Best Prop Firms for Order Flow Traders, Depth and Footprint Checked

Key takeaways

We checked 18 futures prop firms for the two things an order-flow trader needs on the funded account, not just the evaluation: multi-level depth (Level 2 on the DOM) and a footprint chart, with the monthly price of each.

Read the full summary

We checked 18 futures prop firms for the two things an order-flow trader needs on the funded account, not just the evaluation: multi-level depth (Level 2 on the DOM) and a footprint chart, with the monthly price of each. Nine 50K products pass and are ranked on order-flow cost per $1,000 of loss room (list price, activation, one month of depth at each stage and a footprint licence, divided by the overall loss floor). Tradeify Growth 50K on Tradovate is cheapest at $72.50 (free OrderFlow+ footprint; Tradovate’s Level 2 fee is unpublished, and its Rithmic accounts cannot buy depth at all), then DayTraders.com EOD 50K at $82.50 ($10 Rithmic CME depth), Topstep’s 50K Combine at $85.50 ($38 Level 2 and a free Quantower footprint at both stages) and MyFundedFutures Builder at $94.00. Phidias, Elite Trader Funding, FXIFY Futures, TradeDay and Apex ($387.00) follow. Take Profit Trader (funded floor trails open profit), Alpha Futures (queued payouts), Earn2Trade and Top One Futures fail; Lucid Trading, BluSky and Bulenox publish no depth price.

Freshness: firm pages, prices and data fees checked October 4 to 5, 2026. Firms change terms without notice; re-check before you buy. Each Trustpilot figure carries the date we read it.

Quick picks among prop firms for order flow traders

• Cheapest order-flow seat: Tradeify Growth 50K on Tradovate, $72.50 per $1,000. Free OrderFlow+ footprint; buy Level 2 from Tradovate.
• Cheapest with every fee published: DayTraders.com EOD 50K, $82.50. $10 CME depth on Rithmic at both stages.
• Footprint bundled at both stages: Topstep 50K Combine, $85.50 for one month. $38 Level 2 and Quantower Volume Analysis free.
• One payment, DOM and footprint at checkout: MyFundedFutures Builder 50K, $153 ($94.00), with no depth price published.
• Most loss room for a direct account: Elite Trader Funding Direct to Funded 50K, $5,000 floor ($163.39).

Why a brand-level “yes, they have Rithmic” misleads: depth and footprint are sold per route and per stage. At Tradeify the same 50K account has Level 2 on Tradovate and none on Rithmic; at Take Profit Trader depth is free on Rithmic and unavailable on CQG; at TradeDay you cannot buy CME depth alone. And most firms’ depth articles never say whether the price applies once you are funded.

What order flow traders need from a prop firm

Order flow trading reads who is trading, not just where price went. It needs two data views that a basic prop account does not give you by default.

• Depth (Level 2, the DOM ladder): resting bids and offers at several prices above and below the market. Level 1 (top of book) usually comes with the account; depth beyond the inside price is a separate monthly fee at most firms here. A DOM that loads without it shows one price each side.
• Footprint (volumetric bars, cluster chart, Order Flow+): volume traded at each price inside a bar, split into what hit the bid and what lifted the offer. It comes from the platform, so it is either bundled by the firm or a licence you buy.
• Both on the funded account: the evaluation is where you pay to prove the method; the funded account is where it has to keep working. Several firms describe depth only in an article that never names a stage.
• Order rules that fit: stacking, pulling and moving limit orders is normal DOM work, and some firms ban orders away from the inside price, stacked limits at one price, or trades held under 10 seconds.

This guide is futures only. Order flow comes from an exchange’s order book, and forex and CFD prop firms quote broker prices instead; the short explainer near the end covers why.

How we ranked the best prop firms for order flow traders

1. Sources: each firm’s own data-fee, platform and rules articles, terms and checkout, read October 4 to 5, 2026. Platform vendors’ own pages are used only for the footprint licence price and what their feed carries.
2. The test, per product: depth is available on the evaluation and on the funded account with a stated route; a footprint route exists at both stages (bundled, or a firm-issued login into a platform the firm permits); and the overall loss floor is published for both stages. Silence is not a pass.
3. What fails: no depth route on any page, a funded floor that trails open profit, an account-ending rule you cannot read before paying, or an open payout queue the firm itself acknowledges.
4. Order: order-flow cost per $1,000 of loss room, lowest first; ties go to the lower funded data cost, then the lower list price. One product per firm, the cheapest passing one on this number.
5. Warnings, not ranks: a discretionary live call-up is named first in each firm’s watch-outs, never used to drop a firm.

