At a glance
Coinbase and Horizon are not either-or. Coinbase is the exchange: it holds your crypto, and you trade it yourself in the app or on Coinbase Advanced. Horizon is the automation that runs inside a Coinbase account: a strategy you describe in plain English, or one you copy from a creator, that places its own trades through the API keys you give it. This page compares what each does on its own.
Side by side
| Question | Horizon | Coinbase |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | HorizonAn investing platform. Copy strategies that creators are running live, or describe your own idea in plain English and run it through your own broker. | CoinbaseA US crypto exchange and custodian: the simple app, Coinbase Advanced for order-book trading, and perpetual futures for eligible accounts. |
| How you build a strategy | HorizonDescribe the idea in plain English. Horizon turns it into rules you can read, edit and test. No code. | CoinbaseNo strategy builder. Coinbase Advanced has limit, stop and bracket orders; automation comes through its API or an app you connect, such as Horizon. |
| Where strategies run | HorizonIn your own account at Binance, Bybit, Coinbase, Hyperliquid, Kraken, Robinhood, Webull, TradeStation, Tradier, E*TRADE, tastytrade and moomoo, or on Horizon Paper with simulated money. | CoinbaseIn your Coinbase account, by hand or through an app you connect. |
| Markets | HorizonUS stocks and ETFs through the stock brokers; crypto spot and derivatives through the exchanges. No forex or CFDs. | CoinbaseCrypto spot, and perpetual futures where Coinbase offers them. |
| Backtesting | HorizonEvery strategy is backtested on historical data before it runs, and you see the rules it tested. | CoinbaseNo. |
| Paper trading | HorizonYes. Horizon Paper runs any strategy with simulated money at real market prices. | CoinbaseNo. |
| Copying other people's strategies | HorizonYes. Discover lists creators' strategies with live track records. Creators keep 80% of what subscribers pay. | CoinbaseNo. |
| Pricing model | HorizonDiscover is free. The Builder plan is a subscription, monthly or yearly, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. | CoinbaseA maker and taker fee on each trade, tiered by volume; Coinbase One is an optional subscription. Current fees on coinbase.com. |
| Holds your money? | HorizonNever. Funds stay with your broker. Horizon can place trades for a strategy but cannot withdraw money. | CoinbaseYes. Coinbase holds the assets in your account. |
Add Horizon if
- You want a rule to trade your Coinbase balance for you, with entries, exits and a risk limit you can read.
- You want the strategy backtested and run on paper before it trades real coins.
- You want to copy a strategy a creator is running live, in your own account.
- You trade US stocks too and want one place for both.
Keep Coinbase on its own if
- You buy and hold, or trade by hand on Coinbase Advanced.
- You want nothing in the loop beyond the exchange.
- You trade pairs or products Horizon's connection does not cover.
