade terminal remains a powerful manual trading tool with concurrent Take Profit and Stop Loss, trailing features, multi-target selling, and Smart Cover for capitalizing on unexpected moves.

Exchange Support#

3Commas supports 16 exchanges — more than most cloud bot platforms:

Spot + Futures: Binance, Bybit, OKX, Gate Spot only: KuCoin, Kraken (spot), Coinbase (spot), HTX, Gemini, Binance US, Bitstamp, Bitfinex, Binance TR Futures only: Bitget (USDT-M), Kraken Futures, Coinbase Perpetual

Fast Connect is available for several major exchanges, making API key setup straightforward. However, some frequently requested exchanges — notably MEXC — are still missing despite years of community demand.

Backtesting — With Limits#

3Commas offers backtesting for both DCA and Grid bots, but it's heavily plan-gated:

Plan	DCA Backtests/Month	DCA History	Grid Backtests	Grid History
Starter	100	1 year	100	4 months
Pro	500	2 years	500	4 months
Expert	5,000	Full	5,000	4 months

Grid backtesting is limited to 4 months of history across all plans — a significant constraint if you want to validate strategies across full market cycles. A paper trading mode is available for testing strategies with simulated funds before going live — a useful safety net, especially given the backtesting caps.

For comparison, platforms like Gainium offer unlimited backtesting with full historical data at no cost, and Freqtrade provides unrestricted backtesting by design.

The AI Play#

3Commas has been investing in AI features:

AI Assistant — A new built-in helper to guide bot setup and platform navigation. However, it's limited to 1 million tokens per month across all paid plans — roughly 500–1,000 queries. Some users have reported hitting this limit within their first day, with the assistant sometimes giving outdated advice that doesn't match the current interface.

QuantPilot — A more ambitious play currently in early access. It's described as "an end-to-end platform where autonomous agents build, backtest, and optimize strategies for you." Worth watching but too early to evaluate.

Pricing Structure#

3Commas uses a tiered subscription model. While they offer a free trial, ongoing use requires payment:

Starter ($20/mo, $15/mo annual) — Spot only. 1 active API key, 5 DCA bots, 2 Signal bots, 2 Grid bots, 10 SmartTrades. 100 backtests/month. Read-only API.

Pro ($50/mo, $40/mo annual) — Spot & Futures. 3 active API keys, 20 DCA bots, 20 Signal bots, 10 Grid bots, 50 SmartTrades. 500 backtests/month. Read-only API.

Expert ($140/mo, $110/mo annual) — Spot & Futures. 15 active API keys, 1K DCA/Signal/Grid bots each, 5K SmartTrades. Full-history backtesting. Read & Write API access.

Asset Manager — Starting at $223/month. White-label portal, bulk deployments, automated performance reporting. Aimed at professionals managing client accounts.

Custom Plan — Tailored limits beyond standard tiers.

There is no self-hosted option. Every bot runs on 3Commas servers, and your exchange API keys are stored on their infrastructure. This is worth considering given the platform's security history.

The October 2025 Pricing Overhaul#

In October 2025, 3Commas announced a complete restructuring of their subscription plans — and the fallout has been significant.

The move replaced legacy plans that many long-term users had been on for years with a new Starter / Pro / Expert tier system. On the surface, 3Commas framed it as simplification. In practice, it forced price increases and feature restrictions on existing customers.

The exchange lockout. The most contentious change: the Starter plan restricts you to a single active exchange connection for trading. If you trade on Binance and Bybit — two exchanges, two API keys — you now need the Pro plan at minimum. Previously, lower-cost plans allowed multiple exchange connections. For traders who split capital across exchanges for risk management or arbitrage, this is a direct downgrade.

API access gated to Expert. Developer API write access — the ability to programmatically create bots and place trades — is now exclusive to the Expert plan at $140/month. Starter and Pro users get read-only API access. Anyone building their own tools, dashboards, or integrations around 3Commas is effectively priced out unless they're willing to pay $1,680/year.

Legacy plans discontinued. Existing subscriptions run until expiration, but cannot be renewed on old terms. Two-year (biennial) plans were permanently removed from purchase. 3Commas stated that legacy plans "will no longer receive updates or improvements" — a not-so-subtle push to migrate.

The pattern matters. This isn't the first pricing restructure. Multiple long-term users have noted that each successive plan change has been worse than the last. A four-year customer on Trustpilot called it "a total scam," noting that plans previously priced at $50/month were replaced by $200/month alternatives — with temporary "70% discounts" creating the illusion of value. Another long-time user cited the forced new pricing as their reason for leaving, switching to a competitor.

After the backlash, 3Commas introduced the Starter tier as a "you asked, we listened" concession on Reddit. But at 1 exchange, 5 DCA bots, spot-only, and no API write access, it's more of a trial-plus than a real trading plan.

