How TradeDay Monthly Billing Works

Written by Paul

Published on

January 17, 2026

TradeDay charges monthly recurring subscriptions for evaluation accounts that bill every 30 days from your signup date until you either pass evaluation or cancel. Your first payment processes immediately when you purchase an evaluation, then automatically renews monthly on the same calendar date—if you signed up January 5, you'll be charged again on February 5, March 5, and so on until you pass or cancel.

Monthly billing covers: evaluation platform access, real-time Level 1 market data from all four CME exchanges, educational resources (webinars, courses, Discord community), morning market meetings, and one free reset per renewal. Once you pass evaluation, billing stops automatically and you transition to funded status with zero monthly fees (unless you move to Funded Live, which has professional data costs).

The subscription model means you're paying for access to the evaluation environment, not paying per attempt. If you violate on Day 3, you can either purchase an instant reset ($99-139) or wait until your monthly renewal (Day 31) for a free automatic reset. Most traders prefer waiting for the free reset unless they're extremely confident they'll pass quickly on a paid reset.

Quick heads-up: This article is based on my real experience with TradeDay and the info available when I published/updated this. Things change in prop trading — rules, payouts, promos, all of it.

For the absolute latest, check TradeDay´s website or their faq page.

Billing Cycle Basics

TradeDay uses 30-day billing cycles that start on your purchase date. This isn't calendar-month billing—it's rolling 30-day periods tied to when you specifically signed up.

Example Billing Timeline:

January 5, 2026: Purchase $50K EOD evaluation for $105
January 5-February 4: First billing period (30 days of access)
February 5: Automatic renewal charge of $105 (second billing period begins)
February 5-March 6: Second billing period
March 7: Automatic renewal charge (third billing period)

If you pass evaluation on January 28 (Day 23 of first cycle), billing stops immediately. You won't be charged on February 5 because you're no longer in evaluation status—you've moved to funded account which has no monthly subscription.

Email Reminders:

TradeDay emails you approximately 4 days before each renewal. This gives you warning if you want to cancel before the next charge processes. The email typically arrives around Day 26 of your billing cycle.

Important: Email reminders are courtesy notifications. You're responsible for managing your subscription. If you miss the email or ignore it, the charge still processes on Day 31. TradeDay doesn't refund because you "forgot" your subscription was active.

What Monthly Billing Covers

Your monthly subscription isn't just platform access—it's a bundled package of services TradeDay provides during evaluation:

Trading Platform Access:

Full access to your chosen platform (Tradovate, NinjaTrader, or TradeDayX) with real account provisioned through TradeDay's broker partnerships. Your evaluation account functions like a live sim account with real-time order execution and market response.

Market Data (Level 1):

Real-time Level 1 market data from all four CME Group exchanges: CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX. This covers bid/ask prices, last trade, volume, and top-of-book data for all permitted futures contracts. Normally this data costs $5-25/month per exchange for retail traders—TradeDay covers it during evaluation.

Educational Resources:

Daily market meetings at 8:30 AM CT with TradeDay's trading team
Weekly webinars on trading psychology, risk management, strategy development
Full course library (20+ hours of recorded content)
Discord community access with 2,000+ active traders
Live market commentary during trading hours
Archived coaching sessions and strategy breakdowns

One Free Reset Per Cycle:

Each monthly renewal automatically resets your evaluation if you violated rules during the previous cycle. Violate on Day 8, wait until Day 31, get fresh evaluation at no additional cost. This is why many traders who aren't in a rush wait for monthly renewal rather than paying $99-139 for instant reset.

Support Access:

Email support (support@tradeday.com) and live chat during market hours (8 AM - 4 PM CT). Support handles platform issues, rule clarifications, account questions, and billing inquiries.

