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Our verdict
Nearly a decade of operation, a big marketplace, paper trading and backtesting make Cryptohopper a good place to learn strategy bots. The AI is thin, opaque and expensive, the trial is only 3 days, and security details are vague.
Best for: Beginners who want marketplace templates and paper trading, and intermediates building indicator strategies.
Key takeaways
- Founded in 2017 in the Netherlands by Ruud and Pim Feltkamp; one of the oldest bot platforms still running.
- Pricing: $29 / $69 / $129 a month (excl. VAT). No free plan, 3-day trial, refundable within two weeks.
- The "A.I." feature ranks strategies by past accuracy and is only on the Hero plan. The method is not documented.
- Watch for impersonation scams: callers pretending to be Cryptohopper. The company says it never calls first.
This Cryptohopper review looks at a platform many people meet first when they search for a crypto trading bot. Cryptohopper has been running since 2017, claims more than a million users and has one of the biggest strategy marketplaces around. The question is whether its "AI" earns the $129 Hero price, and whether the cheaper plans are worth paying for when rivals offer free tiers.
We checked the official homepage and pricing, third-party coverage of the AI feature and 364 Trustpilot reviews, all on 21 October 2026.
Cryptohopper review at a glance
| Item | What we found |
|---|---|
| Official site | cryptohopper.com ↗ |
| Company | Founded 2017 in Amsterdam; now Edam, Netherlands. Founders Ruud (CEO) and Pim Feltkamp |
| Model | Cloud bot, connects to your exchange by API |
| AI | "A.I." strategy ranking and A.I. Designer, Hero plan only |
| Bots | Strategy bots, DCA, trailing, short selling, triggers, market making, arbitrage |
| Testing | Paper trading and backtesting |
| Exchanges | 11 shown on the homepage; pricing page says 16+ |
| Price | $29 to $129/mo, no free plan, 3-day trial |
| Apps | Web, iOS, Android |
| Trustpilot | 3.6/5, 364 reviews (21 Oct 2026) |
What Cryptohopper is, and who it suits
Cryptohopper is a cloud-hosted bot, which it calls a "hopper". You connect an exchange account by API, choose or build a strategy, and the hopper trades around the clock on Cryptohopper's servers. Your funds stay on the exchange.
Its centre of gravity is the marketplace, where people sell strategies, bot templates and signal feeds. That makes it friendly for beginners who would rather start from a template than design indicator rules. Intermediate users can build their own strategies from technical indicators and test them with backtests and paper trading.
It suits people who want to learn how strategy bots behave without coding and are happy to pay a monthly fee for the hosting. If you only want a grid bot, Pionex or Bitsgap are simpler and have free options.
Cryptohopper AI: what the Hero plan actually gets you
Cryptohopper's AI feature, labelled "A.I. strategies" and "A.I. Designer" on the pricing page, is available only on the Hero plan at $129 a month. Historically the company called it "Algorithm Intelligence". Third-party descriptions explain it like this: you feed several strategies to the bot, it scores each one on how accurately its signals would have performed, and it deploys the best.
That is a reasonable idea, but it is backtest-based strategy ranking, not a model that learns market behaviour. Cryptohopper does not publish what the scoring algorithm is, how often it re-ranks, or how it avoids picking whichever strategy happened to fit recent data best. Strategy selection by recent performance has a well-known weakness: it tends to switch into a strategy just as its lucky streak ends.
On our five-level scale that is "rules plus AI layer". The bots underneath follow technical-analysis rules. If you want to see what real machine learning in a bot looks like, compare it with FreqAI in Freqtrade, which trains and retrains documented models. For background, read how AI crypto trading bots work.
Features: marketplace, paper trading and bot types
Marketplace
Strategies, templates and signal subscriptions from third-party sellers. Items are sold separately from your plan. Marketplace sellers show past performance, but those numbers are theirs, not audited. Read our guide to AI crypto trading signals before paying for a feed.
Paper trading and backtesting
These are Cryptohopper's most useful tools for beginners. Paper trading runs a hopper on live prices with fake money; backtesting runs it on historical data. Together they let you see whether a template survives a few weeks of real market noise before you risk anything.
