Commission
The per-trade fee charged by your platform/broker plus exchange fees per contract — typically $1.00-$5.00 round-trip on E-minis depending on platform tier and prop firm structure.
What is Commission?
Commission is the total per-trade cost of executing a futures order, charged on a per-contract basis. It has two components: the platform/broker commission (paid to your trading platform like NinjaTrader, Tradovate, R|Trader Pro) and the exchange/regulatory fees (paid to the CME, NFA, clearing firm). Both apply on each side of a round-trip — entry AND exit each pay commission, so a “round-trip” cost is usually quoted to capture the full lifecycle.
For prop firm traders, commissions are debited from the funded account balance just like any trade P&L. A profitable trade nets after commission, so a $50 winning trade on an ES contract with $2.50 round-trip commission is a real $47.50 of P&L. For high-frequency strategies, the commission drag can be the deciding factor between profitability and breakeven.
Different prop firms structure commissions differently. Some pass commission through directly (the trader pays exchange + platform fees on each trade). Others bundle commission into a flat monthly platform fee. Still others negotiate volume discounts and offer reduced rates to funded traders.
How Commission works
The two-component breakdown of E-mini ES commission (typical retail prop firm setup):
- Platform commission (per side): $0.50-$1.50 depending on tier (NinjaTrader Lifetime is $0.59, Tradovate Active is $0.79, etc.)
- Exchange + clearing fees (per side): ~$1.18 on ES (CME exchange fee $1.14 + NFA $0.04). Lower on micros (~$0.37 per side on MES).
- Total round-trip on ES: 2 × ($0.50 to $1.50) + 2 × $1.18 = $3.36 to $5.36 per round-trip per contract.
By contract:
- ES (E-mini S&P 500): ~$3.36-$5.36 round-trip
- NQ (E-mini Nasdaq): ~$3.36-$5.36 round-trip
- MES (Micro S&P 500): ~$0.94-$1.94 round-trip
- MNQ (Micro Nasdaq): ~$0.94-$1.94 round-trip
- CL (Crude Oil full-size): ~$3.50-$5.50 round-trip
- MCL (Micro Crude): ~$1.00-$2.00 round-trip
Volume tiers: NinjaTrader Lifetime License ($1,099 one-time) drops platform commission to $0.59/side. Tradovate Active Plan ($99/month) gives $0.79/side and unlimited trades. Rithmic R|Trader Pro fees vary by retail broker partnership.
Prop firm pass-through: Apex passes through Rithmic commission charges. TPT passes through commission via partner platforms. Tradeify uses ProjectX-based platforms which pass commission. Each firm publishes its current rate card.
Worked example
Setup: Trader runs an Apex $50K funded account. Strategy: 5 round-trip trades per day on NQ, average winner +30 points ($600), average loser -15 points ($300), 60% win rate, NinjaTrader Lifetime ($1.30 round-trip on NQ).
Daily expected P&L (gross of commission):
- 5 trades × 60% wins × $600 = $1,800 gross wins
- 5 trades × 40% losses × -$300 = -$600 gross losses
- Net daily: $1,200 per day gross
Commission drag:
- 5 round-trips × $1.30 = $6.50 per day commission
- Net daily after commission: $1,193.50
Drag analysis: Commission is 0.54% of gross P&L — negligible for this strategy. Even at a worst-case $5.36/round-trip platform, daily commission is $26.80 — still 2.2% of gross. Discretionary day-trading is largely commission-insensitive.
Contrast with a 50-trades-per-day scalper:
- 50 round-trips × $1.30 = $65 daily commission. At an average $10 profit per trade × 60% wins, gross daily $120, net after commission $55. Commission is 54% of gross — devastating.
For high-frequency, commission selection is the difference between profitability and bleed-out.
