If you trade futures and you have looked at prop firms, you have probably seen TradeDay’s name. This review explains what it actually offers, in plain language, and where the catches are.

The short version: TradeDay is a US, futures-only firm with a clear single-phase evaluation, no daily loss limit, and a public payout policy. The rules are reasonable, but the details — especially how drawdown works — decide whether it suits you. As with every prop firm, nothing here is investment advice, and the firm is not regulated like a broker.

Every number below should be treated as a reference point. Promotions, pricing, and rules change often, so verify current rules on the official site before you pay for anything.

What TradeDay is: a US futures-only firm at a glance

TradeDay is a proprietary trading firm focused only on futures. You pay to take an evaluation; if you pass and keep following the rules, you trade a funded account and keep a share of the profit.

It was founded in 2020 (November 2020 per third-party sources) and is run by TradeDay LLC out of Chicago, Illinois. It is worth checking the exact founding month against the official source, since dates vary across listings.

The firm was co-founded by CEO James Thorpe, who has 15-plus years in futures and previously led Mercury Derivatives and Futures First, alongside technical analyst Steve Miley, whose background includes Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse. Named, experienced founders are a small but real positive in an industry full of anonymous operators.

The TradeDay 2.0 evaluation: targets, tracks, and consistency

The evaluation is a single phase with no time limit. There are three account sizes, each with one profit target:

  • 50,000 dollar account: 3,000 dollar target
  • 100,000 dollar account: 6,000 dollar target
  • 150,000 dollar account: 9,000 dollar target

You choose between two tracks, which differ in how fast you can pass and how strict the consistency rule is:

  • Quick Pay: minimum 5 trading days, with a 30 percent consistency rule.
  • Fast Pass: minimum 3 trading days, with a 45 percent consistency rule (no minimum trading-days requirement is stated on the official site beyond the 3-day floor).

A “consistency rule” simply means no single day can make up too large a share of your total profit. Under Quick Pay’s 30 percent rule, if you target 3,000 dollars, no one day should contribute more than about 900 dollars. The point is to reward steady trading over one lucky session. Fast Pass loosens this to 45 percent but tends to cost more — so it is a speed-versus-price choice.

Drawdown models explained: Intraday Trailing, End-of-Day Trailing, and Static

This is the part to understand best, because there is no daily loss limit — the drawdown rule is your main hard limit. TradeDay offers three models, which is unusually flexible.

  • Intraday Trailing: the maximum loss level follows your highest balance during the day in real time, including unrealized (open) gains. So if a trade goes well and then gives the profit back, your buffer can still shrink. It stops trailing once it reaches your starting balance.
  • End-of-Day Trailing: the level follows your realized balance measured at the 4:00 pm Central Time close, not your intraday peaks. This is gentler than intraday trailing because open-trade spikes do not tighten it.
  • Static: a fixed floor that does not move. It is the tightest risk model in terms of room, but the simplest to reason about because the line never shifts.

The trailing drawdown amounts are roughly 2,000 dollars on the 50K, 3,000 dollars on the 100K, and 4,500 dollars on the 150K. Static accounts carry tighter position limits as the trade-off for that fixed, predictable floor.

If you are new to this, the difference between trailing and static drawdown is worth reading before you choose, and our daily loss vs max drawdown explainer covers why the absence of a daily limit changes how you should manage risk.

Profit split: how much you actually keep

TradeDay’s current payout policy calculates the split per individual account, not across your lifetime withdrawals:

  • Below 4,000 dollars of account profit: 50/50
  • Above 4,000 dollars of account profit: 80/20
  • On a Funded Live account: 90/10

In plain terms, you keep half until the account has earned 4,000 dollars, then 80 percent above that, with the best rate reserved for live-funded accounts.

Be careful with older write-ups. Some aggregator sources still describe lifetime tiers (80 percent on the first 50,000 dollars, 90 percent from 50,000 to 100,000 dollars, 95 percent over 100,000 dollars). Those appear to be superseded by the current per-account structure, so verify the split on the official source rather than trusting third-party summaries.

Payouts and withdrawals: minimums, timing, and fees

The published withdrawal terms are straightforward:

  • Minimum withdrawal is 250 dollars (for accounts opened after June 20, 2024).
  • Requests received before 5:30 pm Central Time are processed within 24 hours on business days.
  • Day-one withdrawals are available on the Quick Pay track.

Withdrawal methods and fees:

  • US bank wire: free
  • International bank wire: 15 dollars
  • Layer 1 crypto: 2.50 dollars plus network gas fees
  • Layer 2 crypto: free

Fast processing and a low minimum are genuine positives. Payout speed is also one of the things we track in our payout transparency guide, and TradeDay’s same-day handling is competitive.

Pricing, account sizes, and position limits

There are three account sizes (50K, 100K, 150K) across the three drawdown models, which gives nine 1-step evaluation options in total.

