The Apex Live Trading Program: what actually happens after you're selected.
Apex's Live Trading Program is invitation-only and moves selected traders from simulated funds into real capital, with a genuinely different profit split and a completely different rulebook. Here is exactly how selection, structure, and payouts work, verified from Apex's own program documentation.
Why you cannot ask to be moved to live trading.
This is the single most important thing to understand before anything else in this article: the Live Trading Program is not a product you can purchase, apply for, or request. Apex reserves the right to move a trader into live trading at its own discretion, based on trading style, profit and loss history, account count, consistency, risk management, speed of simulated profit accumulation, and prior history with Apex.
Apex has indicated some general monitoring patterns, such as three consecutive withdrawals from a single simulated Performance Account, or an accumulated simulated profit total that suggests trading activity should be happening in live markets. These are described explicitly as monitoring guidelines, not automatic qualification thresholds. Meeting a pattern like this does not guarantee selection, and Apex may also decide a trader needs more time in the simulated environment regardless of performance.
Nothing in this article should be read as a roadmap to selection. Consistent, disciplined simulated trading and regular payouts are the only things within a trader's control. Selection itself remains entirely at Apex's discretion, and no published number of payouts, no specific account count, and no fixed profit total is confirmed to trigger it.
Simulated and live cannot coexist.
The moment you are selected, you have graduated out of the simulated environment entirely. You cannot hold live and simulated accounts at the same time.
Virtual funds, 100% split
- All trading uses virtual funds, no real capital at risk
- 100% payout split on all reward requests
- Evaluation and Performance Account structure
- Rules covered across the rest of this site
Real capital, 90/10 split
- Real capital, real market execution
- 90% to the trader, 10% to Apex on profits
- Single uniform account structure, no size tiers
- Entirely separate rulebook and onboarding process
| What happens | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Active evaluations | Closed. Refunded only if still active at time of selection |
| Blown evaluations | Closed. Not eligible for refund |
| Open Performance Accounts | Deactivated. Profit balances reviewed for the Bonus Vault |
| Future sim account access | Ends entirely once live status begins |
Starting from zero, with a different kind of drawdown.
The live account starts at a $0 balance. There is no purchase involved and no starting capital handed over as a lump sum, profit is built from actual trading. The starting risk parameters are fixed at Level 1 for every selected trader.
| Parameter | Level 1 (starting) |
|---|---|
| Starting balance | $0 |
| EOD drawdown | $3,000 |
| Contract limit | 10 mini / 100 micro |
| Daily Loss Limit | None at Level 1 |
| Consistency rule | None at Level 1 |
Once the live account's profit balance reaches $3,100, the $3,000 drawdown locks at +$100. If the balance ever falls to $100 or below after that, the account closes. This structure is designed to encourage building a cushion early rather than trading aggressively from a $0 start.
How the account grows, and how many you can eventually run.
Live account scaling is tied entirely to profit balance, not to time elapsed or number of trading days. As the balance grows, contract limits increase and a Daily Loss Limit is introduced as a wide protective ceiling rather than a tight daily cap.
| Level | Profit balance | Contract limit | Daily Loss Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | $0 – $10,000 | 10 mini / 100 micro | None |
| Level 2 | $10,000 – $25,000 | 25 mini / 250 micro | $5,000 |
| Level 3 | $25,000 – $50,000 | 30 mini / 300 micro | $10,000 |
| Level 4 | $50,000+ | Custom review | Custom review |
Payouts reduce the live profit balance, and a large withdrawal can push an account back down a level for contract and DLL purposes until the balance climbs back above the threshold at the next end-of-day update.
Running multiple live accounts
The number of live accounts you can eventually hold, up to a maximum of 5, is set at the time of your original graduation, based on how many Performance Accounts you had open then. A trader with 3 open PAs at selection is eligible for up to 3 live accounts. Each additional account requires the previous one to reach $4,500 in profit before the next can be opened, and that prior account must maintain that balance while the new one is enabled.
What actually costs money once you're live.
There is no monthly subscription fee or upfront account fee for the live account itself. Apex does not bill a recurring or one-time charge just to hold a live account. That said, becoming a live trader changes your data and platform costs in ways worth knowing before you get there.
| Cost item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Live account fee | None, no monthly or one-time charge |
| Professional data fee | ~$140/month, initial main feed covered by Apex |
| Additional instrument data | Trader's own cost, purchased through the platform |
| Commissions | Set by the broker, not Apex |
| Platform license | Must be a live license key, not trial or demo |
If you use Tradovate or NinjaTrader, you are covered by default. If you plan to use any other charting platform, you must confirm it is compatible with Ninja Brokerage and hold a live license key for that platform specifically. A temporary, trial, or demo-only license will not connect to live data or live trading. Upgrading to a live license on a third-party platform, if needed, is the trader's own responsibility and expense.
Every live trader started with a simulated evaluation. Code ONKAGNVZ applies 90% off during the current active sale.
View current evaluation options →What happens to your simulated profit when you go live.
