AI trading software compared
The best AI trading software in 2026
The best AI trading software is the one that shows you the strategy, tests it with real costs and leaves your money in your own account. The tools fall into four kinds: AI strategy builders, AI research and signal tools, bots that trade for you, and code assistants paired with a backtesting framework. Keel is an AI strategy builder: you describe a strategy in the Keel app or from Claude or ChatGPT, it is built from blocks you can read, backtested with fees, slippage and funding, and run live from your own Hyperliquid account.
By Keel Research Team
Updated October 15, 2026A strategy built in Keel
Aug 2024 to Sep 2026Sharpe
1.15
Total return
+213.4%
Worst drawdown
−50.2%
Trades
1,141
A library strategy on its default settings, after trading fees, slippage and funding.
What the AI does
Four very different things are sold as AI trading software
The label covers tools that have little in common. One kind writes a strategy for you from a description. Another scans the market and hands you signals, and you decide what to do with them. A third runs a bot on your exchange account, often from a preset you pick in a marketplace. The fourth is a general assistant, such as Claude or ChatGPT, writing code for a backtesting framework you run yourself.
They suit different people. If you have your own ideas and want them built and tested, you want a builder or a code assistant. If you want ideas handed to you, you want a signal tool. If you want something running by tonight with little setup, a bot platform is the shortest path. Pick the kind first and the list of tools gets short quickly.
How to judge one
Five questions to ask any AI trading tool
Marketing pages for these tools look alike. These questions separate them, and each one has a plain yes or no answer you can usually find in the docs or a free trial.
Can you see and edit the strategy?
If the rules are hidden, you can't tell a bad month from a broken bot. You want to read what the strategy does, change a setting, and test the change. A black box asks you to trust it.
Is it backtested with real costs?
Fees and slippage on every trade, and funding on perpetual futures. A test that leaves any of them out makes the strategy look better than it will trade. Ask which costs are charged by default.
Who holds the funds?
Some tools trade through an API key or a signed permission on an account you own. Others ask you to deposit with them. Know which before you connect anything, and whether the tool can withdraw.
Does the tested strategy run live unchanged?
If going live means rebuilding the strategy somewhere else, the thing you trade is not the thing you tested. The fewer hand-offs between test and live, the fewer surprises.
What is the AI actually doing?
Writing the strategy, explaining a result, scanning for signals or deciding trades on its own are very different jobs. A tool should say which one its AI does, in plain words.
The tools
AI trading software, by what the AI does
Four kinds, who each suits, what to watch, and the tools in each. Every fact about another tool comes from its own site; the sources are listed at the end.
01
AI strategy builders
Suits you if you have trading ideas of your own and want them turned into a strategy you can test and run, without writing the code yourself.
What to watch. Check what the builder produces. Some hand you code, some hand you blocks or rules, and the result is only as trustworthy as the backtest behind it. Look at which costs the test charges and how the strategy gets to a live account.
Keel
An AI strategy builder for Hyperliquid perpetuals. You describe a strategy in the Keel app, or from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Claude Code through Keel's hosted MCP server, and it is built from 251 readable blocks. Every backtest charges fees, slippage and funding. The same strategy then paper trades and runs live from your own Hyperliquid account.
How Keel's AI strategy builder worksAlgoBuilder
You describe entries, exits, indicators and risk rules in plain English, and its AI writes the strategy in Python. You backtest and optimise it, and live strategies run through its desktop app into a MetaTrader 5 terminal. It covers shares, forex, metals, crypto and other markets.
algobuilder.comCapitalise.ai
Lets you write trading scenarios in everyday English, then backtest, simulate and automate them. Its site says it has been acquired by Kraken.
capitalise.ai
02
AI research and signal tools
Suits you if you trade by hand and want help finding setups: scans, alerts, chart analysis and answers to questions about the market.
What to watch. A signal is a suggestion, and you still decide and place the trade. Ask how past signals performed after costs, and check which markets the tool covers before you sign up.
