NinjaTrader has three trading plans for live futures trading: Free, Monthly, and Lifetime. The fee for a Monthly plan is $99 per month, and the Lifetime plan has a one-time fee of $1,499. Each trade then carries a per-side commission that depends on the plan, plus exchange, NFA, and clearing fees that apply on every plan.
This page adds it all up. If you're pricing NinjaTrader before you sign up, you'll find the total cost of a trade on each plan, with the account-level fees alongside it. If you're a current trader looking at a charge you didn't expect, the last section matches common charges to the fee behind them.
How much does NinjaTrader cost? The short answer
The total cost of NinjaTrader has three parts: a plan price, a commission that depends on the plan, and exchange, NFA, and clearing fees that stay the same on every plan.
On the Free plan, one Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) contract costs $0.94 per side all-in: a $0.39 commission, $0.36 in exchange and NFA fees, and a $0.19 clearing fee. A round turn, an entry plus an exit, costs $1.88. These rates are accurate as of August 14, 2026, and the all-in rate for every contract is on the commission schedule.
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Only the commission changes from plan to plan.
All-in cost per contract by plan, accurate as of August 14, 2026:
| Contract | Plan | All-in per side | Round turn |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) | Free | $0.94 | $1.88 |
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) | Monthly | $0.84 | $1.68 |
| Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) | Lifetime | $0.64 | $1.28 |
| E-mini S&P 500 (ES) | Free | $2.87 | $5.74 |
| E-mini S&P 500 (ES) | Monthly | $2.57 | $5.14 |
| E-mini S&P 500 (ES) | Lifetime | $2.17 | $4.34 |
Exchange, NFA, and clearing fees are already inside those totals. Order routing and other account fees are listed separately and covered further down. First, the obvious question: is NinjaTrader free?
Is NinjaTrader free?
NinjaTrader's charting, strategy backtesting, and simulated trading are free to use, with no time limit and no funding required.
Live futures trading is priced through three plans: Free (no monthly plan fee, $0.39 per side on Micro contracts), Monthly ($99 per month, $0.29 per side), and Lifetime ($1,499 one-time, $0.09 per side).
Simulated trading is based on hypothetical results and does not reflect actual trading. Emotional and psychological factors of real money risk are not replicated. Use simulated trading to learn the platform and markets—not as an indicator of live performance.
What it meansCharting, backtesting, and simulated trading are free to use. Live trading carries commissions and fees on every trade, even on the Free plan, and a funded, approved account is needed before any plan's benefits activate.
New accounts include a 14-day trial of live streaming market data in the NinjaTrader sim environment. When it ends, you can keep going with delayed data, subscribe to a paid data feed, or fund your account.
If the trial ends and you're not ready to fund an account, Sim+ is a $35-per-month subscription for U.S. residents who don't hold a live NinjaTrader Brokerage account. It keeps Level 1 CME bundle market data active after the trial and includes Market Replay, Pulse indicator, and Order Flow+. No funded account is required.
NinjaTrader's three trading plans: Free, Monthly, and Lifetime
NinjaTrader's trading plans differ in what you pay to hold the plan and in the commission per side.
Exchange, NFA, and clearing fees are charged in addition on every plan.
Commission per side by plan, accurate as of August 14, 2026:
| Plan | Plan price | Micro and e-Nano contracts | Standard contracts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, no monthly plan fee | $0.39 | $1.29 |
| Monthly | $99 per month | $0.29 | $0.99 |
| Lifetime | $1,499 one-time | $0.09 | $0.59 |
Some contracts have different rates; the commission schedule lists them all.
Every plan needs a funded, approved live account before its benefits activate. NinjaTrader has no minimum deposit to open a brokerage account; any amount greater than $0 activates plan benefits once the funds settle, and ACH and debit card transfers are subject to a $5.00 minimum. Lifetime is a one-time payment that unlocks the lowest available commission rates for the life of your account.
Break-even: how many round turns cover a plan's price
Whether a paid plan covers its own price depends on how often you trade and what you trade. The method is division: the plan's price divided by the all-in savings per round compared with the Free plan.
On MES, a round turn costs $1.88 on the Free plan and $1.68 on Monthly, so Monthly saves $0.20 per round turn. Divide the $99 monthly price by $0.20 and you get 495 round turns a month. Lifetime's MES round turn is $1.28, which saves $0.60, so $1,499 divided by $0.60 rounds up to 2,499 round turns in total.