For comparison, Gainium doesn't restrict the number of exchange connections on any plan, offers unlimited backtesting at no cost, and provides full API access without tier-gating.

The Elephant in the Room: The 2022 Security Breach#

In December 2022, 3Commas experienced a significant security incident where API keys were leaked from their platform. The leaked keys enabled unauthorized trades on user exchange accounts.

What made this particularly damaging to trust was the initial response. Reports of suspicious activity had surfaced months earlier, with some users claiming unauthorized trades draining their accounts. 3Commas initially denied that their platform was the source of the leak, suggesting users had been phished or compromised elsewhere.

After an anonymous entity published a set of leaked API keys, 3Commas CEO Yuriy Sorokin confirmed that the data had indeed come from their platform. The company issued an apology, worked with exchanges to revoke compromised keys, and has since implemented additional security measures.

The incident is a stark reminder: when you use a cloud-based trading platform, you're trusting them with your exchange API keys. Self-hosted alternatives eliminate this vector entirely — your keys never leave your server.

The Asset Manager Angle#

One area where 3Commas genuinely leads is professional asset management. The dedicated Asset Manager product lets you:

• Onboard hundreds of client accounts via a white-labeled portal
• Deploy strategies at scale using batch deployments
• Generate automated performance and transaction reports
• Choose from Lite, Optimal, and Enterprise tiers

Starting at $223/month, it's not cheap, but it's a purpose-built solution for fund managers and trading advisors managing other people's money. Few competitors offer anything comparable.

What Users Are Saying#

3Commas holds a 4.3/5 on Trustpilot with over 1,754 reviews, along with a 4.8 on Capterra and 4.7 on G2 — strong ratings for a crypto platform. But the aggregate score masks a growing divide between older positive reviews and a wave of recent negative ones tied to the pricing restructure.

Common praise:

• Broad exchange support and easy setup via Fast Connect
• TradingView/Pine Script integration is best-in-class
• DCA bot is reliable and well-designed
• Bots "work within the parameters as they should"
• 24/7 live chat support is responsive

Common complaints:

• AI Assistant token limits hit too quickly, especially for new users
• Bot limits on lower plans feel restrictive
• Backtesting limitations (especially 4-month Grid history)
• The 2022 security breach and initial denial still erode trust
• Some users report the platform can feel overwhelming for beginners
• Pricing restructure broke trust with long-term customers
• Customer support increasingly AI-first, with users reporting they go "circles and circles" before reaching a human
• Pricing restructure broke trust with long-term customers who feel each plan change has been worse than the last
• Fee reporting doesn't reflect actual exchange fees, making the platform unreliable for accounting and tax purposes

Recent reviews paint a consistent picture: users praise the core trading product but increasingly distrust the business decisions around it — pricing, support quality, and transparency. The 3Commas Trustpilot page is worth reading for the full range of experiences.

What's Missing#

A few notable gaps in the 3Commas offering:

• No self-hosted option — You must use their cloud. Your API keys live on their servers.
• No DEX support — Strictly centralized exchanges.
• Closed source — No code transparency. You can't audit what's running your trades.
• No education tools — No manual backtester, trading journal, or structured learning path built into the platform.
• No Combo/hybrid bots — DCA and Grid are separate strategies. No way to combine them.
• Aggressive tier-gating — Core features like futures trading, multiple exchange connections, and API write access are locked behind higher plans. The current pricing structure pushes users toward the Expert tier ($140/mo) to get what many platforms include by default.

The Bottom Line#

3Commas has earned its position as one of the most established crypto trading bot platforms. Nearly a decade of development shows in the breadth of features — 16 exchanges, three bot types, deep TradingView integration, mobile apps, and professional asset management. For Signal bot users who live in TradingView, it's arguably the best platform available.

But longevity doesn't equal immunity from criticism — and 2025 tested that. The pricing restructure alienated a vocal segment of long-term users who feel the platform is extracting more while delivering the same product. Locking exchange connections, futures, and API access behind escalating tiers turns a feature-rich platform into one where the full experience costs $140/month. The 2022 security breach and the handling of it still factor into trust decisions. And the closed-source, cloud-only model means you're fully dependent on 3Commas' security and uptime with no self-hosted escape hatch.

The trajectory is worth watching. Each pricing restructure has moved in the same direction: more restrictions on lower tiers, higher prices for features that were previously included. For users who have been through multiple plan changes, the question isn't just whether the product is good — it's whether the business will keep changing the terms.

If you value open source, self-hosting, unlimited backtesting, or education-first tools, platforms like Gainium offer what 3Commas fundamentally cannot. If you want the deepest TradingView integration and you're comfortable with cloud-only and the pricing trajectory — 3Commas remains a serious contender. Just go in with your eyes open about what each plan actually includes.