# Who pays for your free trading bot

Free crypto bots and terminals are usually paid for by the venue. The five mechanisms, what each does to your order, and how to find them in ten minutes.

*https://cryptomarkets.tools/guides/who-pays-for-your-free-trading-bot · background to Crypto Trading Bots & Execution SDKs*

**Answer:** Most free crypto trading software is paid for by the venue, not by you. Five mechanisms do nearly all of it: a builder fee added to your fill, a broker code tagging your orders for a rebate, a referral link attached to your account for life, a share of venue fees, and screen space sold to token teams. Only the first takes money from you directly. The rest come out of fees you already pay.

A crypto trading bot with no price on it is not a charity and not a loss leader. It is a piece of
order-routing software, and order flow is the one thing every venue in this market pays cash for.
The money is there, it is disclosed more often than not, and it arrives through five specific
mechanisms — each of which does something slightly different to your order, your account or your
screen.

This page is not an accusation. Two of the five cost you nothing at all, one of them can leave you
paying less than you would have, and the vendors that use them mostly say so on their own pages.
What the arrangement does change is which venues you are offered, how hard the software argues for
opening a fresh account, and — in exactly one of the five — the price of your fill. Those are worth
knowing before you wire keys into anything.

## How it works

Follow the money in the order it moves. You trade. The venue charges its own maker or taker fee.
Some share of that fee, or an amount stacked on top of it, is routed to whoever sent the order.
Nothing about this is unique to crypto — it is the same shape as payment for order flow and
introducing-broker rebates elsewhere — but here it is unusually well documented, because the
programmes are API features with public reference pages.

### A builder fee is the one that comes out of your fill

This is the newest form and the only one that reaches your money directly. On Hyperliquid, the
mechanism is called a [builder code](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/builder-codes):
the software that sends your order attaches a builder address, and the venue adds a fee for that
builder to the fill. The documentation is precise about the shape of it. You approve a maximum
first — "the end user would first approve a max fee for the builder address via the
`ApproveBuilderFee` action" — the rate is quoted in tenths of a basis point, "i.e. a value of 10
means 1 basis point", and the protocol caps what any builder may charge at "at most 0.1% on perps
and 1% on spot". Fees are collected in the quote or collateral asset and claimed by the builder
through the same process as referral rewards.

Two things follow from that. First, the approval is yours and it is a ceiling, not a rate: the
number you signed is the most that address can take, and it is visible on the wallet prompt before
you sign. Second, one basis point — what the products in this catalogue actually charge — sits at
the bottom of a range the protocol allows to go ten times higher on perps.

Four cards here document a builder fee, and no two describe it identically:
[Velo](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/velo) states one flat basis point on Hyperliquid in its terms and nothing equivalent
for its other venue; [Insilico Terminal](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/insilico-terminal) makes signing the approval a
precondition of connecting at all; [Tealstreet](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/tealstreet) says the rate shown is "usually
0.01% (1 bps), and can be higher if you signed up through an affiliate who sets their own rate",
which means the number is not a property of the product; and [CCXT](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/ccxt) applies one basis
point by default on seven venues and documents the off switch in the same paragraph as the fee.

The supply side of this is equally open. The [Hyperliquid Python SDK](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/hyperliquid-python-sdk)
ships `approve_builder_fee` and an example for people building their own front end — it carries no
default builder address of its own, but it hands you the machinery to charge your users.

### A broker code tags the order and the rebate goes to the vendor

Older, larger and invisible at trade time. Every major centralised venue runs a broker or partner
programme in which orders carrying an identifier are counted to that partner, and the partner is
paid out of the fee you were already paying. Nothing is added to your cost; the venue's cut is
simply split.

OKX's [broker API guide](https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/broker_en/) states the mechanic in one line —
"when the request parameter has `tag`, please be sure to enter your exclusive Broker code
information" — and advertises up to 50% commission for a fully disclosed broker. Binance's
equivalent, Binance Link, is a whole namespace of endpoints rather than a single header: the broker
can set a sub-account's maker and taker commission through `POST /sapi/v1/broker/subAccountApi/commission`
and read what it earned from
[`GET /sapi/v1/broker/rebate/recentRecord`](https://developers.binance.com/docs/binance_link/exchange-link/fee/Query-Spot-Commission-Rebate-Recent-Record),
which is limited to a seven-day query window.

What that looks like from the reader's side is a configuration file. [Passivbot](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/passivbot)
ships `broker_codes.hjson` carrying codes for Binance, Bybit, Bitget, OKX, KuCoin with separate
spot and futures entries, GateIO and WEEX — and lists Hyperliquid, Bitunix, defx and paradex with
`null`, which is the file stating plainly that those venues carry no broker payload. Read that file
and you know exactly where the project earns and where it does not.

