- Bot platforms are SaaS: you earn a cut of every subscription payment, not a one-off bounty.
- Duration matters more than rate: Coinrule pays for life, Bitsgap for 12 months, Pionex for 365 days.
- Annual plans pay more upfront at Coinrule (30% vs 25%) but arrive in monthly instalments at Bitsgap.
- Never promise bot profits: guaranteed-return claims break every program's rules.
A crypto trading bot affiliate program is the closest thing crypto has to a classic software subscription deal. Users pay monthly or yearly for automated strategies such as grid botsGrid bot A trading bot that places a ladder of buy and sell orders across a price range, aiming to profit from small moves up and down. More and DCA botsDCA bot A bot that buys a coin in regular portions, or adds to a position as the price drops, to average out the entry price. More, and you take a cut of each payment for months or years. For content creators who like predictable income, that recurring-commissionRecurring commission A commission paid again every time a referred customer renews a subscription — typical for trading bots and crypto tax software. More is the main attraction.
The category is small, and it moves fast. One of its best-known programs went quiet after a platform migration, and the remaining ones differ a lot on how long they pay. This page shows how to compare them on lifetime value, not on the headline percentage.
SaaS bots vs exchange bots: two ways to get paid
Trading bot brands fall into two groups, and they pay in completely different ways.
Subscription platforms like Coinrule, Cryptohopper and Bitsgap connect to the user’s exchange account through an API key and charge a plan fee. Your commission is a share of that fee. Trading volume does not matter; only whether the customer keeps paying.
Exchanges with built-in bots like Pionex let users run bots for free and earn from trading fees instead. Your commission is a revenue share on those fees, just like an exchange affiliate program. An active bot trades a lot, so the fees, and your share, add up even without a subscription.
If your audience trades large amounts, an exchange-style deal can earn more. If they want a tool and pay for convenience, subscription programs give steadier income.
Recurring commission math: what one subscriber is worth
Percentages only make sense once you multiply them by a plan price and a duration. The programs publish enough to do that:
At Cryptohopper’s 10% base tier, the same Hero subscriber is worth $12.90 a month, or $154.80 over a year. Coinrule’s examples assume the maximum 35% (the 30% annual rate plus the 5% bonus that unlocks when your referrals generate more than $2,500 in a month). At the base annual rate of 30%, the Trader plan pays $215.70 per year.
Duration multiplies everything. A Coinrule annual subscriber who renews three times keeps paying you each year. A Bitsgap subscriber stops earning you anything 12 months after their first purchase, even if they stay a customer for five years.
Payout terms compared: duration, threshold and timing
| Program | Rate | How long it pays | Minimum payout | When you get paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coinrule | 25% monthly / 30% annual plans, +5% bonus tier | Lifetime of the subscription | Not disclosed | Within 45 days after month-end |
| Cryptohopper | 10% / 12.5% / 15% by monthly earnings | As long as the user pays | $75 | On request, up to twice a month |
| Bitsgap | 30% of every purchase | 12 months from first purchase | $25 | On request, every 14 business days |
| Pionex | 20% spot / 15% futures fees | 365 days from registration | No minimum | Hourly to your USDT balance |
| 3Commas (last terms) | 30–45% + $15–$19 per new paid user | While the subscription is active | Shown in the app | Monthly, by the 25th; status unclear |
How to choose a crypto trading bot affiliate program
- Does commission last as long as the customer? Coinrule and Cryptohopper pay for the life of the subscription. Bitsgap's landing page says users are assigned to you "forever", but its agreement limits commission to one year per referral.
- Does the plan length change your rate? Coinrule pays 30% on annual plans and 25% on monthly ones, so steering readers to yearly billing pays more. Bitsgap splits 6- and 12-month plan commissions into monthly instalments.
- How are tiers measured? Cryptohopper tiers are based on your own monthly commission ($500 for 12.5%, $1,000 for 15%) and calculated per affiliate link, so splitting traffic across many links can keep each one in the lower tier.
- What counts as a qualified user? At Pionex an invitee must deposit at least 100 USDT and trade within 30 days of registering or they never count.
- How do you get paid? Coinrule pays by PayPal, BTC or ETH; Cryptohopper by PayPal or crypto via BitPay; Bitsgap and Pionex in USDT.
Trading bot affiliate programs worth knowing
Coinrule: lifetime recurring on a no-code bot
Coinrule is the strongest pure-recurring deal in the category. You sign up free on FirstPromoter, get a tracking linkAffiliate link Your personal URL that tells the program a visitor came from you. Clicks and sign-ups through it are credited to your account. More within minutes and earn on all ongoing payments for life. Coinrule reports more than 7,900 affiliates who have collectively earned over $327,212, with top affiliates above $18,000 in a single year. The downsides: cookie length and minimum payout are not published, payouts can take up to 45 days after month-end, and paid search on Coinrule brand terms is banned.
Cryptohopper: self-serve, tiered by your own earnings
Cryptohopper gives you a link straight from your account dashboard. Commission applies to Explorer, Adventurer and Hero plans, plus a small cut on marketplace signals (10% of Cryptohopper’s 15% share, about 1.5% of the signal price). There is a 30-day cookie, then the account is permanently linked to you. Only direct referrals pay; there is no second tier. Refunds within 6 weeks void the commission, and the official terms page still names retired plan tiers.