Commission vs related concepts
Side-by-side comparison of Commission against the most commonly confused alternatives.
| Concept | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Commission this term | The per-trade fee charged by your platform/broker plus exchange fees per contract — typically $1.00-$5.00 round-trip on E-minis depending on platform tier and prop firm structure. | Fees & Costs |
| Tick Value | The dollar value per minimum price movement on a futures contract — multiplying tick value by ticks moved gives your dollar P&L change per contract. | Futures Mechanics |
| Micro Futures | Smaller-sized versions of major futures contracts (typically 1/10th the size of mini futures), designed for retail and prop firm traders to manage risk with less capital. | Futures Mechanics |
| Mini Futures | Mid-sized futures contracts (typically 10x the size of micro futures, 1/5th to 1/10th the size of pit-traded contracts) — the most-traded futures contracts on US exchanges. | Futures Mechanics |
| Reset Fee | A fee paid to restart a failed evaluation account from scratch, typically $50-$100 per reset, allowing traders to retry without buying a new evaluation. | Fees & Costs |
| Activation Fee | A one-time fee charged by most prop firms to activate the funded account stage after passing the evaluation, typically $85-$200. | Fees & Costs |
Why traders fail Commission
Forgetting commission in eval-pass calculations. A trader needs to net the profit target (e.g. $3,000 on a $50K). At $5/round-trip and 30 trades to pass, that’s $150 of additional drag — meaning the actual gross profit needed is $3,150. Many evals fail because traders hit $3,000 gross but $2,850 net.
Choosing platform tier without trade-frequency math. NinjaTrader Lifetime License is $1,099 upfront but saves $1.20/round-trip vs. monthly tier. Break-even is 916 round-trips. If you trade fewer than ~900 round-trips per year, monthly is cheaper.
Underestimating micros’ relative drag. MES has a $1.25 minimum profit per tick. At $1.50 round-trip commission, you need 1.2 ticks of profit per round-trip just to break even. Strategies with 1-2 tick targets are NOT profitable on micros after commission.
Missing exchange/regulatory fee changes. CME periodically adjusts exchange fees (typically annually). Most platforms auto-update; some require you to refresh fee schedules manually. Out-of-date schedules can cause platform-displayed P&L to mismatch firm-displayed P&L.
Frequently asked questions about Commission
How much commission do prop firms charge?
Most prop firms (Apex, TPT, Tradeify, Lucid, FundedNext) pass commission through to the trader. The total round-trip cost on an E-mini is typically $3-$5 per contract: platform fee $0.50-$1.50/side plus exchange fees $1.18/side. Micros (MES, MNQ) are roughly $1-$2 round-trip. Heavy traders save by using NinjaTrader Lifetime License or Tradovate Active Plan.
Are commissions charged on losing trades?
Yes. Commission is charged per executed contract regardless of profit or loss. A losing trade pays both the entry commission and the exit commission — the loss in P&L is the price difference PLUS the round-trip commission. Always include commission in stop-loss and target-distance math.
Do prop firms refund commission on funded accounts?
Typically no. Commission is a real cost paid to the exchange and platform; it cannot be refunded. Some firms offer commission-free promotional periods or reduced commission tiers as marketing perks, but this is the exception. Standard funded-account commissions are similar to retail rates.
How does commission affect my evaluation pass calculation?
You need to NET the profit target after commission. A $3,000 profit target on a $50K eval at $3 round-trip commission and 50 round-trips of trading = $150 in commission. Your gross profit must be $3,150 to net $3,000. Many evaluation failures are caused by traders hitting the gross target but missing the net target by exactly the cumulative commission drag.
Which prop firm has the lowest commissions?
Commissions are largely standardized — exchange fees are the same across all firms (CME charges everyone the same $1.18/side on ES). Platform fees vary slightly. The biggest savings come from choosing NinjaTrader Lifetime License ($1,099 one-time → $0.59/side) vs. monthly tiers. The firm-to-firm difference is rarely more than $0.20-$0.50/round-trip; the platform-tier difference can be $1-$2/round-trip.