Entry price
Starting with TradeDay requires a smaller upfront investment. For a 50,000 account, the Quick Pay evaluation costs $125 per month (often discounted to $62), and the Fast Pass costs $189 (discounted to $85). Since there are no activation fees, your total cost to start trading a live-sim account is simply the price of the subscription.
Bulenox uses a more complex pricing structure. A 50,000 Legacy EOD account costs $175 for the evaluation, but you must then pay a $148 activation fee once you pass. If you want to skip the evaluation entirely, their Fast Track 50,000 account costs $488 upfront. While Bulenox offers one-time payments that valid for 30 days, the combined cost of evaluation and activation usually exceeds TradeDay's entry price.
What you pay while trading
Execution costs are where TradeDay is more transparent but potentially more expensive for specific styles. They charge $2.38 per side for standard indices like the ES and $0.81 for Micros. Crucially, if you need Level 2 market data (Depth of Market), you must pay an additional $49 per month.
Bulenox commissions are tied to the platform provider (Rithmic or Project X). While they don't charge a separate monthly data fee for evaluations, their cost is felt through the mandatory buffer. On a 50,000 account, you must maintain a $2,600 buffer. This is "dead capital" that stays in the account, effectively increasing your cost of opportunity because you cannot withdraw those first profits.
What mistakes cost you
A mistake in risk management leads to a broken rule, and fixing it has a specific price tag. In Bulenox, a reset for a Legacy account costs $78. If you are on the Fast Track plan, there are no resets allowed; a mistake costs you the entire $338 to $788 initial investment. Their drawdown is also aggressive: most plans use a trailing drawdown that moves in real-time, meaning your "mistake room" shrinks even during a winning trade.
In TradeDay, resets are slightly more flexible, costing around $60 to $110 depending on the account size. However, the real cost of mistakes here is the "auto-liquidation fee" of $10 per contract if the risk system has to close your positions. Furthermore, TradeDay is much stricter with strategy errors: trading news (Tier 1) within 2 minutes of the release or holding more than 200 trades a day can lead to account closure.
What it costs to get paid
This is where the two firms diverge the most. TradeDay Quick Pay is the fastest way to see cash, offering payouts from day one with no minimum buffer. However, the cost is the split: you only keep 50% of profits until you surpass $4,000 in total gains. After that, it moves to 80%.
Bulenox is "expensive" at the start because of the mandatory buffer (e.g., $2,600 for 50,000), but it is much cheaper once you are profitable. You keep 100% of the first $10,000 you earn. After that, the split is 90% for you. If you plan to make more than $10,000, Bulenox puts significantly more money in your pocket than TradeDay's 80% or 50% sim-phase splits.
Where each one hides its cost
Bulenox hides its cost in the activation fees and the mandatory buffer. You might pass the evaluation for $175, but you can't actually touch any profit until you've paid the activation fee and earned enough to cover the $2,600 buffer (for a 50,000 account).
TradeDay hides its cost in the profit split and market data. The Quick Pay plan looks cheap, but giving up 50% of your first $4,000 is a hidden cost of $2,000 compared to a firm that gives you a higher split. Additionally, the $49 monthly fee for Level 2 data is a recurring drain on your capital that Bulenox users don't face.
Cheapest for whom
TradeDay is the cheapest for the "speed runner" trader who has very little starting capital and wants to withdraw small amounts ($250 minimum) as quickly as possible without worrying about activation fees.
Bulenox is the cheapest for the "career trader" who has the capital to cover the initial fees and buffer, aiming for the 100% split on the first $10,000 and a consistent 90% thereafter.
Frequently asked questions
Which firm is cheaper to start a 50K account, Bulenox or TradeDay?
TradeDay is cheaper to start. You can begin a 50,000 Quick Pay evaluation for as low as $62 (with common discounts) and pay $0 in activation fees. In contrast, Bulenox requires an initial payment of $143 to $175 for the evaluation plus a subsequent activation fee of approximately $148, making the total cost to reach the funded stage much higher than at TradeDay.
Does Bulenox or TradeDay have higher costs for market data and platforms?
TradeDay generally has higher technical costs because it charges $49 per month if you require Level 2 (Depth of Market) data, and commissions are fixed at $2.38 per side for indices. Bulenox includes standard data in its evaluation and activation costs and provides access to a wider range of platforms like ATAS and Sierra Chart, though its commissions vary depending on whether you use Rithmic or Project X.
Between Bulenox and TradeDay, which one has a more expensive profit-sharing model?
TradeDay is more expensive in the short term for its Quick Pay accounts, where it takes 50% of your profits until you reach $4,000 in gains. Bulenox is much more trader-friendly in this regard, allowing you to keep 100% of your first $10,000 in cumulative profits before switching to a 90% split, which is also higher than TradeDay's standard 80% for sim accounts.
Which firm charges more for breaking rules and resetting accounts, Bulenox or TradeDay?
The costs are similar, but Bulenox is slightly more expensive for basic resets at $78 for Legacy accounts. TradeDay resets range from $45 to $110 depending on the plan and account size. However, TradeDay adds a hidden cost of $10 per contract for auto-liquidations, and Bulenox Fast Track accounts cannot be reset at all, meaning a single mistake requires buying a whole new account for several hundred dollars.
