Tradeify Account Types Overview (2026): Lightning, Growth & Select Explained

Tradeify runs three purchasable account types in 2026 — Lightning Funded, Growth, and Select — plus an Elite live-capital tier that you earn your way into.

I've personally tested all of them. I've had accounts fail, accounts pay out dozens of times, and accounts I wish I'd structured differently from day one. Getting the account choice right before you spend your first dollar is probably worth more than any trading edge I could give you. So this is the full breakdown.

Why I trade with Tradeify: I've been running Tradeify accounts across Lightning, Growth, and Select plans—passed evaluations, activated funded accounts, withdrawn profits through Rise and Plane, and dealt with their support team across multiple issues. This assessment is based on real money in, real money out.

That said, no prop firm is perfect. Tradeify has clear strengths (EOD trailing drawdown, no minimum days on Growth eval, Select Flex's DLL-free funded environment, 7-day-a-week payouts) and real weaknesses (Lightning consistency rules get brutal by cycle 5+, Select Flex payout caps limit big months, no Rithmic support) that I've documented honestly. For a complete breakdown of their account types, pricing, and what to expect at each stage, read my complete Tradeify review. For the absolute latest, check Tradeify's website.

The Three Account Families: What Each One Actually Does

Before going deep on mechanics, here's the plain-English version of each.

Lightning Funded gives you instant sim funding with no evaluation. You pay a one-time flat fee, receive credentials, and trade funded the same day. No monthly billing. No evaluation to pass. The tradeoff is that failed accounts can't be reset — if you breach, you buy again — and consistency rules escalate across your first five payout cycles in a way that requires active management.

Growth is the monthly-subscription evaluation most traders start with. The evaluation pressure is lower than any other prop firm I've tested — there's no minimum trading day requirement, and the daily loss limit is soft (pauses trading, doesn't fail the account). Pass in one session if conditions align. The funded phase runs a 35% consistency rule that never goes away, so big single-day wins require careful cycle management.

Select is the most fully-featured account Tradeify has ever offered. Three qualifying evaluation days minimum, 40% eval consistency rule, then you choose permanently between Select Flex (no DLL, no funded consistency rule, 5-day cycles) or Select Daily (daily payout access, DLL enforced, continuity requirements from payout 2). The funded rules are cleaner than anything else in the Tradeify lineup.

Elite is the live capital tier. Unlocks after 5 total approved payouts across any account combination. Tradeify reviews you manually, transitions you off sim, and you trade real CME exchange capital through NinjaTrader brokerage with daily payouts, 90/10 split, and up to 5 simultaneous live accounts.

That's the framework. Now let's go deep.

Lightning Funded: Instant Access, Escalating Consistency Rules

Lightning was the original differentiator that made Tradeify stand out when the firm launched. Skip the evaluation. Pay once. Trade funded from day one.

I bought my first Lightning on launch day. I still have active Lightning accounts running. That tells you something about the fundamental soundness of the structure — but it doesn't tell you about the escalating consistency mechanics that make later Lightning payouts genuinely difficult to navigate without a deliberate approach.

Lightning Pricing and Account Sizes

Lightning is a one-time purchase. The fees as of March 2026:

The 100% profit split covers the first $15,000 in cumulative lifetime payouts from that account — then permanently shifts to 90/10. On a $50K Lightning running $2,000 to $2,500 per payout cycle, you exhaust the 100% window around your sixth or seventh withdrawal. That's meaningful real money — roughly $1,500 extra compared to starting at 90/10 from day one.

No reset option. This is the most important thing to understand about Lightning before you buy. A breached account is a dead account. You purchase again at full price. I've had two Lightning breaches in my testing across multiple accounts. Both were on $25K accounts where I got aggressive during a volatile news session. At $349 per account, the math still worked out — but it changes how you size risk on Lightning versus Growth.

The Escalating Consistency System on Lightning

The consistency rule on Lightning is the most misunderstood mechanic in the entire Tradeify lineup. It changes across your first five funded payout cycles:

• Cycles 1–2: Best day max 40%, min 20% of cycle profit
• Cycles 3–4: Best day max 35%, min 25%
• Cycle 5+: Best day max 30%, min 30% — a narrow 30% band, exact

That cycle 5+ window is genuinely difficult to hit naturally. Your best day needs to land at exactly 30% of total cycle profit — which means if you have a blowout session, you need to engineer other sessions to bring the ratio to 30%. It requires active P&L management, not just good trading. On my most active Lightning accounts, I track my running consistency percentage after every session once I hit cycle 3.