Service Included	What You Get	Retail Cost if Purchased Separately
Trading platform	Tradovate/NinjaTrader/TradeDayX access	$0-99/month depending on platform
Market data (4 exchanges)	Real-time Level 1 CME data	$20-100/month
Education & webinars	Full course library, live meetings	$50-200/month for similar programs
Community access	Discord with 2,000+ traders	$20-50/month for premium communities
Free monthly reset	Automatic evaluation reset at renewal	$99-139 per reset otherwise

The monthly fee essentially bundles everything you'd need to learn and practice futures trading into one subscription. Most traders find value even beyond the evaluation—many stay in the community and attend webinars after getting funded.

Billing Stops When You Pass

The moment you complete all evaluation objectives (hit profit target, trade minimum 7 days, maintain 30% consistency) and submit for funding, TradeDay's system flags your account for review. Once approved (typically within 24 hours), your evaluation subscription automatically cancels.

Transition Process:

Day 18: Hit $3,000 profit target, completed 8 trading days, passed consistency check. Submit evaluation for review.

Day 18 (4 hours later): TradeDay approves. Email arrives: "Congratulations! Your evaluation has passed. Complete activation to access your Funded Sim account."

Day 18 (immediately): Monthly subscription billing terminates. You will NOT be charged on Day 31 when next renewal would've occurred.

Day 19: Pay $139 activation fee (often waived with promo codes). Funded Sim account provisioned within hours.

Day 19 onward: Trade funded account with zero monthly fees. Access to educational resources continues free forever as long as you're an active funded trader.

What Happens to Unused Days:

If you pass on Day 12 of a 30-day cycle, you effectively paid for 30 days but used 12. TradeDay does not prorate refunds or credit unused days. This is stated in their refund policy: "All membership fees are considered used in full."

The earlier you pass, the higher your effective daily cost:

Pass Day 10: $105 ÷ 10 days = $10.50/day
Pass Day 30: $105 ÷ 30 days = $3.50/day

There's no financial penalty for taking longer (other than opportunity cost of time), and no refund benefit for passing faster. You paid for 30 days of access whether you use 8 days or 30.

Billing Continues During Violations

If you violate evaluation rules (hit max drawdown, break trading times, exceed position limits), your account locks and evaluation fails. But your monthly subscription continues billing unless you manually cancel.

Violation Scenario:

Day 8: Violate max drawdown on $50K Intraday account
Day 8: Account locks. "Evaluation Failed" message displays.
Day 8-30: No platform access (account locked), but subscription remains active
Day 31: Automatic $105 charge processes
Day 31: Account automatically resets with fresh evaluation, platform access restored

Why Billing Continues:

TradeDay's position: You're paying for membership access, not just active trading ability. When you violate, you still have access to educational resources, webinars, Discord community, and support. The subscription covers the full membership package, and the automatic monthly reset is part of what you're paying for.

Your Options After Violation:

Wait for free monthly reset: Let subscription continue, get free reset on Day 31
Purchase instant reset: Pay $99-139 to reset immediately, keep subscription active
Cancel subscription: Stop all billing, lose all progress, forfeit remaining days paid

Most traders choose option 1 (wait) or option 3 (cancel). Option 2 only makes sense if you're very close to passing and confident the paid reset will result in funding before next monthly renewal.

Critical Point:

Logging out or not trading doesn't stop billing. Your subscription continues until you actively cancel it via the dashboard or pass evaluation. Many traders forget this and get surprised by renewal charges after they've stopped using the account.

Paid Resets vs Free Monthly Resets

TradeDay offers two reset mechanisms with different costs and timing:

Paid Instant Reset:

Cost: $99 (Static accounts), $109 (Intraday $50K), $119 (EOD $50K), $129 (Intraday/EOD $100K), $139 (Intraday/EOD $150K)

Timing: Processes within minutes of purchase. Evaluation resets immediately, you can resume trading same day.

When to use: You violated early in billing cycle (Day 1-15), you're confident you'll pass on this attempt, time is valuable (want to get funded ASAP).

Free Monthly Reset:

Cost: $0 additional (included in monthly subscription)

Timing: Automatic on your renewal date (Day 31, 61, 91, etc.)