Bot types and tools
The core strategy bot trades on indicator signals. Around it sit DCA (adding to losing positions to lower the average), trailing stops and buys, short selling, triggers, and copy trading through the marketplace. Market-making and arbitrage tools are Hero-only. For DCA in depth, see our crypto DCA bots page.
Cryptohopper pricing
From the official pricing page on 21 October 2026. Prices exclude VAT. Annual billing saves about 17%.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per mo) | AI features | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explorer | $29 | $24.16 | No | 3-day free trial |
| Adventurer | $69 | $57.50 | No | Mid tier |
| Hero | $129 | $107.50 | Yes | Adds market making and arbitrage |
There is no free plan, and the 3-day trial is short; you will barely see one market swing. The pricing page says subscriptions are refundable within two weeks, which gives you a little more room. Marketplace strategies and signals are paid on top, so the real monthly cost can be well above the plan price.
Run the maths before you subscribe. At $29 a month, a $2,000 account must earn 17.4% a year after trading fees just to cover the plan. Our trading bot ROI calculator does it for any account size.
Supported exchanges and apps
The homepage shows 11 exchange logos: Binance, KuCoin, HTX, Bitvavo, OKX, Kraken, Binance.US, Crypto.com, BingX, Coinbase and Bitmart. The pricing page claims "16+". Bitvavo support is useful for Dutch and wider EU users, though we did not verify Cryptohopper's own EU/MiCA status. Apps are available on iOS and Android, so you can monitor and adjust hoppers on the go; see our AI crypto trading apps roundup.
Security, API keys and impersonation scams
Cryptohopper's homepage talks about "industry-leading security protocols" without specifics. We found no public detail on key storage, whether it rejects withdrawal-enabled keys or whether IP whitelisting is supported. That is why its security score is 3.6, below Bitsgap, which enforces trade-only keys.
You can still set it up safely. Create a key with trading permission only, disable withdrawals, use the exchange's IP whitelist if Cryptohopper publishes its addresses for your exchange, enable 2FA everywhere, and use a sub-account with only the hopper's budget.
Keep your trading capital on a regulated exchange
A hopper only places orders. Where your coins sit is a separate choice, and arguably the more important one. CEX.IO has operated since 2013, is a FinCEN-registered MSB with money transmitter licences in 39 US states plus DC, and is FCA-registered in the UK. It is not one of Cryptohopper's listed exchanges and offers no bots, so use it for buying and holding.
Registrations checked October 2026 on the company's legal pages. Availability depends on your country; crypto is high-risk.
- Since 2013One of the longest-running crypto exchanges still operating
source - 39 US states + DCFinCEN-registered MSB with state money transmitter licences (NMLS 1804170)
source - FCA-registeredUK cryptoasset business under the MLRs, FRN 1007192
source - PCI DSS Level 1Card-payment security standard, 2026 certificate published
source
Cryptohopper user reviews
On 21 October 2026 Cryptohopper had 3.6 out of 5 from 364 Trustpilot reviews, only 8 of them in the previous 12 months. The split is 59% five-star and 25% one-star, and Trustpilot shows its "may be associated with high-risk investments" flag. Beyond the impersonation reports, reviewers describe the interface as dated. With so few recent reviews, the score says more about the platform's past than its present. Trustpilot does not verify reviews.
The homepage claims "1,151,419 other cryptocurrency traders using Cryptohopper". That is the company's own count and probably includes inactive sign-ups.
Cryptohopper pros and cons
What works
- Running since 2017 with a named, public founding team
- Large marketplace of strategies, templates and signals
- Paper trading and backtesting for safe learning
- Web, iOS and Android apps
- Refundable within two weeks per the pricing page
Watch out for
- AI feature only on the $129 Hero plan, method undocumented
- No free plan and only a 3-day trial
- Security practices not documented in detail
- Marketplace items cost extra; seller results are unaudited
- Impersonation scams target its users
Cryptohopper alternatives
| Alternative | Free option | From | Choose it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitsgap | Yes | $29/mo | You want grid/DCA with strict key rules |
| 3Commas | No | $20/mo | You automate TradingView signals |
| Coinrule | Yes | $29.99/mo | You prefer if-this-then-that rules |
| Stoic AI | No | $24/mo | You want hands-off managed strategies |
For a ranked list across all categories, see our best AI crypto trading bots page, or our beginner bot picks.
