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Next: work out your own grid
The grid calculator turns a range, a count and an investment into spacing and money per grid.
What is included
- What it is, in plain words
- The formula or mechanism, with exact arithmetic
- How it hits grid, martingale and DCA bots
- A check you can run before you switch a bot on
Who it is for
- People who run or plan to run a trading bot
- Anyone reading a backtest or a bot sales page
- Readers who want the numbers, not the pitch
- Not advice, and not a signal service
Key facts
- A grid bot asks for a lower and upper price, a number of grids and an amount of money. Futures forms add leverage and often a direction. Which of these a venue offers, and what it calls them, is for you to read on the venue.
- The start price inside the range decides how the grid begins. In a made-up range of 90 to 110 with 20 grids, a start at 92.5 leaves 17 grids waiting to sell and 2 waiting to buy (calculated by us on 31 Oct 2026, exact).
- Grids waiting to sell need the asset in hand. At a start of 108.2 about 7.5 percent of the money is held as the asset at the first moment, which is a bet on direction before a single grid completes.
- A stop below the range closes the bot at a loss you can compute beforehand. A stop above the range ends it with every grid sold.
- This page explains how something works and does not recommend it. We have not tested it for this page. Check the current terms.
The settings, in general terms
A grid bot places buy orders below the price and sell orders above it at fixed steps. Each time a buy fills it places a sell one step higher, and each time that sells the gap is earned, less fees. Bybit is a venue that offers grid bots. We did not read its current screens or help pages for this page, so we do not state its defaults, limits, names of options or fees. Read them on the venue. The settings below are the common ones, and the counting works whatever the names.
- Lower and upper price. The range.
- Number of grids. How many steps the range is cut into.
- Investment. The money used, divided between the grids.
- Start or trigger price. Some bots wait until the price reaches a set level before they begin. Check whether yours does.
- Direction. Futures grids often lean neutral, long or short. Check what your venue offers and what each does.
- Stop prices. A price below or above the range at which the bot closes. Check which are offered.
- Leverage. On futures forms. See futures grid liquidation.
Counting what the range means
Take the made-up range 90 to 110 cut into 20 grids, so the step is 1.00. With an investment of 2000, each grid has 100. Grids that lie wholly above the start price begin as sell orders, so the bot has to hold the asset to sell. Grids wholly below begin as buys. The grid the price sits inside counts as half and half.
| Start price | Grids waiting to buy | Grids waiting to sell | Grid the price sits in | Money held as the asset at start | Share of the investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92.5 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 1750.00 | 87.5% |
| 100 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 1000.00 | 50.0% |
| 103.4 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 650.00 | 32.5% |
| 108.2 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 150.00 | 7.5% |
Calculated by us on 31 Oct 2026, exact for the stated inputs. A start near the bottom of the range holds almost none of the asset and waits for the price to rise through the buys it already placed above it. A start near the top holds most of the money as the asset immediately. Neither is neutral. The venue may buy the asset for you when the bot starts, or may set the grid up in another way, so check what it does at the start and what it tells you about it.
Worked example: what one grid earns in money
Step in percent is the step divided by the price, near 1.00 percent at a price of 100. With a made-up fee of 0.1 percent each side, 0.2 percent comes off each completed grid. The money per grid is the investment divided by 20, times that percent. The same range and count give different money for different investments.
| Investment | Money per grid | Gross per completed grid | Fees per completed grid | Net per completed grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 25 | 0.25 | 0.05 | 0.20 |
| 2000 | 100 | 1.00 | 0.20 | 0.80 |
| 8000 | 400 | 4.00 | 0.80 | 3.20 |
Calculated by us on 31 Oct 2026, exact for these made-up inputs. A completed grid earns about 0.80 on an investment of 2000. Compare that with the loss if price leaves the range below: at a start of 103.4, with 13 grids of 100 waiting to buy, if the price falls through all of them the bot spends 1300 on the asset, and if that holding is then worth 10 percent less than it cost, the loss is 130.00, which is 162.50 completed grids of gain. The gain per grid is small beside the loss in a fall.
Stops and triggers
- A stop below the range. Closes the bot and sells what it holds. The loss is fixed at that price, and a later recovery cannot help a closed bot.
- A stop above the range. Ends the bot with everything sold. It stops the bot sitting out a rise, but also ends the gains it was making.
- A start trigger. Delays the bot until price reaches a level. Until then it does nothing, and price may never reach the level.
With no stop at all, the bot stays in a falling market, holding more of the asset at each step down.
How the settings interact
- The start price and the direction setting decide your exposure on the first day, before any grid completes.
- More grids shrink the step and the gain per grid. See grid bot fees and costs.
- A range wider than the moves the asset makes leaves most grids idle. A range narrower leaves the bot out of the market after a small move.
- Leverage brings a liquidation price which can sit inside the range.
How to check your own settings
- Count the grids above and below the start price and work out how much of the money starts as the asset.
- Work out the step in percent and subtract twice the fee.
- Work out the loss on the bought grids at the lower line and at the stop.
- If the venue has a practice or paper mode, run the same settings there, then a very small real amount.
What this page does not tell you
It does not state any default, limit, fee, direction option or start behaviour of the venue. It does not say that a grid bot makes money. Every price here is made up. For the wider picture see grid trading bot and the grid calculator.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What settings does a grid bot have?
A price range, a number of grids and an investment, and often a start price, a stop and, on futures forms, leverage and direction. Check which ones your venue offers.
Why does the start price matter?
Grids above the price begin as sell orders and need the asset in hand, so the start price decides how much of your money is the asset from the first moment.
How do I work out profit per grid in money?
Divide the investment by the number of grids, multiply by the step in percent, then subtract fees on both sides.
Should a grid bot have a stop?
That is your choice and the arithmetic shows the cost of each. A stop fixes the loss at a known price and closes the bot, and no stop leaves it holding more as price falls.
Do the numbers here match the venue?
No. They are made up to show the counting. Read the venue's current page for its real settings, defaults and fees.
Are the numbers on this page real?
Example numbers are made up to show how the maths works, and the page says so. A figure only counts as exact when the page says it was calculated on a stated date. Nothing you enter in a calculator leaves your browser.
Can I use this to decide whether to run a bot?
It can show whether a bot's numbers hold together and how much an account can lose. It cannot say what the market will do, and it is not advice. Use it to ask better questions, then read the terms of your own broker or exchange.
Is this financial advice?
No. It explains grid settings with made-up numbers and recommends nothing.
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