Phemex vs 3Commas: Crypto Trading Automation Comparison in 2026

Key Takeaways

• Execution Model: Phemex offers native execution, meaning trading bots are run directly on the exchange's internal infrastructure to minimize latency and eliminate the risk of API key exposure. Conversely, 3Commas is a third-party service that manages accounts via API keys, which introduces potential security vulnerabilities.

• Cost Efficiency: All native trading bots on Phemex are free to use for any customer, with no subscription fees or upgrade taxes. 3Commas operates on a subscription model, with paid plans costing up to $200 per month or nearly $2,000 per year for advanced features.

• Setup and Ease of Use: Phemex cultivates a plug-and-play experience where bots can be started in minutes without technical API configurations. 3Commas presents a DIY configuration approach that compels users to manually manage exchange permissions and API credentials, making it more complex for beginners.

• Copy Trading: Phemex provides integrated copy trading that mirrors trades in real-time within isolated sub-accounts. 3Commas offers a marketplace for bot templates and signals rather than real-time mirroring.

• Reliability and Performance: Because Phemex bots reside inside the exchange ecosystem, they avoid the network round-trip delays and potential API throttling that third-party platforms like 3Commas face.

Native vs. Third-Party Execution

Phemex’s Native Execution for In-House Convenience

Phemex runs its trading bots within the exchange itself. When you set up a bot on Phemex, it executes orders using the same infrastructure as your manual trades with no need for external intermediaries for API connections to another platform. This native execution approach minimizes latency and eliminates the risk of exposed API keys. In fact, Phemex emphasizes that its bots operate directly on the order book, reducing delays and points of failure. By keeping everything internal, Phemex also ensures that your risk controls such as margin settings, stop-loss rules, and position limits apply uniformly across manual and automated trades. There’s no extra layer to configure or monitor.

3Comma’s Emphasis on Third-Party Crypto Trading APIs

3Commas takes the opposite approach. It’s a cloud service that manages bots across multiple exchanges. You grant 3Commas trading permissions via API keys for each exchange you wish to connect. The platform then sends orders to those exchanges on your behalf. While this multi-exchange capability is flexible, it comes with added security and reliability concerns. In late 2022, a breach at 3Commas resulted in the leak of about 100,000 API keys, leading to unauthorized trades and an estimated $20 million in losses. 3Commas later confirmed the compromise and took measures to improve security, but the incident underscores a core risk: entrusting a third party with your keys opens a potential attack vector that native solutions like Phemex avoid.

Why Choose Phemex over 3Commas for Setting Up Trading Bots

Phemex’s native execution model offers superior safety and simplicity. There’s no risk of API key leaks, no subscription server between you and the market, and no added latency. 3Commas, being third-party, introduces additional risk and complexity despite enabling cross-exchange flexibility. Unless you absolutely need a separate automation platform to consolidate multiple exchange accounts, running bots directly on an exchange like Phemex is generally more secure and foolproof for automated trading.

Another aspect of third-party execution is performance. 3Commas must relay each order through its servers and the exchange API. This introduces slight but sometimes significant latency, especially during volatile market conditions or when API services throttle. With Phemex’s trading bots, signals and trades happen inside the same ecosystem so there’s no network round-trip delay. For high-frequency or scalping strategies, even milliseconds can matter. In short, Phemex’s native model is faster, simpler, and less risky.

Cost Efficiency

Phemex Offers Trading Bot Setup and Strategies for Free

One of Phemex’s biggest value propositions is that all its native trading bots are free to use for any exchange customer. There are no additional subscription or software fees required to deploy bots on Phemex – you only pay the normal trading fees that apply to any executed orders (which on Phemex are competitively low, such as 0.1% for spot trades or 0.01% maker / 0.06% taker for futures by default). In other words, using a bot on Phemex costs the same as if you were placing the trades yourself. There’s no “automation tax.” The company has explicitly stated that trading bots are free: there are no monthly charges, and any trader on the platform can access the Bot Marketplace or create their own strategies without the concept of upgrading their account.

3Commas Operates on Subscription Model

Unlike Phemex, 3Commas monetizes its platform through tiered subscription plans. While 3Commas does offer a limited free plan, serious users will quickly find they need to upgrade to access unlimited bots or advanced features. The paid plans include options like “Pro” and “Expert,” which cost $50 per month and $200 per month respectively (if billed monthly). Annual subscriptions are a bit cheaper per month (around $480/year for Pro or $1,920/year for Expert), but either way, we are talking on the order of hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year to fully utilize 3Commas’s capabilities.

