How to Connect LifeUp Trading to NinjaTrader (Tradovate)
LifeUp Trading runs on the Tradovate stack, but the connection you add in NinjaTrader is not called Tradovate. LifeUp issues you one account that does double duty, and their own guide says so plainly: the NinjaTrader account is the same as the Tradovate account. Their walkthrough then tells you to scroll the Available list in NinjaTrader and double-click NinjaTrader — not Tradovate. That is right, and it is the same entry every Tradovate-stack prop firm uses on a current NinjaTrader build. Go hunting for a Tradovate entry instead and you can end up staring at an empty account list while holding credentials that are perfectly valid.
What you need before you start
- A purchased LifeUp challenge account. The trading account is issued when you buy your first challenge, so before that there is genuinely nothing to connect.
- The NinjaTrader ID and password LifeUp issued you. Their guide points you at the Dashboard, on the Home screen.
- NinjaTrader 8 Desktop on Windows. LifeUp lists it under Platform Downloads in the dashboard, and they list NinjaTrader as Windows-only — on a Mac you are using their Tradovate web platform or TradingView instead.
- Multi-Provider ticked in Tools, then Settings, then General, with NinjaTrader restarted afterwards.
Connecting LifeUp Trading to NinjaTrader
Collect the account LifeUp issued you
Log in to the LifeUp dashboard and go to Home. The account issued on your first challenge purchase is the one NinjaTrader wants.
LifeUp is a Korean firm and the dashboard opens in Korean by default; there is a KR/EN toggle in the header. Their English guide centre is a separate, public site, so you can read it without logging in at all.
Download NinjaTrader 8 Desktop
Take it from Platform Downloads in the dashboard and click through to NinjaTrader’s own download page. It is the desktop platform you want. The Tradovate web platform is a separate thing and will not host your NinjaTrader charts or indicators.
Enable Multi-Provider
Tools, then Settings, then General. Tick Multi-Provider, apply, and restart NinjaTrader. Skip this and the Configure option does not appear under Connections at all, which is the single most common reason people think the platform is broken before they have even entered a credential.
Worth knowing: LifeUp does document this, but only on their Connect to multiple platforms page, and they send you to Tools then Options. That is a NinjaTrader 7 menu and it does not exist in NinjaTrader 8. Use Tools, then Settings, then General.
Add the connection
In the Control Center, click Connections, then Configure. Scroll down the Available list and double-click NinjaTrader.
That is LifeUp’s own documented instruction rather than our inference, and it matches how the rest of the Tradovate-stack firms connect on a current build. You will see My NinjaTrader appear in the Configured list underneath. That is the default name it gives itself — if you run more than one firm, rename it to LifeUp now so you can tell the connections apart later.
Enter your credentials
With the new connection selected, fill in Properties on the right: your NinjaTrader ID goes in Username, your NinjaTrader password goes in Password.
Set Account Type to Simulation before you click OK. That is correct for a challenge account and for a funded reward account alike — Live is for a retail Tradovate brokerage account, not a prop one. Leaving it on Live is a common way to connect successfully and still see no accounts.
Type both credentials rather than pasting them. A trailing space picked up with a copied credential is the most common cause of a logon failure that otherwise makes no sense.
Check the account appears
Back in the Control Center, open Connections and click My NinjaTrader. If the challenge account you bought shows up in the list, you are done. If the connection succeeds but no account is listed, the problem is on the LifeUp side of the fence, not in NinjaTrader.
If it will not connect
- No Configure option in the Connections menu. Multi-Provider is switched off, and a restart is required after ticking it. Ignore LifeUp’s Tools then Options wording here. See why Configure is missing.
- Logon failed. Usually a trailing space, or the LifeUp website login being used in place of the account LifeUp issued for the platform. Retype both fields by hand before assuming the credential is wrong.
- Connected, but no accounts were found. Check Account Type is Simulation and not Live. Otherwise the challenge account is not active — unpaid, breached, or still being reviewed. See no accounts were found.
- Connected, account visible, but charts and the SuperDOM are blank. That is market data rather than the connection. On the Tradovate stack the market-data agreement is signed in the Tradovate web app, and order-flow entitlement is a separate thing again. See connected but no data.
- There is no NinjaTrader entry in the Available list. That normally means NinjaTrader Desktop is out of date. Update it and look again. Older builds show a separate legacy Tradovate entry instead, which takes the same username and password and still wants Account Type set to Simulation. If neither lists your account, ask LifeUp support which entry applies rather than guessing.
LifeUp Trading and NinjaTrader: questions we get
Do I choose NinjaTrader or Tradovate in the Configure list?
NinjaTrader. That is what LifeUp’s own guide says, and it is also the entry that carries Tradovate prop accounts on current NinjaTrader builds. The reason both names look plausible is that the credential really is one account across both platforms, which is exactly what LifeUp means when they say the NinjaTrader account is the same as the Tradovate account. A separate Tradovate entry is the older route and turns up only on out-of-date installs. Either way, Account Type is Simulation.
Can I run LifeUp Trading next to another prop firm?
Yes, and this is the good news about being on this stack. Tradovate does not cap the number of connections the way NinjaTrader caps Rithmic at one at a time, so you can hold LifeUp open alongside another Tradovate firm without buying anything to unlock it. No add-on is needed for that here. If your other firm is on Rithmic, that firm is the one subject to the one-at-a-time limit, not this one.
Do I need a trade copier as well?
Only if you want a single order to reach several accounts at once. Note that LifeUp already ships basic copy trading through Tradovate itself: log in, open Group management at the top right, create a group, and drag the accounts you want into it. Worth trying that before you add anything else. If you do want an external tool, check with LifeUp first — their trading rules list unapproved third-party software as prohibited conduct, and a trade copier is a separate job from simply having the connections open.