Compare 8 current products across 5 first-party source pages — funded cost, split, drawdown and payout rules without flattening one product into a firm-wide answer.
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Built from product captures checked Oct 20, 2026
Pick Apex Trader Funding if…
Pick City Traders Imperium if…
| Fact | Apex Trader Funding | City Traders Imperium |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 8.4/10 | 7.9/10 |
| Lowest $100K fee | $590 (Intraday Trail - No Activation Fee) | $449 (1-Step Challenge) |
| Base split | 100% | 50–80% |
| Max loss | — | 5–10% |
| Earliest first payout | Day 5 (Intraday Trail - Standard) | Day 5 (Instant Funding) |
| Platforms | Rithmic · Tradovate · WealthCharts | MT5 · Match-Trader |
Available product sources · earliest check Oct 20, 2026
We track 4 Apex Trader Funding products and 4 from City Traders Imperium that pass the 30-day source-freshness gate; source checks range from 2026-10-20 to 2026-10-22. These firms sell different instruments — Apex Trader Funding runs futures products and City Traders Imperium runs CFD — so treat the tables below as a fit comparison, not a like-for-like price race. City Traders Imperium is cheaper to funded at 3 of the 3 directly comparable tiers. At $25K, the cheapest verified route is 1-Step Challenge at $159 (One-time fee), which needs $199 of profit at a 80% split before the fee is back in your pocket.
Compare the 8 source-checked products available here, each with its own fees, split, drawdown and date.
We track 4 Apex Trader Funding products and 4 from City Traders Imperium that pass the 30-day source-freshness gate; source checks range from 2026-10-20 to 2026-10-22. These firms sell different instruments — Apex Trader Funding runs futures products and City Traders Imperium runs CFD — so treat the tables below as a fit comparison, not a like-for-like price race.
City Traders Imperium is cheaper to funded at 3 of the 3 directly comparable tiers. At $25K, the cheapest verified route is 1-Step Challenge at $159 (One-time fee), which needs $199 of profit at a 80% split before the fee is back in your pocket.
City Traders Imperium's own products disagree on 10 terms. On evaluation steps it is instant funding on Instant Funding and Direct Funding, versus 1-step on 1-Step Challenge, versus 2-step on 2-Step Challenge. Which product you buy decides that rule, not which firm you sign with — a firm-level table cannot show this.
Not in the cost tables: Apex Trader Funding EOD Trail - Standard and Intraday Trail - Standard. The latest capture records no complete entry price for them, so they are not ranked on cost.
City Traders Imperium is cheaper within the shared USD one-time class: 1-Step Challenge at $159 — $531 less than Apex Trader Funding's cheapest route at this tier (Intraday Trail - No Activation Fee, $690) — 77% cheaper.
| Product | Cost to funded | Break-even profit | R-multiple | Days @ 1%/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Step ChallengeCity Traders Imperium · One-time · 80% split | $159One-time fee | $199at 80% split | 0.16vs 5% trailing max DD | — |
| 2-Step ChallengeCity Traders Imperium · One-time · 80% split | $199One-time fee | $249at 80% split | 0.10vs 10% max DD | 1 |
| Intraday Trail - No Activation FeeApex Trader Funding · One-time · 100% split | $690Fee + tier activation | $690at 100% split | 0.69vs $1,000 tier max loss | — |
| EOD Trail - No Activation FeeApex Trader Funding · One-time · 100% split | $1,090Fee + tier activation | $1,090at 100% split | 1.09vs $1,000 tier max loss | 5 |
R-multiple is break-even profit divided by that product's own maximum permitted loss — under 1.00 means you can lose more than you need to make to win the fee back. Day count assumes 1% account growth per day, capped by the product's own daily loss limit. Blank cells are figures the firm does not publish.
City Traders Imperium is cheaper within the shared USD one-time class: 1-Step Challenge at $299 — $191 less than Apex Trader Funding's cheapest route at this tier (Intraday Trail - No Activation Fee, $490) — 39% cheaper.
| Product | Cost to funded | Break-even profit | R-multiple | Days @ 1%/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Step ChallengeCity Traders Imperium · One-time · 80% split | $299One-time fee | $374at 80% split | 0.15vs 5% trailing max DD | — |
| 2-Step ChallengeCity Traders Imperium · One-time · 80% split | $329One-time fee | $411at 80% split | 0.08vs 10% max DD | 1 |
| Intraday Trail - No Activation FeeApex Trader Funding · One-time · 100% split | $490Fee + tier activation | $490at 100% split | 0.24vs $2,000 tier max loss | — |
| EOD Trail - No Activation FeeApex Trader Funding · One-time · 100% split | $1,190Fee + tier activation | $1,190at 100% split | 0.59vs $2,000 tier max loss | 3 |
R-multiple is break-even profit divided by that product's own maximum permitted loss — under 1.00 means you can lose more than you need to make to win the fee back. Day count assumes 1% account growth per day, capped by the product's own daily loss limit. Blank cells are figures the firm does not publish.
