Battle of the Bots - How do Steemit Bots Stack Up?

I have noticed that a lot of Steemians utilize bots to support their efforts. But are all bots created equal? I have been using several delegation bots that are meant to support specific communities. However, I have not been using the fee-for-service bots that are popular with many users. I was wondering what kind of return on investment I would get with these bots. Grant it, SBD is worth a lot right now. It is teetering around eight dollars. I think the high price of SBD may affect the ROI here. But my analysis is based on where things sit right now.

Delegation Bots

Based on my experience and personal preferences, I think the delegation bots are far superior to the fee-for-service bots. I like all of the delegation bots that I am currently using. I have delegated SBD to these bots and generally receive an upvote currently in the one dollar range. That is at no direct cost. Just the voting power. The voting power of my delegations total around thirty cents at full power, spread across several delegation groups. I am getting several dollars in return for that delegation. I don't mind a diluted vote value, which doesn't really affect what I make anyway.

@Minnowsupport the Minnow Support Project (MSP) is awesome. They were the first group to find me. I was more of a flounder than a minnow when I was discovered. @Crimsonclad gave me plenty of advice and helped walk me through the process. The bot gets bogged down and quirky at times, but it is steady. Best of all, they don't require a delegation in return for using the bot. It is a great way to help boost your work, particularly when you are starting out. The bot does require users to set up a discord account and use the #upvote room to post links. But it is fairly intuitive once you figure it out.

Hive account@accelerator is another bot meant to curate good users. The Minnow Accelerator Project is run by Hive account@rycharde who has recently moved the platform from discord to ChainBB, which I do not use. It has become a little bit more confusing, but the bot has been working fairly steady. It appears to be down today, which is a bummer, but I don't mind missing a bit of voting for my delegation. This bot has been good to me.

Hive account@silvergoldbotty is a community of silver stackers. We like to collect silver. Our common interest has led to the creation of a bot that is driven by delegations and donations. I feel a greater sense of community with the silvergoldbotty group because of our common interests. Although I really like all three of these groups. Hive account@phelimint and Hive account@silverstakeruk put a lot of work into making this bot run. The requirements are fairly easy. The minimum requirement is a 100 percent daily upvote of the bot and a series of tiers offering increased voting power based on donations/delegations. You have to be sponsored and seconded by members to join this group. It is worth checking out if you are a silver stacker.

Fee-for-Service Bots

Fee-for-service is a term I made up. I use it to describe bots that you send SBD to in return for upvotes on a specific post. There are some definite advantages to this system, although the return on investment seems a bit low currently. The greatest advantage is that you can use this to boost someone else. If you find an article you find particularly helpful, in addition to upvoting or resteeming, you can pay them a visit using one of the bots. It is a great way to provide a nice gesture to new users. I tested four of the bots today to see what my ROI would be. Here are the results in order of which returned the best:

Hive account@upmewhale gave me a .40 cent upvote for a .10 SBD donation. Technically, a money losing proposition. SBD is currently at $8, meaning that I sent eighty cents for a forty cent upvote. However, assuming all things are equal, I have my payout set at 50/50. So, minus 25 cents in curation, that is a thirty cent upvote. It will pay out in fifteen cents SP and fifteen cents SBD. At the current price of SBD, that would equal 1.20 in SBD and fifteen cents in SP. So my total return would be $1.35 on an eighty cent investment. All things considered, I came out ahead.

Hive account@minnowbooster resulted in a .32 payout on a .10 SBD donation. Using the same math, that would equal twelve cents in SP and .12 SBD. Using the current value of SBD, the total of both payouts would be around $1.08 on an eighty sent donation. Still a winning proposition, all things considered.

Hive account@bidbot paid out .24 on a donation of .10 SBD. That comes out to nine cents SP and .09 SBD. The total comes out to approximately .79 on a .80 investment. So I lost money on this bot either way I calculate my gain.

Hive account@upgoat was worst of the four bots I tested today. It paid out .20 on a donation of .10 SBD. That should pay out in seven days at .075 SP and .075 SBD. That works out to about 67 cents on an eighty cent investment.

As you can see, all bots are not created equal. My recommendation to newer users would be to join PAL/MSP and get involved in the bots available through those two exceptional groups. Hive account@crimsonclad and Hive account@rycharde are offering a great service. Of course, your material will be vetted for gaming. If you post good posts, you will be rewarded, keep that in mind. I would also recommend finding delegation oriented groups of common interest to you. That is the best way to share with like-minded people while driving extra traffic to your posts...and potentially getting bot boosts as well.

Post Promotion Bots

I have not used the post promotion bots. Basically, you pay a small fee to have your posts resteemed. This feels kind of spammy to me, so I try to steer clear of this type.

Casino Bots

Okay, that's a catchy title for bots that work more like a roulette table. You send a portion of SBD and they hit you with a 100 percent upvote if your bid wins. I don't mess with these bots either. There are a variety of them that I have come across, but I am a bit leery of them. That does not mean they are bad. I just don't have any experiences to share about them.

My comment section is open to comments, suggestions, or promotions of your bot, if you run one. I will check it out and reply with the results I get. If you just know about a bot, feel free to comment regarding your experience with it. If you know of some great delegation bots, even better. I have a strong affinity for the delegation bots and feel they offer a greater experience for those that use them.

The floor is now yours.