TradeDay Funded Sim vs Funded Live: Key Differences

You passed the TradeDay evaluation. Congratulations. Now comes the question nobody asks until they're funded: what's actually different between Funded Sim and Funded Live?

Most traders assume everything changes when they graduate to Live capital. That's not accurate. The two stages share more similarities than differences — same profit split, same drawdown rules, same trading restrictions. But the differences that do exist matter significantly for your cost structure, risk management approach, and account scaling strategy.

This article breaks down every difference between Funded Sim and Funded Live accounts at TradeDay. More importantly, it explains why most traders should stay in Funded Sim as long as possible — and when transitioning to Live actually makes financial sense.

Quick heads-up: This article is based on my real experience with TradeDay and the info available when I published/updated this. Things change in prop trading — rules, payouts, promos, all of it.

For the absolute latest, check TradeDay´s website or their faq page.

The Fundamental Difference: Simulation vs Real Capital

Funded Sim: You're trading simulated capital through Tradovate's demo environment. Trades execute through a simulation engine managed by third-party brokers and platforms. TradeDay has no direct control over the execution environment.

Funded Live: You're trading real capital through a live brokerage account. TradeDay funds the account with actual money. Your trades execute against real market participants with real liquidity at CME/CBOT exchanges.

Why this matters: Simulated environments provide slightly optimistic fills. If you place a limit order and the market briefly touches that level, sim fills often execute even if real market volume at that price was thin. Live markets require your order to join the queue and fill only when sufficient volume trades through your price. Scalping strategies relying on precise entries/exits feel this difference most.

Cost Structure: The $156/Month Reality

This is where most traders get surprised.

The math:

If you primarily trade ES, NQ, and RTY (all on CME), you're paying $156/month for CME professional market data once you move to Funded Live. If you also trade energies on NYMEX, add another $156. If you trade metals on COMEX, add another $156.

Most futures traders focus on 1-2 exchanges, so realistic monthly cost for Funded Live is $156-$312 before accounting for commissions.

Commission impact:

Funded Sim: Simulated commissions are included in your P&L calculations, but no actual money leaves your account.

Funded Live: Every trade costs real money. ES round-trip is approximately $4.12, MES around $1.60, NQ around $4.22. If you're trading 200 round-trips per month on MES, that's $320 in commission costs.

Total monthly cost for active Funded Live trader: $156 (data) + $320 (commissions) = $476/month in real costs.

Funded Sim monthly cost: $0.

This is why staying in Funded Sim makes financial sense unless you're consistently hitting position limits and need more size.

The Slippage Rule (Funded Live Only)

This rule doesn't exist in Funded Sim. It only applies to Funded Live accounts sized $25K and above.

What it does: After significant losses, TradeDay automatically reduces your position limits to protect capital during volatile periods. If your Funded Live account experiences substantial losses within a short period, the system flags your account and temporarily reduces maximum contract limits. The reduction scales with loss severity. After you demonstrate recovery with consistent profitable trading, position limits gradually restore.

Why Funded Sim doesn't have this: Simulated capital carries no real risk to TradeDay. Funded Live accounts hold real capital requiring additional safeguards beyond standard drawdown limits.

Strategic impact: This rule primarily affects aggressive traders or those experiencing rough patches. Conservative traders with solid risk management rarely trigger slippage rule adjustments. In Funded Sim, position limits stay consistent. In Funded Live, they can shrink if you're struggling.

Milestone Reviews vs Continuous Trading

This difference changes how you manage account growth.

Funded Sim: Mandatory Milestone Reviews

At every $5,000 in gross profit (profits in account + withdrawals taken), your account automatically pauses for review. This happens during the End of Day run at 4:30 PM CT.

The process:

1. You hit $5,000 gross profit
2. Account access automatically pauses EOD
3. TradeDay's Head of Trading reviews your performance overnight
4. Decision made: extension in Funded Sim OR promotion to Funded Live
5. Access restored before next US market open (typically by 8:30 AM CT)

Critical detail: Any profits beyond the exact milestone amount get removed and balance resets to the milestone level. If you hit $5,300 before EOD, they'll reset you to $5,000 and remove the extra $300.

