Learn to automate, honestly.
Plain-language guides, short definitions and fair comparisons. Every number with its period and fees.
What you will find here
These guides explain how automated crypto trading works, in plain words and without promises. They cover the basics, such as paper trading, backtesting and stop-losses; how to think about risk, such as drawdown and why many bots lose money; and the new world of AI trading agents, including what assistants like ChatGPT and Claude can and cannot safely do with your exchange account.
Every guide opens with a short answer you can read in under a minute, then goes deeper with worked examples, a checklist and common questions. Every number comes with its period and its fees, and every example result is labelled as illustrative. Guides that touch on risk say whether a qualified reviewer has checked them yet.
You do not need to read in order. If you are new to automation, start with what an AI trading bot is, then paper trading and backtesting: together they explain how to test an idea before any real money is involved. If you already trade, the stop-loss and drawdown guides are the quickest way to tighten a strategy you run today.
Each guide ends with a strategy you can try as an agent, on paper, with virtual money. Below the guides you will find fair comparisons with other ways to trade, and a glossary of the terms used across the site.
Guides
The basics
- What is take profit? How to set a take-profit in cryptoTake profit explained for crypto: what a take-profit order does, how to choose the level, how it works with a stop-loss, and how agents use it.
- What is a stop-loss in crypto trading, and how do you set one?A plain-words guide to stop-losses in crypto: what they do, how to choose a level, why they can fill worse than planned, and how agents use them.
- What is an AI trading bot? How they work and what to checkAn AI trading bot explained in plain words: what the AI does and does not do, how rules become orders, and the five things to check before you trust one.
- What is backtesting? How to backtest a crypto strategy honestlyBacktesting explained: testing trading rules on past prices, the fees and slippage most tests skip, how to read results, and the mistakes that mislead.
- What is paper trading? How to practise crypto trading for freePaper trading explained: trading with virtual money on live prices, what it can and cannot tell you, and how to paper trade a crypto strategy before going live.
AI trading agents
- Best AI trading apps for crypto in 2026: comparedThe best AI trading apps and bots for crypto in 2026, compared on how you set up a strategy, testing, safety limits, exchanges and price, with sources.
- ChatGPT trading bot: using ChatGPT for crypto trading, honestlyCan ChatGPT be a crypto trading bot? What it can and cannot do, the risks of letting it place orders, and how to turn its ideas into a tested agent with limits.
- Claude trading bot: can Claude trade crypto for you, safely?Using Claude as a crypto trading bot: what Claude can do with exchange tools, why it needs limits it cannot override, and a safer way to build an agent.
- What is an AI trading agent? Agents, bots and the limits that matterAI trading agents explained: how an agent differs from a bot, what exchanges now let agents do, the risks of letting an AI trade, and the limits to insist on.
Risk and limits
- Are trading bots legal? Crypto bots in the US, EU and IndiaAre crypto trading bots legal? What the rules say in the US, the EU and India, where automation crosses a line, taxes on bot trades, and how to stay safe.
- Do AI trading bots work? An honest answer for crypto tradersDo AI crypto trading bots actually work? What they do well, why many lose money, how to spot a scam, and how to test one honestly before using real money.
- Stop loss vs stop limit: which order to use in crypto?Stop-loss versus stop-limit orders explained for crypto: how each triggers, why one can fail to fill, which to use when, and how agents handle both.
- Trailing stop loss vs trailing stop limit: how each worksTrailing stops explained for crypto: how a trailing stop loss follows the price, how a trailing stop limit differs, how to set the distance, and examples.
- What is drawdown in trading? Max drawdown explained simplyDrawdown and max drawdown explained with simple examples: how to calculate them, why they matter, and how to limit drawdown in a crypto strategy.
Comparisons
- TradeCorgi vs 3Commas: a 3Commas alternative in plain wordsTradeCorgi and 3Commas compared, as of October 2026: how you set up a strategy, prices, backtests and safety limits, and how to switch.
- Bitsgap alternative: TradeCorgi vs BitsgapTradeCorgi and Bitsgap compared as of October 2026: bot setup, prices, backtest history, safety limits, who each suits and how to switch.
- Coinrule alternative: TradeCorgi vs CoinruleTradeCorgi and Coinrule compared as of October 2026: how rules are built, testing, safety limits, free plans and who each suits, with sources.
- Cryptohopper alternative: TradeCorgi vs CryptohopperTradeCorgi and Cryptohopper compared as of October 2026: strategy setup, prices, testing and safety limits, who each suits, and how to switch.
- Trading by hand vs a TradeCorgi agent: which suits you?Placing crypto trades yourself compared with running an agent on rules you write: time, discipline, testing, costs and which suits you.
- Pionex alternative: TradeCorgi vs Pionex botsTradeCorgi and Pionex compared as of October 2026: where your funds sit, how strategies are set up, fees, testing and limits, and who each suits.
Glossary
- API keyA credential from your exchange that lets software read your account or place orders on it, limited to the permissions you choose when you create it.
- BacktestingRunning trading rules on past prices to see how they would have done, ideally after fees and slippage and next to simply holding the coin.
- Daily loss limitA cap on how much a strategy may lose in one day; once the day's losses reach it, trading pauses until the next day.
- Dollar-cost averaging (DCA)Buying a fixed amount of a coin on a fixed schedule, such as $40 every Monday, whatever the price, so you buy more when it is cheap and less when it is expensive.
- DrawdownThe fall from an account's highest value to its lowest point before it recovers, as a percentage. TradeCorgi names the largest one the worst drop.
- Grid tradingA strategy that buys at set price levels below the current price and sells at set levels above, aiming to gain from swings within a range.
- IP whitelistingA setting on an exchange API key that only accepts requests from a list of IP addresses, so the key is useless to anyone outside those servers.
- Limit orderAn order to buy or sell only at a price you set or better; it waits in the order book and may never fill if the market does not reach your price.
- Market orderAn order to buy or sell immediately at the best price available on the exchange, which fills almost every time but not always at the last price you saw.
- Paper tradingTrading with virtual money on live market prices, to see how a strategy behaves without risking real money.
- SlippageThe difference between the price you expected and the price your order actually filled at, usually worse in fast or thin markets.
- Spot tradingBuying and selling coins outright, paid in full with money you have, so you own what you buy and can never lose more than you put in.
- Stop-limit orderAn order that becomes a limit order once a stop price is reached: it never sells below your limit, but in a fast fall it may not fill at all.
- Stop-lossA rule that sells a position when its price falls a set amount below the buy price, such as 6%, so a single loss stays small.
- Take-profitA rule or order that sells a position once its price rises a set amount above the buy price, such as 4%, so the move is locked in rather than left to fade.
- Trailing stopA stop that moves up as the price rises, staying a set distance below the highest price since you bought, and sells if the price falls back by that distance.
- All termsEvery definition, A to Z.