Disclosure: TrailingStopLoss.com is an affiliate partner of TradeDay and may earn a commission if you purchase through our links, at no extra cost to you. Partnership never changes what we write — the two genuine gotchas in TradeDay’s payout structure are documented below, in full, exactly as they’d be for a firm that pays us nothing.
TradeDay is the futures prop firm that publishes its own pass rate. Not a marketing-friendly “traders love us” figure — an actual disclosed number (36% for January–June 2026), which is a quietly radical thing to do in an industry that treats failure statistics like a state secret. It’s been running from Chicago since 2020, it pays fast through Rise, and in May 2026 it tore up its entire product line and relaunched as TradeDay 2.0. That last part is why most TradeDay reviews you’ll find are now wrong — they’re still quoting a $139 activation fee that no longer exists and a profit-split ladder that was deleted. Here’s the current firm: every plan’s cost, payment and payout methods, the drawdown trap hiding inside one of the routes, and who it actually suits. Source: Damn Prop Firms — TradeDay review
TradeDay at a glance
TradeDay LLC operates out of 412 S. Wells in Chicago, founded in January 2020 by James Thorpe and Steve Miley. The leadership has genuine institutional pedigree — Thorpe has 15+ years as a full-time futures trader and previously ran Mercury Derivatives and Futures First, and the founding team collectively brings 80+ years from Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, and the CME. It’s futures-only (CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX), reports $10M+ in verified payouts, and runs the standard evaluation → Funded Sim → Funded Live progression. Six years in, it’s one of the longer-tenured firms in a category where longevity is genuinely scarce. Source: TradersPost — TradeDay firm profile
The two routes: Quick Pay vs Fast Pass
TradeDay 2.0 sells nine plans, which sounds like a lot until you see the logic: three account sizes ($50K / $100K / $150K) × three configurations (Quick Pay Intraday, Quick Pay EOD, Fast Pass EOD). The split between the two routes is a genuine strategic fork, not a pricing gimmick. Quick Pay is the legacy product TradeDay built its name on — a 5-day-minimum evaluation, a 30% consistency rule, and day-one payout access once funded, with your choice of Intraday or EOD trailing drawdown. Fast Pass is the new one — a 3-day minimum, a looser 45% consistency rule, EOD drawdown only, and a flat 80/20 split with no 50/50 starter tier. Across both routes, the per-size numbers are identical. Source: Prop Trading Vibes — TradeDay 2.0 routes
| Size | Profit target | Trailing max drawdown | Max contracts (minis / micros) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50K | $3,000 | $2,000 | 5 / 50 |
| $100K | $6,000 | $3,000 | 10 / 50 |
| $150K | $9,000 | $4,500 | 15 / 50 |
Cost: what you actually pay for every plan
TradeDay bills monthly until you pass — like Topstep, unlike Apex’s one-time fee. There is no activation fee on any plan or size under 2.0, which removes the nasty surprise waiting at Apex’s finish line. Each monthly renewal also includes a free reset; if you want to reset mid-cycle, paid resets run $60–$225 depending on size and route. Entry starts at $62.50 for a $50K on promo — the lowest 50K entry price in company history. Cross-firm cost math lives in our futures prop firm true-cost breakdown. Source: TradeDay — 2.0 launch announcement
| Plan | Route | Drawdown | Standard monthly (approx.) | Activation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Pay $50K | Quick Pay | Intraday or EOD | from ~$125/mo (from $62.50 on promo) | $0 |
| Quick Pay $100K | Quick Pay | Intraday or EOD | ~$200/mo (Intraday) · ~$275/mo (EOD) | $0 |
| Quick Pay $150K | Quick Pay | Intraday or EOD | ~$350/mo | $0 |
| Fast Pass $50K | Fast Pass | EOD only | ~$180/mo | $0 |
| Fast Pass $100K | Fast Pass | EOD only | Higher than Quick Pay equivalent | $0 |
| Fast Pass $150K | Fast Pass | EOD only | Higher than Quick Pay equivalent | $0 |
Two things drive the price differences. EOD-drawdown plans cost more than Intraday ones, because EOD is materially safer and TradeDay charges for that. And Fast Pass costs more than Quick Pay at the same size, because you’re paying for the 3-day pass, the looser 45% consistency rule, and the flat 80/20 split with no 50/50 starter tier. Because it’s a monthly meter, a slow evaluation gets expensive — the same trap Topstep sets. Discount codes run near-continuously (roughly 20–50% off), so never pay list. Check TradeDay’s current pricing and live discount here. Source: PropFirmX — TradeDay pricing
The drawdown trap you need to see coming
This is the single most important thing in this review, and it is not on the price card. TradeDay’s trailing maximum drawdown follows your account’s high-water mark upward and then freezes permanently once it reaches your starting balance — so it never trails you into a loss below your starting point. That freeze is trader-friendly and works the same on both routes. The trap is which drawdown you get after you pass. Source: Lune — TradeDay drawdown rules
Payment methods (paying in)
Evaluations are billed as a recurring monthly subscription on a credit or debit card, renewing on the same date each month until you pass, breach, or cancel. There’s no activation payment when you move from evaluation to Funded Sim under 2.0. Discount codes are entered at checkout and can’t be stacked — use whichever gives the bigger saving. As with any subscription, cancel promptly once you pass: a minority of Trustpilot complaints are billing gripes from traders who forgot. Source: Day Trading Insights — TradeDay billing
Withdrawal methods & payout rules (getting paid out)
