> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://uncoded.ch/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pricing

> The complete cost breakdown — license, server, exchange fees, and what to budget for your first three months.

<Info>
  **unCoded uses a profit-share license model — no fixed monthly fee.** You pay only when your bot produces realized profit. Your other costs are a small VPS (`~€10–€15/month`) and standard exchange trading fees. There are no usage caps, no feature tiers, no premium add-ons.
</Info>

## License — profit-share, no fixed fee

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Starting rate" icon="circle-up">
    **`30%` of realized profit**

    Applied at the start of your operator tenure. Calculated on closed trades only, after exchange fees.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Floor rate" icon="circle-down">
    **`20%` of realized profit**

    The floor your rate trends toward as your tenure grows. A loyalty discount.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

### What gets charged

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What the license takes" icon="check">
    * `30% → 20%` of **realized profit on closed trades**
    * Calculated **after exchange fees** (so the bot's net P\&L is the base)
    * Charged on a **per-period billing cycle** (typically monthly)
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What the license does NOT take" icon="ban">
    * **Your principal** — never touched
    * **Unrealized gains** on open positions — only counted when the trade closes
    * **Months when you don't trade or break even** — `0` profit means `0` license fee
    * **Drawdown periods** — losing months mean no license fee, even though you incurred VPS costs
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How the rate trends from 30% to 20%" icon="chart-line">
    Your rate decreases over your tenure as a loyalty / commitment discount. The exact step-function and qualifying conditions are defined in your license agreement; the floor is a hard `20%`. There is no path below `20%`.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Tip>
  **The incentive alignment**: unCoded only earns when you earn. We have zero incentive to push you toward over-trading, AI-hype, or unnecessary features. A stagnant bot benefits nobody — yours and ours.
</Tip>

## Other costs — what to budget

| Cost item                 | Typical                                          | Notes                                                                        |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **VPS** (hardware)        | `€10–€15 / month`                                | Recommended `4 vCPU / 8 GB / 80 GB NVMe SSD` at hosts like Netcup or Hetzner |
| **Exchange trading fees** | `~0.075%` per trade on Binance with BNB discount | Standard maker/taker rate; not unCoded-specific                              |
| **Trading capital**       | `$1,500` minimum, `$15,000–$25,000` sweet spot   | Your money, on your exchange — not held by unCoded                           |
| **Telegram**              | `€0`                                             | Free service; bot tokens are free                                            |
| **Domain (optional)**     | `~€10/year`                                      | If you want a friendly URL for your dashboard                                |
| **Backups (optional)**    | `~€2-5/month`                                    | Off-site backup of your local database                                       |

<Tip>
  **Use voucher code `36nc17472167990` at Netcup** for a `€5` discount on your VPS order. (Operator-community-shared.)
</Tip>

## Worked examples

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Example 1 — `$5,000` capital, `LowMoney` mode, `+2%` realized month" icon="calculator">
    Scenario: you allocate `$5,000` to your bot, run `LowMoney` (Mode 5) on Binance, and the bot returns `+2%` realized profit in the month — that's `$100`.

    | Cost                      | Amount                                           |
    | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
    | VPS (`€12`)               | `~$13`                                           |
    | License (`30%` of `$100`) | `$30`                                            |
    | Exchange fees             | already deducted from the `$100` realized figure |
    | **Net to you**            | **`$57`***(profit minus license minus VPS)*      |

    What if the month is `0%`? Only out-of-pocket cost is the VPS (`$13`). If the month is `−2%` realized: you're down `$100` plus VPS = `−$113`. License takes nothing.

    These are illustrative figures, not predictions. They show the **shape** of cost — they do not promise a `2%` month.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Example 2 — `$20,000` capital, `BasicMode`, `+2%` realized month" icon="calculator">
    Scenario: you allocate `$20,000`, run `BasicMode` (Mode 4, the default), `+2%` realized = `$400`.

    | Cost                      | Amount           |
    | ------------------------- | ---------------- |
    | VPS (`€12`)               | `~$13`           |
    | License (`30%` of `$400`) | `$120`           |
    | Exchange fees             | already deducted |
    | **Net to you**            | **`$267`**       |

    The **cost ratios shift** at this capital level: VPS is rounding error, license dominates. This is one reason the recommended sweet spot is `$15,000–$25,000` — that's where the cost structure is most efficient.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Example 3 — break-even month" icon="calculator">
    Scenario: any capital, the bot trades but realized P\&L over the period is `$0` (winners and losers cancel out).

    | Cost                    | Amount                         |
    | ----------------------- | ------------------------------ |
    | VPS                     | `~$13`                         |
    | License (`30%` of `$0`) | `$0`                           |
    | Exchange fees           | already deducted from the wash |
    | **Net cost to you**     | **`$13`***(VPS only)*          |

    A break-even month costs you only the VPS rent. The license is fully aligned with your outcome.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Example 4 — losing month" icon="calculator">
    Scenario: any capital, the bot has a `-3%` realized period — the strategy mismatched the regime, or you held through a drawdown.

    | Cost                                          | Amount                       |
    | --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
    | VPS                                           | `~$13`                       |
    | License                                       | `$0`*(no profit, no charge)* |
    | Exchange fees                                 | already deducted             |
    | **Net cost to you (beyond the trading loss)** | **`$13`**                    |

    Your trading loss is real, but you don't compound it with a license fee. This is how the profit-share model is designed to behave.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## What you'd pay vs other platforms

