BrightFunded vs City Traders Imperium: which prop firm is better in 2026?
Across pricing, rules and payout terms, City Traders Imperium takes the lead (7 against 4). and its drawdown model is the more forgiving of the two, so the choice is not automatic.
BrightFunded
Forex / CFD · Crypto
Set up in 2023 by a Dutch team and operated out of Dubai, BrightFunded keeps its rulebook short: no consistency rule, no time limit, static drawdown on both 2-Step plans. The model leans instead on paid add-ons — fee refund, 90% split, waived minimum days — and the first payout only lands 30 days after the first trade.
Criteria won : 4 / 33
City Traders Imperium
Forex / CFD · Trustpilot 4.2/5
City Traders Imperium has funded forex traders since 2018 through four routes — 1-Step, 2-Step, Instant Funding and Direct Funding — with no time limit and entry from $29. The profit split starts at 80% and can reach 100%, but the 1-Step allows only 5% trailing drawdown and every trade must carry a stop loss.
Criteria won : 7 / 33
Pricing at equal account size
Cheapest evaluation for a 100 K account.
BrightFunded
€477
City Traders Imperium
$449
Full comparison
| Criterion | BrightFunded | City Traders Imperium |
|---|---|---|
| Trust | ||
| Score | 76/100 | 83/100 ✓ |
| Trustpilot | — | 4.2/5 |
| Founded | 2023 | 2018 ✓ |
| Headquarters | AE | GB |
| Pricing | ||
| Entry price | €47 | $29 ✓ |
| Price for a 100 K account | €477 | $449 ✓ |
| Refundable fee | No | — |
| Reset price | — | — |
| Account sizes | 200 K ✓ | 100 K |
| Rules | ||
| Steps | 2 | Instant funding ✓ |
| Profit target | 8 % | — |
| Max daily loss | 4 % | — |
| Max total drawdown | 8 % ✓ | 6 % |
| Drawdown type | Static ✓ | Trailing intraday |
| Time limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Consistency rule | No | No |
| Min trading days | 5 | 5 |
| Payouts | ||
| Profit split | 80 % | 80 % |
| Max profit split | 100 % | 100 % |
| First payout | 30 days | 7 days ✓ |
| Payout frequency | Premier paiement 30 jours apres le premier trade, puis toutes les 2 semaines ; add-ons hebdomadaire et bi-hebdomadaire disponibles | Mensuel au niveau 1, bi-mensuel au niveau 2, hebdomadaire au niveau 3 ; premier retrait possible apres 7 jours |
| Payout methods | — | — |
| Scaling plan | Yes | Yes |
| Max allocation | 400 K | 2 M ✓ |
| Trading | ||
| Platforms and instruments | mt5, ctrader, dxtrade ✓ | mt5, match-trader |
| Instruments | fx, indices, metals, energy, crypto | fx, indices, metals, energy, stocks |
| Leverage | Forex 1:100, or et matieres premieres 1:40, indices 1:20, crypto 1:5 (identique en evaluation et en compte finance) | 1:30 forex et indices sur le 2-Step, 1:20 sur l'Instant Funding, 1:10 indices et matieres premieres, 1:2 crypto |
| News trading | Yes | Yes |
| Weekend holding | — | Yes |
| Expert Advisors | — | Yes |
| Copy trading | Restricted | Restricted |
| Scalping | — | Yes |
| Hedging | — | — |
Choose BrightFunded if…
- You want a drawdown you can compute in your head: the limit is fixed on the starting balance and never moves as the account grows.
- You need a platform City Traders Imperium does not offer: ctrader, dxtrade.
Choose City Traders Imperium if…
- Your budget is the binding constraint: the entry ticket starts at $29, below BrightFunded.
- Cash flow matters to you: the first withdrawal comes after 7 days rather than 30.
- You would rather skip the evaluation entirely and start on a funded account.
- You need a platform BrightFunded does not offer: match-trader.
Our analysis
What reaches your account
BrightFunded keeps 100 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 30 days, then pays Premier paiement 30 jours apres le premier trade, puis toutes les 2 semaines ; add-ons hebdomadaire et bi-hebdomadaire disponibles. City Traders Imperium keeps 100 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 7 days, then pays Mensuel au niveau 1, bi-mensuel au niveau 2, hebdomadaire au niveau 3 ; premier retrait possible apres 7 jours. Payout frequency deserves as much attention as the split itself: a slightly lower share paid every two weeks compounds faster than a headline percentage locked behind a monthly cycle and a long first-withdrawal delay.
Where you actually trade
BrightFunded is the only one of the two to offer ctrader, dxtrade. City Traders Imperium covers match-trader, which its rival does not. Platform choice is not cosmetic: order execution, available order types and the reliability of your automation all depend on it, and switching mid-evaluation is rarely possible.
Track record
City Traders Imperium has been running since 2018, 5 years longer than BrightFunded. Our trust pillar scores them 66/100 and 85/100, which weighs age, corporate transparency and public payout evidence. In an industry with no financial regulator overseeing these evaluations, longevity and a verifiable payout history are the closest thing to a guarantee.
What you pay to start
City Traders Imperium opens at $29 against €47 for BrightFunded, a substantial gap on the smallest account. At the reference size of 100 K the comparison is €477 for BrightFunded against $449 for City Traders Imperium. The headline fee is rarely the real cost, though: what matters is the price of a reset after a failed attempt, whether the fee comes back on the first payout, and whether an activation fee appears when you move to a funded account. Compare those three lines in the table above before deciding on price alone.
Drawdown: the rule that decides
BrightFunded applies a static drawdown capped at 8 %, with a 4 % daily limit. City Traders Imperium applies a trailing intraday drawdown capped at 6 %. This is the single most consequential difference between the two. A static drawdown is measured once, from the starting balance, and never moves; a trailing drawdown follows your equity upward, so a winning streak raises the floor you can no longer fall below. Intraday trailing is stricter still, because it tracks unrealised peaks reached inside the session — profit you never actually banked can permanently raise your loss threshold.