Apex Trader FundingVerified
Apex moved new purchases to 4 one-time evaluation paths
Older Apex reviews can describe a different billing and drawdown structure. Match any comparison to the product name shown at checkout.
A side-by-side breakdown of Apex Trader Funding and City Traders Imperium — profit splits, payout speed, drawdown rules, platforms, and a clear verdict on which firm wins for which trader profile.
Disclosure: We earn a commission if you sign up via links on this page — at no cost to you. Our reviews are independent and not influenced by partners. Learn more.
Data-driven comparison · checked Jul 28, 2026
We track 4 Apex Trader Funding products and 4 from City Traders Imperium that pass the 30-day source-freshness gate, last verified 2026-07-28. 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 the cheaper route at the one tier both firms sell on the same currency and billing model. 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.
Winning value on each row is marked. Ties are flagged. Empty cells mean we don't have that data point yet.
The table above compares the two firms. This one compares the products you actually buy — 8 of them, each with its own price, split, drawdown rule and source date.
We track 4 Apex Trader Funding products and 4 from City Traders Imperium that pass the 30-day source-freshness gate, last verified 2026-07-28. 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 the cheaper route at the one tier both firms sell on the same currency and billing model. 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.
City Traders Imperium is cheaper within the shared USD one-time class: 1-Step Challenge at $159 — $99 less than Apex Trader Funding's cheapest route at this tier (Intraday Trail - Standard, $258) — 38% 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 - StandardApex Trader Funding · One-time · 100% split | $258Fee + tier activation | $258at 100% split | 0.26vs $1,000 tier max loss | — |
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 | 1 | 31-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge NoneInstant Funding, Direct Funding |
| Max trading dayssame | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Consistency rulesame | None published | None published |
| First payout after | 5 days | 5 daysInstant Funding, Direct Funding 7 days1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge |
| Payout frequency | Weekly | Weekly1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge MonthlyDirect Funding Not publishedInstant 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 any comparison to the product name shown at checkout.
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.
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.
Every firm pair has a page. Browse the hub or open the full directory.