Which prop firms let you trade through an API?

Which firms have their own API

In July 2025 a trader asked r/algotrading “Are there any prop firms that offer Python APIs?” and explained why: “I really hate mt5 and I’m way more fluent in python. I was wondering if any prop firm offered API access via python.” A year later someone on r/propfirm who wanted to run a futures algo was still asking: “Does it usually run through NinjaTrader, or is another platform/API used?”

Of the 12 prop firms whose rules we track, Topstep is the only one whose help centre documents a trading API of its own. Most of the others let bots run inside a trading platform they support. Take Profit Trader, Alpha Futures and Apex ban automation, and Kraken Prop takes manual orders only. We read every firm’s pages on 30 September 2026. Apex’s site blocked our automated check of its platform list that day, so that part of its row shows what we recorded on 27 September 2026.

How Topstep’s API works

Topstep sells TopstepX API Access, which is “powered by ProjectX and billed separately from your Topstep subscription”. It is meant for traders comfortable coding “in Python, Java, .NET, JavaScript, or similar languages who want to work with REST and WebSocket APIs”. The price is “$29/month”, and the charge appears on your bank statement as “Sim2Funded Solutions”. One subscription and one API key cover every eligible account on your profile.

Your own bot is welcome. Asked whether traders can build one, Topstep answers: “Yes. Custom automated strategies and bots are allowed via the TopstepX / ProjectX API, subject to standard platform rules and our prohibition on highfrequency trading (HFT).” Topstep offers no sandbox, and suggests testing on a Practice account, which has the “same endpoints and real-time hubs”.

Two limits shape how you run it. The code has to run from your own computer, because “All trading activity must originate from your personal device” and “The use of VPS, VPNs, and remote servers is prohibited”. You can still keep a private server for data, backtests and logs, but Topstep draws the line at orders: “your server can watch and record, but it cannot trade.” Firms split on this, and several allow a VPS.

The API also ends at the live stage. “No, Live funded accounts are not allowed to trade through the ProjectX API,” Topstep says, so a bot that earns a call-up can’t follow you to the live account.

Futures firms: platforms and bot rules

Firm	Platforms the firm lists	Bots and automation	Own API	Source
Topstep	TopstepX, “the only available trading platform”. Quantower connects through TopstepX in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account only	Allowed “with conditions” in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account. Not on Live. No HFT, no VPS	Yes. TopstepX API Access, $29 a month	API, Platform, Quantower, Combine
Tradeify	Tradovate (with NinjaTrader and TradingView), Rithmic (Tradesea, Quantower, Sierra Chart, R|Trader) or WealthCharts	Allowed if you are “the sole owner of the bot or strategy”. “Personal bots are allowed as long as they are not high-frequency trading (HFT) bots.”	None listed	Platforms, Guidelines
Lucid Trading	Through CQG: NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView. Through Rithmic: MotiveWave, Quantower, Tradesea, Sierra Chart, Jigsaw, Bookmap, ATAS, R|Trader Pro, MultiCharts	“Automated trading systems and trade copiers are permitted”. No HFT	None listed	Platforms, Rules
MyFundedFutures	NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Quantower, Volumetrica, DeepChart, ATAS	Allowed if the tools “do not aim to exploit the favorable fills offered in the Simulated Environment”. No HFT	None listed	Platforms, Rules
FundedNext Futures	Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView	EAs and bots allowed “during both the Challenge and on FundedNext Accounts”. No HFT	None listed	Platforms, Bots
FTMO Futures	NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView	“Automated trading is permitted.” No “high-frequency strategies and latency arbitrage”	None listed	Platforms, Rules
Take Profit Trader	Through CQG: TradingView, NinjaTrader, Tradovate. Through Rithmic: Bookmap, MultiCharts, MotiveWave, Trade Navigator, R|Trader, VolFix, ATAS, Investor R/T, Quantower, Finamark, Jigsaw Trader	Banned. “Automated trading systems, bots, or algorithmic execution tools are not permitted.”	None listed	Platforms, Policies
Alpha Futures	AlphaTrader, TradingView (through Plus500), WealthCharts, DeepChart, Quantower	Banned. “The use of AI, bots, and other automated trading mechanisms is strictly prohibited across all account types.”	None listed	Platforms, Rules
Apex Trader Funding*	Tradovate, Rithmic, WealthCharts	Banned. “No Automation or Algorithm Usage allowed”	None listed	Prohibited activities

*Platforms as recorded on 27 September 2026. The bot rule is from Apex’s prohibited activities page, checked on 30 September 2026.

