Contango39 

I honestly dont know why this section for funded firms is on the forum if no actual benefical advice is going to be given!

Have you used the search function? Quite a bit has been said about these funded firms.

Definitely stay away from ApexTraderFunding, their restrictive payout policies are not good for you.

Im a little confused why you are bundling trading platforms and brokers with the prop firms. If you want to use a prop firm is different than which platform is recommended. If you want to trade with lower downside risk (monthly fees only) but also abide by restrictive and sometimes unrealistic rules, then prop firms are a good choice.

For prop firms, the current “acceptable list” is:
Topstep
Blusky
TakeProfitTrader
TheFuturesDesk
Tradeify
MyFundedFutures

Just go for the one with the cheapest account and rules you like

For trading platforms, ninja is king for prop firms, followed by Tradovate, then jigsaw and sierra, quantower is the newer of the bunch and has a dedicated but small following. None of them are bad, and offer similar features.

jlabtrades 

I’ve been using the X platform since the beta came out in Dec 2023 Is the X platform good? Overall I like it, but it’s not perfect or reliable during peak times. Note that it’s a white labeled product from a different company, so hopefully the issues are just reflecting not enough servers to process the requests and it’s sorted soon? Pros: low fees, tradingview charts, low cost full book data feed Cons: Laggy and unreliable during peak volume and high volatility. No custom trading view indiactors Copy trades - can be done for free in Tradovate using group accounts, other platforms allow it with 3rd party admins Performance as web app - disable a lot of your plugins to see better performance. I actually use chrome for browsing and edge for trading, since I disable all plugins in edge to keep resource usage down Pine / indicators: its a licensed version of the charts from TradingView, but they dont allow 3rd parties to use their pine script system, so any custom indicator has to be hard coded by the system integrator using non-pine script JavaScript. This can be done and you can follow what the team is working on here https://s2f.featurebase.app/?sortBy=trending Does topstep use our data: Its been talked about a lot, and these firms make 10’s of millions a month in fees (new accounts, resets, etc) but they can also peek at our trades to make their own trades or even sell our trade history to a hedge fund for analysis. Plus500: cheap full book with no data issues except for high volatility times, unsure if its a S2F server problem or a PLus500 problem If you like web trading, I like Tradovate (now owned by ninja, so ninja web trading is the same as Tradovate web. The ninja desktop app is a long term favorite and you’ll find many plugins and support. Sierra is popular too but more hands on

Its funny you should say about the use of peoples trade data being the topic of a lot of discussions. I was reading just yesterday about how a few years ago Citadel bought trading data from Robinhood (I think) for the purposes of data analysis, and how it is quite common for Hedge Funds, investment banks etc. (smart money I guess) to purchase data from these prop firms and brokers. I mean why not, seems like the smart thing to do, for them! but something I think definitely to be mindful of.

Can I ask, have you reached Live funded with TopStep? I assume you have XFA(s) accounts after 14 months?

The problem I have with Topstepx and Plus500 is the fact you are almost funnelled into choosing it, like when they herd sheep and get them all through the gate and into the pen all at the same time, with all the freebies and relaxed limits, they sound great, but whats the catch?
No commissions, no daily loss limit, free full market depth, and whatever else Im missing... And CFD brokers like Plus500 are notorious for acting like bookmakers than brokers. Outside of TopStep, CFD brokers make money when you lose, so it's in their interest for their customers to blow up. Unlike a Futures exchange where the middlemen get rich from commissions, and so its in their vested interest for their customers/clients to remain sovent for as long as possible. So when I see a "Prop firm" (in air quotes) who's business model is predominately selling combines, working with a CFD broker like Plus500, alarm bells start sounding.

I've opted for Quantower simply because I narrowed it down to Ninja and QT, and the reviews I happen to read made me lean towards QT more. Plus free and using Rithmic. I have questioned whether the fact that its free with TS means is it vulnerable to the same shenanigans that we are questioning with TSX. After doing some digging via ChatGPT the summary was; by using TopStepX and Plus500 users are trading with engineered pricing that does not react the same as live market data such as Rithmic or CQG, which could be the reason for the high failure rate, as users get used to price reacting in a certain way in the combines and xfa's, which doesn't help them when entering a live market and prices dont do what they expect them to do. I dont know how accurate that is but it adds weight to my suspicions, and hopefully keeps me out of reach of any manipulation. Fingers crossed.

I am used to trading on a ladder and the QT ladder enables me to change the refresh rate, which helps me slow things down while I get used to watching the flow. And I am also working on learning to read the T&S. Not sure how relevant that is in 2025 as its an old Jigsaw article Im using, but its definitely the way I want to go eventually using Jigsaw. Its good to see TPO chart included for market structure, and marking levels on a chart and using the DOM to enter is really good because I can see the absorption or aggression early. I was also playing about with a footprint chart to show Delta, but not convinced thats adding anything tbh.

