Day Trading Courses Compared: Cost, Refunds and Proof

A day trading course can teach you a method, but no course we reviewed can show what its students typically earn. The prices range from free video series to programs at $10,000, and the refund terms differ even more than the prices. This guide puts the providers we reviewed side by side, so you can compare them on cost, refunds and proof before you pay.

We did not buy any of these courses, and we have no business relationship with any provider. The comparison is based on our own reviews, each built from public pages, terms and court records on the date it names, between 5 and 8 November 2026, and on Udemy’s help page, checked on 25 October 2026. We added the free Traders’ Academy of Interactive Brokers, checked on 10 November 2026. Because we have not tested the teaching, this page has no ranking.

Day trading courses in 30 seconds

• Free: the Traders’ Academy of Interactive Brokers, the TJR Boot Camp and the YouTube channels of Warrior Trading and SMB Capital cost nothing.
• Paid: selected published prices run from $297 for a first month to $10,000 for advanced programs that require a prerequisite. Warrior Trading also sells a $19 two-week preview. Trading Academy and TJR publish no price.
• Refunds: most paid programs we reviewed are non-refundable. Exceptions are limited, such as Warrior Trading offers that name a 7-day guarantee.
• Regulators: Warrior Trading and Online Trading Academy both settled FTC cases over earnings claims.
• Proof: none of the providers publishes typical student results. Some say outright that they do not track them.

How we compared day trading courses

We compared what a buyer can check before paying, not how good the lessons are. For each provider we looked at the published price, the refund and cancellation terms, the free material, regulatory cases and the evidence for results. A ranking would need course tests with the same method for every provider, and we have not done those.

The figures come from the review of each provider, on the date that review names. Prices and terms change, so check the current pages before you pay. Our general guide to trading courses explains the five checks in more detail, from the syllabus to the total cost. For context: Kagels Trading also sells trading education.

Day trading courses compared: price and refunds

The table shows the price range and the refund rule of each provider, as published; the formats follow below. “No price” means that the pages we checked showed no figure. All prices are in US dollars, before taxes, market data, broker costs and trading losses. Checked on: Warrior Trading, TJR and Tom Hougaard 5 November, Online Trading Academy 6 November, SMB Capital 7 November, Udemy 25 October and IBKR 10 November 2026.

Provider	Published price	Refunds
IBKR Traders’ Academy	Free	Not needed
TJR	Boot Camp free, mentoring no price	None on subscription payments
Warrior Trading	$19 preview, $797 to $3,997	None, 7 days on some offers
SMB Capital	$297 to $10,000	None
Trading Academy (OTA)	No price list	Not checked
Udemy	Varies by course	30 days, eligible courses

Udemy is a marketplace, so its prices and quality depend on the single course. Its help page, checked on 25 October 2026, says eligible courses can be refunded within 30 days, with restrictions and sometimes only as credit. For the other providers, the details are in our reviews of Warrior Trading, SMB Capital, Online Trading Academy and TJR.

Free day trading courses: what you get without paying

Free courses teach the basics, while personal feedback on your own trades is what the paid programs we reviewed sell on top. That is the main difference in the offer, though we have not tested the quality of that feedback. A free course is still the cheapest way to learn the vocabulary, test whether you like short-term trading and judge a teacher’s style before you spend money.

The Traders’ Academy of Interactive Brokers is free and does not require a purchase. Its course page says in the FAQ that all Traders’ Academy courses on IBKR Campus are free of charge, and most lessons can be viewed without a login. The broker does not issue certificates, and part of the material explains its own platform. The courses cover stocks, options and futures at three levels, so they are a general start rather than a day trading method.

YouTube is where most day trading teachers show their free material. TJR’s free Boot Camp playlist started in May 2023. On the days of our reviews, the Warrior Trading channel had 2.12 million subscribers and the SMB Capital channel 772,000. These videos are company samples, not independent evidence, but they show the teaching style at no cost.

Tom Hougaard is a special case: he says he runs no courses at all. He posts in four free Telegram channels, one of which, Trade From Chart, requires a Cloud Trader account with the broker TD365, and personal mentoring is possible on request with no published price. Our Tom Hougaard review explains what the free live calls can and cannot show, and why his results page shows an update date of 22 November 2021.

Paid day trading programs: what the price buys

The paid programs sell structure, live sessions and, at the top end, personal mentoring. What separates them is less the content list than the feedback: who looks at your trades, how often and for how long. A higher price does not prove better teaching, and none of the providers we reviewed links its price to student results.

• Warrior Trading: a two-week Pro Preview trial at $19, and memberships at $797, $2,997 and $3,997 with coupon codes. The method is momentum trading of fast-moving small US stocks, a high-risk style. Live stream and software cost extra unless a bundle includes them.
• SMB Capital: from $297 for the first month of Inside Access, then $147 a month, up to $10,000 for Fast Track and Systematic Trader. Both require a prerequisite program, so a path such as DNA of Successful Trading plus Fast Track costs $15,000 in total. The firm runs a real trading desk, and a desk seat goes to fewer than 5% of Winning Trader students, by SMB’s own figures.
• Trading Academy (OTA): a free intro class, then a 3-day orientation with an enrollment meeting. Its FAQ says pricing varies by location, course and delivery method. In 2021 the FTC said its past programs cost as much as $50,000, which does not show today’s price.
• TJR: the Blueprint mentorship is sold through an application form, with no price on the sales page we checked.

A missing price is not a bad sign in itself, but it moves the decision into a sales talk. Ask for the total cost in writing, including renewals, software and data, before an enrollment meeting or a call. Then compare it with a written budget limit you set beforehand.