How to start with Cryptohopper safely
Use the trial for paper trading only
Three days is too short to judge results. Use it to learn the interface and set up a paper hopper.
Pick one template and backtest it
Choose a simple marketplace template, backtest it over several months, and note its worst drawdown.
Paper trade for a few weeks
Run it on live prices with fake money. If it fails here, it will fail with real money.
Connect a trade-only key
Withdrawals off, IP whitelist on if available, 2FA on, sub-account with a capped balance.
Ignore anyone who calls you
Cryptohopper does not phone users. Support goes through the official site.
Final verdict on Cryptohopper
Cryptohopper earns its 3.8 on track record and tooling: nearly ten years of operation, a public team, a deep marketplace and proper paper trading. For someone who wants to learn strategy bots through templates, it is a reasonable choice.
The AI is where it falls short. A strategy-ranking feature with no documented method, locked behind a $129 plan, is not a reason to pick Cryptohopper. Choose it for the marketplace and testing tools, keep your account size in mind against the subscription, and treat every performance claim, whether from Cryptohopper or a marketplace seller, as unverified until your own paper trading backs it up.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cryptohopper legit?
Yes. Cryptohopper is a real company founded in 2017 in the Netherlands by brothers Ruud and Pim Feltkamp, now based in Edam. It is bot software that connects to your exchange account, so it does not hold your funds. On 21 October 2026 it had 3.6 out of 5 from 364 Trustpilot reviews. Be aware that scammers impersonate the brand by phone.
Does Cryptohopper use real AI?
Only in a limited sense, and only on the $129 Hero plan. Its "A.I." feature feeds several strategies to the bot, scores them on accuracy and deploys the best performer. That reads as backtest-based strategy ranking, and Cryptohopper does not document the machine-learning method. The rest of the platform is rule-based technical-analysis automation.
How much does Cryptohopper cost?
Explorer is $29 a month, Adventurer $69 and Hero $129, or $24.16, $57.50 and $107.50 a month billed annually. Prices exclude VAT. There is no free plan, but Explorer has a 3-day free trial, and the pricing page says subscriptions are refundable within two weeks. Marketplace strategies and signals cost extra.
Does Cryptohopper have paper trading?
Yes. Paper trading lets you run a strategy against live prices with simulated money, and backtesting lets you test it against past data. Use both before you go live, and remember that a strong backtest can still fail in live markets if the strategy was over-fitted to past data.
Which exchanges work with Cryptohopper?
The homepage shows 11: Binance, KuCoin, HTX, Bitvavo, OKX, Kraken, Binance.US, Crypto.com, BingX, Coinbase and Bitmart. The pricing page says "16+". Check that both Cryptohopper and the exchange serve your country before you subscribe.
Will Cryptohopper ever call me?
Trustpilot reviewers describe people phoning them while posing as Cryptohopper, and the company says it never initiates calls. Never share API keys, passwords or 2FA codes with anyone who contacts you, and never install remote-access software at a caller's request. Our AI trading scams guide lists the common scripts.
Keep reading
Sources and fact-check dates
We link to primary sources wherever possible. Dates show when the page was published or when we last checked it.
- Cryptohopper homepage (company, exchanges, apps, user claims) · checked 2026-10-21
- Cryptohopper pricing · checked 2026-10-21
- Brave New Coin: Cryptohopper launches A.I. feature (third party) · checked 2026-10-21
- Gainium: Cryptohopper review (third party) · checked 2026-10-21
- Trustpilot: Cryptohopper reviews · checked 2026-10-21
- CFTC: AI Won't Turn Trading Bots into Money Machines · 2024-01-25
