Head to head · 33 criteria compared 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.
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 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
Cheapest evaluation for a 100 K account.
BrightFunded
€477
City Traders Imperium
$449
| Full comparison | 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 | First payment 30 days after the first trade, then every 2 weeks; weekly and bi-weekly add-ons available | Monthly at level 1, twice monthly at level 2, weekly at level 3; first withdrawal possible after 7 days |
| 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, gold and commodities 1:40, indices 1:20, crypto 1:5 (identical on evaluation and funded accounts) | 1:30 forex and indices on the 2-Step, 1:20 on Instant Funding, 1:10 indices and commodities, 1:2 crypto |
| News trading | Yes | Yes |
| Weekend holding | — | Yes |
| Expert Advisors | — | Yes |
| Copy trading | Restricted | Restricted |
| Scalping | — | Yes |
| Hedging | — | — |
Choose BrightFunded if… Choose City Traders Imperium if… BrightFunded keeps 100 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 30 days, then pays First payment 30 days after the first trade, then every 2 weeks; weekly and bi-weekly add-ons available. City Traders Imperium keeps 100 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 7 days, then pays Monthly at level 1, twice monthly at level 2, weekly at level 3; first withdrawal possible after 7 days. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No discount code is published without being checked on the firm’s own website. An unverified deal does not appear here.
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