Refunds: the line to read before you pay

For most programs we reviewed, the money is gone once you pay. SMB’s refund policy says there are no refunds, and its support pages add that there are no trials. Warrior Trading’s terms say payments are non-refundable. Its 7-day guarantee applies only to specials that name it, for new members and only once, and during those seven days Pro bundle buyers see only the basic course; unlocking the other courses earlier means giving up the refund. So you may not see the main course before the guarantee ends. TJR’s terms exclude refunds and proration for subscription payments and include mandatory arbitration.

Cancelling a subscription and getting money back are two different things. SMB’s Inside Access can be cancelled in the customer portal before the next renewal, but that only stops future charges. So read three points in the terms: the refund window, how a renewal is cancelled and how disputes are handled. Ask for these terms in writing if the checkout page does not show them.

Earnings claims and FTC cases

Two of the best-known US day trading schools settled cases with the Federal Trade Commission over earnings claims. The FTC is the US agency that acts against deceptive advertising. Both cases matter because the marketing of day trading courses often leans on the success stories of a few traders.

• Warrior Trading, 2022: the FTC alleged misleading earnings claims. The defendants neither admitted nor denied the allegations and agreed to an order that included $3 million.
• Online Trading Academy, 2020: OTA Franchise Corporation, related companies and their leaders settled FTC charges over earnings claims, with a $362 million judgment that was partially suspended. The company said it disagreed with many of the allegations. Today the school is owned and operated by TradingEDU, LLC, according to its FAQ.

A settlement is not a verdict on today’s teaching, but it tells you how to read the advertising. Warrior Trading now says that Ross Cameron’s results are not typical and that it does not track customers’ typical results. TJR’s disclosure says it does not track customers’ monetary results, and SMB’s disclosures say testimonial results are not typical and not verified. Treat every success story as an example, not as a forecast for you.

How to choose a day trading course

Start with the market and the trading style you want to learn, then filter the offers. A course on small-cap momentum stocks will not help much if you want to trade index futures. Our guide to day trading explains the markets, sessions and costs, and our guide to learning trading shows a sensible learning order.

1. Watch the free material first. Use the teacher’s free videos to judge the teaching style before you pay.
2. Read the syllabus. Look for risk management, position sizing and a trading journal, not only entry setups.
3. Check the feedback. Ask who reviews your trades, how often and for how long.
4. Read the terms. Refund window, renewal, cancellation and arbitration, before the checkout.
5. Add up the total cost. Course, software, market data, platform and the money you can lose while learning.
6. Practise on a simulator. Trade a demo account for weeks before you risk real money.

A course does not replace your own trading record. Write down every trade in a journal, including the losing ones, and judge your progress by your own numbers. If you are still unsure about the format, our guide to trading education compares self-study, online courses, live classes and mentoring.

Providers we did not include

Some names in this cluster are not day trading courses in the narrow sense. Our Market Rebellion review covers an options service with trade ideas, our Larry Connors review covers short-term strategies that hold positions for days, and our Rockwell Trading review covers stock and options software. They belong to trading education, but they do not teach intraday trading.

Other providers you will see in search results are not reviewed here. These include Bear Bull Traders, Humbled Trader and the course platforms Coursera and The Knowledge Academy. We have not checked their prices or terms, so we say nothing about them. If we review them later, we will add them to this comparison.

Conclusion: are day trading courses worth it?

Whether a day trading course is worth its price depends on what it adds to free material. The basics are available at no cost from a broker academy and from the YouTube channels of the providers themselves. What the paid programs sell is structure and personal feedback, at selected prices from $297 a month to $10,000, and we have not tested how good that feedback is.

Before you pay, check the refund terms, ask for the total cost in writing and set a budget limit. Most programs we reviewed are non-refundable, and none of them can show typical student results. Day trading carries a high risk of loss, and no course changes that. This guide is not investment advice.

Frequently asked questions about day trading courses

Are day trading courses worth it?

It depends on what the course adds to free material. The basics are available free from broker academies and YouTube. Compare what a paid course adds, such as structured feedback on your own trades, with clear terms and a total cost you can afford to lose. We have not tested the quality of that feedback. None of the providers we reviewed publishes typical student results.

Are there free day trading courses?

Yes, several. The Traders’ Academy of Interactive Brokers is free of charge, and most lessons need no login. TJR’s Boot Camp on YouTube is free, and Warrior Trading and SMB Capital publish many free videos. Free courses rarely include feedback on your own trades.

How much does a day trading course cost?

Selected published prices in our comparison range from $297 to $10,000. Warrior Trading’s two-week preview costs $19, SMB Capital’s Inside Access costs $297 for the first month, Warrior Trading’s memberships cost $797 to $3,997 with coupons, and SMB’s advanced programs cost $10,000 plus a required prerequisite program. Trading Academy and TJR’s mentorship publish no price. Add software, data and trading losses.

Can I get a refund on a day trading course?

Often not. SMB Capital’s policy excludes refunds, and Warrior Trading’s terms say payments are non-refundable, except for specials that name a 7-day guarantee, for new members and only once. Udemy refunds eligible courses within 30 days, with restrictions. Read the refund terms before the checkout, not after.

Which day trading course is best for beginners?

We do not name a best course, because we have not tested the teaching. For a beginner, a free course and a demo account are a sensible first step, before any paid program. If you then want a paid course, compare the syllabus, the feedback and the refund terms with the checklist in this guide.

Have you tested these day trading courses?

No. We did not buy any course, open an account or take part in a live session. This comparison is based on public documents from our reviews between 5 and 8 November 2026, plus Udemy’s help page on 25 October and the IBKR pages on 10 November 2026. We have no business relationship with any of the providers.