Which Prop Firms Actually Allow Automated Trading & Bots?
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Fewer than the lists claim. To run a bot on a Tradovate connection you need a firm that allows automation and runs on Tradovate - the clearest fit is Tradeify, which is Tradovate-supported. Nobody outside your firm can answer that half honestly, including us, so we do not publish, interpret or track any firm's automation rules. The half we can answer is the technical one: whether a bot can physically reach your account at all. That is the question this page answers.
Why most “algo-friendly” lists are wrong
Search “prop firms that allow bots” and you'll get a dozen lists that all say “yes, everyone allows it!” - because most of them are paid to. But there is a deeper problem with every one of those lists, including the older version of this page: a copied rule is out of date the moment the firm edits it. A page written in March that says your firm allows bots is not evidence in September, and it is your funded account that pays for the gap, not the website that told you.
So we stopped. We publish no firm's rules at all, and we never claim a firm permits automation. Read your own firm's current rules, on their own site, before you automate anything - and read them again before you join a new one. What we can tell you, because it is our own software and we can test it, is which firms a bot can technically reach, and that is a completely different question from whether yours lets you.
Which firms can a bot actually reach?
Until recently this was the real bottleneck. Most automation tools spoke only to Tradovate, so if your firm ran on Rithmic or their own platform, it did not matter what their rulebook said - you could not connect. That is no longer true. The LPFT Copilot places orders on 25 prop firms directly, by one of two roads: the firm's own API, or NinjaTrader 8 running on your own computer, which is how it reaches Rithmic and CQG accounts. Six firms on our list offer traders neither, so we say so plainly instead of letting you paste a key that silently never works.
| Prop firm | How the LPFT Copilot reaches it | Do you need TradersPost? |
|---|---|---|
| Tradeify | Direct, through NinjaTrader 8 | No |
| Bulenox | Direct, through NinjaTrader 8 | No |
| TradeDay | Direct, through NinjaTrader 8 | No |
| Apex Trader Funding | Direct, through NinjaTrader 8 | No |
| Topstep | Direct, through the firm's own API | No |
| Take Profit Trader | Direct, through NinjaTrader 8 | No |
| TickTick Trader | No direct route yet - they offer neither an API we can drive nor NinjaTrader | Yes, if you want it automated |
Routes verified against each firm's own site, August 2026, and generated from the same roster the app uses. This table says nothing about whether your firm permits automation - that is their rule, it changes without notice, and it is yours to check.
The two roads in
The firm's own API
A handful of firms sell API access directly. It is the cleanest route: nothing else has to be running, and the app talks to the firm. Two firms on our list work this way today, and one of them charges for the key.
NinjaTrader 8, on your own computer
Most prop firms hand their traders NinjaTrader, whatever data feed sits underneath it - Rithmic, CQG or Tradovate. So instead of asking the firm for an API they do not sell, the Copilot drives the NinjaTrader you are already logged into, on your own machine. That single road reaches 23 of the 25 firms, and it costs nothing extra: you are already running the platform. Nothing about your firm login ever leaves your computer, because the app never sees it - it hands orders to the platform sitting beside it.
Or TradersPost, if you would rather
TradersPost used to be a compulsory hop for everybody. It is not any more, and for the 25 firms above you do not need it at all. It stays available as a choice in the app, and it is still the answer for a firm we cannot reach directly. Pick it in Settings and the app sends to your webhook instead. That is your call to make, not ours.
The firms people ask about most
Whichever of these you are with, the same sentence applies: read their current rules on their own site before you automate. What follows is only whether a bot can physically reach the account.
Apex Trader Funding, Take Profit Trader, Tradeify, Bulenox, TradeDay, MyFundedFutures, Elite Trader Funding and 16 others all connect through NinjaTrader 8. Tradeify, Bulenox and TradeDay take code LPFT at checkout.
Topstep and The Futures Desk connect through the firm's own API. Topstep sells the API key separately.
TickTick Trader, Alpha Futures, Aqua Futures, DayTraders.com, E8 Futures and Savius have no direct route yet, because their own sites offer traders neither NinjaTrader nor an API. They are still listed in the app, and it tells you so rather than letting you paste a key that never works. TickTick Trader takes code LPFT at checkout.
The LPFT Copilot connects to 25 prop firms directly, plus your own Tradovate account and your own broker through your own NinjaTrader. There is nothing extra to pay us for any of it, and TradersPost is no longer required. Before the app will place an order on a prop account it asks you to confirm, for that firm by name, that you have read their rules and that the risk is yours. We do not vet firms and we never say one permits automation. If you file a guarantee claim you will need your full broker statement where applicable.
The LPFT Copilot runs a tested, rules-based system on your Tradovate account - start a 7-day free trial.
Start your 7-day free trialIf you want to run an automated bot, start here
Do it in this order. One: read your firm's own current rules on automation, on their site, and decide for yourself whether you are willing to run a bot there. Nobody can do that step for you. Two: check the firm can actually be reached - 25 of them can, either through their own API or through NinjaTrader 8 on your computer, and the app lists every one. Three: keep every risk, consistency and drawdown rule the firm sets switched on. Break those and it will not matter which firm you chose.
Firms we work with that take code LPFT at checkout: Tradeify, Bulenox, TradeDay. A discount code is not an endorsement of their rules, and we do not have a view on them.
Frequently asked questions
It depends entirely on your firm, and only your firm can tell you. Every prop firm writes its own rule on automation, and those rules change without notice, so we do not publish, interpret or track them for anyone. Read your own firm's current rules before you automate anything. What we can tell you is the technical half: the LPFT Copilot places orders on 25 prop firms directly, through the firm's own API or through NinjaTrader 8 on your computer.
You no longer need the firm to run on Tradovate. The Copilot connects to 25 prop firms directly - two through the firm's own API, the rest through NinjaTrader 8 on your own computer, which covers Rithmic and CQG connections too. Your own Tradovate account still works as before. The one thing we cannot answer for you is whether your firm permits automation, because that is their rule and it is theirs to change.
It can, if your firm does not permit automation and you use it anyway - accounts get closed and profits forfeited. It can also happen at a firm that does permit it, if you break their other rules: high-frequency trading, copying one bot across accounts, or ignoring consistency and drawdown limits. Read your firm's written rules and stay inside them. We do not decide this and we cannot check it for you.
The Copilot connects to 25 prop firms directly, plus your own Tradovate account and your own broker through your own NinjaTrader. Six firms on our list give traders neither an API nor NinjaTrader, so we cannot reach those - and the app tells you that rather than letting you paste a key that silently never works. TradersPost still reaches them if you want it. For a guarantee claim you will need to provide your full broker statement where applicable.
Yes, often. Firms update their policies regularly, so treat any list (including this one) as a starting point and confirm the current rules on the firm's own site before you go live.
Eli Y.
Eli builds and runs rules-based automated futures systems on TradingView and Tradovate, and helps traders take emotion out of the screen. He writes about futures automation, prop-firm evaluations, and the tools that connect them - plainly, and without hype.
Risk disclosure: Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. This article is educational content only and is not financial advice. Prop-firm rules change frequently always confirm the current rules on the firm's own site. Some links are affiliate links.