Short take: there's no single "best" bot — only the best fit for your goal, market, risk, and skills. Let's compare what actually works with live data, not hype.

TL;DR (what readers want)
   •   Use-cases: DCA, grid, trend-following, market-making, arbitrage, copy trading, options spreads.
   •   Must-haves: paper trading, walk-forward backtests, per-trade logs, risk controls (SL/TP, max DD, daily loss stop).
   •   Security: read-only API first, then trade-only; never withdraw-enabled keys; device-level 2FA.
   •   Proof: screenshots or CSVs with timeframe, fees, PnL, max drawdown, profit factor.

How to pick the "best" bot (criteria checklist)
   •   Strategy fit (sideways vs trending, spot vs perps, low-cap vs majors).
   •   Risk tooling (hard stop, trailing stop, kill-switch on daily loss).
   •   Slippage/fees awareness (esp. on perps and low-liq alts).
   •   Backtest quality (out-of-sample, walk-forward, realistic fees & funding).
   •   Execution reliability (uptime, latency, order-failure handling, re-quotes).
   •   Control & portability (cloud SaaS vs self-hosted; exportable logs).
   •   Support & docs (strategy editor, alerts, versioning).

Popular strategies (when they shine)
   •   DCA / rebalancing: simple, works for long-term accumulation on majors; bad in sharp downtrends without stops.
   •   Grid: ranges and chop; can bleed in breakouts without guardrails.
   •   Trend-following: breakouts + trailing stops; whipsaw risk in chop.
   •   Market-making: tight spreads, needs consistent liquidity + risk caps.
   •   Arbitrage / basis trades: niche, infra-heavy, exchange-risk matters.
   •   Options overlays: covered calls/puts for yield on majors; know assignment risk.

Brands & stacks people often mention (not endorsements)
   •   Open-source/self-hosted: Freqtrade, Hummingbot, Jesse.
   •   SaaS platforms: 3Commas, Bitsgap, Coinrule, Shrimpy, TradeSanta, Kryll, HaasOnline, Pionex (native grids).
   •   Exchange-native tools: simple DCA/grid on major CEXes.
Pick the tool that fits your strategy and security comfort, not the loudest ad.

Security & compliance basics
   •   Create separate API keys (read-only → trade-only), no withdrawals.
   •   Unique email + strong password + hardware-key 2FA.
   •   Verify addresses on device screens if you self-custody.
   •   Know your local tax/regs; log everything.

Drop your results (the more detail, the better)

Copy/paste and fill this in:
   •   Bot/stack:
   •   Exchange(s)/pairs:
   •   Strategy & settings (high level):
   •   Period tested (UTC):
   •   Trades / win rate / profit factor:
   •   Max drawdown / worst day:
   •   Net PnL after fees & funding:
   •   Notes (slippage, outages, changes mid-test):

FAQ (fast)
   •   "Do bots guarantee profit?" No. They automate your edge; they don't create it.
   •   "AI bot or manual rules?" Start rule-based, add ML later if you can audit it.
   •   "Paper trade or live?" Paper first, then tiny live size; scale only after a full cycle.

I'll kick off with my own setup in the comments. Your turn — what's been your best-performing bot in real markets, and what killed your worst one?