Jesse vs Passivbot: which trading bot wins in 2026?
Head-to-head on the facts that decide your money: custody model, pricing, features and scores - every number sourced in the linked reviews.
Short answer: Jesse wins overall (7.6/10 vs 7.2/10 in our weighted scores). Passivbot is still the better pick if you care most about pricing value. Facts verified 2026-09-03.
 Jesse |  Passivbot | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score (0-10) | 7.6 | 7.2 |
| Safety score | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Custody model | Self-hosted (keys stay local) | Self-hosted (keys stay local) |
| IP whitelisting | no / unclear | no / unclear |
| Pricing model | Free tier + paid plans | Free |
| Entry price | $0-1599/mo | free |
| Free tier / trial | free tier | free tier |
| Exchanges | 12 | 5 |
| Grid bots | no / unclear | yes |
| DCA bots | no / unclear | yes |
| TradingView signals | no / unclear | no / unclear |
| Futures | yes | yes |
| Backtesting | yes | yes |
| Paper trading | yes | yes |
| Open source | yes | yes |
| US available | yes | yes |
| Company | Jesse community (jesse-ai) | enarjord / open-source community |
// Jesse at a glance
The quant's choice: MIT-licensed research framework where backtesting is free forever and lifetime licenses unlock live trading - clean model, serious tooling.
++ What works
- Free tier = full backtesting + research module, unlimited routes
- MIT license, 8.4k GitHub stars, active since 2018
- Lifetime licenses (not subscriptions) from ~$539 at fetch date
- Live trading across Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, Gate, Apex, Hyperliquid
- Runs locally - keys stay on your machine
-- What to watch
- Python-first: strategies are code, not config
- No grid/DCA consumer bots - this is a research framework
- Live trading requires the paid license (testnet is free)
- Pricing page blocks datacenter IPs - verified via archive
// Passivbot at a glance
Public-domain (Unlicense) grid/martingale futures bot for Bybit, OKX, Binance, Bitget and Hyperliquid - raw power for developers, invisible for everyone else.
++ What works
- Truly public domain (Unlicense) - no license restrictions at all
- Battle-tested by its community on Bybit/OKX since 2020
- Backtesting + optimization of grid/martingale parameters
- Runs anywhere: VPS, home server, even a laptop
- No fees, no vendor, no lock-in
-- What to watch
- Config-file driven - zero GUI, developer skills required
- One strategy family only (grid/martingale futures)
- Martingale logic carries real drawdown risk - parameter discipline is everything
- Community support only (GitHub issues)
// FAQ
Which is safer, Jesse or Passivbot?
Custody models first: Jesse: self-hosted (keys stay local), Passivbot: self-hosted (keys stay local). If a platform needs your API keys, use IP-whitelisted trade-only keys and keep only working capital on the exchange - the 2022 key-leak lesson. Security incident history per platform is documented in each review.
Which is cheaper, Jesse or Passivbot?
Jesse costs $0-1599/mo (free tier + paid plans); Passivbot costs free (free). Compare against your volume: subscriptions are flat cost while per-trade fees scale with activity - the bot cost calculator shows your break-even.
Which has more features, Jesse or Passivbot?
Jesse: futures backtest paper code . Passivbot: grid DCA futures backtest paper code . Feature parity matters less than the two or three you actually use - check the grid/DCA/TradingView flags in the table above.
Scores and facts: meta-reviews with dated sources - Jesse · Passivbot. Method: how we verify. More: all trading bots compared.