The Bonus Vault is a tracking ledger, explicitly not real money, not a cash account, and not stored value in any form. When you are selected for live trading, Apex totals the eligible simulated profit balances from your open, profitable Performance Accounts. That total becomes your Bonus Vault tracking figure.
Bonus Vault bonuses are calculated monthly and paid on the 15th of the following month, not immediately with each withdrawal. Your first live trading account qualifies for a 40% bonus rate instead of the standard 20% during its first calendar month of approved payouts.
If your live account is blown or closed before the 15th of the following month, that month's Bonus Vault bonus is forfeited and the amount stays in your tracked balance rather than being paid out. The bonus rewards an account that is still standing, not just a withdrawal that once happened.
Daily requests, a $500 minimum, and no cap.
Live payout requests can be made daily, with no minimum trading day requirement and no minimum profit day requirement between requests, a notably more flexible structure than the simulated payout rules covering PAs.
| Factor | Live Trading Program |
|---|---|
| Request frequency | Daily |
| Minimum request | $500 |
| Maximum request | No cap, above the safety net |
| Processing time | Within 48 hours of request |
| Profit split | 90% trader / 10% Apex |
Requests can only be made from profit above the $3,100 safety net level. Withdrawing from within the safety net itself is only possible after 90 days of live trading history, and doing so closes the account and ends eligibility for future live cycles.
Thirty days, but a different bar than the simulated rule.
Live accounts carry their own inactivity rule, separate from the one covered in the Apex inactivity rule guide that applies to simulated PAs. The live version is simpler in structure but arguably stricter: any account with no trading activity at all for a month, or over the past 30 days, may be closed. There is no $50-profit-day threshold to satisfy here, the requirement is trading activity itself, not a profit outcome.
If you know you will be away, traveling, or otherwise unable to trade, you can submit a ticket to the live help desk before the inactivity issue occurs to request an extension. This is proactive, unlike the simulated PA rule's automated dormant-phase notifications, nothing here happens automatically in your favor.
If a live account is closed for inactivity before it has reached the safety net and locked its drawdown, the trader is not eligible for payout from that account on closure. Profits above the safety net are still paid out, but Bonus Vault bonuses are not available on accounts closed this way.
The Second Chance path back.
Losing a live account does not permanently end the relationship. Apex offers a requalification path called Second Chance Eval-to-Live, priced at $199 regardless of which attempt number it is.
| Second Chance parameter | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Price | $199, any attempt |
| Minimum days to pass | 5 days |
| Consistency rule | 40% |
| Minimum daily profit | $250 per day |
| Profit target | $4,000 |
| Trailing drawdown | $2,000 |
| Contract limit | 3 mini / 30 micro |
Your Bonus Vault balance remains fully available through your first three live attempts. After a third failure, a risk manager reviews the situation and decides whether to offer a fourth round. If granted, only 50% of the remaining Bonus Vault balance carries forward, along with possible probation terms like smaller starting size or added consistency requirements. If no fourth round is offered, program access, including the Bonus Vault, ends entirely.
The live trading rules are not the same as the simulated PA rules.
A trader who assumes the live rulebook mirrors the simulated Performance Account rules they already know is operating on the wrong assumption. Several core requirements change once real capital and a live broker relationship are involved.
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Overnight holding | Not permitted. All trades closed by 4:50 PM ET |
| Hedging / counter positions | Not permitted |
| Automation / algorithms | Not permitted, human trading only |
| VPNs / location masking | Not permitted for any purpose |
| Account or credential sharing | Strictly forbidden |
| Stop losses | Required, pending or mental, with defined risk management |
| Professional standards | Must match a personally funded broker account |
Apex specifically calls out strategies with disproportionate risk-to-reward, its own example is a 5-tick profit target paired with a 150-tick stop loss, as unacceptable. Any approach that fails to demonstrate consistent, sustainable growth is treated as a violation, not just a poor trading choice. A breach of any live trading rule can result in closure, termination, and forfeiture of the live account and all tracked balances, including the Bonus Vault.
The Longevity Assistance Program.
Apex maintains a named risk-support and coaching process for live traders going through periods of struggle, erratic trading, sudden loss streaks, or risk-management issues. Apex explicitly frames this as not a punishment, its purpose is preserving the account and the trader's long-term prospects, not penalizing a rough stretch.
A live trading coach or risk manager may introduce measures such as a smaller starting contract size, adjusted contract scaling, a Daily Loss Limit, added consistency requirements, minimum trading or profit day requirements between payouts, or a required safety net buffer above which withdrawals are permitted. These same tools may also apply automatically before a fourth Second Chance attempt, as a condition of being offered that additional round.
The live program starts with a simulated Performance Account.
There is no direct path into live trading that bypasses the simulated environment. Every live trader was first a Performance Account holder, selected based on demonstrated consistency over time. If you have not yet started an evaluation, the Apex account sizes guide covers the current options.
All account sizes and platforms are available on the Apex site. Code ONKAGNVZ applies 90% off during the current active sale.
View current evaluation options →