When to use: You violated late in cycle (Day 20+), you're not confident about immediate retry, you're in no rush to get funded.

Cost Comparison Over Multiple Violations:

Trader A (uses paid resets):

Month 1: $105 subscription + $119 reset (Day 8 violation) = $224
Month 1: $119 reset (Day 20 violation) = $119
Month 2: Passes Day 12 = $105
Total cost: $448, funded in 42 days

Trader B (uses free resets):

Month 1: $105 subscription, violates Day 8, waits
Month 2: $105 subscription (auto-reset Day 31), violates Day 18, waits
Month 3: $105 subscription (auto-reset Day 61), passes Day 12
Total cost: $315, funded in 73 days

Trader B spent $133 less but took 31 days longer. If Trader A's 31-day head start generates $1,000+ in funded account profits, the paid resets were worth it. If not, Trader B's patience saved money.

Managing Multiple Subscriptions

TradeDay allows up to 6 simultaneous evaluation accounts. Each account has its own separate monthly subscription that bills independently on its own 30-day cycle.

Multi-Account Billing Example:

Account 1: $50K EOD purchased January 5, bills $105 every 30 days starting January 5
Account 2: $100K Intraday purchased January 18, bills $165 every 30 days starting January 18
Account 3: $50K Static purchased February 3, bills $75 every 30 days starting February 3

On February 5, you'd be charged $105 (Account 1 renewal). On February 18, charged $165 (Account 2 renewal). On March 3, charged $75 (Account 3 renewal). Each subscription operates independently.

Strategic Multi-Account Approach:

Some traders stagger account purchases across different months to spread out billing. Instead of buying 3 accounts on January 5 ($345 upfront), they buy one January 5 ($105), one January 20 ($105), one February 5 ($105). This creates more manageable monthly cash flow at the cost of delayed second and third account starts.

Cancellation Impact:

If you cancel Account 1, it doesn't affect Account 2 or 3. Each subscription is independent. You can cancel individual accounts without losing other active evaluations.

Promotional Discounts and Billing

TradeDay frequently offers 30-50% discount codes that reduce monthly subscription costs. Current promotion (January 2026): 50% off for new customers using code NEWYEAR.

How Discounts Work:

Without discount: $50K EOD = $165/monthWith 40% discount: $50K EOD = $99/month ($66 savings per month)

The discount applies to every monthly renewal as long as your subscription remains continuously active. If you cancel and repurchase later, you'll need a new code (and may not get the same discount rate).

Discount Lock-In:

Once you purchase with a discount code, that rate locks for the life of your subscription. If you bought $100K EOD at 40% off ($132/month) in January 2025 and kept the subscription active through January 2026, you're still paying $132/month even if current non-discounted rate increased to $220/month.

Losing Discounts:

If you cancel subscription and repurchase the same account type later, you don't automatically keep your original discount. You'd need to apply a new code at repurchase. This is why traders with good discount rates often keep subscriptions active even when taking breaks—letting it lapse means losing the discount permanently.

Pausing Subscriptions (Not Allowed)

TradeDay does not offer subscription pausing. Your options are pay monthly and keep access, or cancel and forfeit all progress.

Why Traders Want Pausing:

"I need to take 2 months off for family/medical/work reasons. Can I pause billing and resume later with my progress intact?"

TradeDay's Answer:

No. You can cancel (stops billing, loses all progress), or keep subscription active (continues billing, preserves progress). There's no middle ground.

Workaround:

Keep subscription active, don't trade. You're paying monthly but maintaining your evaluation progress. When ready to return, your trading days, profits, and progress are exactly where you left them. Downside: you're paying for service you're not using.

Cost Analysis:

Taking 2 months off from $50K EOD ($105/month):

Keep active: Pay $210 over 2 months, resume with all progress intact
Cancel and restart: Pay $0 over 2 months, then $105 to restart from Day 1 when ready

If you're close to passing (already completed 5 trading days with $2,000 profit toward $3,000 target), keeping subscription active makes sense—$210 to preserve progress is cheaper than restarting from zero. If you're on Day 2 with $200 profit, canceling makes more sense—minimal progress lost.

