TradeDay vs Apex Trader Funding

TradeDay suits futures traders who want time to pass without a deadline, a wide choice of platforms and the option to run an automated system they built, and who avoid scheduled Tier 1 releases. Apex Trader Funding suits discretionary traders who can pass within 30 days, want 100% of each approved payout and plan to run many accounts at once. Both firms offer a 50K plan with an end of day trailing drawdown throughout, so the choice turns on how you pay, how payouts work and which trading rules fit your style.

All prices are list prices at the time of review in September 2026. Both firms run frequent discounts: TradeDay was showing 55% off and Apex a coupon that cut list prices to one tenth, so the checkout total is the figure to compare.

TradeDay vs Apex Trader Funding at a glance

The table compares the TradeDay Fast Pass 50K with the Apex 50K EOD Trail evaluation on the Standard version. Both use end of day trailing drawdown in the evaluation and the funded account.

Rules and drawdown

Both limits are $2,000 on 50K and trail the end of day balance, but they settle in different places. TradeDay’s Fast Pass limit is enforced in real time and freezes once it reaches the starting balance, and the first payout moves it up to that level. Apex recalculates its EOD limit at 4:59:59 pm ET from the closing balance and enforces it in real time. In the evaluation it keeps trailing on Tradovate but becomes fixed at the profit target balance on Rithmic and WealthCharts, and in the Performance Account it stops trailing at $50,100. The end of day drawdown guide explains both mechanics, and the drawdown calculator tracks the floor after each session.

Both firms also sell an intraday version. TradeDay’s Quick Pay 50K costs $131 a month with intraday trailing in the evaluation, and every Quick Pay funded account trails intraday on gross profit. Apex’s 50K Intraday Trail costs $249 plus an $89 activation fee and follows the peak balance, open profit included.

Daily limits differ. TradeDay lists no daily loss limit on its pricing cards or rules pages. Apex sets a soft $1,000 limit on the 50K EOD evaluation, and in the Performance Account a tiered limit starts at $1,000 and rises to $3,000 once profit reaches $6,000.

Consistency rules apply at different stages. Fast Pass requires the best day to stay at or below 45% of profit in the evaluation and, for accounts opened from 26 July 2026, of gross profit once funded, with at least three days to pass. Apex has no consistency rule in the evaluation, which can be passed in one day, but applies a 50% rule in the Performance Account. The consistency rule calculator tests daily results against either figure.

The deadline is the sharpest difference. Apex evaluations expire at 6 pm ET on day 30 after purchase with no extensions or resets, and a passed account must be activated within seven days. TradeDay sets no time limit, and its subscription is cancelled on the day the trader is funded.

News, holding and automation

TradeDay does not allow trading of Tier 1 releases such as FOMC, US CPI, the employment report, EIA inventories and crop reports. Positions are liquidated two minutes before and trading reopens two minutes after. Apex allows news trading with a normal directional strategy but bans chasing the market or placing orders on both sides of a release. The news trading rules guide compares the approaches.

Neither firm allows holding through the close. TradeDay liquidates positions 10 minutes before the daily close, and Apex requires trades to be closed before 4:59 pm ET, earlier for agricultural futures. Position limits on 50K are five minis or 50 micros in the TradeDay evaluation and six minis at Apex. Once funded, Fast Pass starts at two contracts and adds one for each $2,000 of end of day profit, while an Apex 50K Performance Account scales from two to four.

Automation divides the firms. TradeDay allows systems built by the trader on NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Jigsaw or Quantower, up to 200 trades a day, but bans third party bots and direct API connections. Apex bans automation and algorithms outright, along with hedging and high frequency trading, although WealthCharts includes a trade copier for a trader’s own accounts.

Pricing, resets and activation fees

TradeDay bills monthly with no activation fee. Fast Pass 50K costs $189 a month, and Quick Pay 50K costs $131 with intraday or $175 with end of day drawdown in the evaluation. Resets cost the same as the discounted monthly price. Funded Sim accounts carry no data fee, but Funded Live traders pay CME professional data of $156 a month per exchange plus a $2 Tradovate card fee.

Apex charges once. The 50K EOD lists at $590 and the 50K Intraday at $249 on the Standard version, plus an activation fee of $119 or $89 after passing, and No Activation Fee versions cost $1,190 and $799. New evaluations cannot be reset, so a failed or expired attempt means buying again. Level 1 data is included, while depth of market data is billed by the platform. At list price, three months of Fast Pass cost less than the Apex EOD fee and activation combined, but discounts at both firms change that calculation often.

Payouts

Fast Pass pays 80/20 from the first payout and 90/10 on Funded Live. Each cycle needs five profitable days of at least $150 on 50K and net profit since the previous request, and each request is limited to half the balance and $1,500 for accounts opened from 26 July 2026. The minimum is $250, paid through Riseworks by bank wire or crypto. Quick Pay instead allows requests from the first funded day with no buffer, at 50/50 until account profit reaches $4,000 and 80/20 above it.

Apex pays 100% of each approved payout on its new Performance Accounts and states that it does not deny or manually review payouts that meet the rules. A request on 50K EOD needs five qualifying days of at least $250, a balance of $52,600 or more and at least $500 to withdraw. Requests can be as frequent as weekly, the cap rises from $1,500 to $3,000, and the account closes after its sixth approved payout. Traders can hold up to 20 Performance Accounts per household.

TradeDay reports a 36% evaluation pass rate for January to June 2026. The payout calculator shows take home pay at 80% and 100%.

Platforms and markets

TradeDay offers Tradovate and NinjaTrader through CQG, with a free NinjaTrader licence, TradingView and Jigsaw with the trader’s own licence, and Rithmic platforms including R Trader Pro, Quantower, ATAS, Bookmap, Sierra Chart, MotiveWave and WealthCharts. Markets cover CME Group equity index, FX, metals, energy and agricultural futures. The firm was founded in 2020 and is based in Chicago.

Apex supports Tradovate, which works with TradingView, Rithmic with NinjaTrader, and WealthCharts. Markets cover CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX futures, with some EUREX products on Tradovate only. Both firms have long restricted lists: South Africa and Nigeria appear on each, TradeDay also excludes the Philippines and Puerto Rico, and Apex excludes Egypt and Vietnam.

Who should choose each firm

Choose TradeDay if

• You want no deadline on the evaluation and no activation fee.
• You run an automated system you built, or trade on Sierra Chart, Bookmap or ATAS.
• You do not trade scheduled Tier 1 releases.

Choose Apex Trader Funding if

• You can pass within 30 days and trade manually.
• You want 100% of each approved payout and plan to run several accounts.
• You trade news releases with a directional approach.

See TradeDay vs Topstep, Apex Trader Funding vs My Funded Futures, Apex Trader Funding alternatives and TradeDay alternatives. Filter every firm in the comparison table, browse more comparisons or visit the futures prop firms hub.