Payouts run through Riseworks (Rise), with a $250 minimum and next-business-day processing on requests submitted before 5:30 PM ET — in practice, most traders report money landing within about 24 hours. The fee structure is refreshingly clean: US bank wires are free, international wires cost $15, and L2 crypto withdrawals are free. There’s no payout frequency cap. Source: Funded Trading — TradeDay payouts
The profit split under 2.0 is calculated per account, not across a lifetime ladder — and the two routes work very differently, which is where the second gotcha lives. Source: Prop Firm App — TradeDay split structure
• Quick Pay — Funded Sim: payouts from day one, no buffer, no minimum trading period. But you keep only 50% of your first $4,000 of net profit on that account, then 80% above it.
• Fast Pass — Funded Sim: a flat 80/20 from the start — no 50/50 tier. The gate is time instead: 5 profitable days at $150+ ($50K), $200+ ($100K), or $250+ ($150K) per day before your first request. Requests cap at 50% of account balance.
• Both routes — Funded Live: 90/10 on real capital.
So the choice is blunt: Quick Pay buys you speed and pays for it with half of your first $4,000; Fast Pass buys you the better split and pays for it with five qualifying days of waiting. Worked example on a Quick Pay $50K — earn $2,000 in week one and withdraw it all, and you receive $1,000, because you’re inside the first-$4K tier. The day-one access is real. Just don’t expect 80% of your first payout. Source: Damn Prop Firms — TradeDay payout math
Above Funded Sim sits Funded Live — real market capital at a 90/10 split, and one of the few genuine live tiers in futures prop trading (Topstep and Tradeify are the other notable ones). You can run up to 3 concurrent Funded Sim accounts, topping out at $450,000 in total funding at the $150K size, with a maximum of 6 accounts overall. TradeDay 2.0 also eliminated the old Funded Sim milestone pauses, where hitting $5K profit increments would freeze your account for a Head of Trading review. Source: OnlyPropFirms — TradeDay 2.0 progression
Rules, platforms & restrictions
TradeDay is a strict day-trading firm: no overnight holds, no weekend holds, and positions must be flat 10 minutes before each product’s close. News trading is restricted rather than banned — the platform auto-liquidates positions about two minutes before Tier 1 releases (FOMC, CPI, NFP) and reopens two minutes after, so you can’t hold through them. Accidental brushes with soft guidelines won’t fail you; deliberately gaming them will cost you the account. Hedging between accounts is strictly prohibited and forfeits all profits, while copy trading between your own accounts is permitted (TradeDay recommends TradeSyncer). Source: PropFirm Compare — TradeDay rules
Platforms run on Tradovate as the core, with NinjaTrader, TradingView, and Jigsaw Daytradr supported, all on the CQG data feed — and all your accounts must run on the same platform. One notable 2026 casualty: TradeDayX is discontinued, because ProjectX went exclusive to Topstep in February 2026 and TradeDay rebuilt on the Tradovate stack. Automation policy is a real limitation — TradeDay prohibits third-party purchased bots and automated trading systems and doesn’t expose the Tradovate API, though custom strategies built and executed inside the supported platforms are fine. Source: TradersPost — TradeDay platforms & automation
Trustpilot & reputation
TradeDay holds a 4.6/5 “Excellent” rating on Trustpilot across roughly 1,370 reviews — a smaller base than Apex or Topstep, but a strong and stable score with predominantly positive recent reviews. The recurring praise is payout reliability (fast, clean, no compliance theater), clear rules, and responsive support. There’s no documented cluster of systematic payout denials. Source: Trustpilot — TradeDay
Who it’s for — and who should skip it
TradeDay fits a disciplined CME futures day trader who wants a single failure condition (no daily loss limit), zero consistency rules once funded, fast Rise payouts with free US wires, no activation fee, and a genuine route to real capital. Pick Fast Pass if you want EOD drawdown that survives into your funded account and a flat 80/20 split from day one. Pick Quick Pay if cash flow matters more than split efficiency and you can stomach the 50/50 first-$4K tier and intraday funded trailing. Skip TradeDay if you hold overnight or over weekends (hard no), if you need to trade through Tier 1 news releases, if you run third-party bots or need API access, or if a monthly subscription meter doesn’t suit a slow, patient evaluation pace. Source: PropFirm Key — TradeDay fit
The verdict
TradeDay is one of the more honest operations in futures prop trading, and the 2.0 relaunch made it materially better: the activation fee is gone, milestone pauses are gone, entry starts at $62.50, and the firm publishes a pass rate its competitors would never print. Payouts through Rise are fast, free on US wires, and reliable. The single-rule evaluation with no daily loss limit — and no consistency rule at all once funded — is a genuinely trader-friendly structure that a lot of bigger firms don’t match. The debits are specific and worth pricing in: Quick Pay funded accounts silently switch to intraday trailing drawdown even if you passed an EOD evaluation, the Quick Pay 50/50 tier on your first $4,000 is a real haircut, the monthly meter punishes slow evaluations, and the automation ban rules out algo traders entirely. Choose the route deliberately — the difference between Quick Pay and Fast Pass is worth more than the price gap between them. See TradeDay’s current plans and discount → Source: TradeDay — official site
Frequently asked questions
How much does TradeDay cost?
