Can I run my algo from the evaluation to a live account?

Where the automation stops

A trader on r/propfirm asked in July 2026 how people run algos with prop firms, and added: “I’m mainly interested in firms that allow automation from evaluation through funded/live accounts.”

Most prop firms have three stages. You pass an evaluation, trade a simulated funded account for payouts, and a small number of traders are then moved to a live account holding the firm’s own capital, where orders reach a real market. A firm can allow bots in the first two stages and switch them off in the third, and Topstep is the clearest example.

Topstep answers “Yes, with conditions” when asked about automated strategies in its Trading Combine and its Express Funded Account, both of which Topstep describes as simulated. Its documented route for bots is the paid TopstepX API. For the live account, the API page says: “No, Live funded accounts are not allowed to trade through the ProjectX API. The API Gateway is built for the simulated environment and isn’t available on Live.” The Live Funded Account rules repeat it: “automated strategies are not possible at this time in the Live Funded Account.” Quantower goes the same way, since Topstep says it “is available for the Trading Combine® and Express Funded Account® (XFA) only” (connection guide).

“When the call-up comes, all Express Funded Accounts (XFA) close,” Topstep adds. A trader whose bot earned the call-up loses the simulated accounts it was running on, and can’t run it on the live one.

What other firms say about live accounts

We read each firm’s rules on 30 September 2026, looking for the stage each rule names. “Not stated” means the firm’s live-account pages don’t mention bots.

Firm	Evaluation	Simulated funded	Live account	Source
Topstep	Allowed, “with conditions”	Allowed, “with conditions”	“automated strategies are not possible at this time”	Combine, XFA, Live
MyFundedFutures	Allowed if the tools “do not aim to exploit the favorable fills offered in the Simulated Environment”	Same rule	Allowed. “Traders trading live accounts with automated trading must abide by CME guidelines.”	Fair play rules, Live FAQ
Tradeify	Allowed if you own the bot and it isn’t an HFT bot	Same rule	Not stated. The bot rule names no stage	Guidelines, Elite Live
FundedNext Futures	Allowed “during both the Challenge and on FundedNext Accounts”	Allowed	Not stated	Bots, Live
Lucid Trading	“Automated trading systems and trade copiers are permitted”	Same rule	Not stated	Rules, LucidLive
FTMO Futures	“Automated trading is permitted.”	Same rule, which names the “Evaluation Account or Sim-Funded Account”	Not stated. Live is by invitation, “at FTMO’s discretion”	Rules, Live
Take Profit Trader	Banned	Banned	Banned. The ban covers “Test, PRO, and PRO+”, and PRO+ accounts “are live accounts”	Policies, PRO+
Alpha Futures	Banned	Banned	Banned “across all account types”	Rules

When we checked on 30 September 2026, Apex’s prohibited activities page said “No Automation or Algorithm Usage allowed”, without naming a stage.

MyFundedFutures is the one firm here that says in writing that automation carries on into live trading. Its live FAQ also allows microscalping, very short trades for a few ticks: “Yes, microscalping is permitted on the live accounts. The CME does not impose any restrictions on this trading style”. Asked about other banned practices, it answers “there is nothing else we prohibit, but you must abide by the CME Rules.”

Where the live pages say nothing, you can’t assume either way. Tradeify’s bot rule, for example, sits in general guidelines that name no stage, and the same guidelines say the firm wants traders who “can be called up to live to eventually be copied by our own firm as well”.

Why the break matters for an algo trader

A discretionary trader who reaches a live account keeps trading the same way. An algo trader whose firm switches automation off at that point has two choices: trade by hand a strategy that was built for a machine, or stop.

The timing is the other problem. A simulated account guesses fills, and the firms’ own rules show those guesses can flatter fast strategies. Topstep’s prohibited strategies include “Making hundreds of rapid trades to take advantage of preferential queue position in SIM” and exploiting “the relative lack of slippage in SIM”. MyFundedFutures’ fair play rules warn that “Certain trading strategies may exploit the simulated fill algorithm, performing well in the evaluation stage but inevitably resulting in losses when transitioned to live markets.” So the live account is often the first place an algo meets real queue position and slippage, and at some firms it is also the one place it isn’t allowed to run. It is the same gap between simulated and real fills that leads firms to ban HFT.

Going live also ends trading on the accounts the bot was running. Topstep closes every Express Funded Account at the call-up. Tradeify’s Elite program says “All Sim Funded and evaluation accounts are closed”, and at MyFundedFutures “your active Sim Funded Account(s) will be placed in a dormant state” (live account guide). The same guide says “rejecting the move to a Live Funded Account is not possible.”

Live accounts can also carry their own costs, and those add up for a strategy that trades often. As a live trader at MyFundedFutures you cover the “CME Professional Data Subscription”, “Round-Trip Commissions and Fees” and a “Platform License or Subscription”, all taken from the live balance.

What to check before you buy

Read the live-account page as well as the evaluation rules, and look for the stage each bot rule names. Topstep names the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account, FundedNext Futures names the Challenge and the FundedNext Account, and Take Profit Trader names Test, PRO and PRO+. Check that the platform or API your bot uses exists on the live account, since Topstep’s API and its Quantower link stop before Live. If the live pages are silent, get the answer in writing.

How the same algo moves through ROMER

ROMER is our funded-trader program for algorithmic and high-frequency traders. Bots, algos and HFT are allowed at every stage, and the same algo runs at full speed on our hardware inside the exchange’s data centre from start to finish. Stage 1 is a simulated evaluation of at least 3 trading days. In Stage 2, Verification, the algo has to pass again over at least 10 new trading days, which checks that the Stage 1 result wasn’t luck. Fills are simulated in both stages, so no real orders go out until the algo is funded. The best algos then trade our own capital on the real exchange, and the trader, an independent contractor, keeps 80% of real profits, though funding isn’t guaranteed.