Head to head · 33 criteria compared Across pricing, rules and payout terms, City Traders Imperium takes the lead (10 against 5). TradeDay stays relevant for traders whose priorities differ from the average.
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
TradeDay was founded in Chicago in 2020 by two former institutional market professionals, and that background shows in the rulebook: no daily loss limit, news trading and scalping allowed, and withdrawals available from day one. The May 2026 rework dropped static drawdown accounts in favour of two paths, Quick Pay and Fast Pass.
Criteria won: 5 / 33
Cheapest evaluation for a 100 K account.
City Traders Imperium
$449
TradeDay
$240
| Full comparison | City Traders Imperium | TradeDay |
|---|---|---|
| Trust | ||
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 80/100 |
| Trustpilot | 4.2/5 | 4.6/5 ✓ |
| Founded | 2018 ✓ | 2020 |
| Headquarters | GB | US |
| Pricing | ||
| Entry price | $29 ✓ | $131 |
| Price for a 100 K account | $449 | $240 ✓ |
| Refundable fee | — | No |
| Reset price | — | — |
| Account sizes | 100 K | 150 K ✓ |
| Rules | ||
| Steps | Instant funding ✓ | 1 |
| Profit target | — | 6 % |
| Max daily loss | — | — |
| Max total drawdown | 6 % | — |
| Drawdown type | Trailing intraday | Trailing intraday |
| Time limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Consistency rule | No ✓ | 30 |
| Min trading days | 5 | 5 |
| Payouts | ||
| Profit split | 80 % | 80 % |
| Max profit split | 100 % ✓ | 90 % |
| First payout | 7 days | 0 days ✓ |
| Payout frequency | Monthly at level 1, twice monthly at level 2, weekly at level 3; first withdrawal possible after 7 days | On demand from the first day, minimum $250 per withdrawal |
| Payout methods | — | — |
| Scaling plan | Yes ✓ | No |
| Max allocation | 2 M ✓ | 150 K |
| Trading | ||
| Platforms and instruments | mt5, match-trader | tradovate, rithmic, ninjatrader, tradingview ✓ |
| Instruments | fx, indices, metals, energy, stocks ✓ | futures |
| Leverage | 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 ✓ | No |
| Expert Advisors | Yes | — |
| Copy trading | Restricted | — |
| Scalping | Yes | Yes |
| Hedging | — | — |
Choose City Traders Imperium if… Choose TradeDay if… City Traders Imperium has been running since 2018, 2 years longer than TradeDay. On Trustpilot they sit at 4.2/5 and 4.6/5 respectively. Our trust pillar scores them 85/100 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 $131 for TradeDay, a substantial gap on the smallest account. At the reference size of 100 K the comparison is $449 for City Traders Imperium against $240 for TradeDay. 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.
City Traders Imperium applies a trailing intraday drawdown capped at 6 %. TradeDay applies a trailing intraday drawdown. Both use the same model, so the difference plays out on the percentages rather than on the mechanism.
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. TradeDay keeps 90 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 0 days, then pays On demand from the first day, minimum $250 per withdrawal. 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.
City Traders Imperium is the only one of the two to offer mt5, match-trader. TradeDay covers tradovate, rithmic, 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.
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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