Rules as published by each firm
FUTURES vs FUTURES
Trailing Intraday (HWM) vs End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing
☪ Islamic / Swap-Free Ready
Apex Trader Funding vs TradeDay
Which of these two is likelier to end your account, and why — compared rule by rule from what each firm publishes.
Short answer
- The drawdown works differently, and that is the difference that matters. Apex Trader Funding's loss limit follows your equity tick by tick, unrealised profit included; TradeDay's steps up at each daily close and never steps back down. Apex Trader Funding: Open profit you give back raises that floor permanently, so it can breach you at a level that did not exist an hour earlier. TradeDay: A floor set at last night's close is still enforced live all session, so you can be liquidated intraday by a level you never saw move.
- Apex Trader Funding sets no daily loss limit; TradeDay caps a single day at 2.5%.
- Minimum trading days: Apex Trader Funding 1 day, TradeDay 5 days — this sets the earliest you can finish, however fast you hit the target.
- Entry cost: Apex Trader Funding from $33, TradeDay from $99.
Figures below are what each firm publishes. Confirm them on the firm's own site before paying for an evaluation — these rules change without notice.
Apex Trader Funding
FUTURES • Max $6,000,000
Drawdown Model
Trailing Intraday (HWM)
Profit Split
90% - 100%
Starting Price
$33
Min Trading Days
1 Days
TradeDay
FUTURES • Max $250,000
Drawdown Model
End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing
Profit Split
90% - 100%
Starting Price
$99
Min Trading Days
5 Days
Side-by-Side Specifications Matrix
Every figure below is taken from the firm's own published rules. Check the source and date under the table before you size a position on it — prop firm rules change without notice.
| Evaluation Parameter | Apex Trader Funding | TradeDay |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Class / Market | FUTURES | FUTURES |
| Drawdown Calculation Type | Trailing Intraday (HWM) | End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing |
| Max Daily Loss | None (No Daily Limit) | 2.5% Left unchanged under the refuted-verdict rule — see left_uncorrected; the only loss-based failure condition TradeDay publishes is the Maximum Drawdown. |
| Max Overall Loss | 5.0% | 3% 3% is the $100k trailing max drawdown ($97,000 floor); the $25k and $50k accounts are 4% ($1,000 / $2,000) and the $150k is 3% ($4,500), identical across Quick Pay and Fast Pass. |
| Profit Split | 90% - 100% | 90% - 100% |
| Minimum Trading Days | 1 Days | 5 Days 5 is the Quick Pay figure; TradeDay's own pages contradict each other on Fast Pass (its knowledge base says 3, its marketing pages say none), so this was left unchanged. |
| News Trading Policy | ✓ Trading through high-impact news permitted during regular market sessions | ✓ TradeDay auto-liquidates every open position 2 minutes before and reopens 2 minutes after its Tier-1 releases (FOMC, CPI, non-farm payrolls, crude oil and natural gas inventories, crop production); accidental breaches are forgiven, repeated abuse loses the account |
| Weekend & Overnight Holding | ✗ Flat by Close (Intraday futures only; positions must close by 4:59 PM EST daily) | ✗ Flat by Close (Overnight and multi-session holding is allowed — a position opened in one session must be closed before the next session's close, and all positions are auto-liquidated 10 minutes before each daily close) |
| Supported Platforms | NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView | Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView |
| Payout Schedule | Twice monthly (1st–5th and 15th–20th) | On request with no buffer and no minimum trading period on Quick Pay; requests submitted before 5:30pm ET are processed the next business day, minimum $250 Cut-off is 5:30pm ET for next-business-day processing; the repo's earlier 'same-day once the safety buffer is met' matched nothing on TradeDay's own pages. |
| First Payout Eligibility | After 10 qualified trading days per payout cycle | Quick Pay: none — withdraw from any positive balance; Fast Pass: 5 profitable trading days, each clearing a per-tier minimum profit ($100/$150/$200/$250 for $25k/$50k/$100k/$150k) The 5 Fast Pass days need not be consecutive, and the balance must also be above the starting balance with net profit since the last payout. |
| Consistency Rule | 30% single-day consistency rule on PA accounts | Evaluation only: no single day may exceed 30% of total profit to date on Quick Pay (45% on Fast Pass); a breach raises the profit target instead of failing the account, and no consistency rule applies to Funded Sim or Funded Live Measured as one day's P&L against total profit to date; separately, Fast Pass Funded Sim accounts opened on or after 26 July 2026 must also pass a 45% single-day check before a payout is released. |
| Islamic / Swap-Free Option | ✓ Inherently Swap-Free (CME Futures) Inherently Swap-Free (CME Futures contracts are cash-settled intraday with zero overnight financing or swap charges) |
✓ Inherently Swap-Free (CME Futures) Inherently Swap-Free (Regulated CME futures exchange model; zero overnight holding and zero swap financing) |
| US Residents Accepted | ✓ Accepted | ✓ Accepted |
| Maximum Capital Allocation | $6,000,000 | $250,000 |
Not independently confirmed. We could not read Apex Trader Funding's own rules pages — every request to the site was answered with HTTP 403, so the rules could not be read from here. The figures below are unconfirmed and may be out of date. Check the current rules on Apex Trader Funding's own site. Last attempted .