[SignalPlus](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/signalplus) documents the same mechanism on a derivatives venue: it attaches a
partner broker identifier to the orders it sends to Deribit, and its own page says the effect is
that Deribit recognises them as partner-sourced and credits the rebates to SignalPlus. Worth noting
the exact scope of a statement like that — the vendor's broker-ID page covers one venue, which is
not the same as a claim that the others carry no tag.

### A referral link attaches to the account, not to the trade

A broker code follows the order. A referral attribution follows the account, usually for its
lifetime, and it is claimed once — at sign-up — which is why so much free software would like you
to open a new account.

[OctoBot](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/octobot) states the arrangement about as plainly as it can be stated, on its own
exchanges page: the goal is to keep the open-source bot free, "therefore we rely on exchanges
partnerships", and trading on a partner venue supports the project at no cost to you. Nineteen
exchanges are partners; the README carries links for five of them.
[Hummingbot](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/hummingbot)'s README sponsor table is the version where the reader is paid too
— four of the links advertise a fee discount, −10% at one venue and −20% at three others.
[3Commas](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/3commas) runs it at scale: every sign-up button on its supported-exchanges page
routes through the vendor's own link shortener into affiliate URLs, and its affiliate page offers
partners up to 25 percent recurring commission with a bonus tiered on referred volume.

[Passivbot](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/passivbot) publishes the condition most projects leave vague: it earns Binance
commission only from accounts created after 21 September 2024 that were opened either with no
referral link at all or under its own. That is the attribution rule stated in public, and it is the
reason a project may ask you to open a second account rather than connect the one you have.

One case in this catalogue goes further than a request. On [Tealstreet](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/tealstreet), a
Bitunix API key works only if the Bitunix account was registered through Tealstreet's referral
link — an existing account cannot be used, and the vendor's advice is to open a new one or pick a
different venue. The vendor describes that as the exchange's doing rather than its own. Either way
it is the point at which a referral relationship stops being invisible and becomes a requirement.

### Routing order flow buys a share of the fees

Where a venue is on-chain and governed, the same arrangement is a published parameter rather than a
sales agreement. dYdX's
[revenue share documentation](https://docs.dydx.xyz/interaction/integration/integration-revshare)
describes an Order Router Rev Share that "enables third-party order routers to direct orders to
dYdX and earn a portion of the trading fees (maker and taker)", specified in parts per million,
with the router address and its split approved by a governance vote. The document also sets the
priority: affiliate revenue is distributed first, and where an active affiliate split has not hit
its 30-day maximum, the order router receives nothing.

[CoinRoutes](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/coinroutes) is the card here that sits inside that arrangement — on 23 October
2025 it announced it was the first governance-approved partner in dYdX's revenue share, under which
partners earn a share of the trading fees their referred users generate. It is also the card that
shows how little a revenue share tells you about your own bill: the announcement does not say
whether it changes what the client pays, and no page on the vendor's site names a builder fee or an
execution commission of its own.

### The venue pays for the integration itself

Distinct from anything per-trade, and the one that quietly shapes the product. The
[Hummingbot](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/hummingbot) Foundation publishes a rate card on its exchanges page: a
maintained connector starts at $10,000 and a sponsorship at $50,000, paid by the exchange. The bot
is Apache-2.0 and nothing is sold to the person running it.

[Insilico Terminal](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/insilico-terminal) has no pricing page at all — `/pricing` returns 404 —
and its FAQ explains why: "We have brokerage deals with exchanges which are comparable to referral
link structure deals … they compensate us for the volume we bring in." The consequence is visible
in the venue list, which is shaped by who signed an agreement rather than by where a trader might
want to trade.

This is the form to understand before reading any coverage table. A supported-venue list on free
software is a list of commercial relationships at least as much as it is a list of engineering
decisions, and the venues that are missing are as informative as the ones that are there.

### Screen space is sold to the other side of the market

The screeners are a different business again: the reader is not routing orders, so the product is
attention, and the buyers are token teams. [DEX Screener](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/dex-screener) publishes its rate
card — Enhanced Token Info from $299, banner advertising from $299, a trending-bar slot from $2,000
in packages of a day to a week rotated with up to five other advertisers on the same chain, and a
custom direct deal at a fixed minimum of $100,000 with KYC on the advertiser. Boosts are sold from
the token page itself in packs lasting 12 to 24 hours.

## Where a paid input reaches the ranking, and where nobody has checked

This is the distinction the page exists for, and it is easy to blur.

"The vendor earns from your volume" and "the vendor sells ranking" are different claims with
different consequences, and only the second means the order of what you are looking at was bought.
In this catalogue there is exactly one product where the second is documented, by the vendor: DEX
Screener states that its Trending Score blends market activity, page visits, community reactions
and trust signals, and that paid Boost packs apply a multiplier to it, that trending-bar ads help
it, and that tokens with Enhanced Token Info get a lift. None of that is hidden. It does mean the
trending list measures attention, some of it purchased.