What do these subscriptions get you? Higher-tier 3Commas plans remove limits on the number of active bots, enable features like options bots or custom signals, and provide things like priority support or full developer API access. From 3Commas’s perspective, these fees fund the development and maintenance of their independent platform. However, for traders, it’s an additional overhead that eats into profit.

Why Choose Phemex Over 3Commas for Cost Efficiency

If you believe that automation should be a basic feature of a modern exchange, Phemex clearly wins on cost. They’ve essentially baked in the cost of providing bots into their normal exchange business rather than directly charging users for the bots themselves. Phemex’s model encourages more users to try automated strategies since there’s no monetary penalty for doing so. It’s also worth noting that Phemex’s free bots don’t skimp on capability. The platform offers a variety of strategies like grid trading, DCA, futures arbitrage, signal trading, etc. alongside a Bot Marketplace for copying top strategies - all without subscription fees. In essence, Phemex’s free offering covers many of the same use cases that 3Commas charges for. Unless you specifically require a feature unique to 3Commas, you’re likely paying for redundancy.

Beginner Friendliness

Phemex Offers Intuitive Plug and Play

Phemex aims to guide novices into algorithmic trading with minimal friction. Because bots live on the exchange, setup is essentially plug-and-play. You log in, select the “Trading Bots” tab, choose a strategy (Grid, DCA, etc.), set a few parameters, and hit start. There’s no need to create API keys or manage external credentials. Phemex’s interface walks you through each step and includes clear guidelines for adjusting risk and sizing. You can also practice in a risk-free Mock Trading environment before going live. This built-in paper trading mode lets you test bots using real market data without risking capital. Additionally, the Phemex Academy provides free tutorials and how-to articles so you understand what each bot does. The overall experience feels cohesive because you’re learning and trading within one platform.

3Commas Represents DIY Configuration

3Commas is a powerful platform but it demands more technical involvement. To start automating, you need to have existing exchange accounts, create API keys there, enable trading permissions, and paste those keys into 3Commas. For some that’s a minor step, but for beginners it can be daunting and potentially risky. Once connected, you must choose the bot template or manually configure settings like order size, safety orders, take-profit targets, and more. 3Commas does offer some AI capabilities that help to simplify bot creation as well as a marketplace of shared bots, but you still need to understand API credentials and multi-step onboarding.

Why Beginners Choose Phemex Over 3Commas

If you are completely new to automated crypto trading, Phemex provides a gentler introduction. You can start with basic bots without any setup headaches, all within a user-friendly exchange interface. The platform’s integrated education channels like the Phemex Academy and Copy Trading feature help new traders build confidence step by step. In contrast, 3Commas is accessible to beginners in theory but is more complex in practice. It’s essentially a professional-grade toolkit that you have to set up yourself. New users might find themselves spending a lot of time just getting configured and learning the jargon before they can even execute a strategy. Of course, once you’re comfortable with bots and multi-exchange management, 3Commas provides extensive customization. But for someone starting from zero, Phemex is more friendly.

Crypto Copy Trading Capability

Phemex: Native Copy Trading Crypto Feature

Copy trading is not identical across these platforms. On Phemex, it’s an exchange-native function. You can browse a list of successful strategy providers and copy their trades directly within your account. Phemex displays detailed statistics for each provider such as win rates, profits, drawdowns, and sets up a sub-account for each copied strategy. Trades are executed in real time on your behalf, and Phemex enforces isolated accounts so that losses in one copied strategy don’t affect another. Copying is also performance-based - you share a predefined percentage of profits with the trader you follow so that incentives are aligned. There’s no subscription cost beyond that profit share. Because everything happens on the exchange, the data and performance metrics are inherently trustworthy. You also have the ability to adjust allocations or stop copying anytime. Therefore, Phemex’s copy trading is a fully integrated social trading experience.

3Commas: Lack Specific Copy Trader Software

3Commas offers a marketplace for bot configurations and social signals. Users can create bots and share them publicly, then others can copy these settings and run them on their own accounts. There are also shared portfolios and user suggestions. However, it’s not the same as real-time mirrored trades. When you copy a bot, you’re copying its logic and parameters and not necessarily the live execution of each trade by the original author. You still need to connect via API and run the strategy on your exchange account. The marketplace provides performance data, but it’s up to you to vet the reliability. Moreover, copying bots does not isolate risk so if a copied strategy performs poorly, it directly affects your account. There is no automated sub-account structure like Phemex’s copy trading feature.

