TradeDay and trading bots: what the official rules say in 2026

The short answer

Status: conditional. According to the official pages consulted on October 12, 2026, TradeDay does not prohibit automated trading as such, but it prohibits robots bought from a third party, sharing the same robot between several users, strategies of more than 200 trades per day and the use of a VPS. It provides no API: an automated system must run on one of the supported platforms.

A word of caution on the reading: the official texts prohibit third-party robots. They do not write in black and white "only your own robots are allowed"; that is a deduction. For a specific point, support's answer is what counts.

What the official sources say

• Terms and conditions (updated August 11, 2026, article 23, "Prohibited Conduct"): prohibited are robots or ATS bought from a third party, or used by several users at once; automated systems designed to scalp at very high frequency, with the mention that no strategy producing more than 200 trades in a day is accepted; and any software, artificial intelligence, ultra-high speed or mass data entry likely to manipulate, abuse or provide an unfair advantage.
• Help center, "Automated, Algo and Bot Trading" (modified November 28, 2025): TradeDay does not make a platform API available to traders and does not expose the Tradovate API. It does not evaluate systems bought from third parties. To use an automated system, you must go through a supported platform: NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Jigsaw or Quantower. If several users place the same trades, the accounts concerned may be closed and the users suspended.
• Help center, "Prohibited Trade Practices" (modified June 10, 2025): repeats the ban on third-party robots, on more than 200 trades per day, on external or slow data feeds, on VPNs and VPS that mask location, as well as on hedging between accounts (long on one, short on the other for the same product) and simultaneous opposite positions between linked accounts. First payout requests are checked against these practices.
• Help center, "Using a VPN, VPS, or IP masking add-on": TradeDay does not allow virtual private servers, and VPNs or IP masking software must be disabled to trade from the registration address. Note: the terms and conditions (article 23) only target a VPN or VPS when it is used to mask the trading location; the general VPS ban comes from this help center page.

Allowed, prohibited, to be clarified

Allowed, according to the pages consulted:

• An automated system used on NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Jigsaw or Quantower, as long as it complies with the prohibited practices.
• Copy trading from a personal account opened elsewhere, between TradeDay evaluation and Funded Sim accounts, and between Funded Live accounts (up to 5).

Prohibited:

• A robot or ATS bought from a third party, or used by several users.
• A strategy that produces more than 200 trades in a day, and very-high-frequency scalping systems.
• Exploiting the simulation engine: queue advantage, absence of slippage during news releases, exploiting or creating errors in prices or price updates.
• A VPS (help center VPS page), a VPN or any IP masking.
• Copy trading between a Funded Live account and an evaluation or Funded Sim account, and positions open at the same time on a Funded Live account and on an evaluation or Funded Sim account, with or without copy trading.

To be clarified with support: proof of ownership of a robot (no procedure is described in the pages read), the definition of a "trade" in the 200 limit, and the exact list of platforms valid for automation. The help center mentions five platforms on the page dedicated to robots, but another page lists more, notably on the Rithmic side.

The 200-trades-per-day limit

This is the only numerical limit found in the pages consulted. It appears in the terms and conditions, in the list of prohibited practices and in the scalping policy. The latter specifies that TradeDay funds scalpers, but with restrictions: it also targets strategies that seek to capture a few ticks within seconds. TradeDay may refuse funding or withhold a payout in case of violation, with no refund. No minimum holding time is indicated in the pages consulted.

In practice: with no API or VPS, what's left?

The tricky point is perhaps less the 200-trade rule than the technical side. According to the help center, TradeDay makes no platform API available, requires going through a supported platform, does not allow VPS and asks you to trade from the registration address. A robot that would require a computer running continuously is therefore a constraint to assess before paying. This last conclusion is our reading of the published rules, not a TradeDay text: ask support for confirmation.

On the proof side, the help center states that first payout requests go through security checks and that the accounts concerned may be closed if several users place the same trades. A robot that you wrote yourself, used only on your own accounts, is the configuration closest to what the texts say (our reading, not written as such by TradeDay). Keep your code and a history of your versions: this is not required in the pages read, it is a precaution.

To compare the rules of several firms, see the futures prop firm comparison; for another example of a rulebook, the Lucid Trading rules. The survey on a dedicated algo account remains open on this page.

Frequently asked questions

Written by the Firmup team · Information on other prop firms gathered from their official sites in October 2026, subject to change: always verify current terms before purchasing · Last updated: October 2026