For every other product on this page, the arrangement documented is payment for flow or for an
integration — not for a position in a list. That a vendor is paid by seven exchanges is not
evidence that those exchanges are ranked ahead of others in its interface, and this page does not
claim it. It is a question worth asking a vendor, and the honest state of our own knowledge is that
we have not checked it.

## What it costs

**The builder fee, in money.** One basis point is 0.0001 of notional. On $250,000 of monthly
turnover that is $25; on $10 million it is $1,000 a month. Set that against the subscription it is
attached to — [Velo](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/velo) charges 199 USD a month for its top tier, so at a few million
dollars of monthly flow the basis point is the larger number. For a strategy quoting inside the
spread it can be the difference between a positive and a negative expectancy, which is why
[CCXT](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/ccxt) documenting a one-line off switch matters more than the rate does.

**The ceiling you agreed to, not the rate you were quoted.** Hyperliquid's cap is 0.1% on perps and
1% on spot, and Tealstreet's own docs say the rate can be higher than one basis point if you
arrived through an affiliate who set their own. Read the number on the approval prompt rather than
the number in the marketing copy.

**Broker codes, referrals and revenue shares cost you nothing at the till.** In all three the venue
splits a fee you were already paying. The occasional referral link is worth real money in the other
direction — a −20% fee discount on a venue where you were going to trade anyway is a larger annual
sum than most of the subscriptions in this category.

**The costs that do not appear as a number** are the ones to weigh. A venue list selected by who
pays. A push toward a fresh account, sometimes as a hard requirement. A vendor whose revenue rises
with your turnover and not with your returns. And on a screener, a ranking that is partly an
advertising product.

**What the other side pays**, for scale: $10,000 for a maintained connector and $50,000 for a
sponsorship at Hummingbot; $299 to $100,000 on the DEX Screener rate card; up to $100 per licence
sold to a [Gunbot](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/gunbot) reseller, of which there are seventeen; 30 percent of every
recurring payment to a [Bitsgap](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/bitsgap) affiliate, on a 30-day cookie that renews on every
visit.

## How to find out in ten minutes

Six places, in the order they are worth checking.

1. **The pricing page.** A 404, or a page that says free with no adjacent product, means the money
   is somewhere else. That is a starting point, not a verdict.
2. **The terms of service, searched for "fee" and "commission".** This is where the builder fee and
   the venue-rebate clause usually live, and it is the one document the vendor had to be accurate
   in. Tealstreet's says it may receive a fee or commission arising from the fees the exchanges
   charge the user, in as many words.
3. **The repository, for a configuration file.** `broker_codes.hjson`, a `referral` or `broker_id`
   constant, a default address in a client's order-submission path. A code that ships as a default
   is earning by default.
4. **The README, below the install instructions.** Sponsor tables and exchange tables are where the
   referral links sit, and a `?ref=`, `/join?`, `invite`, `utm_source` or an opaque short link in a
   sign-up button is the whole tell.
5. **The wallet prompt.** On a chain venue, the builder-fee approval is a transaction you sign, and
   the maximum rate is on the screen. It is the only moment the number is unavoidable.
6. **The supported-venue list, read as a list of counterparties.** Which venues are present, which
   are conspicuously absent, and whether the missing ones are the large venues or the ones with no
   broker programme.

## What you can do about it

**Read the approval screen before you sign it, and treat the number as a ceiling.** It is the
maximum that builder address can charge you, for as long as the approval stands. A rate you cannot
see on that screen is not a rate you have agreed to.

**Turn off what has a switch.** CCXT's default builder fee on seven venues is one line —
`exchange.options['builderFee'] = False` — and the project documents it next to the fee. Software
that charges by default and documents the off switch is doing the honest version of this; software
that charges by default and does not is the case to walk away from.

**Work out whether a basis point matters to your strategy before it matters.** Against a taker fee
on a handful of discretionary trades a month it is noise. Against a market-making or
high-turnover strategy it is a line item that scales with exactly the thing you are trying to
maximise. Do that arithmetic with your own expected turnover, not with the vendor's example.

**If you are opening a new account anyway, shop the referral link.** A link carrying −10% or −20%
on venue fees pays you more than it pays the project, at any volume you are likely to run. If you
are not opening a new account, be suspicious of any product that makes you.

**Treat the supported-venue list as the payer list, and ask the vendor directly.** "Which of these
venues do you have a broker, referral or revenue-share arrangement with, and does any of it change
my fee schedule?" There is a correct answer to that question, it is short, and an evasion is
itself informative. Ask it before you wire keys, not after.