Break-even round turns versus the Free plan, accurate as of August 14, 2026:
| Contract | Plan | Savings per round turn | Round turns to cover the price |
|---|---|---|---|
| MES | Monthly | $0.20 | 495 per month |
| MES | Lifetime | $0.60 | 2,499 total |
| ES | Monthly | $0.60 | 165 per month |
| ES | Lifetime | $1.40 | 1,071 total |
This comparison covers commissions only and assumes the rates stay put. The commission schedule is updated quarterly, so recheck it before you decide.
What it meansThe Monthly plan's $99 is the same whether you place 10 round turns or 1,000, while the commission savings grow with each trade. Counting your own round turns shows which side of the break-even you're on.
What one trade actually costs: commission, exchange, NFA, and clearing fees
NinjaTrader commissions are charged per side, once on entry and once on exit, so a round turn costs double the listed rate.
Exchange, clearing, and NFA fees are charged in addition to commission.
A side is one half of a trade, the buy or the sell, and a round turn is an entry plus an exit. The all-in rate is the commission plus exchange, NFA, and clearing fees for one contract on one side.
Commission is the part NinjaTrader sets, and it changes by plan. Exchange and NFA fees stay the same on every plan: $0.36 per side on MES and $1.39 on ES. The clearing fee is $0.19 per contract on each side.
Cost of one contract, one side, by plan, accurate as of August 14, 2026:
| Contract | Plan | Commission | Exchange + NFA | Clearing | All-in per side | Round turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MES | Free | $0.39 | $0.36 | $0.19 | $0.94 | $1.88 |
| MES | Monthly | $0.29 | $0.36 | $0.19 | $0.84 | $1.68 |
| MES | Lifetime | $0.09 | $0.36 | $0.19 | $0.64 | $1.28 |
| ES | Free | $1.29 | $1.39 | $0.19 | $2.87 | $5.74 |
| ES | Monthly | $0.99 | $1.39 | $0.19 | $2.57 | $5.14 |
| ES | Lifetime | $0.59 | $1.39 | $0.19 | $2.17 | $4.34 |
As an example, buying and selling two ES contracts on the Monthly plan costs 2 × $5.14, or $10.28 in commission, exchange, NFA, and clearing fees, before order routing and other account fees.
What it meansSwitching plans changes one column of that table, the commission. The exchange, NFA, and clearing columns stay put.
The all-in rate covers the trade itself. A few other charges attach to the account instead.
Other fees that can show up on your account
Every fee in this section is published on the account and exchange fees page. Which of them apply depends on the data, funding methods, and tools you use.
Account activity fee
NinjaTrader charges a $35 minimum account activity fee to Free-plan accounts that log in but place no live trade in a 30-day period. Accounts on older legacy pricing plans from before 6/20/25 are charged $25.
Market data fees
Funded NinjaTrader Brokerage accounts receive complimentary access to Level 1 CME Group and Eurex market data, as well as TradingView and the Order Flow+ tool suite. The same Level 1 CME bundle costs $12 per month on its own for non-professional users.
If you subscribe to market data outside a funded account, or want deeper data, these are the listed rates for non-professional users. The market data and brokerage options page covers the providers the NinjaTrader Desktop platform supports.
| Data | Rate for non-professional users |
|---|---|
| CME Group Level 1 (top of book) | $12 per month for the bundle of CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX, or $4 per month per exchange |
| CME Group Level 2 (full depth) | $48 per month for the four-exchange bundle, or $16 per month per exchange |
| Eurex | $26 per month |
Professional users pay $156 per month per exchange for CME Group data and $99 per month for Eurex.
Funding, withdrawal, and currency conversion
ACH and debit card deposits are free, ACH withdrawals are free, and incoming checks and wires carry no fee.
These are the funding fees that apply:
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bounced check | $30 |
| Domestic wire withdrawal | $30 |
| International wire withdrawal | 30 units of originating currency |
| Currency conversion | 1% of funds converted, with a minimum of 10 units of the currency being sold |
| Account closure fee | Applied to wire transfers when the remaining balance is smaller than the minimum wire withdrawal requirement (50 units of currency after the wire fee) |
| Electronic daily and monthly statements | No fee |
Margin, technology, and add-on fees
Margin isn't a fee; it's a good-faith deposit held against an open position, and the margin policy and position management page lists the amounts by market. For a plain-language explanation, read how margin works; for how much capital to have on hand, read how much capital you need to trade futures.
Fees come in when margin isn't met. A margin call costs $50, and a liquidation for a margin or delivery violation costs $25 for a first violation and $50 for the second or later. On CME e-Nano and U.S. perpetual-style futures, the liquidation fee is $10.
