If you're building a trading bot in Python, the exchange API you pick decides two things: how fast your orders land, and how much time you burn on plumbing instead of strategy. I compared the Coinbase Advanced Trade API and the Kraken API on both. Latency comes from my own benchmark (measured every 2 hours from a fixed US East box); the developer-experience facts come from each provider's official docs.
The short version
Start with Coinbase Advanced Trade if you want to ship fast: it has an official Python SDK that signs your requests for you, modern JWT auth, and a tighter tail latency from US infrastructure. Reach for Kraken if you want more API surface (REST, WebSocket, and a FIX gateway) and don't mind wiring up HMAC signing yourself against a deep, well-worn ecosystem.
Developer experience
Coinbase Advanced Trade
