💡 Starting small? Begin with the fee-safe crypto book
One honest fact shapes every persona below: fees versus how much you're actually trading. It's the difference between a strategy that works for you and one that quietly loses to costs.
If you're starting with a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, start crypto-only — and add shares later once you're past ~$50k. Full detail, and recommended settings by account size, is in the Starting Small guide. This is general information about how fees work, not financial advice.
Sole trader / freelancer
Irregular income, you already file your own tax, time is your scarcest asset.
Your income arrives in lumps — a big invoice one month, a quiet gap the next. The platform runs a rules-based strategy automatically in the background so you're not glued to charts between client work, and it keeps a running record you can hand straight to your accountant.
Features you'd lean on
- Auto-trade engine with a conservative risk-per-trade % — set it once, it runs while you work.
- Kill switch to pause everything the moment a big project lands and you want cash flat.
- NZ tax records — every fill logged with dates and P&L for your IR3.
- Signal Explainer — plain-English "why" on every trade, no jargon.
Set-up
- Start on Free to watch delayed signals with no money at risk.
- Connect a spot broker (e.g. Swyftx) when you're ready — how to connect.
- Set risk low (e.g. 0.5–1% per trade) and a small max open trades.
A typical month
You top up a small trading balance from a paid invoice, leave the engine running at low risk, and check the dashboard for five minutes on a Sunday. When tax time comes, you export the trade log instead of reconstructing it from exchange statements.
Employee on a salary
Steady pay, a day job that needs your attention, wants money working without a second job.
You can't watch markets during work hours and you don't want to. The whole point of automation here is that the emotional, time-hungry part of trading is handled by rules — so a full-time job and a running strategy can coexist.
Features you'd lean on
- Fully automated execution — signals and exits fire without you at the screen.
- Stop-loss + trailing stop on every position, set by the strategy.
- Email alerts when a trade opens, closes, or the circuit breaker trips — nothing to babysit.
- Learn Charts & Glossary to build understanding at your own pace.
Set-up
- Fund only what you'd be comfortable seeing fall — this is capital at risk, not savings.
- Everything is spot and long-only — no leverage, margin or shorting — so you can only ever lose the capital in a position. Choose which asset classes to trade — see Instruments.
- Turn on email notifications so the app reaches you, not the other way round.
A typical week
You do nothing during work hours. You get an email when a position opens and another when it closes. On the weekend you read one Signal Explainer summary to understand what the strategy did and why.
Long-term investor
Buy-and-hold mindset, wants evidence and control, allergic to hype.
You want to see the method before you trust it, and you want the tail risks capped. The platform is built to be inspected — you can study the strategy, replay it on historical data, and keep a small automated sleeve running alongside your core holdings.
Features you'd lean on
- Backtest — replay the strategy on real historical market data before committing a cent.
- Strategy page — the full rule set, written out, nothing hidden.
- Max exposure % and max open trades caps to ring-fence a fixed sleeve.
- Portfolio & risk snapshots so you always know your live exposure.
Set-up
- Spend time on Backtest and Performance first — decide with data.
- Allocate a defined slice (say 5–10% of investable funds) and cap exposure to it.
- Review monthly, not hourly. The system is designed to remove the urge to tinker.
How you'd decide
Before any live money, you run the backtest, read the strategy rules, and check drawdown. If the evidence convinces you, you fund a capped sleeve and let it run — treating it as one position in a diversified portfolio, not the whole plan.
Active trader
Already trades, knows the terms, wants to systematise and remove emotion.
You know the hardest part isn't finding trades — it's executing a plan without your own psychology getting in the way. The platform mechanises a tested strategy across multiple brokers and asset classes so discipline is enforced by code, not willpower.
Features you'd lean on
- Multi-broker execution — Swyftx (crypto), Interactive Brokers (shares, forex & more) and the XRPL DEX from one engine (Instruments).
- Spot-only execution, multiple strategy modes (Strict, DIP, Scalp, Position), and a configurable minimum signal quality filter.
- Full risk controls — risk mode, risk %, max exposure, max concurrent positions, scan interval.
- Live scanner & signal feed with the reasoning behind each entry.
Set-up
- Wire up your existing brokers and choose which asset classes to trade.
- Tune risk mode, exposure caps and the quality filter to your own tolerance.
- Use the kill switch and circuit breaker as your hard stops.
A typical day
The engine scans on your chosen interval, takes only signals above your quality threshold, sizes each by your risk rule, and manages exits with trailing stops — so you're supervising a system instead of chasing candles.
Small business owner
Runs a company, has idle cash and a to-do list a mile long, needs clean books.
You've got working capital that sits idle between cycles and zero spare hours. The platform can run a ring-fenced, low-risk automated sleeve on surplus funds while keeping the record-keeping tidy enough to hand to your bookkeeper.
