Pay Once, Get Billed Monthly: Can Futures Props Survive the CME Data Meter without Subscriptions?
By Arnab Shome
AI summary of the source article
Several major futures prop firms have transitioned from monthly subscriptions to one-time evaluation fees. However, CME data licensing continues to be billed on a monthly consumption basis per active user.
Key facts
- Firms including Apex Trader Funding, Bulenox, and My Funded Futures eliminated monthly evaluation subscriptions in favor of one-time fees.
- CME data licenses remain structured on a monthly model, requiring prop firms to pay for each active user every month.
- A prop-specific simulation license across four CME exchanges costs $117,120 annually plus monthly per-exchange data-feed fees.
Source excerpt · Finance Magnates
Monthly subscriptions built the futures prop industry, but this year, several of its largest firms stopped selling them. Apex Trader Funding moved new purchases to one-time fees on 1 March, with older accounts grandfathered, and Tradeify followed in the spring. Bulenox stopped using monthly subscriptions for new purchases from 17 August, and My Funded Futures moved new challenge purchases to a one…