Trade Ideas
A stock scanning platform whose AI, Holly, gives buy and sell signals with entry and exit points in real time. It also offers backtesting of trading plans and simulated trading on live market data.
trade-ideas.comTrendSpider
A charting and analysis platform. You can describe market conditions in plain language and it turns them into signals, backtest and optimise your own logic, and run no-code bots. Its AI assistant, Sidekick, answers questions, analyses charts and reviews backtests.
trendspider.com
03
AI bots that trade for you
Suits you if you want automation running on your exchange or broker account soon, from presets or simple rules, with little setup.
What to watch. Preset and marketplace strategies are often hard to inspect. Before you connect money, test on paper or a demo account, read what the bot will actually do, and know what permissions its key or connection has.
Cryptohopper
A crypto trading bot that connects to exchange accounts such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and OKX. It offers its own trading AI, strategies built from technical indicators, DCA and arbitrage tools, and a marketplace of strategies, bot templates and signals.
cryptohopper.comStockHero
No-code bots for stocks, forex, CFDs and crypto, through brokerages that include Alpaca, Robinhood, TradeStation and Webull. You can run preset AI strategies from its marketplace or design your own, and test them on paper first.
stockhero.aiCoinrule
Rule-based bots built from conditions such as a percentage drop or a trailing take-profit, across crypto exchanges and some stock brokers, with a demo exchange for testing. Its MCP server lets ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok create, backtest and manage those strategies in a conversation.
coinrule.com
04
Code assistants with a backtesting framework
Suits you if you write code, or are willing to read it, and want full control of the data, the cost model and how the strategy runs.
What to watch. A general assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT can write strategy code quickly, but on its own it has no market data and no cost model, so treat what it says about results as a guess until a real backtest runs. You also own the bugs, and a look-ahead mistake can hide in one line.
QuantConnect
QuantConnect is a cloud platform where you research, backtest, optimise and live-trade code strategies, across stocks, options, futures, forex and crypto, with fee, slippage and spread modelling. Its AI assistant, Mia, can work with you on designing, testing, optimising and live-trading strategies. The engine underneath, LEAN, is open source.
quantconnect.comfreqtrade
A free, open-source crypto trading bot in Python, with backtesting and strategy optimisation. Its FreqAI module trains machine learning models to forecast from signals you choose, and its docs list Hyperliquid among the supported futures exchanges.
freqtrade.io
The four kinds side by side
| What the AI does | Can you read the strategy | Who places trades | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI strategy builders | Turns your description into a strategy | Usually, as code or blocks | The strategy you approved |
| Research and signal tools | Scans and suggests setups | You see the signal, not always the reasoning | You, by hand |
| Bots that trade for you | Runs presets or rules, sometimes its own model | Varies, often limited for presets | The bot, on your connected account |
| Code assistant plus framework | Writes and explains code | Yes, it is your code | Your code, run by you or the platform |
What you should be able to see
A strategy you can read before it trades
Whatever tool you use, ask to see the strategy in a form you can check. Below is a trend bot from the Keel library, shown the way Keel shows every strategy. It is the kind of bot people ask an AI to build: hold the most traded coins while they trend, sit in cash when they don't.
Read it from the top. Daily prices come in for the most traded coins. A coin qualifies for a long when its fast average is above its slow one, two weeks of momentum agree, and funding isn't too expensive. A trade manager opens the position, and it closes when the trend flips or price falls far enough from its high to hit a trailing stop sized to the coin's volatility. The last blocks spread capital equally across what qualifies. Switch to Code to see the same strategy as text.