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="3Commas" icon="building-columns">
    Tiered SaaS subscription: **`$22–$99/month`** depending on plan, regardless of whether you trade or profit. They hold your API keys.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cryptohopper" icon="building-columns">
    Tiered SaaS subscription: **`$19–$99/month`** plus marketplace fees. They hold your API keys.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hummingbot" icon="code">
    Open-source self-hosted: **`€0`** but requires Python development skills. No turnkey strategies, no visual editor.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Tip>
  **unCoded's profit-share model means**:

  * A break-even or losing month costs you only `~$13` (VPS), vs. `$22–$99` flat at SaaS competitors.
  * A profitable month costs more in absolute terms (because the license scales with profit), but stays competitive once you account for the SaaS subscription.
  * Architecturally, you keep ownership of your API keys and your data — which has no monetary equivalent at SaaS platforms.
</Tip>

## When does each model break even?

A rough break-even calculation:

* **vs. `$22/month` 3Commas Starter**: unCoded is cheaper if your monthly profit is below `~$73` (`30% × $73 ≈ $22`). At higher profits, 3Commas appears nominally cheaper but holds your keys.
* **vs. `$99/month` 3Commas Pro**: unCoded is cheaper if monthly profit is below `~$330` (`30% × $330 ≈ $99`).
* **vs. Hummingbot**: Hummingbot is free, but the operational cost of self-coding strategies dwarfs unCoded's profit-share for any operator who isn't already a Python developer.

For most retail operators in the `$5,000–$50,000` capital range, unCoded's profit-share model is **competitive or cheaper** than tiered SaaS at typical realized profit levels — and dramatically more secure (you own the keys).

## Cost breakdown for first 3 months

<Steps>
  <Step title="Month 1 — paid education">
    * VPS: `~$13`
    * Realized P\&L: highly variable as you learn the bot's rhythm
    * License: `30%` of any positive realized P\&L; `$0` if break-even or negative
    * **Plan to spend the VPS rent and possibly a small trading loss as the cost of learning.** Don't size up early.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Month 2 — calibration">
    * VPS: `~$13`
    * You're now reading the dashboard regularly, you've experienced both winning and losing days
    * License: `30%` × realized P\&L
    * **Goal**: clean operation, no operator-induced errors. Don't change strategies aggressively.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Month 3 — production discipline">
    * VPS: `~$13`
    * You have \~30–100 closed trades to inspect; meaningful distribution emerges
    * License: `30%` × realized P\&L
    * **Goal**: decide whether to scale capital up, add a second exchange, or change modes based on data — not on noise.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  **Treat the first three months as paid education**, not as a sample of long-term performance. Any individual month is dominated by regime randomness. Monthly returns can swing widely; the value of unCoded compounds over multi-month operation, not in any single month.
</Warning>

## Frequently asked pricing questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is there a free trial?" icon="circle-question">
    The license model is profit-share — there is no time-bound trial because there's no fixed fee to "trial against." You can:

    * **Set up the stack and run in shadow mode** for as long as you want — no live trades, no profit, no license charges.
    * **Run live with minimal capital** (`$1,500`) — your worst-case is small while you learn.

    Most operators effectively self-trial by running with starting capital for 1–2 months before scaling up.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do I pay for the Backtester?" icon="circle-question">
    The Backtester is included with your unCoded license. The vendor-hosted Backtester service has reasonable fair-use limits; if you're an operator running hundreds of backtests a day (rare), heavier-tier limits may apply. For most operators, it's effectively free.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if I run multiple bots?" icon="circle-question">
    The license applies per-operator, not per-bot. You can run multiple TradingBots (e.g., one per exchange, one per strategy in different sub-accounts) without paying multiple licenses. The realized profit across all your bots is summed for the per-period calculation.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if I switch off the bot for a few months?" icon="circle-question">
    The VPS rent continues if the VPS keeps running. If you stop the bot but keep the VPS, no license is owed (no trading, no profit, no charge). If you destroy the VPS entirely, you pause both costs.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is there a refund policy?" icon="circle-question">
    The profit-share model means you only ever paid because your bot earned. The "refund" question rarely applies. If a billing dispute arises (e.g., a bug in profit calculation), the support team works with you directly. See [Support](/operations/support).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What about taxes?" icon="circle-question">
    unCoded does not handle your tax reporting. Your trades happen on your exchange in your jurisdiction — you are the trader of record, you are responsible for tax reporting. The dashboard provides a **Tax Report** export feature with USD→EUR currency conversion via the Frankfurter ECB rates API, and a CSV/JSON export of your closed trades. See [Tax Export](/operations/tax-export).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I see the license code or deploy commercially?" icon="circle-question">
    The deep engine code is licensed for use, not open-source. You can deploy unCoded for **your own trading**; you cannot redistribute or operate it as a commercial service for third parties without a separate commercial agreement.

    If you're considering a commercial-use case (a fund, a managed-service offering), contact the team — there's a path, it just requires a different agreement.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## What's next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Why unCoded" icon="lightbulb" href="/about/why-uncoded">
    The architectural and philosophical case for self-hosted, profit-share-aligned trading.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Comparison" icon="scale-balanced" href="/about/comparison">
    Side-by-side with 3Commas, Cryptohopper, Hummingbot, Gunbot.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="forward" href="/quickstart">
    The focused walkthrough from zero to first live trade.
  </Card>

  <Card title="FAQ" icon="circle-question" href="/faq">
    More questions — operational, technical, and investor-focused.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>