How to Connect StartUpTrader to NinjaTrader 8 (Rithmic)
StartUpTrader (startupfunded.com) provisions a Rithmic user for you once your plan is paid for, and that user is the whole of what you are issued: a username, a password and a System name. They sit in your customer dashboard under Mis Credenciales, each field masked behind a show/hide toggle with a copy button next to it. There is no separate NinjaTrader login and no account number to type in anywhere — your accounts appear on their own once the login succeeds.
Those three fields are what NinjaTrader Desktop connects with. The firm’s own credentials page says the Rithmic user is unique to you, that the same one gets you into R | Trader Pro and into NinjaTrader, and that every account you hold shows up underneath it. Every plan the firm sells — the evaluations and the direct-pass “Pase Directo” tier alike — is provisioned on Rithmic, so there is no data feed to choose at checkout and no second set of details issued later on.
The step that catches most people is R | Trader Pro. StartUpTrader tells its customers to install Rithmic’s own platform and log in there first even if they intend to trade in NinjaTrader, because that first login is where the Rithmic market-data agreements get signed — and the firm is emphatic, twice over, that you sign them as non-professional. The firm treats that login as a required first step, so do it before you configure anything in NinjaTrader.
One more thing worth knowing before you start. StartUpTrader documents the NinjaTrader route to logged-in customers only — there is a dashboard tutorial step titled “Conectar NinjaTrader” with a video behind it — while the public site describes the infrastructure without naming any platform. Accounts are simulated under the firm’s terms. Confirm with StartUpTrader directly what you are permitted to run on your account before you wire anything up.
What StartUpTrader issues
The firm names exactly three things, and they all belong to the same family:
- Rithmic — the data and execution infrastructure behind every account. The firm markets it as “Powered by Rithmic”, and its own public plan data returns Rithmic as the provider for all ten plans, evaluation and Pase Directo alike. The risk rules attached to each plan are Rithmic risk-engine settings, so the auto-liquidation that ends a failed account is enforced by Rithmic rather than by anything you set in your platform.
- R | Trader Pro — Rithmic’s own platform, downloaded from rithmic.com/rtraderpro. StartUpTrader treats one login here as a required first step for everybody, NinjaTrader users included, because it is where the data agreements are signed.
- NinjaTrader — named on the credentials page and given its own tutorial step in the dashboard. That material is behind the customer login rather than on the public site.
Nothing else appears anywhere — no Tradovate, no Quantower, no TradingView, no in-house web trader. If you came expecting to pick a feed at signup, there is nothing to pick.
What you need before you start
- At least one active account. Credentials are only displayed while an account is live. Between accounts the page reads as empty rather than broken.
- Your three credential fields. Username, password and System — copied from Mis Credenciales with the copy buttons, not typed from memory.
- R | Trader Pro installed and logged into once, with the market-data agreements signed as non-professional.
- NinjaTrader Desktop, installed and up to date.
- Multi-Provider enabled in NinjaTrader, with a restart done afterwards.
- A little patience after checkout. Provisioning runs asynchronously and takes a few minutes; the firm emails you when the Rithmic user exists.
Connecting StartUpTrader to NinjaTrader
1. Turn on Multi-Provider and restart
In the Control Center, open Tools > Settings > General, tick Multi-Provider, then close NinjaTrader completely and start it again. This matters more than it looks: until Multi-Provider is ticked and the restart has actually happened, Connections > Configure is not in the menu at all, and a first-time setup stalls before it begins.
2. Sign the Rithmic market-data agreements
Install R | Trader Pro from rithmic.com/rtraderpro and log in with the same username, password and System from your dashboard. When Rithmic presents the market-data agreements, sign them and answer non-professional. The agreements attach to your Rithmic user rather than to any one platform, which is exactly why the firm asks NinjaTrader users to do this in R | Trader Pro first.
3. Add the Rithmic connection in NinjaTrader
Back in the Control Center, go to Connections > Configure and add the stock Rithmic for NinjaTrader Brokerage entry from the Available list. The list names connection providers, so pick the Rithmic entry rather than hunting for the firm: the accounts StartUpTrader issues are Rithmic accounts, and that is what your credentials log into.
4. Enter your credentials and choose the System
Name the connection something you will recognise later, paste in your username and password, then set the System from the dropdown to exactly the value shown on your credentials page. The firm puts the hint right beside that field — pick it from the list on the login screen. The value is issued per trader, which is why we do not publish one here, and a near-miss returns a rejection that tells you nothing useful. Copy it rather than guessing.
5. Connect, then check which account you are on
Connect from Connections, watch the status go green, and pull up an instrument you trade to confirm data is arriving. Then look at the account selector. One StartUpTrader login exposes every account you hold — evaluations, a qualified account, and older ones that have been liquidated or closed — and the firm warns you to trade the active account that matches your plan. Set the right one on each order-entry window, SuperDOM and chart trader before your first order.
Questions we get
Configure isn’t in my Connections menu
Multi-Provider is off, or NinjaTrader has not been restarted since you ticked it. Go back to Tools > Settings > General, confirm the tick, and restart properly rather than reopening a window. Our walkthrough of the missing Configure item covers the rest.
My login is rejected
Rithmic rejections are famously uninformative. Work through them in this order: the System value matches the one on your credentials page exactly; the password was copied rather than retyped; you have logged into R | Trader Pro at least once and signed the data agreements; and you still have an active account. Our notes on Rithmic logon failures go through the less obvious causes.
My credentials page is empty
The page only renders while you have at least one active account, and it stays empty while a new user is still being provisioned. If you have just paid, wait for the confirmation email rather than refreshing.
My Rithmic user has been disabled
The dashboard warns that a Rithmic user is disabled after 30 days without trades, and that reactivation goes through support chat — after which you may be asked to sign the data agreements again. Note that the firm’s terms also carry a separate account-level inactivity rule on a different clock with a different consequence. They are two distinct rules; read both rather than assuming one number covers you.
Do I get new credentials when I qualify?
No. The same Rithmic user carries every stage; a new account simply appears in the list under the login you already have. All you change in NinjaTrader is which account you have selected.
Running more than one account
NinjaTrader Desktop runs one Rithmic connection at a time, although one connection can carry several accounts under the same login. Our Unlimited Prop Firm Connections add-on lets you connect and manage multiple Rithmic accounts at the same time, from one window, with per-connection monitoring, and it tells you which System entry your firm uses, or adds that entry to NinjaTrader’s System list when it is missing. Separately, StartUpTrader’s terms set their own limits on copying between accounts and on automated execution, so check with the firm what your plan allows before you set anything up.
Related
Affordable Indicators, Inc. is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rithmic, NinjaTrader, or any prop firm or broker named here; your firm’s and broker’s own terms govern how you may use your account, so check with them first.