City Traders Imperium is cheaper within the shared USD one-time class: 1-Step Challenge at $449 — $141 less than Apex Trader Funding's cheapest route at this tier (Intraday Trail - No Activation Fee, $590) — 24% cheaper.
| Product | Cost to funded | Break-even profit | R-multiple | Days @ 1%/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Step ChallengeCity Traders Imperium · One-time · 80% split | $449One-time fee | $561at 80% split | 0.11vs 5% trailing max DD | — |
| 2-Step ChallengeCity Traders Imperium · One-time · 80% split | $549One-time fee | $686at 80% split | 0.07vs 10% max DD | 1 |
| Intraday Trail - No Activation FeeApex Trader Funding · One-time · 100% split | $590Fee + tier activation | $590at 100% split | 0.20vs $3,000 tier max loss | — |
| EOD Trail - No Activation FeeApex Trader Funding · One-time · 100% split | $1,590Fee + tier activation | $1,590at 100% split | 0.53vs $3,000 tier max loss | 2 |
R-multiple is break-even profit divided by that product's own maximum permitted loss — under 1.00 means you can lose more than you need to make to win the fee back. Day count assumes 1% account growth per day, capped by the product's own daily loss limit. Blank cells are figures the firm does not publish.
Each cell shows every value that firm's current products hold. Where a firm disagrees with itself the products are named — those are the rows a firm-level table has to flatten, and the ones that decide whether your strategy is allowed. 10 of 16 rows split this way in this matchup.
| Term | Apex Trader Funding | City Traders Imperium |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation steps | 1-step | Instant fundingInstant Funding, Direct Funding 1-step1-Step Challenge 2-step2-Step Challenge |
| Profit split | 100% | 80%1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge 50%Instant Funding 70%Direct Funding |
| Drawdown method | EOD trailingEOD Trail - Standard, EOD Trail - No Activation Fee TrailingIntraday Trail - Standard, Intraday Trail - No Activation Fee | Static2-Step Challenge, Instant Funding, Direct Funding Trailing1-Step Challenge |
| Daily loss cap | Fixed $ per tierEOD Trail - Standard, EOD Trail - No Activation Fee Not publishedIntraday Trail - Standard, Intraday Trail - No Activation Fee | Not published1-Step Challenge, Instant Funding, Direct Funding 5%2-Step Challenge |
| Max loss cap | Fixed $ per tier | 6%Instant Funding, Direct Funding 10%2-Step Challenge 5%1-Step Challenge |
| Funded drawdown | EOD trailingEOD Trail - Standard, EOD Trail - No Activation Fee TrailingIntraday Trail - Standard, Intraday Trail - No Activation Fee | Static2-Step Challenge, Instant Funding, Direct Funding Trailing1-Step Challenge |
| Min trading days | 0 | 31-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge UnverifiedInstant Funding, Direct Funding |
| Max trading dayssame | Unverified | Unverified |
| Consistency rulesame | Unverified | Unverified |
| First payout after | 5 days | 5 daysInstant Funding, Direct Funding 7 days1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge |
| Payout frequency | Weekly | Not published1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge, Instant Funding On demandDirect Funding |
| News trading | Conditional | Allowed |
| Weekend holding | Not allowed | Allowed |
| Overnight holding | Not allowed | Allowed |
| EAs / algos | Not allowed | Conditional2-Step Challenge, Instant Funding, Direct Funding Allowed1-Step Challenge |
| Copy trading | Conditional | Not published |
Apex moved new purchases to 4 one-time evaluation paths
Older Apex reviews can describe a different billing and drawdown structure. Match the exact product shown at checkout, verify the dynamic fee, and note that the current evaluation may pass in one day without a minimum-day rule.
Every figure above is read from these pages. Products older than 30 days are removed from the comparison until they are recaptured, so a missing product means stale data, not a discontinued plan.
These directory fields describe the firms, not a universal product rule. The sourced product tables above decide the exact fee, split, drawdown and trading conditions. Directory context is not independently refreshed by this comparison; verify platform and payment availability for the exact programme and country.
Scored out of 5 by Trustpilot users, not by us. Where Trustpilot has pulled a firm's aggregate rating we say so rather than leaving a blank.
These links are selected by asset and platform overlap, then limited to matchups where both sides have current first-party product evidence.
8 current products · 2 first-party source pages · checked Oct 22, 2026
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Open comparisonBrowse pairs with current product sources, or open the full firm directory. Missing comparison evidence does not mean a firm has closed.
