Are on-chain trading bots actually worth it in today’s crypto market?

I’ve been watching the markets lately and the numbers are wild: Bitcoin sees around $50 billion in daily volume, Ethereum about $25 billion, and even Solana’s spot volume is pushing $200 million a day. With Ethereum gas fees averaging $5–$10 per transaction during busy times and Solana’s usually under a cent, it feels like cost dynamics could really swing in favor of on-chain bots for things like DEX arbitrage and token snipes.

I’ve heard tools like Banana Gun offer quick auto-sniping, limit orders, and MEV-resistant swaps, though I haven’t tried it yet. There are also frameworks like Hummingbot, Gelato, and various open-source snipers that claim you can net something like 1–5% returns per month if everything lines up. On the flip side, I’ve seen warnings about front-running, failed-tx fees, and impermanent loss eating into profits.

So here’s my question: for those of you running bots in DeFi, what has your real-world performance looked like? Any actual numbers on ROI, average TX costs, or win rates? How do you handle failed transactions and gas fees when you’re chasing small arbitrage windows?

I’m weighing whether to dedicate 10–20% of my portfolio to an on-chain bot strategy or just stick to manual orders on CEXs. Would love to hear which bots or frameworks you trust and what benchmarks you’ve hit. Thanks!