Polymarket bots, explained
Polymarket Trading Bots
What a Polymarket bot does, the main types, how they work under the hood, and what to check before you let one trade for you.
What is a Polymarket trading bot?
A Polymarket trading bot is software that places orders on Polymarket for you. It reads the order book, decides what to buy or sell under a set of rules, and trades without you watching the screen. Some bots run a strategy their owner coded. Others copy real traders. Polymarket allows automated trading through its public API, so bots are a normal part of the market.
On Polycopy, bots are called Auto Copy Bots and come in two kinds. A Strategy Bot copies a strategy. Copy Score filters out the traders whose trading history doesn't leave room for a profit after fees, spread, and slippage, and it runs that test again every night. A Trader Bot copies one person you chose. Neither replaces the other.
Bot types
Types of Polymarket bots
Most Polymarket bots fall into six groups. They differ in who decides the trades, how much code you write, and how much you have to trust whoever runs them.
| Bot type | What it does | Coding? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copy trading bot | Copies trades from real Polymarket traders into your wallet | No | Anyone who wants to automate without a strategy of their own |
| Arbitrage bot | Buys price gaps between related markets or between venues | Usually | Quant traders with capital and fast infrastructure |
| Market making bot | Quotes both sides of the book and earns the spread | Yes | Developers who can manage inventory risk |
| AI agent bot | A language model reads news or markets and decides what to trade | Usually | Developers testing AI forecasts, with tight limits |
| Telegram bot | Alerts and trade commands inside a chat app | No | Mobile-first traders, if you trust the operator |
| Custom API bot | Your own logic written against Polymarket's API | Yes (Python or JS) | Developers with a strategy to test |
| No-code hosted bot | Someone else runs the software. You set a budget and limits | No | Hands-off traders |
How Polymarket trading bots work
A Polymarket bot talks to the venue's order book, not an AMM. It can place limit orders, read depth, and compete with other traders the same way an equity or crypto algo does. Here is the four-step loop under the hood.
Data collection
Bots read Polymarket's central limit order book: live prices, depth, fills, and wallet activity across hundreds of thousands of traders. That feed is what every later decision is built on.
Signal generation
Raw tape becomes a who-decision. Copy Score asks whether following this trader left anything after copy costs. A high number is not a win chance and not a ranking of best trades.
Strategy execution
The bot then follows a method: copy a strategy, copy one trader, or a ruleset such as momentum or event-driven. The method decides which signals to act on, how to size, and when to exit.
Risk management
Every fill still has to pass your caps. Position size, market exposure, and drawdown limits are what separate a trading bot from a script that just says yes.
Can I build my own Polymarket bot?
Yes. Polymarket publishes an API and CLOB client libraries. Building one that stays profitable takes market-microstructure work, data plumbing, and risk rules. If you want that path, use the build-a-bot guide. If you want the same loop without writing it, Auto Copy Bots on Polycopy already do the collection, the who-filter, and the execution under caps you set.
Strategy Bots
You choose a strategy, not a trader
A Strategy Bot copies traders whose finished record still pays after copy costs. Copy Score is that test, and it runs again every night. You pick the strategy. The traders in it are whoever still clears the test and fits the strategy.
Re-rated every day
Copy Score runs again every night. Traders who stop clearing the copy-cost test drop out, and traders who start clearing it can join.
Every trader listed by name
Each strategy shows the traders it copies right now, each linked to their own record, with a log of who joined and who left.
Sized to your budget
Every trade is sized to your budget, it sells when the trader sells, and it never trades past the limits you set.
Hard-to-copy traders left out
Market makers, arbitrage accounts and very high frequency programs are excluded before a strategy is built. Their edge is gone by the time a copy lands.
Live Strategy Bots
Flagship
Every trader whose trading history leaves room for a profit after fees, spread, and slippage.
Copies 87 traders · Published backtest
Go to botHuman Pace
Traders who place a few orders a day, not hundreds.
Copies 62 traders · Published backtest
Go to botSoccer
Traders active in soccer markets.
Copies 50 traders · Published backtest
Go to botPolitics
Traders active in political markets. Capital sits longer here.
Copies 25 traders · Published backtest
Go to botFootball
Traders active in NFL and college football markets. Busy on game days.
Copies 15 traders · Published backtest
Go to botUnderdogs
Traders who buy between 20¢ and 50¢.