Configuration
Globalsconfig
target_timeframe1dbar_offset12h
UniverseassetsTop by Volume · HL Perps · 20 assets20 resolved
Executionorders
rebalanceOn Change
Factories
ema_crossfactory
Pipeline7 steps
PriceDataLoaderData Loader
ohlcv_1dstore
Parallel2 branches
entries
Parallel2 branches
const
ConstantForecastForecast Mapper
value1
gates
Parallel3 branches
trend_up
ema_crosscall
AboveThresholdFilterSignal Transform
threshold0
momentum_agrees
ROCIndicator
period14
AboveThresholdFilterSignal Transform
threshold0
funding_ok
FundingDataLoaderData Loader
use_cachetrue
BelowThresholdFilterSignal Transform
threshold0.0000625inclusivetrue
MaskAndSignal Composer
ApplyMaskSignal Composer
score_signalconstfilter_signalgates
bot_entrystore
exit_flip
ema_crosscall
NegateTransformSignal Transform
ThresholdCrossSignal Transform
upper0modelong_only
bot_exit_flipstore
TradeManagerPosition Manager
entriesbot_entrypricesohlcv_1d
Parallel2 branches
trend_flip
bot_exit_flipload
AboveThresholdFilterSignal Transform
threshold1inclusivetrue
ExitPosition Manager
atr_trail
TrailingStopPosition Manager
atr2.5period14
ExposurePosition Manager
EqualWeightSizerPosition Sizer
target_leverage1max_weight0.2
Globals(target_timeframe="1d", bar_offset="12h")
Universe(mode="top_volume", top_n=20, market="perp", resolved=["BNB", "BTC", "DOGE", "ETH", "FARTCOIN", "GRAM", "HYPE", "LINK", "LIT", "NEAR", "PUMP", "SOL", "SUI", "VVV", "WLD", "XPL", "XRP", "ZEC", "kBONK", "kPEPE"], resolved_at="2026-07-06T20:20:32.738649+00:00")
Execution(rebalance="on_change")
ema_cross = Pipeline([
{
"fast": [EWMA(window=10)],
"slow": [EWMA(window=30)],
},
Crossover(fast_key="fast", slow_key="slow"),
], name="ema_cross")
Pipeline([
PriceDataLoader(),
Store("ohlcv_1d"),
{
"entries": [
Pipeline([
{
"const": [ConstantForecast(value=1.0)],
"gates": [
Pipeline([
{
"trend_up": [ema_cross, AboveThresholdFilter(threshold=0.0)],
"momentum_agrees": [ROC(period=14), AboveThresholdFilter(threshold=0.0)],
"funding_ok": [FundingDataLoader(use_cache=True), BelowThresholdFilter(threshold=0.0000625, inclusive=True)],
},
MaskAnd(),
], name="gates"),
],
},
ApplyMask(score_signal="const", filter_signal="gates"),
Store("bot_entry"),
], name="entries"),
],
"exit_flip": [ema_cross, NegateTransform(), ThresholdCross(upper=0.0, mode="long_only"), Store("bot_exit_flip")],
},
TradeManager(entries="bot_entry", prices="ohlcv_1d"),
{
"trend_flip": [Load("bot_exit_flip"), AboveThresholdFilter(threshold=1.0, inclusive=True), Exit()],
"atr_trail": [TrailingStop(atr=2.5, period=14)],
},
Exposure(),
EqualWeightSizer(target_leverage=1.0, max_weight=0.2),
], name="ai_trend_bot_crypto")
Every block above can be opened and changed, by you or by the AI, and every change is a new version you can backtest again. The result in the hero is this strategy on its default settings, after fees, slippage and funding.
See the full strategy, its settings and every backtestWhere Keel fits
What Keel does well, and where another tool is better
Keel is for traders with their own ideas who want them built, tested honestly and run without babysitting. You describe a strategy to Keel's AI in the app, or connect Claude or ChatGPT and ask there. The AI builds it from blocks that exist and fit together, so it can't invent an indicator. Keel backtests it on real market history with fees, slippage and funding charged, and the strategy you tested is the one that paper trades and then runs live from your own account. Keel can place trades there but can never withdraw.
Today that account is on Hyperliquid, and the markets are its crypto perpetuals. Hyperliquid also lists perps on stocks, indexes and commodities as HIP-3 markets. Keel doesn't support them yet. Support is coming soon. The tool is built around the strategy rather than the venue, so what you learn building in Keel carries over as more markets arrive.