Technology fees apply only if you use the tool in question:
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| SuperDOM, dynamic (default) | $0.00 per contract |
| SuperDOM, static | $0.10 per contract |
| Order routing | $0.25 per contract |
| CQG Desktop | $0.25 per futures contract |
| Third-party technology integrations | $0.05 to $0.25 per contract, plus a possible $10 monthly usage fee |
| Multi-broker add-on for the desktop platform | $99 per month, separate from the Monthly plan |
What it meansMost of these fees follow choices you make: the data you subscribe to, how you fund, and the tools you connect. The commission, the exchange and NFA fees, and the clearing fee are the ones that come with every trade. Additional costs may apply if you add optional services.
If a charge on your statement doesn't match what you expected, the next section can help you trace it.
Why was I charged? Match the charge to the fee
Find the amount on your statement in the left column. The right column names the fee it most likely is, using the rates listed above.
| If you see | It's probably |
|---|---|
| $35 and you didn't trade | The minimum account activity fee: Free-plan accounts that log in but place no live trade in a 30-day period. |
| $25 and you didn't trade | The same fee on an account from an older legacy pricing plan from before 6/20/25. |
| $99 | The Monthly plan's $99 per month, or the multi-broker add-on for the desktop platform, which is also $99 per month. |
| $12, $4, $48, or $16 per month | A CME Group market data subscription. Level 1 is $12 for the bundle or $4 per exchange, and Level 2 is $48 for the bundle or $16 per exchange. |
| $26 per month | Eurex market data for non-professional users. |
| $0.19 per contract | The clearing fee, charged on each contract on each side of a trade. |
| $0.25 per contract on top of commission | Rithmic order routing or CQG Desktop, both listed at $0.25 per contract. |
| $0.10 per contract | Static SuperDOM on the desktop platform. |
| $30 | A bounced check or a domestic wire withdrawal. |
| 1% on a deposit or withdrawal | Currency conversion: 1% of the funds converted, with a minimum of 10 units of the currency being sold. |
| $50 | A margin call, or the fee for a second or later margin or delivery liquidation. |
| $25 after a position was closed | The liquidation fee for a first margin or delivery violation. |
| $10 after a position was closed | The liquidation fee on CME e-Nano and U.S. perpetual-style futures. |
If a charge doesn't match anything here, NinjaTrader support can look at the account directly, with technical support available 24x5.
Ready to get started? Open an account today, or compare the trading plans first.
FAQs on NinjaTrader costs and fees
How much does NinjaTrader cost?
NinjaTrader has three plans: Free (no monthly plan fee), Monthly ($99 per month), and Lifetime ($1,499 one-time). Commissions are charged per side and, on most contracts, run from $0.09 to $1.29 depending on the plan and contract size, with exchange, NFA, and clearing fees on top. On the Free plan, one Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) contract costs $0.94 per side all-in, accurate as of August 14, 2026.
Is NinjaTrader free?
Charting, strategy backtesting, and simulated trading are free to use, with no time limit and no funding required. Live trading is not free: the Free plan has no monthly plan fee, but commissions and exchange, NFA, and clearing fees apply to every live trade.
Does NinjaTrader charge a monthly fee?
Not on the Free plan, which has no monthly plan fee. The Monthly plan is $99 per month, and Lifetime is a one-time $1,499 payment. Free-plan accounts that log in but place no live trade in a 30-day period are charged a separate $35 minimum account activity fee.
What fees does NinjaTrader charge besides commissions?
Every trade carries exchange, NFA, and clearing fees. Account-level fees include the $35 minimum account activity fee, market data fees for subscriptions outside a funded account, funding fees such as $30 for a domestic wire withdrawal and 1% for currency conversion, and fees for margin calls and liquidations.
Does NinjaTrader have hidden fees?
Every fee covered in this article is published on the account and exchange fees page or the commission schedule, including the exchange, NFA, and clearing fees behind each trade. The ones that depend on how you use the account are the minimum account activity fee, market data fees, and currency conversion.
Why was I charged a $35 fee?
NinjaTrader charges a $35 minimum account activity fee to Free-plan accounts that log in but place no live trade in a 30-day period. Accounts on older legacy pricing plans from before 6/20/25 are charged $25 instead. ACH deposits and withdrawals are free.
Is there a minimum deposit?
NinjaTrader has no minimum deposit to open a brokerage account; any amount greater than $0 activates plan benefits once the funds settle, and ACH and debit card transfers have a $5.00 minimum. How much you need to place trades depends on margin, which the guide to minimum capital for futures trading covers.
What does one round turn cost on a Micro E-mini S&P 500 contract?
As of August 14, 2026, one round turn on a Micro E-mini S&P 500 (MES) contract costs $1.88 all-in on the Free plan, $1.68 on the Monthly plan, and $1.28 on the Lifetime plan. Those totals include commission, exchange and NFA fees, and the clearing fee. Order routing and other account fees are listed separately.
