Free Rithmic demo cannot connect to Senzoukria: why, and what works instead

What you see

While filling in a Rithmic connection, the form shows this notice under the system name: “A FREE Rithmic demo (the 14-day trial with live market data) cannot connect here: Rithmic does not offer the R | Protocol API to demo accounts, whatever the system name or gateway. R | Trader Pro accepting the same login does not change this. You need a prop-firm evaluation or a broker account with a paid market data subscription.”

If you test the login anyway, the refusal usually comes back as rp_code 13 with the words “permission denied”, and the long explanation the app writes for that code lists the free-demo case among its possible causes.

Why it happens

Senzoukria talks to Rithmic through R | Protocol, a WebSocket API. Rithmic sells it separately from R | Trader Pro and from R | API+, the library used by NinjaTrader, Sierra Chart and Quantower. Rithmic Support has stated it in writing: “R | Protocol API is not available for Demos which have live market data.” The same exclusion was repeated when Senzoukria was cleared for production in August 2026: users need a paid market data subscription before they can log in.

The notice appears when the chosen broker is a direct Rithmic or retail broker entry and the system name is “Rithmic Paper Trading”, the system self-serve demos live on. Accounts issued by a prop firm can run on that same system name and do log in, because they are paid accounts with a data subscription.

How to fix it

• Use an account that carries a paid market data subscription: a prop-firm evaluation or funded account, or a live broker account with CME data paid for.
• If you already have such an account, pick its broker or prop firm in the wizard instead of the generic Rithmic entry, then click “Fetch live system list from gateway” and choose the system your account lives on.
• Run “Test connection”. A valid login answers “Login OK — credentials are valid.”
• If you only have a platform you already trade on, the local NinjaTrader or Quantower bridge can feed the footprint without any Rithmic login in Senzoukria (Windows only).

What it is not

• Not a wrong password: the demo credentials can be perfectly valid in R | Trader Pro and still be refused here.
• Not a gateway or access point problem: every access point serves the same systems, and switching one does not lift a product exclusion.
• Not something your broker can switch on by ticket. The requirement is a paid data subscription on the account, not a flag.

When to contact support

If the steps above do not change anything, send the case from Menu → Report a problem, or ask on the Senzoukria Discord. Mention whether the account is a self-serve demo, a prop-firm account or a broker account, and paste the diagnostic line the app prints under a refusal (it contains the code, the step, the system and the app version, never your user ID).