**On a screener, treat rank as attention and check what is purchasable.** Where a vendor publishes
that paid products feed the ranking, believe it. Where a vendor publishes nothing about how its
ranking is computed, you have learned less than the first case, not more.

**If you want none of it, the option exists.** [GoCryptoTrader](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/gocryptotrader) carries no
exchange referral links, no sponsor banners and no broker programme, and asks for a donation
instead. [Freqtrade](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/freqtrade) adds no commission and routes nothing through anything of
its own. The [Hyperliquid Python SDK](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/hyperliquid-python-sdk) has no default builder
address. The trade is that you supply the server, the strategy and the support, and the catalogue
page for [trading bots](https://cryptomarkets.tools/categories/trading-bots) is the place to weigh that.

**If you are the one publishing the link, disclose it properly.** This matters the moment you fork
a bot and keep its referral codes, or write up a tool you earn from. The FTC's revised Endorsement
Guides, announced on 29 June 2023, turn on whether there is a material connection between endorser
and seller, added a definition of "clear and conspicuous", noted that a platform's built-in
disclosure tool may not be adequate on its own, and set out the liability of advertisers, endorsers
and intermediaries. The agency's
[accompanying FAQ](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking)
is blunter about the practical form: disclose the relationship clearly and conspicuously, "the
closer the disclosure is to your recommendation, the better", and a bare "commissionable link" is
probably not a clear disclosure. This is US guidance and your jurisdiction may differ; the standard
it describes is a reasonable floor anywhere.

## Tools this bears on

- [CCXT](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/ccxt.md) — One MIT client for 104 crypto exchanges, 76 of them over websocket.
- [Tealstreet](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/tealstreet.md) — One free front-end over twenty-odd venues, with your keys never leaving your machine.
- [Insilico Terminal](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/insilico-terminal.md) — Free browser OEMS with institutional order types and a trading command line.
- [DEX Screener](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/dex-screener.md) — DEX pair screener and charts on 64 chains, paid for by token promotion rather than by you.
- [GoCryptoTrader](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/gocryptotrader.md) — A Go trading engine for 22 exchanges that has never cut a release or a tag.

## FAQ

### Is a free crypto trading bot actually free?

Usually free to you, and paid for by the exchange. The common arrangements are a broker code on your orders that credits a rebate to the vendor, a referral link that attaches to your account when you open it, and a revenue share on the fees you generate. None of those adds anything to what you pay. A builder fee is the exception — that one is charged on your fill.

### What is a builder fee and who gets it?

On Hyperliquid, a builder fee is an extra charge on your fill that goes to the software you traded through. You approve a maximum for a specific builder address before it can be charged, the rate is quoted in tenths of a basis point, and the protocol caps it at 0.1% on perps and 1% on spot. Several free terminals charge one basis point of it.

### Does a referral link cost me money?

Not directly, and sometimes it is worth money to you. Several projects publish links that carry a fee discount at the venue — Hummingbot's sponsor table advertises −10% at one exchange and −20% at three others. The cost is not in the fee schedule; it is that the list of supported venues starts to look like the list of venues that pay.

### Do exchanges pay for a place in a bot's supported list?

Exchanges pay for integrations, and vendors say so: the Hummingbot Foundation publishes a rate card starting at $10,000 for a maintained connector, and Insilico Terminal says its venues are the ones it has brokerage deals with. That is a supported-venue list shaped by who pays. Paid ranking inside a listing is a separate claim, and in this catalogue only DEX Screener publishes that its paid Boosts multiply a token's Trending Score.

## Sources

1. [Builder codes](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/builder-codes) — Hyperliquid Docs, read 2026-09-21
2. [Broker Program, OKX API guide v5](https://www.okx.com/docs-v5/broker_en/) — OKX, read 2026-09-21
3. [Binance Link, broker commission and rebate endpoints](https://developers.binance.com/docs/binance_link/exchange-link/fee/Query-Spot-Commission-Rebate-Recent-Record) — Binance, read 2026-09-21
4. [Revenue Share — order router and affiliate revenue share](https://docs.dydx.xyz/interaction/integration/integration-revshare) — dYdX, read 2026-09-21
5. [Federal Trade Commission Announces Updated Advertising Guides to Combat Deceptive Reviews and Endorsements](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/federal-trade-commission-announces-updated-advertising-guides-combat-deceptive-reviews-endorsements) — Federal Trade Commission, 2023-06-29. The 2023 revision is the operative version of the Endorsement Guides; the Commission has not reissued them since.
6. [FTC's Endorsement Guides — What People Are Asking](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking) — Federal Trade Commission, read 2026-09-21

*Last updated 2026-09-21. A reference page, corrected in place — not a dated post.*