Frequently Asked Questions

No coding skills are required. PolyBot ships with a Setup Wizard that walks you through every configuration step using a simple web UI. You paste in your API keys, choose a strategy, set your risk limits, and click Start. The entire process takes under 15 minutes for most users. If you can copy-paste a command into a terminal, you can run PolyBot.

You need four things: (1) Docker Desktop installed on your machine, or a Linux VPS with Docker; (2) a Polymarket account with a funded USDC balance; (3) a Polymarket L2 API key (generated from your Polymarket profile page); and (4) your wallet's private key for signing orders on-chain. A VPS with 1 GB RAM and 1 vCPU is sufficient for 24/7 operation.

Most users complete setup in under 15 minutes. The Setup Wizard guides you step-by-step: Docker installation check, API key entry, strategy selection, risk limit configuration, and a first Dry-run test. If you're deploying to a VPS for the first time, allow an extra 10–15 minutes to provision the server and install Docker.

Yes. PolyBot runs inside Docker, so it works on Windows 10/11 via Docker Desktop with WSL2 enabled. However, for 24/7 operation we recommend deploying to a Linux VPS (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS) so you don't need to leave your personal machine running continuously. See the Installation guide for step-by-step instructions.

Paper Mode (also called Dry-run) lets the bot execute its full trading logic — scanning markets, picking trades, sizing positions — but places no real orders and risks no real money. It's the safest way to validate your configuration and observe strategy behaviour before going live. Enable it by setting PAPER_MODE=true in your .env file.

You do. PolyBot is 100% self-hosted. Your API keys and private key are stored only in your local .env file on your own machine or VPS. They are never transmitted to PolyBot servers, and PolyBot has no backend that could receive or store them. The bot communicates only with Polymarket's CLOB API endpoints directly from your machine.

Your USDC stays in your Polymarket account at all times. PolyBot only places orders via the Polymarket CLOB API — it cannot move funds to external wallets. Combined with the built-in Kill Switch (instantly cancels all open orders) and configurable DAILY_LOSS_LIMIT, you have hard controls on maximum exposure.

No. The Polymarket API key used by PolyBot only has permission to place and cancel conditional token orders within Polymarket's order book. It does not have withdrawal permissions and cannot transfer USDC to any external address. Your funds can only leave Polymarket through the normal Polymarket withdrawal interface, which requires your password and 2FA.

PolyBot has no central servers. It runs entirely on your own machine or VPS. If your VPS reboots unexpectedly, the Docker container restarts automatically thanks to the restart: unless-stopped policy. Any open orders remain on Polymarket's order book until filled or cancelled — they are not affected by your bot going offline temporarily.

PolyBot is closed-source commercial software. However, the Docker image is fully inspectable — you can audit network calls using docker logs, run it in a sandboxed network, and verify no unexpected data leaves your environment. We publish a detailed security summary in the documentation for security-conscious users.

The Copy Bot uses Polymarket's public on-chain data to rank wallets by 30-day ROI, win rate, and trade volume. It automatically filters out whales (whose position sizes you couldn't replicate at your capital level), very new wallets with sparse history, and wallets with fewer than 20 trades. You can manually add wallet addresses to copy via the dashboard, or blacklist addresses you don't want to follow.

The 15M Trader focuses on binary outcome markets with high liquidity and tight spreads — typically political, sports, and macro-economic events. It filters markets using a liquidity threshold (minimum $50K open interest by default) and selects only markets where its LightGBM+ExtraTrees ensemble model produces a confidence score above your configured CONFIDENCE_THRESHOLD.

Snipe Mode is a sub-strategy within the Copy Bot that monitors target wallets in near-real-time and attempts to place an order within milliseconds of detecting a new position. It uses WebSocket subscriptions to Polymarket's order stream rather than polling at intervals, giving you the fastest possible entry to mirror a top trader's move. Snipe Mode requires a low-latency VPS for best results.

Arb-First is a strategy mode (available since v2.3.0) where the bot prioritises arbitrage opportunities — markets where YES + NO prices sum to less than $1.00 — before considering directional trades. When a qualifying arb is found, the bot buys both sides simultaneously, locking in a risk-free spread. This mode produces more consistent but smaller returns and works best when run continuously 24/7.

Trade frequency varies by strategy and market conditions. The Copy Bot typically places 3–15 trades per day. The 15M AI Trader averages 5–20 trades per day depending on how many markets pass the confidence threshold. You can cap daily trade count using MAX_TRADES_PER_DAY in your config.

Copy Bot is a one-time purchase of $49.99. The 15-Min AI Trader is $69.99. The Bundle (both bots) is $99.99 — saving $20 versus buying separately. There are no monthly fees, no revenue share, and no subscription. You pay once and own the bot forever, including all future version updates.

No recurring fees from PolyBot. Your only ongoing costs are: (1) the Polymarket trading fee (typically 0–2% per trade, paid to the protocol), and (2) an optional VPS if you want 24/7 uptime (roughly $5–6/month on Hetzner or DigitalOcean). The bot itself has no subscription cost.

There is no hard minimum enforced by the bot, but we recommend starting with at least $50–$100 USDC to ensure position sizes are meaningful after fees. With less capital, slippage and fees can disproportionately eat into returns. The Kelly sizing model requires a non-trivial balance to allocate sensible fractional positions.

You don't strictly need a VPS — PolyBot runs fine on your local machine. But for 24/7 operation without leaving your computer on, a VPS is highly recommended. The Copy Bot in Snipe Mode is particularly sensitive to downtime since missed entry windows can't be recovered after a wallet has moved.

A suitable VPS costs $5–$6 per month. We recommend Hetzner Cloud CX11 (€3.79/mo, 2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM) or DigitalOcean Basic Droplet ($6/mo, 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM). Both offer reliable uptime and are located in low-latency data centres. See our Best Practices guide for full VPS setup instructions.

No. PolyBot is a trading tool, not a financial product. Prediction market trading involves real financial risk and you can lose money. Past performance of any strategy does not guarantee future results. Always start with Paper Mode to understand the bot's behaviour before risking real capital. Never trade with money you can't afford to lose.

Win rate varies by strategy, market conditions, and configuration. In backtesting across 2024–2025 Polymarket data, the 15M AI Trader achieved a win rate of 54–58% on qualifying markets. The Copy Bot's performance depends entirely on which wallets it copies. These figures are historical backtests, not guaranteed future results.

Yes — in two ways. First, we share a public performance dashboard on the PolyBot website with real (anonymised) bot results updated weekly. Second, after purchase you can run Paper Mode immediately to simulate live results with zero capital at risk. There's also a 48-hour support window if the bot doesn't run correctly on your system.

Paper Mode serves two purposes: (1) validating your setup — confirming the bot connects to APIs, reads market data, and applies your config correctly — without risking money; and (2) strategy research — running the bot live on real markets to observe its decision-making before committing capital. Most users run Paper Mode for 1–2 weeks before switching to live trading.

First, check whether losses fall within expected drawdown bounds — a 5–10% drawdown over 50 trades is often statistically normal. Second, review the trade log in the dashboard to identify whether a specific market type is underperforming. Third, consider switching to Paper Mode while you investigate. Finally, check the Troubleshooting guide and our support channel. A misconfigured CONFIDENCE_THRESHOLD is a common culprit.