Pionex: exchange-style revenue share on bot trading
Pionex pays every user a flat 20% of invitees’ spot fees and 15% of futures fees for 365 days, credited hourly with no minimum. Registrations through shared bot links also count as invites, which is a neat hook for strategy creators. You can create up to 10 referral codes, each with its own fixed fee discount for invitees. KOLs can negotiate separate rates through the Partner Portal. For non-KOL inviters, the full rebate stops once an invitee reaches VIP2.
Bitsgap: 30% for one year
Bitsgap pays 30% of every purchase (net of VAT) for 12 months from a referral’s first purchase, with a 30-day last-click cookie and USDT payouts from $25. Either side can end the partnership with 7 days’ notice, and commissions paid for terms violations can be clawed back.
3Commas once ran one of the richest bot programs: 30–45% of subscriptions, $15–$19 per new paid user and monthly volume bonuses from $28 to $1,018. After its move to a v2 platform, the affiliate terms page went offline and no statement on the program has been published. Treat it as paused until 3Commas confirms otherwise in writing. Its last terms also banned advertising anywhere in the EEA.
Affiliate, referral or KOL deal: which track to ask for
Several bot brands run more than one partner track, and the standard link is not always the best one.
Pionex separates its public program, a fixed 20% spot and 15% futures share open to every user, from a KOL and partner program with individually negotiated rates. KOL applications are reviewed on follower count, community size and influence through Pionex’s verified business contact, and approved partners move to the Partner Portal. Pionex states it never asks partners for fees or passwords, so anyone who does is not Pionex.
Coinrule applies its 25% and 30% rates “unless other conditions are explicitly arranged” with the affiliate. If you already send steady subscribers, ask for a custom rate.
Cryptohopper lets affiliates apply for a free subscription by showing their website and credibility, which is useful when you need a live account for tutorials. Its earliest affiliates keep a grandfathered 15%.
3Commas kept its user referral program (25%, 15% and 10% across three levels) separate from the affiliate program, and accepting affiliate terms ended referral terms. If you ever rejoin, you cannot stack both.
The rule of thumb: start with the self-serve link, collect a few months of data on sign-ups and paid conversions, then use those numbers to negotiate. Partner managers respond to proof of conversion rateConversion rate The share of visitors who complete the target action. If 1,000 people click and 30 register, your conversion rate is 3%. More and retention, not to follower counts alone.
Red flags in trading bot affiliate offers
Profit claims. Bots lose money in the wrong market. 3Commas’s last terms banned misleading claims such as guaranteed returns, and Coinrule bans inaccurate claims about its product. If a program’s own creatives promise monthly percentages, skip it.
“Forever” marketing with shorter contracts. Read the agreement, not the landing page. Bitsgap is the clearest example in our catalog.
Programs that disappear. Bot platforms migrate, merge and shut down more often than exchanges. Withdraw balances regularly instead of letting them pile up, especially when payout is on request.
Outdated terms. Cryptohopper’s terms page and Coinrule’s terms page both look older than their landing pages. Screenshot the rates you signed up for.
Traffic that converts for trading bot and crypto trading affiliate programs
Bot buyers want proof that a strategy works before they pay. The content that converts shows real setups:
Strategy tutorials. “How to set up a grid bot on Pionex” or “DCA strategy on Coinrule, step by step” match high-intent searches. Show settings, fees and, honestly, the drawdowns.
Backtests and live journals. A monthly public log of a small bot account builds trust that no banner can. Keep it factual and add a risk warning.
YouTube walkthroughs. Cryptohopper and Coinrule both list YouTube among allowed channels. Screen recordings of connecting an exchange via API are evergreen.
Trading communities. Telegram and Discord groups produce the repeat subscribers that recurring programs reward. Avoid spamming links: Bitsgap bans unsolicited messages, and both Bitsgap and Cryptohopper ban self-referrals.
If your audience trades manually rather than through bots, the wider group of crypto trading affiliate programs on our exchange affiliate programs page will fit better. Compare the payout models in CPA vs RevShare vs hybrid, plan channels with crypto traffic sources, and if you are new, start with what crypto affiliate marketing is. The full list of brands is in the program catalog.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best crypto trading bot affiliate program?
It depends on the duration you want. Coinrule pays 25% on monthly and 30% on annual plans for the lifetime of the subscription, plus a 5% bonus above $2,500 in monthly referral revenue. Cryptohopper pays 10–15% recurring with a $75 minimum. Bitsgap pays 30% but only for one year per customer.
Do trading bot affiliate programs pay recurring commissions?
Most do. Coinrule and Cryptohopper pay on every subscription payment for as long as the customer stays subscribed. Bitsgap pays on every purchase for 12 months from the first one. Pionex pays a share of trading fees for 365 days after the invitee registers, not on subscriptions.
Is the 3Commas affiliate program still active?
Its status is unclear. 3Commas moved users to a new v2 platform, its affiliate terms page returns an error and the affiliate URL redirects to the homepage. Read our 3Commas review for the last published terms and get written confirmation before sending traffic.
How much can I earn from one bot subscriber?
Using the programs' own examples: a Cryptohopper Hero plan at $129 a month pays $19.35 a month at the 15% tier, and a Coinrule Trader plan at $719 a year pays up to $251 at the 35% maximum. Bitsgap pays 30% of each purchase for the first year.
Can I run Google Ads for trading bot affiliate links?
Generally not on brand terms. Coinrule bans paid ads on its keywords and brand terms, Cryptohopper bans Google Ads with the affiliate link, and Bitsgap bans its trademarks in domain names. Focus on SEO, YouTube and communities; see our traffic sources guide.