TradeDay bills a monthly subscription until you pass, with no activation fee on any plan under 2.0. Entry starts around $62.50 for a $50K on promo (standard ~$125/mo for Quick Pay Intraday $50K, ~$180/mo for Fast Pass $50K). EOD-drawdown plans cost more than Intraday, and Fast Pass costs more than Quick Pay at the same size. Each monthly renewal includes a free reset; paid mid-cycle resets run $60–$225. Discount codes of 20–50% run near-continuously.
What payment methods does TradeDay accept?
Evaluations are billed as a recurring monthly subscription on a credit or debit card, renewing on the same date each month until you pass, breach, or cancel. There’s no separate activation payment when moving from evaluation to Funded Sim. Remember to cancel once you pass.
How do TradeDay payouts work and how do you get paid?
Payouts run through Riseworks with a $250 minimum and next-business-day processing (requests before 5:30 PM ET). US bank wires are free, international wires cost $15, and L2 crypto withdrawals are free. On Quick Pay you can request from day one with no buffer, but you keep only 50% of your first $4,000 of net profit, then 80%. On Fast Pass you need 5 profitable days ($150/$200/$250 per day by size) but get a flat 80/20 from the start. Both routes reach 90/10 on a Funded Live account. The split is per-account, not a lifetime ladder.
What is TradeDay’s Trustpilot score?
TradeDay holds a 4.6/5 “Excellent” rating across roughly 1,370 Trustpilot reviews, with predominantly positive recent reviews. Praise centers on fast, reliable payouts and clear rules, with no documented cluster of systematic payout denials.
What’s the difference between TradeDay Quick Pay and Fast Pass?
Quick Pay has a 5-day minimum evaluation, a 30% consistency rule, your choice of Intraday or EOD drawdown, and day-one payouts once funded — but only a 50% split on your first $4,000 of profit. Fast Pass has a 3-day minimum with no minimum trading days, a looser 45% consistency rule, EOD drawdown only, and a flat 80/20 split — but requires 5 profitable days before your first payout. Critically, only Fast Pass keeps EOD drawdown on the funded account.
Does TradeDay use intraday or end-of-day trailing drawdown?
Both, depending on the plan — and there’s a catch. The trailing drawdown follows your high-water mark up and freezes permanently once it reaches your starting balance. However, all Quick Pay funded accounts use intraday trailing drawdown even if you passed an EOD evaluation. Only Fast Pass retains EOD drawdown after funding. If EOD is what you want on your funded account, Fast Pass is the only route that delivers it.
Can you hold trades overnight or trade the news on TradeDay?
No overnight or weekend holds — positions must be flat 10 minutes before each product’s close. News trading is restricted rather than banned: TradeDay auto-liquidates positions roughly two minutes before Tier 1 releases (FOMC, CPI, NFP) and reopens two minutes after, so you can’t hold through them.
Affiliate disclosure: TrailingStopLoss.com is an affiliate partner of TradeDay and may earn a commission on purchases made through our links, at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships never influence our rankings, ratings, or the problems we report — the Quick Pay funded-drawdown switch and the 50/50 first-$4K tier are documented above precisely because our editorial standard requires it. This review is for information only, is not financial advice, and futures trading carries substantial risk of loss. TradeDay 2.0 launched in May 2026 and terms change frequently — always verify current pricing and rules on tradeday.com before purchasing.
