Is a CFD the same as a future?

No. A CFD is an over-the-counter contract between you and your provider. A futures contract is standardised and cleared by an exchange, so the counterparty is the clearing house and the price comes from one public order book. They can track the same underlying market and still differ in cost, sizing, expiry and who is allowed to trade them.

Can US traders trade CFDs?

Not as real-money retail brokerage: CFDs are not offered to US retail traders under the ordinary regulatory framework, which is why every broker reviewed here onboards you outside the US. A prop firm CFD challenge is a different question, because it runs in a simulated environment — and acceptance is set firm by firm rather than by the category. At FundedNext, US traders can access the CFD programs, but platform availability is restricted: CFD accounts are offered through Match-Trader rather than MT4, MT5 or cTrader. Check the policy of the firm you are buying from rather than assuming one firm's answer holds for the rest.

Which is cheaper to hold overnight?

Neither is free. Many cash CFDs are charged financing daily, and that cost grows the longer you hold, though it varies by instrument and provider. A futures contract has no daily financing line, but the cost of carry is priced into the contract and you pay a spread again each time you roll into the next expiry. The difference is mostly how visible the cost is, not whether you pay it.

Does my prop firm decide the structure for me?

The program does, and several firms now sell both. FundedNext and FTMO each run a futures product alongside their CFD challenges, with separate plan names and separate rulebooks, while Alpha Futures is futures only. So the thing to check is not the firm's name but which program your account is on.

Comparison

CFD vs futures: same chart, different contract

A NASDAQ CFD and an NQ future follow the same market and print almost the same candles. That is where the similarity ends. One is a private contract with your provider; the other is a standardised contract cleared by an exchange — and every difference that costs you money comes from that single fact.

Check the program, not the firm

It is tempting to file a prop firm under one structure or the other. 2 of the 3 firms below sell both — a futures product with its own plan names and its own rulebook, running alongside the CFD challenges most people know them for. The structure belongs to the account you bought, not to the logo on it.

What actually differs

These are structural consequences, not vendor features, so they hold across every program on either side rather than changing firm by firm.

Structural differences between CFDs and futures contracts
	CFD	Futures
What you actually holdEverything below follows from this one line.	An over-the-counter contract with your provider.	A standardised contract cleared by an exchange.
Who is on the other sideWith a CFD your counterparty risk is the firm itself, so its regulation and segregation matter.	Your provider. Some hedge the exposure, some do not, and most do not disclose which.	The exchange's clearing house sits between every buyer and seller.
Where the price comes fromTwo CFD providers can print slightly different charts for the same index. Two futures traders cannot.	Your provider's own quote, derived from the underlying market.	One public order book. Everyone sees the same price and the same depth.
Position sizeOn a small account the futures contract size, not your stop, can end up setting your risk.	Fractional — typically down to a fraction of a lot.	Fixed contract sizes. Micro contracts are the smallest unit and you cannot trade half of one.
Cost of holding overnightNeither is free. One tends to bill you visibly, the other buries the cost in the price you paid.	Many cash CFDs charge overnight financing daily, and it grows the longer you hold. It varies by instrument and provider.	No daily financing line. The cost of carry is priced into the contract, and you pay a spread again at each roll.
ExpiryA swing trade in futures has a date attached to it whether you planned one or not.	None. A position can stay open indefinitely.	Every contract expires. You roll into the next month or you are closed out.
What you pay to tradeFutures costs are itemised and comparable. CFD costs are mostly inside the spread, where they are harder to see.	Usually the spread, sometimes a commission on top of a raw spread.	Commission plus exchange and clearing fees, per contract, on each side.
Who is allowed to trade itThe US restriction covers funding your own CFD account, not sitting a simulated CFD challenge. Acceptance is set firm by firm, so check the one you are buying from.	Not offered to US retail traders as real-money brokerage. A prop firm CFD challenge is a different case, because it is simulated — FundedNext accepts US clients on all four of its Stellar CFD models.	Available to US traders both as real-money exchange trading and through prop firm evaluations.
LeverageWith a CFD broker, which entity you sign up to changes the answer. Check yours.	Capped by the regulator of the entity that onboards you, and materially higher offshore.	Set by exchange margin requirements, which move with volatility.

Structural description only. No financing rate, spread or exchange fee is quoted here, because those are set per provider and per instrument and change often — read them from the provider's own published schedule for the product you are about to trade.