Billing Failures and Account Locks

If your payment method fails (insufficient funds, expired card, bank decline), TradeDay's system attempts to charge 2-3 times over 48-72 hours. If all attempts fail, your account locks.

Account Lock Process:

Day 31: Renewal charge attempts, fails
Day 31 (6 hours later): Second attempt, fails
Day 32: Third attempt, fails
Day 32: Account locks, email sent: "Payment failed. Update payment method to restore access."
Day 32+: No platform access until payment resolves

Restoring Access:

Log into members.tradeday.com, navigate to subscription details, update payment method. Once valid payment method saves, TradeDay processes the failed charge manually. Account unlocks within hours.

Progress During Lock:

Your evaluation progress freezes but doesn't reset. If you were on Day 12 with $1,800 profit when account locked, you'll be on Day 12 with $1,800 profit when access restores (assuming lock was brief). Extended locks (7+ days) may trigger account review or forced cancellation.

Viewing Billing History

TradeDay's dashboard shows limited billing history. You can see:

Next billing date
Current monthly charge amount
Active payment method (last 4 digits)
Current account status

You cannot see:

Full history of past charges
Dates of previous payments
Total amount paid lifetime
Receipts beyond current cycle

For comprehensive billing history, check your credit card statements or email confirmations TradeDay sends after each charge. If you need detailed records (for taxes, expense reports, etc.), email support@tradeday.com with your account email and request full billing history.

What Happens to Billing After Funding

Once you pass evaluation and move to Funded Sim status, monthly evaluation billing stops permanently for that specific account. You're no longer paying subscription fees.

Funded Account Costs:

Funded Sim: $0/month, zero commissions, free market data, unlimited withdrawals
Funded Live: $0 monthly subscription, but $140/month professional CME data fees per exchange, plus commission on trades (~$0.75-1.50 per contract)

Most traders never leave Funded Sim. The professional data fees and commissions on Funded Live eat into profits, and Funded Sim has identical payout speed (24 hours) with no overhead costs.

Educational Access After Funding:

All funded traders retain free access to TradeDay's educational resources, webinars, Discord community, and morning meetings for life (as long as you remain an active funded trader). This is a major benefit—you paid monthly subscriptions during evaluation, and that access continues free forever once funded.

If you lose your funded account and want to attempt evaluation again, you'd purchase a new evaluation subscription and billing starts over from scratch.

FAQ: TradeDay Monthly Billing

When does my first bill process?

Immediately when you purchase an evaluation. Your first month begins the moment you complete signup, and you're charged instantly for Days 1-30.

Can I cancel before my renewal date?

Yes. Cancel anytime through the dashboard. Billing stops immediately, but you forfeit remaining days in your current paid period with no refund.

Do I get refunded if I pass early?

No. If you pass on Day 12, you paid for 30 days but don't receive any refund for Days 13-30. Monthly fees are "considered used in full" per TradeDay's policy.

What if I violate—does billing stop?

No. Your subscription continues even when evaluation is failed/locked. You can wait for free reset at next renewal or cancel to stop billing.

Can I pause my subscription for a few months?

No. TradeDay doesn't offer pausing. Either keep subscription active (continues billing) or cancel (stops billing but loses all progress).

How do I see my billing history?

Dashboard shows next charge date and current amount. For full history, check credit card statements or request records from support@tradeday.com.

Do monthly charges increase over time?

Not automatically. Your rate locks when you purchase. TradeDay may raise prices for new customers, but existing subscriptions typically maintain original rate.

Can I change my payment method?

Yes. Go to dashboard → Subscriptions → Update Payment Method. Changes must process 24+ hours before renewal to avoid payment failure.

What happens if payment fails?

Account locks after 48-72 hours of failed retry attempts. Update payment method to restore access. Progress freezes but doesn't reset during brief locks.