CFD and crypto firms: EAs and APIs

Firm	Platforms	Bots, EAs and API	Source
FTMO (CFDs)	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView	Allowed: “discretionary trading, algorithmic trading, EAs, etc.” An EA must not cause “more than 2,000 server requests per day”	Platforms, Strategies, Rules
FundedNext (CFDs)	MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Match-Trader	EAs and bots on MetaTrader only, on accounts below $50,000, “with an additional EA usage fee”. None on cTrader or Match-Trader	EA rules
The5ers (CFDs)	MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView. US clients: TradingView	EAs allowed if they avoid HFT, tick scalping and arbitrage, and “the trader must own the source code of the EA”. Its futures program forbids algorithmic trading	Platforms, EAs, Futures
FundingPips	MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Match-Trader	Third-party EAs only “as a trade or risk manager”. Full automation only with your own EA and proof that you own it	Platforms, EAs
Tradeify 247 (crypto)	DXTrade, or MetaTrader 5 outside the US	“Trading bots are allowed if you own or have exclusive rights to the bot.” Every trade must be held for at least 20 seconds	FAQ, Rules
Kraken Prop / Breakout	Kraken Pro for Kraken Prop. Breakout sells new accounts on the Breakout Terminal only, and older accounts keep DXTrade	Kraken Prop “does not currently offer API access”, and orders “are placed manually through the trading interface”. Breakout’s help centre states no bot rule	Kraken Prop, Breakout
HyroTrader (crypto; not one of the 12)	Bybit, Tealstreet, CLEO	“Trading bots connected via API are permitted.” You connect your own bot with a Bybit API key. CLEO has no algo trading. No HFT	Platforms, Bots, API key, CLEO

Running a bot without a firm API

At most of these firms your code never talks to the firm directly. You choose a connection when you buy (Tradeify calls Tradovate, Rithmic and WealthCharts its “three broker connections”), and the bot runs inside a platform that uses that connection. Every order it sends still falls under the firm’s rules on bots and HFT.

The platform you pick can decide whether you may automate at all, and you usually can’t change it later. Tradeify’s platform guide says you “cannot switch between brokers (e.g., from Tradovate to Rithmic) without purchasing a new account”, and at The5ers “Platform choices are final once purchased”. FundedNext bans bots on cTrader even though, in its own words, “cTrader Automate (cAlgo) supports algorithmic trading using C#”. It keeps Match-Trader “reserved for manual trading only”, and since its US clients can only use Match-Trader, they “will not be able to use an EA or algorithmic trading” (USA client guide).

On MetaTrader a bot is called an Expert Advisor, or EA, which FundedNext describes as “a MetaTrader-specific concept”. FTMO, The5ers, FundingPips and FundedNext all allow EAs on conditions. The5ers and FundingPips want proof that the code is yours, FTMO bans EAs that cause more than 2,000 server requests a day, and FundedNext allows EAs only on accounts below $50,000.

HyroTrader, a crypto firm outside our group of 12, comes closest to a plain API route. Its FAQ says you “can generate your own API key and link it to your custom trading bot” on a Bybit demo account, although “using third-party applications is not supported during HyroTrader challenges”.

What it costs

Topstep’s $29 a month is the only charge we found for API access itself. The other costs come from platforms and add-ons. To run a bot on a FundedNext CFD account you buy an “EA” or “VPS & EA” add-on, and both “carry a usage fee” that is “non-refundable”. Take Profit Trader’s platform list says “For most platforms you will need a license key, but there are some offered for free.” Tradeify notes that Sierra Chart “requires a paid Sierra Chart subscription”, though its three connections cost the same, with “no surcharge for any platform”. The5ers adds a $10 fee for cTrader. At MyFundedFutures, live traders pay a “Platform License or Subscription”, which comes out of the live account balance.

Running your algo at ROMER

ROMER is our funded-trader program for algorithmic and high-frequency traders. You deploy your algo to our hardware inside the exchange’s data centre, and it runs there at every stage, so you don’t need a VPS or servers of your own. Bots, algos and HFT are allowed throughout, within the exchange’s message limits. Orders placed by hand are allowed too, but they start on your computer and cross the network to our servers, so they miss most of the speed an algo gets from running at the exchange. Planned pricing, which may change, is $149 a month for Starter ($25K), $249 for Pro ($50K) and $399 for Elite ($100K), with no activation fee.