Milestones reset per account: If you're running multiple Funded Sim accounts, each has independent milestone tracking. Losing one account and starting fresh means you go through all milestones again on the new account.

Funded Live: No Milestone Reviews

Once promoted to Funded Live, milestone reviews end. You can trade continuously without mandatory pauses. No stopping at $5K, $10K, $15K profit marks. You trade, you withdraw when you want (within payout rules), and TradeDay doesn't pause your account for performance reviews.

Why the difference exists: Milestone reviews serve two purposes in Funded Sim: (1) evaluate whether you're ready for real capital, and (2) prevent traders from withdrawing too aggressively before demonstrating consistency. Once you've proven yourself worthy of Live capital, TradeDay trusts you to manage the account without intervention.

Payout Request Process

Minor procedural difference, but worth knowing.

Funded Sim: Request payouts directly through your TradeDay dashboard. Click "Request Withdrawal," enter amount, submit. Processed after the 4:30 PM CT daily trade report.

Funded Live: Must email fundedtrader@tradeday.com to request payouts. Include account details and withdrawal amount. Processing happens if request received by 11:30 AM CT for same-day handling.

Both use Riseworks for payout processing. Both process within 24 hours. Both offer bank wire (free US, $15 international) and cryptocurrency options. The only difference is the request method — dashboard click vs email.

Platform and Data Feed Restrictions

Funded Sim: Multiple platforms can run simultaneously. Many traders operate Tradovate on one monitor and NinjaTrader on another without issues.

Funded Live: Cannot have Tradovate and NinjaTrader open simultaneously. Professional market data licensing restricts dual platform access for live accounts.

Workaround: Choose your primary desktop platform for active trading and accept you can't simultaneously monitor on mobile. Or commit fully to Tradovate for both desktop and mobile access.

Account Consolidation When Moving to Live

Funded Sim: Maximum 3 accounts simultaneously. Each operates independently with separate balances, drawdowns, and milestone tracking.

Funded Live: Multiple Funded Sim accounts merge into 1 Funded Live account when graduating. Profits from all graduating accounts combine. Position limits set at the highest level among your graduating accounts.

Example: Three Funded Sim accounts with $8K, $6.5K, and $12K net profit graduate simultaneously. TradeDay creates 1 Funded Live account with $26,500 starting balance and position limits based on the largest account ($100K rules).

Strategic implication: Ensure at least one graduating Sim account is a larger size ($100K or $150K) for maximum position size flexibility in Funded Live. The Live account inherits position limits from your largest qualified Sim account.

What Stays Exactly the Same

Despite the differences, most trading conditions remain identical between Funded Sim and Funded Live.

Identical rules:

• Same drawdown calculation methods (EOD, Intraday, or Static depending on your evaluation type)
• Same profit split structure (80% up to $50K lifetime withdrawals, then 90%, then 95% over $100K)
• Same trading hours restrictions (must close positions 10 minutes before market close)
• Same prohibited practices (no news trading, no account hedging, no exploitative strategies)
• Same permitted instruments
• Same consistency requirements
• Same payout processing timeline (24 hours)

The trading experience feels identical beyond execution quality. You're still trading futures, watching the same charts, following the same risk management rules. The psychological pressure changes because you know it's real capital, but the mechanical process of trading stays the same.

Transition Requirements: How to Qualify for Funded Live

TradeDay doesn't automatically promote every Funded Sim trader to Live. There are two pathways:

Pathway 1: Milestone-Based Promotion

Reach $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 gross profit milestones. TradeDay reviews your trading during the mandatory pause. If they determine you're ready for real capital — demonstrated by consistent profitability, good risk management, and adherence to rules — they promote you to Funded Live.

Promotion isn't guaranteed at any specific milestone. Some traders get promoted at the first $5K milestone. Others reach $20K+ gross profit before TradeDay offers Live capital. The decision factors include trade quality, drawdown management, win rate consistency, and risk-per-trade metrics.

Pathway 2: Three-Withdrawal Milestone

After your third successful withdrawal from a Funded Sim account, TradeDay considers you for Live promotion. This pathway acknowledges that if you've successfully withdrawn profits three times, you've proven consistency and account management capability.

Minimum transfer requirement: At least $1,000 net profit must remain in your Funded Sim account to transfer to Funded Live. If you've withdrawn too aggressively and your account balance is below $1,000, you'll need to build it back up before graduation.