Doesn't look that much happening this week, few speakers, Retail/industrial Wednesday, some EU data, might have a look at some other markets this week EUR/USD, DXY... Plus its a 4 day week in the UK. Here's hoping Trump comes out with a few market moving Tweets (or Truths lol). I think Russia needs a few sanctions after yesterdays attack... Putin is proper mugging off Trump!

jlabtrades 

Have you used the search function? Quite a bit has been said about these funded firms. Definitely stay away from ApexTraderFunding, their restrictive payout policies are not good for you. Im a little confused why you are bundling trading platforms and brokers with the prop firms. If you want to use a prop firm is different than which platform is recommended. If you want to trade with lower downside risk (monthly fees only) but also abide by restrictive and sometimes unrealistic rules, then prop firms are a good choice. For prop firms, the current “acceptable list” is: Topstep Blusky TakeProfitTrader TheFuturesDesk Tradeify MyFundedFutures Just go for the one with the cheapest account and rules you like For trading platforms, ninja is king for prop firms, followed by Tradovate, then jigsaw and sierra, quantower is the newer of the bunch and has a dedicated but small following. None of them are bad, and offer similar features.

Thanks for this list. I didn't realise there were any other companies like TopStep, that were reputable anyway lol. I see lots where people are complaining about one thing or another. TopStep seems to be the most well know, I have had it in my sights for a number of years now, but useful to know there are others that can be utilised to build a personal account

Contango39 

Its funny you should say about the use of peoples trade data being the topic of a lot of discussions. I was reading just yesterday about how a few years ago Citadel bought trading data from Robinhood (I think) for the purposes of data analysis, and how it is quite common for Hedge Funds, investment banks etc. (smart money I guess) to purchase data from these prop firms and brokers. I mean why not, seems like the smart thing to do, for them! but something I think definitely to be mindful of. Can I ask, have you reached Live funded with TopStep? I assume you have XFA(s) accounts after 14 months? The problem I have with Topstepx and Plus500 is the fact you are almost funnelled into choosing it, like when they herd sheep and get them all through the gate and into the pen all at the same time, with all the freebies and relaxed limits, they sound great, but whats the catch? No commissions, no daily loss limit, free full market depth, and whatever else Im missing... And CFD brokers like Plus500 are notorious for acting like bookmakers than brokers. Outside of TopStep, CFD brokers make money when you lose, so it's in their interest for their customers to blow up. Unlike a Futures exchange where the middlemen get rich from commissions, and so its in their vested interest for their customers/clients to remain sovent for as long as possible. So when I see a "Prop firm" (in air quotes) who's business model is predominately selling combines, working with a CFD broker like Plus500, alarm bells start sounding. I've opted for Quantower simply because I narrowed it down to Ninja and QT, and the reviews I happen to read made me lean towards QT more. Plus free and using Rithmic. I have questioned whether the fact that its free with TS means is it vulnerable to the same shenanigans that we are questioning with TSX. After doing some digging via ChatGPT the summary was; by using TopStepX and Plus500 users are trading with engineered pricing that does not react the same as live market data such as Rithmic or CQG, which could be the reason for the high failure rate, as users get used to price reacting in a certain way in the combines and xfa's, which doesn't help them when entering a live market and prices dont do what they expect them to do. I dont know how accurate that is but it adds weight to my suspicions, and hopefully keeps me out of reach of any manipulation. Fingers crossed. I am used to trading on a ladder and the QT ladder enables me to change the refresh rate, which helps me slow things down while I get used to watching the flow. And I am also working on learning to read the T&S. Not sure how relevant that is in 2025 as its an old Jigsaw article Im using, but its definitely the way I want to go eventually using Jigsaw. Its good to see TPO chart included for market structure, and marking levels on a chart and using the DOM to enter is really good because I can see the absorption or aggression early. I was also playing about with a footprint chart to show Delta, but not convinced thats adding anything tbh. Doesn't look that much happening this week, few speakers, Retail/industrial Wednesday, some EU data, might have a look at some other markets this week EUR/USD, DXY... Plus its a 4 day week in the UK. Here's hoping Trump comes out with a few market moving Tweets (or Truths lol). I think Russia needs a few sanctions after yesterdays attack... Putin is proper mugging off Trump!

I do not have a live account with TopStep but I know some that do.

The full market depth isn’t free, you have to pay for it. The no daily loss is good because it’s more like if it was your personal account. You could use a different platform if you dont want to use it, but Im assume they are highlighting it because it costs them less money.