Order-flow cost per $1,000 of loss room = (50K list price of one attempt + activation fee + one month of depth on the evaluation + one month on the funded account + one month of a footprint licence if none is bundled) ÷ overall maximum-loss floor at its smallest stage × 1,000

Worked example, Topstep: $95 for one Combine month, $0 activation, $38 of Level 2 at the Combine and $38 in the funded account, $0 for the bundled footprint. $171 ÷ $2,000 × 1,000 = $85.50. The floor is the overall maximum loss, never a daily limit. List prices set the rank; a fee a firm does not publish is left out and marked, never treated as $0. Full method: how we rank.

Order flow prop firms compared, the order-flow seat

Order flow prop firms compared, what else decides it

Notes on this ranking: * A fee the firm does not publish is left out, never assumed to be $0: the Tradovate Level 2 fee at Tradeify, depth at MyFundedFutures, the Level 2 add-on at Elite Trader Funding, and any Order Flow+ fee at TradeDay. † The firm’s depth article does not name a stage; we count it for the funded account because the same login carries over, as at every firm marked. ‡ MyFundedFutures’ only depth statement is the word DOM on its Quantower checkout option. § The firm’s own pages give two figures and we rank on the costlier: TradeDay’s Funded Live floor is $1,500 on one page and $2,000 on another ($143.50 on $2,000, which would put it fifth, ahead of Phidias); Phidias lists depth at €15 ($16) and €11 (about $12.35 at the ECB rate of 1.1225 for October 2, 2026, giving $149.08, same place). ¶ Monthly products count one month; with a two-month evaluation Topstep is $152.00, Phidias $224.00 and TradeDay $350.00. Footprint licences are counted at one month of the cheapest plan that works on the firm’s route: Quantower Volume Analysis $35, or TradingView Premium $69.95 where Quantower is not offered. Codes never set a rank.

Level 1 vs Level 2 at prop firms for order flow traders, and MBO vs MBP

Level 1 is the best bid and best offer with the last trade. Level 2 (market depth) adds the resting size at each price behind them, which is what fills a DOM ladder. Level 1 usually comes with the account. What the depth fee buys differs:

• Per exchange: DayTraders.com and Apex charge $10 a month for CME alone (ES and NQ), and Phidias $16. If you trade only the CME index futures, that is all you need; CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX are $10 to $16 each more.
• Bundle only: TradeDay sells only its $49 all-exchange bundle; Topstep ($38) and FXIFY Futures ($39) quote one Level 2 price without naming the exchanges it covers.
• Unpriced: Tradeify (billed by Tradovate), Elite Trader Funding (a dashboard add-on) and MyFundedFutures (DOM named at checkout) do not print the price.
• Free for one exchange: Take Profit Trader, on Rithmic only: “You can get market data level 2 for free for one exchange.” It fails our test on its funded floor, not its data.
• Billing quirks: Topstep bills on the 28th with no proration, DayTraders.com add-ons expire at month end and must be renewed by hand, and Elite Trader Funding’s add-on covers the calendar month you buy it in.

MBO vs MBP: market by price (MBP) shows the total size resting at each price level; market by order (MBO) shows each individual order in the queue, which is what queue-position and iceberg tools read. No ranked firm states which one its sim feed delivers. The vendors describe their own feeds: Rithmic says its feed carries market by order with full depth, Tradovate describes contracts resting per price, and dxFeed sells both. On Reddit’s order-flow forum the same split is the usual CQG-versus-Rithmic argument; treat it as a vendor capability, and ask the firm before you pay for a tool that needs MBO.

Footprint chart routes and licence prices at prop firms for order flow traders

A footprint is a platform feature, so each firm gives you one of three routes: it bundles a platform that has one, it issues a data login you take into a footprint platform it permits, or it offers neither. Only three firms say in plain words that a footprint is included: Topstep (Quantower Volume Analysis, Combine and funded), Tradeify (Tradovate OrderFlow+) and Alpha Futures (Deepchart OrderFlow). Everyone else leaves the licence to you, and the cheapest one that works on your route goes into our cost figure.

Two route traps sit in that table. Quantower’s free version has no cluster chart, so a firm that “includes Quantower” (Phidias, Take Profit Trader) still leaves the footprint to buy. And a Tradovate route cannot reach ATAS, Sierra Chart or Bookmap at Elite Trader Funding: “Tradovate accounts connect only to the NinjaTrader and Tradingview platforms”. TopstepX and the other ProjectX-based platforms are compared in our guide to prop firms that use ProjectX.

Ranked prop firms for order flow traders

Nine 50K products pass: depth and a footprint route on both stages, and a published floor. Each block carries the same fields, in the table’s order.