Which programs use which

Plan names exactly as each firm publishes them, read from the firm's own pages. A firm appears twice where it sells both.

Prop firm programs by contract structure
Firm	Structure	Programs
FTMO	CFD	1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge
FTMO	Futures	FTMO Futures — Growth, FTMO Futures — ProFTMO's own navigation labels this product beta. It trades CME contracts and is separate from the CFD challenges.
FundedNext	CFD	Stellar 1-Step, Stellar 2-Step, Stellar Lite, Stellar Instant
FundedNext	Futures	Flex, Legacy, Rapid, BoltA separate product with its own help centre, trading CME, NYMEX and COMEX contracts including NQ and MNQ.
Alpha Futures	Futures	Zero, Standard, Advanced, DirectFutures only — the firm states it offers no forex or CFD instruments.

Sources: FTMO CFD (2026-08-31) · FTMO Futures (2026-09-06) · FundedNext CFD (2026-08-31) · FundedNext Futures (2026-09-06) · Alpha Futures Futures (2026-09-01). Firms add and withdraw products — confirm the current line-up before buying.

Brokers, where you trade your own capital

Every broker reviewed here is a CFD broker. With a broker the entity that onboards you also decides your leverage cap and your protections, so that is the first thing to confirm.

So which one fits you?

If you are in the US, check the firm rather than the category
You cannot fund a real-money retail CFD account with a US-regulated broker, which is why every broker reviewed here onboards you outside the US. A prop firm CFD challenge is not that: it runs in a simulated environment, and acceptance is set firm by firm. At FundedNext, US traders can access the CFD programs, but platform availability is restricted — CFD accounts are offered through Match-Trader rather than MT4, MT5 or cTrader. That is FundedNext's policy, not a rule about prop firms, so check the one you are buying from.
If you hold positions for days or weeks, compare the holding cost
Many cash CFDs are charged financing nightly and the total climbs with time. A futures contract is not, but it expires, and rolling it costs you a spread on a schedule the exchange sets rather than one you choose. Neither is free; they present the bill differently.
If your account is small, check the contract size before the strategy
CFDs size fractionally, so your stop sets your risk. Futures come in fixed units and the smallest one may already risk more per trade than your plan allows. On a small account the contract, not the setup, can be the binding constraint.
If you want everyone to see the price you see, that is the exchange
A futures price comes from one public order book with visible depth. A CFD price is your provider's quote, and two providers can show slightly different charts for the same index. Whether that matters depends on how you trade — for anything execution-sensitive it matters a lot.

Common questions

Is a CFD the same as a future?: No. A CFD is an over-the-counter contract between you and your provider. A futures contract is standardised and cleared by an exchange, so the counterparty is the clearing house and the price comes from one public order book. They can track the same underlying market and still differ in cost, sizing, expiry and who is allowed to trade them.
Can US traders trade CFDs?: Not as real-money retail brokerage: CFDs are not offered to US retail traders under the ordinary regulatory framework, which is why every broker reviewed here onboards you outside the US. A prop firm CFD challenge is a different question, because it runs in a simulated environment — and acceptance is set firm by firm rather than by the category. At FundedNext, US traders can access the CFD programs, but platform availability is restricted: CFD accounts are offered through Match-Trader rather than MT4, MT5 or cTrader. Check the policy of the firm you are buying from rather than assuming one firm's answer holds for the rest.
Which is cheaper to hold overnight?: Neither is free. Many cash CFDs are charged financing daily, and that cost grows the longer you hold, though it varies by instrument and provider. A futures contract has no daily financing line, but the cost of carry is priced into the contract and you pay a spread again each time you roll into the next expiry. The difference is mostly how visible the cost is, not whether you pay it.
Does my prop firm decide the structure for me?: The program does, and several firms now sell both. FundedNext and FTMO each run a futures product alongside their CFD challenges, with separate plan names and separate rulebooks, while Alpha Futures is futures only. So the thing to check is not the firm's name but which program your account is on.

The rules differ too

Structure is one axis. The other is what the firm will actually let you do with the account — and the same brand routinely sells opposite rules under one number. The objectives for every account type we have read are in the open rules table, with the source and date on every row.

Educational information, not advice. Leveraged derivatives carry a high risk of loss and are not suitable for everyone. Availability, leverage and costs depend on the entity that onboards you and on where you live — confirm both with the provider before funding an account. Program line-ups last checked 2026-09-06.