Why Choose Phemex Over 3Commas for Copy Trading

If your goal is to simply find profitable strategies and follow them easily, Phemex’s native copy trading has a clear edge in convenience and transparency. You don’t need to manually configure a bot because you just choose a trader and allocate funds, then the exchange does the rest in sync. Plus, you have the assurance that all the data being shown (profits, losses, trade history) is coming from the exchange itself, which adds credibility. 3Commas’s approach is beneficial if you want to remain on a certain exchange but still copy strategies on another exchange. 3Commas also boasts a large community of strategies across different markets. However, it requires more involvement because you’re effectively taking someone’s strategy template and running it while hoping for similar results. For users who want a seamless way to follow proven traders without configuration, Phemex’s integrated model is simpler.

FAQ

Is Phemex safer than 3Commas? In terms of execution risk, Phemex’s bots run natively on the exchange so you never expose API keys to an external server. This eliminates the possibility of third-party key leaks. 3Commas, by design, requires API key sharing with a separate platform. 3Comma's 2022 breach demonstrated how this can lead to unauthorized trades. While 3Commas has tightened security and doesn’t enable withdrawals by default, the additional layer introduces risk. For users wary of giving third parties access to exchange accounts, Phemex is clearly safer.

Do Phemex bots cost extra? No. Phemex’s bots including Grid, DCA, signal, and arbitrage are all free to use. You pay only the standard trading fees on your orders. There is no subscription plan or premium tier needed to access automation.

How much does 3Commas cost? 3Commas charges subscription fees: roughly $50/month for the Pro plan and $200/month for the Expert plan. These tiers can unlock unlimited bots, advanced features, and priority support. A free trial exists but is temporary. Consider whether your trading profits will exceed thousands of dollars per year to justify these fees.

Which platform is better for beginners? Phemex because you can start a bot in minutes with no API setup. The UI guides you through each step and even offers risk-free paper trading. 3Commas is more complex as it requires connecting exchange APIs, configuring bots, and managing two separate platforms. It’s better suited for advanced users.

How do I set up a trading bot for beginners? On Phemex it’s as simple as logging in, navigating to the “Trading Bots” tab, selecting a bot type and configuring parameters before confirming to create the bot.

Can I use both Phemex and 3Commas? Yes. Some traders run Phemex’s native bots on Phemex for cost-free, low-latency automation, while using 3Commas to manage bots on other exchanges. This hybrid approach makes sense if you trade on multiple platforms and want unified oversight, but be aware of the added subscription costs and API management overhead on 3Commas.

Does 3Commas offer copy trading? Not exactly. 3Commas has a marketplace where users share bot templates and portfolios. You can copy these setups, but it’s different from real-time mirroring. You still run the bot yourself on your chosen exchange. On the other hand, Phemex’s copy trading feature mirrors every trade from the lead trader to your account with isolation.

Which platform supports more exchanges? 3Commas. Its core strength is that it can connect to multiple exchanges via API keys. If you need to manage bots across several venues, 3Commas might be appealing despite the extra cost. Phemex’s bots only run on Phemex.

What kind of bots does Phemex offer? Phemex supports Grid Bots, DCA (dollar-cost averaging) bots, funding rate arbitrage bots, signal bots and a bot marketplace where users can showcase their strategies.

Are Phemex bots profitable? Profitability depends on market conditions and parameter choices. Phemex provides performance data for bots and copy traders. It’s advisable to test any strategy in the mock trading environment first.

Does 3Commas offer a trial? Yes. 3Commas typically offers a free trial period with limited features. After that, you must subscribe to continue using their bots.

Who Should Use Phemex vs 3Commas?

• If you want free, native trading bots with zero subscription costs and versatile capabilities, then consider Phemex.

• If you prefer maximum automation and trading bot security with no API key exposure, consider Phemex

• If you are new to trading automation and place priority on simple setups with integrated education, then consider Phemex.

• If you are seeking seamless copy trading that mirrors real traders in real time with isolated risk, consider Phemex.

• If you trade on multiple exchanges and need one interface to manage bots across them, consider 3Commas.

• If you are comfortable with API management and can justify subscription costs, consider 3Commas.

Phemex vs 3Commas - The Bottom Line

Phemex and 3Commas both empower crypto traders to automate and enhance their trading, but they do so from opposite ends of the spectrum. After comparing their execution models, costs, user experience, and copy trading features, a clear theme emerges. Phemex’s native, exchange-centric approach provides a more streamlined and cost-effective experience, especially for those focused on trading on a single platform. On the other hand, 3Commas’s third-party service offers broader reach and advanced tools, but comes at the expense of added complexity, cost, and an extra layer of trust. Regardless of your choice, remember that crypto trading carries risks. Always do thorough research, start with small amounts to test any new bot or strategy, and ensure you follow security best practices.