Honest comparison
HelmFi vs Pionex
Pionex's pitch is hard to argue with on price: 16 built-in bots, free, on their own exchange with a 0.05% trading fee and tens of billions in monthly volume. The catch is the structure: Pionex IS the exchange — they hold your coins — and the bots are DIY tools, not a validated strategy. HelmFi is the opposite trade: non-custodial, narrower, and everything auditable.
We list both honestly. Free is a real advantage; so is holding your own keys.
At a glance
| HelmFi | Pionex | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free · $15 · $39 · $79 founding ($24 · $59 · $129 regular) /mo | Free bots · 0.05% trading fee |
| Custody | Non-custodial — coins stay on YOUR exchange | Custodial — Pionex is the exchange |
| Bot model | One validated strategy, regime-gated | 16 DIY bots (grid, DCA, rebalancing…) |
| Bear-market behavior | Index exits to cash | Your grid keeps buying down |
| Verifiable performance | Yes — live public account + per-year numbers | None published |
| Failed strategies disclosed | Public graveyard | No |
| Trust signals | Small beta, open methodology | Huge volume · 2.4/5 Trustpilot |
| Mobile app | Web / PWA | iOS + Android |
Where HelmFi wins
- Your keys, your coins. Pionex requires depositing to their exchange. Post-FTX, custody is not a footnote — HelmFi physically cannot withdraw from your account.
- A strategy, not a toolbox. Free grid bots still need YOU to pick ranges, pairs, and when to turn them off. The Helm Index makes those calls and answers for them in public.
- Honest track record. Live public account, per-year numbers, 18 published failures. Pionex publishes volume, not performance.
- No casino energy. No lucky draws, no leverage nudges — a validation gate and a disclaimer.
Where Pionex wins
- Price. The bots are genuinely free; you pay only the 0.05% trading fee. Hard to beat.
- Zero setup friction. Deposit and go — no API keys, no exchange account elsewhere.
- Bot variety. 16 bot types to experiment with, plus leveraged and futures variants.
- Mobile apps. Full-featured iOS/Android. HelmFi is web-only today.
Pick Pionex if…
- Free matters more than anything else
- You're comfortable depositing coins to their exchange
- You want to experiment with many bot types on mobile
Pick HelmFi if…
- You won't hand custody to another exchange
- You want one accountable strategy, not sixteen levers
- You want automation with a public, checkable record
Pionex figures from their public site and app-store listings, verified 2026-06-09 (competitor audit) and spot-checked 2026-07-03. We update this page when their offering changes — file an issue if you spot a drift.