Features you'd lean on
- Automated engine on a defined slice of surplus cash — capped exposure, conservative risk.
- Business-style summaries and a full audit trail of every action taken.
- NZ tax records that reconcile against your accounts.
- Email alerts to whoever manages the money, so nothing needs watching.
Set-up
- Only ever commit genuine surplus — never money earmarked for payroll, tax or suppliers.
- Set a hard max exposure % so the sleeve can't grow beyond your comfort.
- Talk to your accountant about how gains are taxed for your entity first.
How it fits the business
You allocate a fixed, ring-fenced amount, cap the exposure, and let the engine run at low risk. Statements and the trade log go to your bookkeeper monthly. Business obligations always come first — this is surplus only.
Important: never put money you need for payroll, GST, provisional tax or suppliers into a trading balance. Only genuine surplus you could afford to lose.
Beneficiary / on a medical benefit
Income is essential and fixed; every dollar counts; protecting it matters most.
This one comes with the strongest caution on the page. A benefit is money you rely on to live, and trading can and does lose money — so the right use here is learning first, tiny amounts only, never your essential income. The platform's free tier and educational pages are built exactly for that.
Features you'd lean on
- Free plan — watch real (delayed) signals and learn the method with no money at risk at all.
- Learn Charts, Glossary, How to Use — a full, free education path.
- Signal Explainer — understand what a strategy does before ever funding anything.
- Suitability check — an honest questionnaire about whether this is right for you at all.
Set-up
- Stay on Free and paper-watch for as long as you like — there's no clock.
- If you ever fund it, use an amount so small its total loss changes nothing in your life.
- At that size, use the crypto book (percentage fees), not shares — a small share account is eaten by fixed commissions. See the Starting Small guide.
- Check how any gains might affect your benefit and obligations with Work and Income first.
Please read: a benefit is your living income — it should never be traded. Trading risks total loss of the amount used. Use the free, educational side of the platform, and treat any funded amount as money you have fully accepted you could lose. This is general information, not financial advice; if in doubt, speak to a free budgeting service such as MoneyTalks.
Pensioner / retired
Capital preservation comes first; time to learn; low tolerance for nasty surprises.
In retirement the priority is usually protecting what you have, not chasing it. If you're curious about markets, the platform gives you a transparent, well-documented way to learn and — only if it suits you — run a very small, tightly capped automated sleeve well away from the money you live on.
Features you'd lean on
- Free plan + Backtest — see how the strategy behaved historically before anything is real.
- Conservative risk caps — the lowest risk %, tight max exposure, spot assets only.
- Stop-loss on every trade and a one-tap kill switch for full control.
- Plain-English explanations and a patient, no-pressure learning path.
Set-up
- Keep your pension and essential savings entirely separate and untouched.
- If you try it, use a small "learning" amount you have fully accepted you could lose.
- For a small sleeve like that, the crypto book (percentage fees) is fee-fair; the share strategy only earns its keep from ~$50k+. See the Starting Small guide.
- Consider a chat with an authorised financial adviser about your overall plan.
Please read: retirement capital is hard to replace. Never trade money you depend on. Trading carries a real risk of loss. Use the free educational tools freely, and treat any funded amount as strictly discretionary. This page is general information, not personalised financial advice.
Every feature, in one place
These are the building blocks each persona above mixes and matches. Most cost nothing to explore.
Automated engine
A rules-based strategy scans, enters and exits for you — removing the emotion and the screen time.
Risk controls
Risk-per-trade % (max 2%), max open trades, and a 10% total-exposure cap. Spot-only, so no leverage to blow up.
Kill switch
One tap pauses all activity and stops new trades — you're always in control.
Multi-broker
Swyftx, Interactive Brokers and the XRPL DEX from a single engine. Spot-only — no leverage.
Backtest
Replay on real data with your own risk settings and IBKR fee plan (Lite/Pro), so results match what you'd actually trade.
Recommended by account size
Small / medium / large presets pick the right slots and IBKR fee plan so fixed fees don't eat small accounts.
Business & invoicing
Raise invoices, track income & expenses, GST estimate, CSV export, and one-click sync to Xero.
Entity-aware tax
Individual, sole trader, company or trust — the tax estimate and return (IR3/IR4/IR6) adjust to you.
Non-custodial treasury
Your XRPL wallet, draft-only payments you sign in Xaman, and XRP/RLUSD tips. Keys never leave your device.
Identity verification
Built-in AML/CFT customer due diligence with encrypted storage — the groundwork for a licensed service.
Signal Explainer
Plain-English reasoning behind every signal — the "why", not just the "what".
Email alerts & digest
Trade open/close, circuit breaker, broker issues, plus an opt-in weekly market & P&L recap.
NZ tax records
Every fill logged with dates and P&L, ready for your return or your accountant.
Learn & Glossary
A free education path — chart reading, terminology, and the full strategy write-up.