Best Prop Firms for NinjaTrader Traders in 2026

Prop firms changed a lot in the past year. Monthly subscriptions gave way to one-time fees, account types were renamed, and one of the best-known firms stopped supporting NinjaTrader for new customers. If you chose a firm from an older comparison, some of what you read is no longer true.

This guide covers four firms NinjaTrader traders ask about most: TradeDay, Bulenox, Apex Trader Funding and Topstep. Three of them work with NinjaTrader 8 today. One no longer does for new accounts.

What to Look For in a Prop Firm

Before comparing firms, these are the things that decide whether an account suits you:

• How NinjaTrader connects. Firms connect NinjaTrader through Rithmic or Tradovate. You usually choose at checkout and cannot switch afterwards, so pick the one your setup needs.
• Drawdown type. An intraday trailing drawdown follows your account's high in real time, including open profit. An end-of-day drawdown only moves at the close. The second is much easier to trade around.
• Total cost. Add the evaluation, any reset or second attempt, and the activation fee. The headline price is rarely the whole cost.
• Profit split and payout limits. A 100% split means less if each payout is capped or the number of payouts is limited.
• Consistency rules. Many firms limit how much of your profit can come from one day. Some apply it in the evaluation, others when you ask for a payout.
• When you can withdraw. The number of trading days before a first payout ranges from one to ten.

1. TradeDay

TradeDay sells two evaluations, Quick Pay and Fast Pass, in $25K, $50K, $100K and $150K sizes. NinjaTrader 8 connects through a TradeDay Tradovate account, and the free version of NinjaTrader is enough for both evaluation and funded accounts.

What Makes TradeDay Stand Out

There is no activation fee on any plan, and Quick Pay lets you request a payout from the first day of a funded account. You can choose an intraday or an end-of-day drawdown when you buy the evaluation.

Once you reach a live funded account, the split rises to 90/10.

What to Watch Out For

The profit split is the catch. On a Quick Pay funded account you keep half of the first $4,000 of profit, and 80% after that. Fast Pass pays 80/20 from the start but costs more and needs five funded days before a payout.

Quick Pay evaluations have a 30% consistency rule and a five-day minimum. A Quick Pay funded account also uses an intraday drawdown even if you passed an end-of-day evaluation, so read the funded rules before you choose.

Buy the Tradovate version if you want to use NinjaTrader. TradeDay also sells Rithmic versions of each plan, and we could not confirm on TradeDay's site that NinjaTrader works with those.

TradeDay’s website

2. Bulenox

Bulenox is a Delaware firm that connects through Rithmic, and NinjaTrader 8 is one of more than 20 platforms it supports. A free NinjaTrader licence is included once you reach a Master account.

What Makes Bulenox Stand Out

You keep all of the first $10,000 you are paid, counted across your whole profile, and 90% after that. There are no minimum trading days in the evaluation, so you can pass as soon as you hit the target.

You choose between two rule sets and keep that choice for the life of the account. Option 1 is a trailing drawdown. Option 2 is an end-of-day drawdown with a daily loss limit and a scaling plan. The daily limit can work in your favour if bad days tend to run away from you.

Bulenox also sells two newer account types. Fast Track skips the evaluation for a higher one-time fee. Momentum is a cheaper evaluation with no activation fee, with its own payout conditions.

What to Watch Out For

Payouts take longer than the headline suggests. A standard Master account needs 10 trading days before the first payout and 10 more before each one after. The first three payouts are capped, and a reserve has to stay in the account.

A 40% consistency rule applies to every payout request. The evaluation fee buys 30 days of access and does not renew, so if you run out of time you pay again. A reset costs $78 and does not extend the 30 days.

The $25K account has a $1,500 profit target against a $1,500 drawdown, which leaves very little room.

Bulenox’s website

3. Apex Trader Funding

Apex rebuilt its accounts on March 1, 2026. Evaluations are now a one-time fee for 30 days, with either an end-of-day or an intraday trailing drawdown. You pick Rithmic, Tradovate or WealthCharts at checkout, and NinjaTrader 8 connects through Rithmic or Tradovate.

What Makes Apex Stand Out

Apex allows up to 20 funded accounts at once, against 5 at Bulenox. The old monthly fee on funded accounts is gone: activation is a single payment.

There is no minimum number of days in the evaluation and no consistency rule until you ask for a payout. Apex was running a large coupon when we checked, so you may pay well under the list prices above.

What to Watch Out For

The 100% split comes with limits. Each payout is capped, and an account closes after its sixth payout. A 50% consistency rule applies when you request a payout: no single day can be half or more of your profit.

There are no resets on the new accounts. If an evaluation fails or its 30 days run out, you buy a new one. After you pass, you have seven days to pay the activation fee or the pass is lost.

End-of-day evaluations cost much more than intraday ones: the 50K lists at $590 against $249. You cannot change between Rithmic, Tradovate and WealthCharts after buying.

Apex Trader Funding’s website

What About Topstep?

Topstep is one of the longest-running futures prop firms, but it is no longer an option if NinjaTrader is a requirement. NinjaTrader's own Topstep page says Topstep stopped offering NinjaTrader to new users on July 7, 2025. New accounts trade on Topstep's own platform, TopstepX.

If you already hold a Topstep account on NinjaTrader, check with Topstep what you can still do with it. We could not confirm the details on Topstep's site.

If you are happy to trade on TopstepX, the current terms are: $50K, $100K and $150K accounts from $49 a month with a $149 activation fee, or from $95 a month with none. The split is 90/10, the drawdown is end-of-day, and the evaluation has a 55% consistency rule.

Side-by-Side Comparison

TradeDay figures are for Quick Pay with an intraday drawdown. Apex figures are for the intraday evaluation.

Which One Should You Pick?

There is no single best firm. It depends on how you trade and what you want from the account.

Tracking Your Prop Firm Performance

Whichever firm you choose, the rules are what end accounts: drawdown, daily loss limits and consistency. If you are not looking at your numbers every day, you can break one without noticing until it is too late.

That matters most with a trailing drawdown, where the floor moves up as your balance peaks. To see how many losing trades each limit allows before you start, use the prop firm evaluation calculator, and the break-even calculator to add up what an attempt really costs.

If you're trading on NinjaTrader, our guide on tracking your trading performance covers the numbers worth watching. And if you want that done for you, TradeScope reads your NinjaTrader trades directly and shows each account's results, drawdown and daily P&L without any exporting.