Pricing, with a 50 percent off promotion, runs from about 62.50 to 240 dollars per month; the original pricing is roughly 125 to 480 dollars per month, with no activation fees. Because these are recurring monthly fees rather than one-time charges, factor the ongoing cost into your math — and verify current pricing on the official site, since promotions move.

Position limits scale with account size: about 5 mini / 50 micro on the 50K, 10 mini / 50 micro on the 100K, and 15 mini / 50 micro on the 150K. Static accounts carry tighter limits in exchange for the fixed drawdown. If contract sizing is new to you, see futures prop firms explained.

Verified facts to check on the official site

These figures come from TradeDay’s own pages and the firm-metrics dataset we maintain. Treat each as a starting point and verify current rules on the official site, because firms update terms frequently:

  • Evaluation type: single phase, 1-step, no time limit. Verify on the official site.
  • Account sizes: 50,000 / 100,000 / 150,000 dollars. Verify on the official site.
  • Profit target: about 6 percent (3,000 / 6,000 / 9,000 dollars). Verify on the official site.
  • Maximum drawdown: about 4 percent (around 2,000 dollars on the 50K). Verify on the official site.
  • Drawdown model: mixed — Intraday Trailing, End-of-Day Trailing, or Static. Verify on the official site.
  • Daily loss limit: none. Verify on the official site.
  • Minimum trading days: 5 on Quick Pay (3 on Fast Pass). Verify on the official site.
  • Maximum profit split: up to 90 percent on Funded Live. Verify on the official site.
  • Cheapest entry fee: about 62 dollars per month (promotional). Verify on the official site.
  • Payout speed: around 1 business day, on-demand. Verify on the official site.
  • Asset class: futures only. Verify on the official site.
  • Status: active. Verify on the official site.
  • Trustpilot: about 4.6 out of 5 across roughly 1,347 reviews (a point-in-time snapshot that drifts). Verify on the official site.

Trading platforms supported

TradeDay supports Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView, and Jigsaw Trading (Daytradr). That is a solid spread of mainstream futures platforms, so most traders can keep the charting and execution setup they already know. If you are weighing platforms more broadly, our MetaTrader vs cTrader piece is for forex-style firms — TradeDay sits in the separate futures ecosystem.

Reputation and trust

TradeDay’s Trustpilot TrustScore is around 4.6 out of 5 (rated Excellent), based on roughly 1,300 to 1,360 reviews depending on the date, with about 85 percent at five stars. Review counts and scores drift over time, so read the live page rather than a fixed figure.

The official site also claims more than 10 million dollars in verified payouts, thousands of funded traders, and a community of around 15,000 people. It publishes an evaluation pass rate of 36 percent (January to June 2026), while some third-party sources cite roughly 28 percent. Firm-published statistics are best treated as reference figures, not independently audited facts — verify them on the official source and read them with healthy skepticism.

One structural point worth stating plainly: prop firms are unregulated, and the biggest practical risk is not enforcement but a firm running into trouble and being unable to pay. We cover this in prop firm regulation and legality and the broader shutdown history. TradeDay has a multi-year record and named founders, which helps, but no record removes that risk entirely.

Pros and cons for futures traders

What works well:

  • No daily loss limit, which suits traders who dislike being stopped out by a single rough session.
  • Three drawdown models, so you can match risk style — trailing for room, static for predictability.
  • Fast, low-minimum payouts with a free US wire option.
  • Mainstream platform support and named, experienced founders.

What to weigh carefully:

  • Recurring monthly fees add up, especially if your evaluation drags on.
  • Intraday trailing drawdown can tighten on open-trade spikes, which catches out new traders.
  • The 50/50 split below 4,000 dollars of profit means early payouts are modest.
  • Firm-published pass rates and payout totals are unaudited.

Asia-hours note: futures trade nearly around the clock, so traders in Japan, Korea, or China can participate during their daytime. But payout processing follows US business days and Central Time cutoffs, and any tax on profits is your responsibility — see our tax guides for Japan and the USA. This article is not tax advice; consult a qualified professional for your situation.

Verdict: who TradeDay suits

TradeDay is a reasonable choice for futures traders who want a single-phase evaluation, no daily loss limit, flexible drawdown options, and fast payouts — and who are comfortable with recurring monthly fees and the unregulated nature of the industry.

It is less suited to traders who want one-time pricing, who trade forex or equities rather than futures, or who need the protections of a regulated broker. If you are still comparing options, our futures prop firms guide and the data comparison table put TradeDay next to alternatives like Take Profit Trader and MyFundedFutures.

Whatever you choose, decide based on your own checks — see how to choose a prop firm and our methodology. This article is informational and is not investment advice.

Firm profile and comparison

Two long-running firms worth knowing

If a long operating record matters to you, two firms in our data meet “10-plus years and Trust: High.” They trade forex rather than futures, so they are alternatives only if you are open to that market.

FTMO

11 years in operation (since 2015), with industry-leading published payouts maintained through the 2024 shakeout.

→ Visit FTMO

The5%ers

10 years in operation (since 2016), an instant-funding pioneer for traders who prefer to skip the evaluation.

→ Visit The5%ers