Disclaimer: This article is for general information only and is not investment, financial, or legal advice. Figures about third-party services are based on publicly available information at the time of writing (June 2026) and may change — always confirm on each provider’s official site. Crypto lending carries market, counterparty, and technical risk; past performance does not represent future results, and you can lose principal.
If you automate Bitfinex funding (lending), the single biggest difference between tools is how they charge you — and on a real balance, that difference is larger than most people expect. This is a fee-first, honest comparison of the main bots in 2026. We include ourselves (FuNi), and we point out where competitors beat us.
One fee that applies to everyone first
Before any bot fee: Bitfinex itself takes 15% of the interest you earn (and 18% if you use hidden offers). That is the exchange’s cut, and it applies to every tool equally — Coinlend, EarnUSD, FuNi, a DIY script, all of them. No bot can remove it. So when we compare “bot fees” below, that 15% is on top for all of them.
The comparison (verified June 2026)
| Bot | Bot’s own fee | Model | Funds custody | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cryptolend.net | 3% of interest earned, charged daily; free basic tier | Percentage cut | Non-custodial (states it never accesses your funds) | Running since ~2014 |
| Coinlend | Reported ~5% of interest + a small weekly fee | Percentage cut | API-based | German, since 2017. We could not confirm the exact fee on Coinlend’s own pricing page in this check — treat the 5% as “widely reported,” not official. |
| ALTINVEST | $3–$45/month minimum (by plan) + 3% on earnings above that minimum | Hybrid (flat floor + %) | API-based | Confirmed on ALTINVEST’s own blog |
| EarnUSD | Flat subscription from $6/month (scales with your lending limit); 0% of interest | Flat fee | Non-custodial (funds stay in your account) | Bitfinex only (USD/USDT/BTC); ~5-min scan; first month free |
| MikaLendingBot | Free (open-source) — but you host and maintain it yourself | Free / DIY | Non-custodial (you run it) | Python on GitHub; needs your own server |
| FuNi | Flat subscription (Entry $100/yr … VIP $394/yr); 0% of interest | Flat fee | Non-custodial; the API key it uses has no withdrawal permission | APEX III prediction engine; 2-min scan (VIP) |
What the fee models actually mean for you
Percentage-cut bots (Cryptolend 3%, Coinlend ~5%, ALTINVEST 3% on excess). The fee scales with your earnings — the more you lend and the better the market, the more the bot keeps. On a $200,000 position earning 12% ($24,000/year), a 3–5% cut is roughly $720–$1,200 a year, every year, and it grows with your balance.
Flat-fee bots (EarnUSD, FuNi). You pay a fixed subscription and keep 100% of the interest. On that same $200,000 position, a flat fee in the low-hundreds-of-dollars range doesn’t move when your balance grows. For larger lenders, flat-fee is simply the cheaper structure.
Free / DIY (MikaLendingBot). Zero software cost, but you run the server, handle updates, and fix it when it breaks. Great if you’re technical and enjoy maintaining infrastructure; a real time cost if you’re not.
Where each tool fits (the honest version)
One thing that is NOT a real differentiator: “non-custodial.” Almost every serious Bitfinex lending bot is non-custodial — your funds stay in your own Bitfinex account and the bot only acts through an API key. So don’t pick a tool because it’s non-custodial; that’s table stakes. (What does vary is whether the API key can be locked to no-withdrawal — FuNi’s is.)
- Versus the percentage-cut bots (Coinlend / Cryptolend / ALTINVEST): for a larger balance, FuNi’s flat fee usually costs less, because we never take a slice of your interest.
- Versus EarnUSD: be aware that EarnUSD is also flat-fee, also 0% cut, and starts cheaper than us ($6/month at entry). We are not going to pretend otherwise. Where FuNi tries to earn its price is the APEX III prediction engine (how APEX III works), which chooses the lock-up term and offer rate from market signals, plus faster scanning and multi-account / institution features — not a lower sticker price. If you want the cheapest flat-fee bot, EarnUSD is a fair pick; if you want the prediction engine and management features, that’s our pitch.
- Versus MikaLendingBot: the trade is managed vs. DIY. Mika is free but you own the server and the upkeep; FuNi is a paid, hosted service with nothing for you to run.
A note on advertised returns
You’ll see bots promote headline APYs. Treat all of them — including ours — with caution: any return figure is historical or backtested, depends on market conditions and the 15% Bitfinex fee, and does not predict your future result. A bot optimizes execution; it cannot guarantee a rate, and no honest tool will promise one. Whenever we publish a backtest figure, we state the period and that past performance does not represent future results. (For the full risk picture, see our Bitfinex lending risk breakdown.)
How we sourced these numbers
So you can check our work: Cryptolend’s 3% and EarnUSD’s $6/month come from each provider’s own pages; ALTINVEST’s tiered fee is from ALTINVEST’s own published material; MikaLendingBot is open-source on GitHub. Coinlend’s ~5% is taken from third-party write-ups only — we could not confirm it on Coinlend’s official pricing page, so treat that one as reported, not verified. Every figure here reflects publicly available information as of June 2026 and can change; before you rely on any of it, confirm on the provider’s official site.
FAQ
Which Bitfinex lending bot is cheapest? It depends on your balance and the fee model. For larger balances, a flat-fee bot (EarnUSD or FuNi) usually beats a percentage-cut bot, because the % fee grows with your interest. EarnUSD has the lowest entry price; among percentage bots, Cryptolend’s 3% is lower than the ~5% reported for Coinlend. The only way to be sure is to run your own balance through each fee model.
Is Coinlend’s fee really 5%? That figure is widely reported, but we could not confirm it on Coinlend’s official pricing page during this review — so we label it reported, not verified. Check Coinlend’s own site before relying on it.
Do any of these bots hold my crypto? No — the serious Bitfinex lending bots are non-custodial. Your funds stay in your own Bitfinex account, and the bot acts only through an API key. You can (and should) create that key with no withdrawal permission.
Does any bot guarantee a return? No. No bot can guarantee a lending rate — rates are set by the live Bitfinex funding market, and Bitfinex’s own 15% fee applies on top. Any tool that promises a fixed return should be treated as a red flag. A bot can only optimize how and when your offers are placed.
Can I use these from outside my country — or from the US? These tools run on top of Bitfinex, so you can use them only where you can use Bitfinex margin funding. Residents of jurisdictions Bitfinex does not serve — including the United States — cannot use them.
Bottom line
- Larger balances, want hands-off + a prediction engine: FuNi (flat fee, keep 100% of interest, APEX III).
- Lowest cost, flat fee, basic features: EarnUSD.
- Technical, want free and full control: MikaLendingBot (self-hosted).
- Already on Coinlend / Cryptolend / ALTINVEST with a big balance: do the math on their % cut versus a flat fee — that’s often where switching pays off.
FuNi offers a up to 21-day free trial with the full engine, no credit card. If you lend on Bitfinex, the most useful thing you can do today is calculate what your current tool’s fee model actually costs you at your balance.
FuNi is an independent third-party tool and is not affiliated with Bitfinex. All competitor figures reflect publicly available information as of June 2026 and may change; verify on each provider’s official site.