City Traders Imperium vs FundedNext Futures: which prop firm is better in 2026?
City Traders Imperium wins this comparison (10 against 6). FundedNext Futures stays relevant for traders whose priorities differ from the average.
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 : 10 / 33
FundedNext Futures
Futures · Trustpilot 4.5/5
FundedNext's futures arm went live in April 2025 and runs entirely on one-step evaluations across Tradovate, NinjaTrader and TradingView. Five programs share the same trailing end-of-day drawdown, with no activation fee and pricing from 69.99 USD for a 50K Flex account. The trade-off: every position is closed out before 3:10 pm Chicago time.
Criteria won : 6 / 33
Pricing at equal account size
Cheapest evaluation for a 100 K account.
City Traders Imperium
$449
FundedNext Futures
$129.99
Full comparison
| Criterion | City Traders Imperium | FundedNext Futures |
|---|---|---|
| Trust | ||
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 76/100 |
| Trustpilot | 4.2/5 | 4.5/5 ✓ |
| Founded | 2018 ✓ | 2022 |
| Headquarters | GB | AE |
| Pricing | ||
| Entry price | $29 ✓ | $69.99 |
| Price for a 100 K account | $449 | $129.99 ✓ |
| Refundable fee | — | — |
| Reset price | — | $91.99 |
| Account sizes | 100 K | 150 K ✓ |
| Rules | ||
| Steps | Instant funding ✓ | 1 |
| Profit target | — | 6 % |
| Max daily loss | — | 2 % |
| Max total drawdown | 6 % ✓ | 4 % |
| Drawdown type | Trailing intraday | Trailing (end of day) ✓ |
| Time limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Consistency rule | No ✓ | 40 |
| Min trading days | 5 | — |
| Payouts | ||
| Profit split | 80 % | 90 % ✓ |
| Max profit split | 100 % ✓ | 95 % |
| First payout | 7 days | — |
| Payout frequency | Mensuel au niveau 1, bi-mensuel au niveau 2, hebdomadaire au niveau 3 ; premier retrait possible apres 7 jours | quotidien (Rapid Daily), tous les 3 jours (Rapid Pro), tous les 5 jours de reference (Flex et Legacy) |
| Payout methods | — | rise and crypto |
| Scaling plan | Yes | — |
| Max allocation | 2 M ✓ | 150 K |
| Trading | ||
| Platforms and instruments | mt5, match-trader | tradovate, ninjatrader, tradingview ✓ |
| Instruments | fx, indices, metals, energy, stocks ✓ | futures |
| Leverage | 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 | — |
| Weekend holding | Yes ✓ | No |
| Expert Advisors | Yes | — |
| Copy trading | Restricted | — |
| Scalping | Yes | Yes |
| Hedging | — | — |
Choose City Traders Imperium if…
- You need a platform FundedNext Futures does not offer: mt5, match-trader.
- You are aiming for size: allocation scales up to 2 M.
- Your budget is the binding constraint: the entry ticket starts at $29, below FundedNext Futures.
- You expect to stay funded long enough for the split to matter: 100 % against 95 % at FundedNext Futures.
Choose FundedNext Futures if…
- You need a platform City Traders Imperium does not offer: tradovate, ninjatrader, tradingview.
Our analysis
Payout terms compared
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. FundedNext Futures keeps 95 % of profits, then pays quotidien (Rapid Daily), tous les 3 jours (Rapid Pro), tous les 5 jours de reference (Flex et Legacy). 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.
Platforms and instruments
City Traders Imperium is the only one of the two to offer mt5, match-trader. FundedNext Futures covers tradovate, ninjatrader, tradingview, 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.
Trust and longevity
City Traders Imperium has been running since 2018, 4 years longer than FundedNext Futures. On Trustpilot they sit at 4.2/5 and 4.5/5 respectively. Our trust pillar scores them 85/100 and 81/100, 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.
Entry cost
City Traders Imperium opens at $29 against $69.99 for FundedNext Futures, a substantial gap on the smallest account. At the reference size of 100 K the comparison is $449 for City Traders Imperium against $129.99 for FundedNext Futures. 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.
Risk rules side by side
City Traders Imperium applies a trailing intraday drawdown capped at 6 %. FundedNext Futures applies a trailing (end of day) drawdown capped at 4 %, with a 2 % daily limit. 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.