Tradeify Growth 50K bundles a footprint chart free, but only on the Tradovate route

Tradeify is the one firm here where the broker you pick at checkout decides whether you get depth at all. On its Rithmic and WealthCharts accounts, “Level 2 depth data and EUREX data are not yet available on Rithmic accounts, and they cannot be purchased from Tradeify, from Rithmic, or from the platform itself”, and its own guide warns that “A working DOM does not mean you have Level 2 data.” Pick Tradovate instead and both halves of the order-flow seat are there: Level 2 is a Tradovate add-on (“You will be billed directly by Tradovate.”), and the footprint comes with the account, since “Your Tradeify account includes these premium features at no additional cost” lists Tradovate’s OrderFlow+.

Video: “Ep. 7, Get Paid in 24 Hours With Tradeify's Select Plan,” Tradeify official YouTube channel, January 12, 2026. Source type: firm-produced. Why selected: Tradeify’s own explainer of its payout paths; it predates the September 1, 2026 cap change, so use it for the concept, not the figures. No official Tradeify video covers Level 2 or OrderFlow+.

• Depth at each stage: Evaluation and funded: a Tradovate Level 2 add-on, billed by Tradovate at a price Tradeify does not publish. Rithmic and WealthCharts accounts cannot buy depth at any stage.
• Footprint route: Tradovate OrderFlow+ is included free; Tradeify’s charting guide lists bid-ask volume and TPO (footprint) chart styles. No licence to buy, so the footprint adds $0.
• Depth feed: Tradeify does not say; Tradovate describes its depth as contracts resting at each price (market by price).
• Cost: $145 one-time with no activation fee: $145 ÷ $2,000 × 1,000 = $72.50 per $1,000 of loss room, before the Tradovate Level 2 fee Tradeify does not price. The limited-edition Level Up ladder ($80 an attempt, $1,000 static floor, five attempts per person) works out at $80.00 per $1,000.
• Order rules: Funded accounts only: “over 50% of your trades must be longer than 10 seconds AND over 50% of your profit must come from trades held longer than 10 seconds”. A DOM scalper who takes ticks off the offer needs to watch hold times once funded. High-frequency bots are banned at every stage; news trading is not restricted.
• Payouts: Growth 50K: payouts every 5 qualifying days, $500 minimum, Rise or Plane.
• Watch out for: Tradeify “reserves the right to move you to a Live Funded Account at any time after a successful payout”, with no decline option published. For depth: buy the Tradovate version, not Rithmic or WealthCharts.
• Trustpilot: 4.4/5 on 4,976 reviews, read October 4, 2026. Tradeify profile, rules.

DayTraders.com EOD 50K has the cheapest published depth price on a Rithmic login

DayTraders.com prints its whole depth menu with a price per exchange: “Market Depth All Exchanges : $30.00 Market Depth Comex : $10.00 Market Depth CBOT : $10.00 Market Depth NYMEX : $10.00 Market Depth CME : $10.00”. For an ES or NQ ladder that is $10 a month, and “Each of these add-ons provides full market depth for a specific exchange”. The catch is housekeeping: “Each add-on must be manually renewed at the start of each month for continued access”, so a missed renewal on the first trading day leaves you looking at top of book.

Video: “What Is Funded Trading? How DayTraders.com Helps You Trade Without Risking Your Own Money!,” DayTraders.com official YouTube channel, October 10, 2025. Source type: firm-produced. Why selected: DayTraders.com’s own overview of its evaluation types (EOD, Static, Straight to Funded); no official depth or footprint video exists.

• Depth at each stage: $10 a month for CME at the evaluation and on the Pro account (the same add-on in the member area; the article does not name a stage). $30 a month covers all four exchanges.
• Footprint route: Rithmic credentials into Quantower, ATAS, Sierra Chart, Jigsaw, MotiveWave or Bookmap. “Your Quantower license is linked to your Rithmic account with us”, but the firm does not say the cluster chart is included, so we add Quantower’s $35 Volume Analysis month.
• Depth feed: Rithmic says its feed carries market by order and full depth; the firm does not state what its sim feed delivers.
• Cost: $105 one-time plus a $5 Pro activation, $10 + $10 of CME depth and a $35 footprint licence: $165 ÷ $2,000 × 1,000 = $82.50. The Static 50K ($50, $1,000 floor) costs $110.00 per $1,000 on the same route.
• Order rules: “Excessive trade volume over short periods that is characteristic of HFT will be flagged” on Pro accounts. No hold-time or order-modification limit is published. News trading is allowed.
• Payouts: Pro: every 8 qualifying days of $200 or more, $500 minimum in $500 steps, 30% consistency.
• Watch out for: Traders “may be transitioned to a live account at any time based on performance and risk evaluation”; decline terms are not published. Live accounts trade on the firm’s ONYX platform, and “Quantower is available to use, however a full license is not provided.” NinjaTrader is not supported.
• Trustpilot: 4.6/5 on 499 reviews, read October 5, 2026. DayTraders.com profile.

