Data Fees
The monthly cost of live exchange market data — a small, predictable business expense, and one you may be able to deduct.
Data fees are what you pay for real-time market data from the exchange. Futures exchanges license their price feeds, and that cost gets passed along — sometimes bundled into your platform or account, sometimes billed as a separate monthly line item.
They’re one of the smallest numbers in prop trading and one of the most commonly overlooked when comparing firms, which is exactly why it’s worth spending sixty seconds on them.
Two things drive what you pay:
- Which exchanges you need. If you only trade ES and NQ, you need CME data. Add crude and you’re adding NYMEX. Don’t pay for feeds you’ll never use.
- How the firm bundles it. Some firms include data in the evaluation or activation fee; others bill it monthly on funded accounts only.
Build your true monthly cost of being funded:
| Line item | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Market data | $15 |
| Platform fee (if any) | $0–$100 |
| Total running cost | $15–$115 |
| A 3% month on a $50K account at 90% split | +$1,350 |
| Net | +$1,235 to +$1,335 |
That’s the honest picture: a real cost, comfortably covered by a modest month. Data fees don’t decide whether prop trading works for you — but they do belong in your comparison spreadsheet, because $30/month is $360/year and that’s a fee you can shop for.
One genuinely valuable point: if you’re trading as a business, data fees, platform fees, evaluation fees and similar costs may be deductible expenses against your trading income. Smart traders track every one of them from day one. See Deductible Expenses for Prop Traders — and confirm your own position with a tax professional.
For a full cost breakdown across firms, read Activation and Data Fees and compare in our directory.