Do grid bots make money? We tested 144 settings
Grid bots are sold as easy money in a sideways market. We built one, ran 144 versions of it on Bitcoin and Ether from 2020 to October 2026, and charged real exchange fees and funding. Not one version passed.
What a grid bot does
A grid bot places a ladder of buy orders below the price and sell orders above it. Each time price moves one step down it buys, and each time it moves one step up it sells. In a calm, sideways market that collects many small gains.
What we tested
| Setting | Values |
|---|---|
| Coins | BTC and ETH perpetual futures |
| Grid | 10 levels, steps of 0.5%, 1% and 2% |
| Leverage | 1x and 2x |
| Account sizes | 100, 250 and 1,000 USDT with Binance minimum order sizes |
| Costs | 0.07% a side, funding on every position, liquidation rules applied |
| History | Jan 2020 to Dec 2023, then Jan 2024 to Oct 2026, judged separately |
What happened
A typical setting: BTC, 1% steps, 2x, 250 USDT, grid recentred every 90 days.
- Strong trends break the grid. In the 2022 fall the grid kept buying all the way down, and its holdings grew to one to six times the account. With the grid recentred every 90 days, every placeable 2x setting was liquidated in the first period.
- Lower fees do not rescue it. With maker fees of 0.02% the median first period result was still about minus 78%.
- Small accounts cannot even place it. At 100 USDT no BTC grid can be placed at Binance minimums, and at 250 USDT only with 2x leverage.
The grid wins most of its small trades. The losses come rarely, but they are large enough to wipe out months of small gains.
When a grid can still make sense
Only in a clearly sideways market, with a small part of your money, no leverage, and a plan for when price leaves the range. Treat it as a bet that the range holds, not as income.
What held up instead
Out of 2,928 settings we tested, the approaches that held up were slow and spread over many positions, not fast trading. See them, with their bad years, on our strategy results page.
Questions
Do grid bots make money?
In our test of 144 grid settings on BTC and ETH from 2020 to 2026, none passed after fees and funding. Grids earn small amounts while price moves sideways and give it back when a strong trend arrives.
Are grid bots good for small accounts?
At 100 USDT a BTC grid cannot be placed at Binance minimum order sizes, and at 250 USDT only with leverage, which adds liquidation risk.
Do lower fees fix a grid bot?
No. With maker fees of 0.02% the typical first period result was still about minus 78% in our test.
Is a grid bot safe?
No strategy is safe. A grid can lose most of an account in a strong trend, especially with leverage. Trading carries risk.
See every test we ran
Grid bots, RSI, scalping and more, with the few approaches that held up. Then try Treo with 10,000 practice USDT, no sign up.
See the strategy results Try the demo