Growth: The Entry-Level Evaluation for Serious Traders

Growth is what I'd recommend to a trader who's tested a sim account, understands their strategy has edge, and wants the evaluation with the lowest elimination risk in the industry. The numbers are straightforward. The rules are predictable. And the soft DLL genuinely saves accounts that would otherwise get burned by one bad news day.

I've passed Growth accounts in a single day of trading. With the 6% target on a $50K account — $3,000 — and no minimum day requirement, a clean trending session is enough. The pressure in Growth isn't passing the evaluation. It's the 35% funded consistency rule that makes the long game harder.

Growth Evaluation and Funded Phase Specs

Managing the 35% Consistency Rule as a Growth Trader

The 35% funded consistency rule is the defining feature of Growth funded trading — and it's where most traders struggle. The rule means that within any 5-qualifying-day payout cycle, your single highest-profit trading day can't exceed 35% of total cycle profits.

My approach is to cap daily P&L targets at roughly 30% of my cycle target. On a $50K account where I'm targeting $4,500 per cycle, that means capping any individual day at $1,350. Even if the market hands me a perfect setup for a $3,000 session, I stop at $1,350 and either close the platform or trade very small for the remainder of the day. One blowout day that puts you at 60% of cycle profit means you can't request a payout until you've earned enough across additional qualifying days to bring that ratio below 35%. I've had that situation extend a cycle by 8 days. It's not the end of the world, but it's avoidable with simple daily target discipline.

The payout caps on Growth escalate across your first six payouts and eventually top out at $25,000 per cycle on a $50K account. Growth's 100% → 90/10 profit split structure makes the first six payouts the highest-value period in the account's life.

Select: The Best Funded Rules Tradeify Has Built

The Select plan launched in late 2025 and immediately became my primary account type. There were weeks I was running 4+ funded accounts and still added Select Flex accounts to the stack. The funded rules are that much cleaner than everything else.

The Select Evaluation

The Select evaluation has a 5% profit target (lower than Growth's 6%) with a 40% consistency rule and a minimum of 3 qualifying trading days. You cannot pass Select in a single session — the 3-day minimum is hard. But with a lower percentage target and strong market conditions, 3 days is genuinely quick.

After passing, you make a permanent pathway choice: Select Flex or Select Daily.

Select Flex vs Select Daily: The Permanent Choice

This is the decision with the biggest long-term impact, and you make it once.

Select Flex: No daily loss limit in the funded phase. No funded consistency rule at all. 5-day payout cycles. Payout capped at 50% of net cycle profits, with hard caps of $3K/$4K/$5K for 50K/100K/150K. Contract limits are progressive — they start lower than evaluation and scale as your EOD equity grows above starting balance.

Select Daily: Daily payout requests allowed. DLL enforced. From payout 2 onward, a continuity requirement kicks in (you must maintain a net positive balance between payouts). Daily caps of $1K/$1.5K/$2.5K for 50K/100K/150K. 90/10 split from day one.

If you trade consistently and want maximum payout frequency — even small daily amounts — Select Daily is worth considering. If you want zero DLL pressure, no funded consistency ceiling, and the ability to have one monster week and collect the maximum cycle cap — Select Flex is the answer.

I run Select Flex. The DLL-free funded environment changes how you can manage positions through news, gap openings, and volatile sessions. It's the closest thing to trading without a safety net in a funded environment — which sounds scarier than it is, because you still have the EOD drawdown floor underneath you at all times.

Elite: The Destination, Not a Purchase

Elite isn't something you buy. You earn it. After 5 total approved payouts across any Tradeify account combination, you qualify for review. Tradeify's team evaluates your trading and, at their discretion, contacts you to transition.

The transition is mandatory once offered. Your sim accounts stop. You get up to 5 live accounts using real CME exchange capital via NinjaTrader brokerage. Elite accounts carry:

• No daily loss limit
• Daily payouts with no cycle requirement
• Permanently locked EOD drawdown from day one ($100 above starting balance)
• Doubled contract limits above the drawdown line
• 90/10 profit split
• Personal risk manager
• Elite Bonus Program: $2K at $10K profit, $5K at $20K, $10K at $50K, $20K at $100K, $50K at $250K

You cannot hold any other Tradeify accounts (sim or evaluation) in the same household while holding Elite Live. It's designed to be your whole trading operation, not part of a portfolio. And you can be placed in a 4-week cooling-off period before starting new evaluations if you breach Elite, so the stakes are real.