You can decline promotion: Some traders prefer staying in Funded Sim indefinitely to avoid the $156/month market data fees. TradeDay doesn't force the transition. If they offer Live promotion and you decline, you can continue trading Funded Sim accounts without penalty.

When Funded Live Actually Makes Sense

Despite the cost increase, some scenarios justify transitioning to Funded Live.

You need larger position sizes: Funded Sim limits maximum contracts based on your original evaluation account size. If you're consistently maxing out position limits and your strategy would benefit from trading more contracts, Funded Live's higher position limits (inherited from your largest graduating account) provide necessary room to scale.

You're withdrawing $2,000+ per month: At $156/month for market data, you're spending 7.8% of monthly withdrawals on fees. If you're only pulling $500/month, that's 31% overhead — terrible economics. But if you're withdrawing $3,000/month consistently, 5.2% overhead is reasonable for accessing larger position sizes and removing milestone review interruptions.

You want continuous trading without pauses: Milestone reviews pause your account overnight every $5K. For aggressive traders building momentum, these mandatory stops disrupt flow. Funded Live eliminates interruptions.

You're scaling toward TradeDay's maximum: TradeDay's ultimate goal is identifying traders capable of managing significant capital. Funded Live proves you can handle real fills, real commissions, and real capital without simulation advantages. This positions you for potential increases in funded capital over time.

Why Most Traders Should Stay in Funded Sim

Zero monthly costs: You keep 100% of withdrawn profits without $156+ monthly overhead eating into earnings.

Slightly better fill quality: Simulated fills tend to be more forgiving than live market fills, especially on limit orders during fast markets.

No slippage rule complications: Position limits stay consistent regardless of drawdown periods.

Multi-platform flexibility: Run NinjaTrader and Tradovate simultaneously if that workflow suits your trading.

Same payout access: You can withdraw profits just as frequently from Funded Sim as from Funded Live. The money is real, the withdrawal processing is identical, and your profit split is the same.

Milestone reviews are manageable: Pausing every $5K for overnight review is a minor inconvenience compared to paying $156+ monthly for the privilege of avoiding it.

Most profitable traders at TradeDay stay in Funded Sim for 6-12+ months before considering Live transition. Some stay in Sim permanently. Unless you have specific reasons requiring Live capital (position size constraints being the most common), Funded Sim offers better economics.

Account Termination Differences

Funded Sim: If you breach maximum drawdown, your account terminates. If you have profits above the drawdown point, you receive final payout (your profit split share). That Funded Sim account is done, but you can immediately start a new evaluation to earn another Funded Sim account.

Funded Live: Same termination conditions apply, but there's an additional consideration. TradeDay reviews your trading history before allowing you to restart evaluations. If they determine you grossly mismanaged the Live account through excessive withdrawals that left minimal drawdown buffer, they may decline to offer you new evaluation opportunities.

The difference: Funded Sim failures are low-consequence. Lose it, start fresh. Funded Live failures carry reputational weight with TradeDay. Mishandling real capital reduces your chances of future funding opportunities.

Rules Summary Table

The Bottom Line

Funded Sim and Funded Live share the same core trading experience. You're following the same rules, earning the same profit splits, and withdrawing real money either way. The differences come down to cost structure ($0 vs $156+ monthly), execution environment (simulated vs real fills), and administrative procedures (milestone reviews vs continuous trading).

Default recommendation: Stay in Funded Sim unless you have a specific, compelling reason to upgrade. The cost savings alone justify remaining in Sim, and most traders never reach position size constraints that require Live capital.

When to consider Funded Live: You're consistently profitable, withdrawing $2,000+ monthly, maxing position limits regularly, or TradeDay specifically recommends promotion based on your trading quality.

What matters most: Whether you're in Sim or Live, the fundamentals don't change. Trade with disciplined risk management, respect your drawdown limits, avoid common violation triggers, and focus on consistent profitability. That approach works in both environments — and determines whether you keep your funded status long-term.

Your Next Steps

‍👉 Start Trading at TradeDay Today

‍👉 Read My Full TradeDay Review

‍👉 Check out TradeDay´s Payout Rules

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