Copies 73 traders · Published backtest
Go to bot
Trader Bots
Copy one trader you chose
A Trader Bot copies one person you choose. It copies their qualifying trades under the filters and limits you set, and you can pause, resume or stop it at any time.
You choose the trader
Pick one person from Discover or their profile. That trader stays the same for the life of the bot.
Filters you control
Advanced settings hold Max Per Trade, Min and Max Price, Min Win Rate, Min Days To Close and Max Spread.
Out when they get out
With Mirror sells on, the bot follows the trader's exits, including partial ones.
Limits that stop it
Max Daily Loss and a circuit breaker stop new copies when losses reach the line you set.
From Discover, last 7 days
Traders worth copying
ARocky33
View trader7D P&L
+$25.3K
Win rate
78%
Rocky31
View trader7D P&L
+$21.7K
Win rate
76%
FakerV
View trader7D P&L
+$14.5K
Win rate
43%
fidelis1
View trader7D P&L
+$14.3K
Win rate
56%
983
View trader7D P&L
+$11.9K
Win rate
21%
rewardbots
View trader7D P&L
+$9.3K
Win rate
49%
nomoredream
View trader7D P&L
+$8.1K
Win rate
56%
Contentious-Dinnerdate
View trader7D P&L
+$6.1K
Win rate
54%
leegunner
View trader7D P&L
+$3.5K
Win rate
47%
Betyourself
View trader7D P&L
+$2.2K
Win rate
65%
Not sure which to use? Read Strategy Bots and Trader Bots.
Copy Score
Great traders aren't always great to copy
Great traders aren't always great to copy. Copy Score tells you which ones are. It is a free rating on every trader on Polymarket, and it answers one question: has copying this person paid after the costs of copying them?
What it measures
The trader's finished trades, after a worse fill than they got, venue fees and Polycopy's fee. The result is a signed whole number, like +6 or -4.
What it does
It filters. Strategy Bots only copy traders it rates Clears, and it helps you decide who not to start a Trader Bot on.
What it does not do
It does not rate single trades and it is not a win chance. A trader who clears it can still have losing weeks.
Copying anyone costs something. What changes is whether their edge clears it. How Copy Score works
Profitability
Are Polymarket trading bots profitable?
Some are and many are not, and no bot guarantees a return. For a copy trading bot the deciding question is whether the trader's edge survives the cost of copying them, and for most traders it does not.
The top of the leaderboard is not the list to copy
On September 8, 2026 we screened the top 100 of both Polymarket profit leaderboards. Only 14 traders on the 30-day board and 7 on the all-time board cleared the modeled cost of copying on a record that was deep enough to trust and not flagged as hard to mirror. Read the report
Past performance does not guarantee future results. All trading involves risk of loss.
Before you start
What to check before you use a Polymarket bot
It accounts for copy costs
A copy fills after the trader, usually at a worse price, and pays fees on top. A bot should know whether the trader's edge survives that before it copies them.
It checks the book before it buys
Polycopy bots skip books wider than 2% of the price by default, and every bot type refuses buys under 3¢ or over 98¢.
It has hard risk limits
Per-trade caps, a daily loss limit and a drawdown circuit breaker, enforced on every order rather than suggested.
It trades from your own wallet
Check where the money sits and what access the bot has. A bot that needs you to deposit with an operator is a different product.
You can see what it did
Every copy and every skip should be visible, with the reason, so you can tell a quiet bot from a broken one.
Cost
What a Polymarket bot costs on Polycopy
| Paper Trading | Real Trading | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for signed-in users | Premium, $30/month. 7-day free trial for eligible new users |
| Orders | Simulated, no real money | Live Polymarket orders from your own wallet |
| How long | Trader Bots 7 or 14 days, Strategy Bots 14 days | Until you stop it |
| Starting budget | Strategy Bots $100, Trader Bots $100 | |
| Trading fee | Simulated in the results | 0.5% Polycopy fee, plus Polymarket's own fees |
Full details on the pricing page.
Getting started
How to start a Polymarket bot
- 1
Create a free account
Sign up at polycopy.app. No card is needed for Paper Trading.
- 2
Open Bots
Go to Bots and pick a strategy, or pick one trader to copy.
- 3
Choose Paper or Real
Paper is free and places no real orders. Real Trading places live Polymarket orders and needs Premium and a connected wallet.