My take: the path to Elite should be on every serious Tradeify trader's radar from account 1. Five payouts isn't a long journey if you're disciplined. On Select Flex, 5 funded payouts is 25 qualifying days of clean trading. On Growth, it's similar. The Elite Bonus Program alone at the higher milestones changes the return math significantly.

What Happened to Advanced Accounts?

Advanced was discontinued for new purchases in December 2025. Existing Advanced holders can continue running their accounts and resetting under legacy terms. But if you're buying a new account right now, Advanced isn't an option.

The reason Advanced got killed is probably related to its core rule structure: intraday trailing drawdown instead of EOD. That's a significantly more demanding mechanic that eliminated more accounts, generated more frustration, and sat at odds with the EOD structure Tradeify built its reputation on. Select effectively replaced Advanced with better evaluation terms and genuinely superior funded rules.

Frequently Asked Questions About Tradeify Accounts

What's the difference between Lightning and Growth?

Lightning is instant funded — no evaluation, one-time fee, trade from day one. Growth is a monthly-subscription evaluation with a 6% profit target and no minimum day requirement. Lightning costs more upfront but skips the evaluation process entirely. Growth is cheaper per month but requires passing the evaluation before funded access. Lightning can't be reset if breached; Growth can be reset for $85–$197.

Can I run multiple Tradeify accounts at the same time?

Yes — up to 5 simultaneous simulated funded accounts per household, with a maximum of $750,000 in total simulated funding across all accounts. Up to 15 new evaluations can be purchased within any 30-day period. Elite Live accounts cannot coexist with any sim or evaluation accounts in the same household.

Which account size should I start with?

Most traders starting on Tradeify do best with a $50K account — the drawdown ($2,000 for Growth and Lightning) gives enough room to trade without constantly touching the floor on normal volatility, and the evaluation cost is low enough to justify a reset if needed. The $150K makes sense only if you're already consistently trading 10+ contracts in your own account and need the position limits to match your actual strategy.

Does Tradeify have activation fees?

No — all current account types (Lightning, Growth, Select) transition to funded status without activation fees. The legacy Advanced plan had a $125 activation fee, but Advanced was discontinued in December 2025. Monthly subscriptions for Growth and Select cancel automatically upon passing the evaluation.

Is Tradeify legit?

Tradeify has a 4.7/5 Trustpilot rating across 2,100+ reviews, has processed over $100M in trader payouts as of early 2026, and operates 7-day-a-week payouts including weekends.

What happened to ProjectX on Tradeify?

Tradeify discontinued ProjectX on February 28, 2026, following Plus500's decision to end third-party platform access. The replacement is WealthCharts, which launched February 22, 2026. Current platform options are Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView, Quantower, and WealthCharts.

How do I qualify for Tradeify Elite?

You need 5 total approved payouts across any Tradeify account combination — not 5 payouts from a single account. After reaching that threshold, Tradeify reviews your trading activity and contacts you at their discretion. The transition is mandatory once selected. You can't opt out and continue running sim accounts.

What's the profit split on Tradeify accounts?

Growth and Lightning: 100% on the first $15,000 in cumulative lifetime payouts from that account, then 90/10 permanently. Select Flex and Select Daily: 90/10 from the very first payout with no 100% phase. Elite: 90/10. The 100% window on Growth/Lightning is genuinely meaningful — especially for smaller accounts extracting early profits.

Can I trade news events on Tradeify?

Yes — news trading is fully permitted with no blackout periods, pre-event position restrictions, or post-event holding requirements. FOMC, NFP, CPI, and all other high-impact economic events can be traded freely. Tradeify's news policy is one of the most permissive in the futures prop space.

What platforms does Tradeify support?

Five platforms as of March 2026: Tradovate (web and desktop), NinjaTrader 8 (via Tradovate connection), TradingView (via Tradovate broker integration), Quantower, and WealthCharts (launched February 22, 2026). Rithmic-based platforms including Sierra Chart, Bookmap, and Jigsaw are not supported. ProjectX was discontinued February 28, 2026.

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