Topstep Trading Combine 50K gives a free footprint bundle and a published $38 depth price at both stages

Topstep is the only ranked firm that names both stages in its depth sentence and bundles the footprint itself. “Topstep accounts include the Premium Feature Bundle for free”, which on Quantower includes the Volume Analysis tools (the cluster or footprint chart), and “Quantower via TopstepX is available for the Trading Combine® and Express Funded Account® (XFA) only.” Level 2 is $38 a month on the Depth of Market Bundle, and it “is billed on the 28th of each month and is not prorated”, so a mid-month start still pays the full month.

Video: “TopstepX, 5 Mins or Less, DOM, Order Panel, & T&S,” Topstep official YouTube channel, May 9, 2024. Source type: firm-produced. Why selected: Topstep’s own five-minute tour of the TopstepX DOM, order panel and time and sales, the closest official video to an order-flow setup.

• Depth at each stage: $38 a month at the Combine and in the Express Funded Account; Topstep’s Quantower article says Level 2 is required for the premium tools at both.
• Footprint route: Quantower Volume Analysis Tools inside the free Premium Feature Bundle, Combine and XFA, so the footprint adds $0. Not available on the Live Funded Account.
• Depth feed: Topstep calls it a direct CME feed through ProjectX and does not state market by order or by price.
• Cost: $95 a month with no activation fee, plus $38 of Level 2 at each stage: $171 ÷ $2,000 × 1,000 = $85.50 for one month. A two-month Combine raises it to $152.00. The Standard path ($49 a month plus a $149 activation fee) costs $137.00.
• Order rules: Topstep’s prohibited list includes “Placing orders at prices outside the current best bid or offer.” Read it before you stack resting limits away from the inside market. The same pages name spoofing and SIM-queue exploitation (“Making hundreds of rapid trades to take advantage of preferential queue position in SIM”). News trading is allowed, but not full size into a scheduled release.
• Payouts: Express Funded Account Standard path: after 5 winning days of $150 or more, $125 minimum; after the first payout the loss limit moves up to the starting balance.
• Watch out for: The live call-up cannot be declined: “Can I decline the invitation to move to Live and stay in my XFA? No.” Live professional data is $133 per exchange a month, with one exchange covered by Topstep.
• Trustpilot: 3.7/5 on 14,895 reviews, read October 3, 2026. Topstep profile, rules.

MyFundedFutures Builder 50K sells a DOM and footprint platform option, with no depth price published

MyFundedFutures puts the order-flow promise on the checkout itself: the Quantower option reads “Quantower | DOM, Footprint, Strategy tools”. That is the only depth statement the firm makes. There is no Level 2 page, no price, and no word on which dxFeed depth product you receive, so we rank it on the checkout wording and mark it. The choice is permanent: “Once selected, account types and connection plans cannot be altered or refunded under any circumstances.”

Video: “Episode 2, MyFundedFutures Dashboard Walkthrough,” MyFundedFutures official YouTube channel, April 12, 2026. Source type: firm-produced. Why selected: MyFundedFutures’ own dashboard walkthrough, from picking a plan to the first payout; there is no official platform-choice or order-flow video.

• Depth at each stage: The checkout’s Quantower option names DOM tools at the evaluation and the route stays the same through funded; no depth price or depth level is published at either stage.
• Footprint route: Quantower option at checkout (footprint named on the card), plus Volumetrica, DeepChart and ATAS on the same dxFeed route. No sentence says the Quantower licence is included, so we add its $35 Volume Analysis month.
• Depth feed: Not published by the firm; dxFeed sells both price-level and full order-book products.
• Cost: $153 one-time with no activation fee, plus a $35 footprint licence: $188 ÷ $2,000 × 1,000 = $94.00 before any depth fee, which MyFundedFutures does not publish. Rapid EOD 50K ($225) is $130.00 on the same route.
• Order rules: The fair-play page says “Simultaneously placing multiple limit orders at the same price to manipulate order fills is prohibited.” Its news policy reads “Ensuring no open positions or orders are active in the order book 2 minutes before and after any data release.” Another line lists Builder plans as unrestricted; we read the stricter one. High-frequency trading is not allowed.
• Payouts: Builder: 80% split, $500 minimum, 50% consistency, a $2,100 buffer and $2,000 maximum on the first request.
• Watch out for: The live move is not optional: “No, rejecting the move to a Live Funded Account is not possible once you are selected.” Live data and platform costs come out of the live balance, amounts not published.
• Trustpilot: 4.9/5 on 22,163 reviews, read October 4, 2026. MyFundedFutures profile, rules.

Phidias Fundamental 50K prices depth per exchange and runs footprint through your own Rithmic platform

Phidias publishes the most granular depth menu of any firm here: “Market depth (per trade) €15($16)/month. Depth of the 4 exchanges €45 ($46) pe