Futures vs CFDs: Which Market Should You Trade?

Pull up the same Nasdaq chart in a futures terminal and on a CFD platform and you will see nearly identical candles. Underneath, the two products could hardly be built more differently, and the differences decide your costs, your sizing options and even which hours you can trade.

Two ways to hold the same exposure

A futures contract is a standardised agreement listed on a centralised exchange such as CME. Every participant trades the same contract in the same order book, sees the same traded volume, and faces the exchange's clearing house rather than each other. The terms are public and identical for everyone: contract size, tick size, expiry date, settlement rules.

A CFD, or contract for difference, is an over the counter product. You hold a private contract with your provider that pays the difference between entry and exit price. The price feed is derived from the underlying market, usually the futures or the interbank market, but there is no central tape, no exchange volume, and the contract exists only between you and the counterparty that issued it.

Neither structure is fake. Both give real price exposure. They just route it through different plumbing, and the plumbing is what you pay for and live with.

Sizing: fixed contracts against flexible lots

Futures come in fixed sizes. One E-mini S&P 500 contract moves $50 per index point, one COMEX gold contract covers 100 troy ounces, one WTI crude contract covers 1,000 barrels. Micro versions divide the standard size by ten, which helps, but the steps are still steps: you can trade 3 contracts or 4, never 3.4.

CFDs size in lots that subdivide down to 0.01 on most platforms. That granularity matters when your stop distance, not your preference, dictates position size. If the risk math says the correct size is 0.37 lots, a CFD lets you trade 0.37 lots. Position sizing on a funded account is exactly this kind of arithmetic, and finer size steps make the arithmetic land closer to the intended risk.

Where the costs live

Neither column is cheaper in every case. A scalper doing dozens of round trips a day in a liquid index future pays tight, predictable tick-level costs. A swing trader holding a CFD for two weeks pays no per-contract exchange fees but accrues overnight financing night after night. As a rule of thumb, the shorter and more frequent your trades, the more the futures cost model favours you; the longer the hold, the more the comparison depends on the CFD's financing terms.

Sessions, gaps and expiry

Index and commodity futures trade nearly 23 hours a day with a daily maintenance break at 5pm to 6pm New York time, then close for the weekend. CFDs mirror whatever their pricing source does, so index CFDs also trade overnight and FX CFDs run around the clock on weekdays. Both product types gap across the weekend.

The behavioural difference is expiry. Futures contracts expire, so a position held long enough must be rolled to the next contract, and the chart you study needs a continuous-contract adjustment. Cash CFDs typically never expire, which suits swing traders who want to hold one position through weeks without touching a roll date.

Which suits which trader

Choose futures if you trade intraday index or energy markets, care about central volume and depth data, and want costs concentrated in transparent per-contract fees. Choose CFDs if you need fine-grained sizing on a smaller account, hold positions for days rather than minutes, or want FX, gold, indices and crypto inside one account.

You do not have to marry one. FFUNDED runs both CFD accounts and futures accounts, all simulated with virtual capital and paid out in real money, so the honest answer is to pick per strategy rather than per identity. The full list is on the trading instruments page, and pricing shows the account types side by side.

Frequently asked questions

Do futures and CFDs move at the same price?

Very nearly. CFD prices are derived from the underlying futures or interbank market, so the candles are almost identical. Small differences appear in the spread, in financing adjustments on the CFD side, and around futures roll dates.

Which is cheaper to trade, futures or CFDs?

It depends on holding period and frequency. Active intraday traders in liquid contracts usually do well under the futures model of commission plus a one-tick spread, while CFD costs sit in the spread plus overnight financing, which mainly bites when positions are held for days.

Can I trade both on a funded account?

Yes. FFUNDED offers CFD account plans and futures account plans, and nothing stops a trader from running one of each for different strategies. Both are simulated accounts trading virtual capital, with real-money payouts on profits.

Why do futures contracts expire but CFDs do not?

Futures are standardised exchange contracts tied to a settlement date, so each contract has a defined end and traders roll to the next month. Most cash CFDs are open-ended contracts with the provider and simply accrue overnight financing instead of expiring.