Grid bot profit calculator

Profit per grid, after fees

A spot grid bot splits a price range into levels, buys at one level and sells one level higher. A geometric grid spaces the levels by an equal ratio, so every grid is the same percentage wide. An arithmetic grid uses an equal dollar step, so its lowest grids are the widest in percentage terms and earn the most per trade.

grid mathgeometric ratio  r = (upper ÷ lower) ^ (1 ÷ grids)
arithmetic step  d = (upper − lower) ÷ grids
profit per grid    = (1 − fee)² × sell price ÷ buy price − 1
fee break-even     = 1 ÷ (1 − fee)² − 1   # 0.2003% at 0.1% per side

The profit line follows Bybit's published grid formula, sell quantity × sell price × (1 − fee) − buy quantity × buy price, where the sell quantity is the buy quantity less the fee Bybit takes in coins. At a 0.1% fee on each side, a grid narrower than about 0.2% loses money on every completed trade. More grids mean more trades but a thinner cut each time, so judge a setting by total grid profit in the backtest, not by profit per grid alone.

How the backtest runs on real candles

At the first candle's open, the bot places a buy order at every level below the price. For each grid above the price it buys coins at market and lists them one level higher, the way Bybit's spot grid buys the base token it needs when a strategy starts. Each grid then alternates: a filled buy becomes a sell one level up, and a filled sell becomes a buy one level down.

A candle only has four prices, so the engine assumes a path: a green candle moves open, low, high, close and a red candle open, high, low, close. A limit order fills at its own price only when the candle trades through the level, because a touch is not a fill. Finer candles leave less to that assumption, so use 5-minute to 1-hour data for narrow grids.

The results use Bybit's definitions. Grid profit is realized profit from sell fills. Total P&L is the value of coins and USDT at the last close minus the investment, and floating P&L is the difference between the two. Grid APR is grid profit divided by the investment, divided by the days in the test, times 365. Max drawdown uses the equity at every candle close, and the Sharpe ratio uses end-of-day equity annualized with the square root of 365.

When grids work, and where this test stops

A grid earns while price swings back and forth inside the range. If price breaks out above the top, the bot sells everything on the way up and then sits in USDT while buy and hold keeps climbing. If price falls through the bottom, the bot has bought at every level, and the floating loss can erase months of grid profit. Run a sideways window and a trending one on the same pair to see both cases.

The test skips order minimums and rounding, partial fills, queue position, trailing grids, stop-loss or take-profit triggers and taxes. Each grid trades the same coin quantity, and the coins for the upper grids cost the start price plus slippage. Prices are real Bybit spot candles fetched with ccxt, and past performance does not predict future results. For background, read how a grid trading bot harvests a range and how grid bots actually work, then check the cost side in maker vs taker fees for trading bots.

Frequently asked questions