How to Connect Apex Trader Funding to NinjaTrader (Rithmic)
Apex is one of the few firms with its own built-in entry in NinjaTrader, so a Rithmic Apex account connects without adding anything — you pick Apex from the System list and log in.
NinjaTrader holds one Rithmic connection at a time. Connect Apex and whichever Rithmic firm you already have — or want to add — drops off.
What you need before you start
- NinjaTrader Desktop 8, current version. If you have no NinjaTrader account yet you can still download the platform without one.
- Your Rithmic credentials from Apex — your Rithmic username and password from the Apex member dashboard. Apex issues these separately from the account itself, usually by email when the account is created.
- Confirm you actually have a Rithmic account. Apex issues both kinds. The quickest tell is the username itself: a hyphen (
Apex-123456) is Rithmic, an underscore is Tradovate. If yours has an underscore you are on the wrong guide.
Apex-123456 and comes from the dashboard, not from your browser password manager. Connecting Apex to NinjaTrader
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Step 1
Get your Rithmic credentials from Apex
Log in at apextraderfunding.com and open the account you want to trade. The Rithmic username and password sit with the account, not with your profile. Copy and paste them — they are case-sensitive, and hand-typing them is the single commonest reason a connection fails. Check the username has a hyphen in it; an underscore means Apex issued you a Tradovate account and you want the Tradovate guide instead.
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Step 2
Download the NinjaTrader Desktop platform
Make sure you have the current version of NinjaTrader Desktop, installed from your NinjaTrader Account Dashboard. If you do not have a NinjaTrader username and cannot sign in to the dashboard, NinjaTrader documents how to download NinjaTrader Desktop without a NinjaTrader Brokerage account. You do not need to pay for a licence to trade a prop account.
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Step 3
Enable Multi-Provider
Multi-Provider is what lets NinjaTrader hold a prop firm connection alongside anything else, and it is not enabled by default on a new install. Log in to NinjaTrader Desktop with your NinjaTrader Account Dashboard username and password, then go to Tools > Settings > General and tick Multi-provider.
Restart the platform. The Configure button then appears on the Control Center > Connections menu, which is where the Apex connection gets created.
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Step 4
Add the Rithmic connection
Select Configure on the Connections tab. In the Available list, double-click Rithmic for NinjaTrader Brokerage, or select it and click Add. Once it appears under Configured you can edit its connection properties on the right.
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Step 5
Enter your credentials and choose Apex
Paste your Apex Rithmic username and password into the fields on the right, then open the System dropdown and choose Apex. Apex has its own entry because NinjaTrader hard-coded it years ago — do not settle for a generic Rithmic Paper Trading entry here. While you are in the properties, rename the connection to Apex so it is obvious which is which once you have more than one firm set up. Click OK.
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Step 6
Select your new connection
Finally, go to Control Center > Connections and pick the connection you just created. A green indicator at the bottom left means you are connected, and your Apex account appears under the Accounts tab within a few seconds.
If it will not connect
- Green dot, but no account in the Accounts tab. The connection is fine and the entitlement is not. Apex has to enable the evaluation data entitlement on their side; NinjaTrader still goes green without it. Contact Apex rather than rebuilding the connection.
- "Login failed" straight away. Almost always a Tradovate username in a Rithmic box. Check for the hyphen. If it is right, reset the Rithmic password in the Apex dashboard and paste the new one.
- It connected yesterday and today it will not. Check whether another Rithmic firm is connected. NinjaTrader holds one Rithmic connection at a time and the second one simply loses.
- No Configure button. Multi-provider is off. Tools > Settings > General, tick it, restart.