Another tool is better in a few clear cases. If you trade stocks or options by hand and want setups suggested, a signal tool fits. If you want a preset grid or DCA bot on a centralised exchange, a bot platform is quicker. If you need tick data, market making or full control of the code, a code framework is the right home. Keel strategies run on bars from 5 minutes to 1 day.
ChatGPT and Claude
Using ChatGPT or Claude as your trading AI
Many people start by asking a general assistant to build a strategy. It is good at turning an idea into rules and explaining them. On its own it can't see market history or charge costs, so any return it quotes is made up, and it can't run anything for you.
Connecting a tool through MCP, the standard way assistants use outside software, changes that. Connected to Keel, Claude or ChatGPT finds the blocks, builds the strategy, runs a real backtest on Keel and gives you a link to the result in the Keel app. You review it there before anything goes live. The agents page has the setup for each assistant.
FAQ
Questions about AI trading software
What is the best AI trading software?
It depends on what you want the AI to do. To build and test your own strategies without code, use an AI strategy builder such as Keel or AlgoBuilder. For signals on stocks you trade by hand, a tool like Trade Ideas or TrendSpider. For a preset bot on an exchange, a bot platform. If you code, QuantConnect or freqtrade with an assistant gives you the most control.
Do AI trading bots actually work?
Some strategies make money and many don't, whatever runs them. The AI label says little on its own: plenty of bots run simple rules. What you can check is whether you can read the rules, whether the backtest charged fees, slippage and funding, and how the strategy did on paper with live prices. Past results never promise future ones.
Can ChatGPT or Claude trade for me?
Not on their own. They can write a strategy and explain it, but they have no market data or account access by default. Connected to a tool through MCP they can build and backtest on that tool. On Keel, the live trading is done by the strategy you approved, on its schedule, never by the assistant itself.
How realistic is an AI trading backtest?
Only as realistic as the costs and data behind it. Every Keel backtest charges trading fees and slippage on each trade and applies real funding payments to open positions. It is still a simulation, so paper trading on live prices is the next check. How Keel works explains how the backtest and the live run use the same compiled strategy.
Who holds my money with AI trading software?
It depends on the tool, so check before you connect. Many bots trade through an API key on your exchange account. With Keel you connect the wallet you use on Hyperliquid and sign once to let Keel trade. Your money stays in your own account, Keel can place trades but can never withdraw, and you can pause a strategy at any time.
Which markets can AI trading software trade?
Each tool covers its own set, from stocks and options to forex and crypto. Keel runs on Hyperliquid's crypto perpetuals today. Stock, index and commodity perps on Hyperliquid are HIP-3 markets, and Keel doesn't support them yet. Support is coming soon.
Is there free AI trading software?
Yes. freqtrade is free and open source if you code. On Keel: Starting is free. The free plan lets you build and backtest strategies, paper trade one strategy and run one live, with a 5 basis point fee on live trades. Paid plans start at $29 a month and lower that fee. The pricing page has the full limits.
Sources
Facts about other tools come from each tool's own site or documentation, read on 15 October 2026. Tools change, so check the source before you decide. We left out anything we could not confirm there, including prices and performance claims.
- AlgoBuilder: https://algobuilder.com/
- Capitalise.ai: https://capitalise.ai/
- Trade Ideas: https://www.trade-ideas.com/
- TrendSpider: https://trendspider.com/
- Cryptohopper: https://www.cryptohopper.com/
- StockHero: https://www.stockhero.ai/
- Coinrule: https://coinrule.com/
- Coinrule: https://help.coinrule.com/articles/384336-mcp-ai-trading-automation-coinrule
- QuantConnect: https://www.quantconnect.com/
- freqtrade: https://www.freqtrade.io/en/stable/
- freqtrade: https://www.freqtrade.io/en/stable/freqai/
Build a strategy you can read
Describe an idea in the Keel app or from your assistant, see it as blocks, and backtest it with real costs before any money moves.