Where these figures come from. Read from TradeDay's own published rules on : Maximum drawdown mechanism and the $100k examp · Pricing/programme tables giving the per-size d · Tier-1 news auto-liquidation window (2 minutes · Consistency objective · Evaluation objectives per programme; cross-che · Funded ruleset · Overnight holding permitted across sessions; 1 · Fast Pass payout gate · Quick Pay payout policy · Payout processing timing · Account limits and the hedging prohibition wit · Withdrawal mismanagement clause tying large/fr · Section 23 Prohibited Conduct. Prop firm rules change without notice — confirm on the firm's own site before you pay for an evaluation.
What can end the account even if you are profitable
These are the rules people usually find out about after a payout is refused.
- TradeDay: TradeDay closes every open position 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after its own Tier-1 data releases (FOMC, CPI, non-farm payrolls, crude oil and natural gas inventories, crop production reports); one accidental breach is forgiven, but traders who keep trading through the window lose the account. source
- TradeDay: Once you are funded, trading within 2% of an exchange price limit loses you the funded account immediately — TradeDay forgives accidental slips on trading times, products and position sizes, but states no such grace period for this rule. source
- TradeDay: If an automated or high-frequency strategy fires more than 200 trades in a single day, TradeDay can delete that trading day and all of its profits, restart or close the account, or ban you from the platform entirely. source
- TradeDay: Going long a product in one of your TradeDay accounts while short the same product in another counts as hedging: you are offboarded and suspended, and you forfeit every dollar of profit sitting in all of your funded accounts, not just the account that hedged. source
- TradeDay: Signing up more than once under different usernames or email addresses is prohibited conduct under Section 23 of the terms, which lets TradeDay delete the trading day and all profits, restart or close the account, or ban you from the service. source
- TradeDay: During the evaluation no single day may account for more than 30% of your total profit so far on Quick Pay (45% on Fast Pass); going over does not fail you, but your profit target rises until that big day is diluted back under the cap. source
- TradeDay: On Fast Pass you cannot take your first payout until you have 5 profitable trading days that each clear a minimum profit for your account size ($100 on $25k, $150 on $50k, $200 on $100k, $250 on $150k), with the balance above your starting balance. source
- TradeDay: On Fast Pass funded sim accounts opened on or after 26 July 2026, a payout is also withheld if any single day makes up more than 45% of your total gross profit. source
- TradeDay: You cannot hold a position into the daily close: TradeDay auto-liquidates everything 10 minutes before the close of the product you are trading, and funded traders are required to be flat by then. source
- TradeDay: Withdrawing often or in large amounts so that your balance sits close to the trailing drawdown can be judged as mismanaging the account, and TradeDay may then refuse to invite you back for another evaluation. source
Drawdown Architecture: Apex Trader Funding vs TradeDay
The fundamental differentiator between Apex Trader Funding and TradeDay lies in how risk and liquidation thresholds are tracked:
Apex Trader Funding: Trailing Intraday (HWM)
Apex Trader Funding applies a Trailing Intraday (HWM) approach. Under this structure, your stop loss floor is anchored to balance intervals. Trailing stops ratchet tick-by-tick with unrealized equity, requiring disciplined profit taking.
TradeDay: End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing
TradeDay implements a End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing model. This provides traders with full intraday flexibility without the fear of open spikes ratcheting up their liquidation point.
The Trader's Verdict: Which Firm Should You Choose?
Depending on your trading style, asset preference, and capital requirements, here is how our research team segments the two providers:
Choose Apex Trader Funding if you:
- Want Trailing Intraday (HWM) risk management.
- Trade primarily FUTURES instruments with NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView.
- Value High-volume futures scalpers running trade copiers across multiple accounts (up to 20 PAs) with massive discount coupons.
- Do not mind closing before the daily market session closes.
- Seek up to $6,000,000 in maximum scaling capital.
Choose TradeDay if you:
- Prefer End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing execution terms.
- Trade FUTURES via Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView.
- Value Serious futures traders seeking direct CME-regulated broker funding with no payout buffer and next-business-day disbursements.
- Require strict intraday liquidity and same-day/daily payout options.
- Want access to starting entry fees at $99.
Frequently Asked Questions: Apex Trader Funding vs TradeDay
Which firm offers a better drawdown model between Apex Trader Funding and TradeDay?
Apex Trader Funding uses Trailing Intraday (HWM), while TradeDay utilizes End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing.
Traders who hold positions through volatile pullbacks typically favor TradeDay, whereas scalpers capitalizing on quick momentum benefit from TradeDay.
Can I trade both Apex Trader Funding and TradeDay accounts at the same time?
Yes. Many professional prop traders run trade copiers (such as Replikanto for NinjaTrader futures, or Social Trader Tools for MT4/MT5 CFDs) to mirror trades across both Apex Trader Funding and TradeDay simultaneously, diversifying broker risk and maximizing total payout potential.
Which prop firm has faster payout disbursements?
Apex Trader Funding processes payouts on a Twice monthly (1st–5th and 15th–20th) basis (After 10 qualified trading days per payout cycle), whereas TradeDay operates on a On request with no buffer and no minimum trading period on Quick Pay; requests submitted before 5:30pm ET are processed the next business day, minimum $250 schedule (Quick Pay: none — withdraw from any positive balance; Fast Pass: 5 profitable trading days, each clearing a per-tier minimum profit ($100/$150/$200/$250 for $25k/$50k/$100k/$150k)). Both platforms support crypto and direct bank transfers.