In the US CFD is illegal, so its the futures broker division that topstepx is using. Not sure why you keep relying on ChatGPT for these, its great for general direction but has been known to be wrong, exactly like its doing so here. TopStep and Plus500 in the US do not adjust, engineer, or add spread to pricing. It’s exactly the same live market data such as Rithmic or CQG. What is this high failure rate you are referring to? Traders blowing up on the combines?

Best of luck with Quanttower, like I said I know it has a dedicated following

jlabtrades 

I do not have a live account with TopStep but I know some that do. The full market depth isn’t free, you have to pay for it. The no daily loss is good because it’s more like if it was your personal account. You could use a different platform if you dont want to use it, but Im assume they are highlighting it because it costs them less money. In the US CFD is illegal, so its the futures broker division that topstepx is using. Not sure why you keep relying on ChatGPT for these, its great for general direction but has been known to be wrong, exactly like its doing so here. TopStep and Plus500 in the US do not adjust, engineer, or add spread to pricing. It’s exactly the same live market data such as Rithmic or CQG. What is this high failure rate you are referring to? Traders blowing up on the combines? Best of luck with Quanttower, like I said I know it has a dedicated following

Humm that's interesting, Plus500 futures is not available in the UK, but the dodgy CFD version is. Tbh I didn't know they had a futures arm of the company.

I am using chatgpt 4.5, but I get where you're coming from lol, it's good as long as you don't expect too much or get too complicated. Then it just massages your ego telling you what a great question you've asked 😆.

I asked Grok as well, just out of curiosity, and it seems like theres nothing in it. The only discrepancy in pricing might be due to plus500 not being a dedicated data provider like cqg or rythmic, which connect directly to the exchange, whereas plus500 has to use 3rd party data providers. But the difference is microseconds, and only relevant if scalping.

I take it back then, maybe TSX with its $0 commissions and no daily limits is the bargain it appears to be.

I'll stick with QT for now, see how it goes.

Contango39 

Humm that's interesting, Plus500 futures is not available in the UK, but the dodgy CFD version is. Tbh I didn't know they had a futures arm of the company. I am using chatgpt 4.5, but I get where you're coming from lol, it's good as long as you don't expect too much or get too complicated. Then it just massages your ego telling you what a great question you've asked 😆. I asked Grok as well, just out of curiosity, and it seems like theres nothing in it. The only discrepancy in pricing might be due to plus500 not being a dedicated data provider like cqg or rythmic, which connect directly to the exchange, whereas plus500 has to use 3rd party data providers. But the difference is nanoseconds, and only relevant if scalping. I take it back then, maybe TSX with its $0 commissions and no daily limits is the bargain it appears to be. I'll stick with QT for now, see how it goes.

The TSX platform has a direct data feed from the CME, it doesnt use the Plus500 data feed. Plus500 is used for order routing and execution, but I think that only applies to live accounts anyways as XFA and Combine are purely simulation only. The developer is actually a licensed data redistribution which is why data is so cheap

You can read more on how the X platform gets it data from the developer here: https://www.projectx.com/ - again I would stop relying on AI chat bots for questions on things that it doesnt have a vast and reliable network of answer to pull from. If you ask it a lot of stock and financial advice it will be pulling that from forums and Reddit, and you’re going to get wrong information.

jlabtrades 

The TSX platform has a direct data feed from the CME, it doesnt use the Plus500 data feed. Plus500 is used for order routing and execution, but I think that only applies to live accounts anyways as XFA and Combine are purely simulation only. The developer is actually a licensed data redistribution which is why data is so cheap You can read more on how the X platform gets it data from the developer here: https://www.projectx.com/ - again I would stop relying on AI chat bots for questions on things that it doesnt have a vast and reliable network of answer to pull from. If you ask it a lot of stock and financial advice it will be pulling that from forums and Reddit, and you’re going to get wrong information.

When venturing out to trade a personal account with the likes of R.J. O'Brein, or other big broker, in the UK you never see these names anywhere (ex. CQG). Just an observation.

Contango39 

Humm that's interesting, Plus500 futures is not available in the UK, but the dodgy CFD version is. Tbh I didn't know they had a futures arm of the company. I am using chatgpt 4.5, but I get where you're coming from lol, it's good as long as you don't expect too much or get too complicated. Then it just massages your ego telling you what a great question you've asked 😆. I asked Grok as well, just out of curiosity, and it seems like theres nothing in it. The only discrepancy in pricing might be due to plus500 not being a dedicated data provider like cqg or rythmic, which connect directly to the exchange, whereas plus500 has to use 3rd party data providers. But the difference is microseconds, and only relevant if scalping. I take it back then, maybe TSX with its $0 commissions and no daily limits is the bargain it appears to be. I'll stick with QT for now, see how it goes.

Just to clarify, Plus500 took over Cunningham Futures (a well known broker) a while ago