- 4
Set a budget and limits
Strategy Bots start at $100 and Trader Bots at $100. Set Max Daily Loss before you launch.
- 5
Launch and check in
Your bot page shows every copy, every skip and why. Pause, resume or stop it at any time.
Questions
Polymarket bot FAQ
What is a Polymarket trading bot?
A Polymarket trading bot is software that places orders on Polymarket for you. It reads the order book, decides what to buy or sell under a set of rules, and trades without you watching the screen. Bots range from scripts you code against Polymarket's API to hosted tools, like Polycopy's Auto Copy Bots, that copy other traders into your own wallet.
Are Polymarket bots allowed?
Yes. Polymarket publishes a public API and order book clients, and automated trading is a normal part of the market. Check that Polymarket is available where you live before you trade, with or without a bot.
What types of Polymarket bots are there?
The common types are copy trading bots, arbitrage bots, market making bots, AI agent bots, Telegram bots, and custom bots built on the API. Copy trading bots are the easiest to start with because they follow real traders instead of needing a strategy of your own.
Do I need to code to use a Polymarket bot?
No. Hosted bots like Polycopy's Auto Copy Bots run without any code. You pick a strategy or a trader, set a budget and limits, and the bot trades from your own wallet. Arbitrage, market making and custom bots usually need code, a server and your own risk controls.
Can ChatGPT or another AI build a Polymarket bot?
An AI assistant can help you write the code against Polymarket's API, but you still run it, secure the keys and own every trade it places. AI agent bots that decide trades from news are experimental, so test one on paper with small limits before real money.
What is the best Polymarket bot?
It depends on what you want automated. If you have no strategy of your own, a copy trading bot is the simplest start. If you code and have fast infrastructure, arbitrage or market making may fit. Whatever you choose, check how it handles copy costs, risk limits and custody first. Our comparison of Polymarket bots goes through the options.
What is a Strategy Bot?
A Strategy Bot copies a strategy, powered by Copy Score. It filters out the traders whose trading history doesn't leave room for a profit after fees, spread, and slippage. Then it filters those traders further to fit the strategy you picked.
How is it different from a Trader Bot?
A Trader Bot copies one person you choose. A Strategy Bot copies a strategy. Neither replaces the other.
Does Polycopy pick traders for me?
No. You pick a strategy. Copy Score filters out traders whose trading history doesn't leave room for a profit after fees, spread, and slippage. The remaining list is whoever still clears that test, then fits the strategy. Every trader is listed by name.
What is Copy Score?
Great traders aren't always great to copy. Copy Score tells you which ones are. It is a free rating on every trader, not on individual trades. It asks whether copying that person has paid after the costs of copying them: a worse fill than they got, venue fees, and Polycopy's fee. It is not a win chance and it does not predict any single trade.
Are Polymarket trading bots profitable?
Some are and many are not, and no bot guarantees a return. For copy trading bots, the deciding question is whether the trader's edge survives the cost of copying them. When we screened the top 100 of both Polymarket profit leaderboards on September 8, 2026, only 14 on the 30-day board and 7 on the all-time board cleared that cost on a clean record. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Is there a free Polymarket bot?
Yes. Paper Trading bots on Polycopy are free for signed-in users and place no real orders. Trader Bots run on paper for 7 or 14 days and Strategy Bots for 14. Real Trading bots need Premium at $30/month, and eligible new users can try it free for 7 days.
How much money do I need to run a bot?
Strategy Bots start at $100 and Trader Bots at $100. The budget is the most the bot has in play at once. Real trades also pay Polymarket's fees and Polycopy's 0.5% trading fee.
Does Polycopy hold my money?
Your funds stay in your own Polymarket wallet. You authorize Polycopy to place trades; your bot’s budget is not a deposit to Polycopy.
Can I build my own Polymarket bot?
Yes. Polymarket's API and order book clients let you write one in Python or JavaScript. You take on the code, the server, key handling, order execution and risk limits yourself. Our build guide covers that path step by step.
Try a bot on paper first
Paper Trading runs the same bot with simulated orders, free. Go live when you are ready.
Disclaimer: Polycopy is an independent third-party tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Polymarket. Nothing on this page constitutes financial, investment, or trading advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All trading involves risk of loss. Only trade with funds you can afford to lose. Trading fees apply to all trades executed through Polycopy (a flat 0.5%). Full terms.