Prop firm terms, explained

The strictest type. The limit follows your highest equity in real time, including open (unrealised) profit. Example: $50K account, $2K drawdown, limit at $48K. A trade is +$1,000 open → the limit jumps to $49K immediately. If the trade then falls back to break-even, that room is gone even though you made nothing.

The limit only moves once per day, after the market close, based on your end-of-day balance. What happens during the day does not move it — only the day result counts. Most futures traders prefer EOD over intraday. Note: you can still breach the current limit intraday.

The limit follows your balance, so only closed trades count. Open profit does not move it; it moves up when you close a winning trade. It sits between intraday (strictest) and EOD.

The limit never moves. With a $50K account and a 10% static drawdown, your limit stays at $45K no matter how much profit you make. The most forgiving type — common on forex/CFD 2-step challenges.

At most firms, yes: a trailing drawdown usually stops (locks) once it reaches your starting balance. From then on it behaves like a static limit. Check each firm's rules — we note it where firms publish it.

A separate limit on how much you may lose in one day. At some firms hitting it ends the account (hard breach); at others it only stops trading for the rest of the day (soft breach).

One phase with one profit target (often 6–10%). Pass it and you are funded. Faster, but rules are usually tighter (trailing drawdown, best-day or consistency rules).

Two phases, e.g. 8–10% in phase 1 and 5% in phase 2. Takes longer, but usually comes with a static drawdown and more room per trade. The classic forex/CFD model.

Three smaller targets (e.g. 6% + 6% + 6%). Lower targets per phase and often the cheapest entry, but the longest path to funding.

No evaluation: you buy a funded account directly and can request payouts after meeting the payout rules. More expensive, with stricter rules (tighter drawdown, consistency rules, payout caps). Some firms start you on part of the balance and scale you up.

Look at the drawdown in dollars, not the size. A $50K account with a $2,000 drawdown gives you $2,000 of room. Pick a size where your normal daily risk fits comfortably inside the drawdown and daily loss limit.

Yes — futures firms set a maximum number of contracts per size, and many use a scaling plan that unlocks more contracts as you make profit.

A fee some firms charge after you pass the evaluation, before your funded account goes live (e.g. $69–$149). Accounts marked "No activation fee" don't charge this.

One-time: you pay once and the evaluation stays open (sometimes with a time limit). Monthly: you pay every month until you pass — cheap if you pass quickly, expensive if it takes long.

Restarting a failed or struggling evaluation at its starting balance for a fee, usually cheaper than buying a new one.

Yes — prop firms run promotions almost permanently, often 30–50% off and sometimes 80%+. Never pay full price: check today's deals first. Note that monthly-plan discounts often apply to the first month only.

It limits how much of your total profit may come from a single day, e.g. 40%: with $3,000 profit, no single day may be more than $1,200. It prevents passing with one lucky trade.

The share of the profit you keep, e.g. 90%. Some firms give 100% of the first $10K–$25K and 90% after that.

After a minimum number of (profitable) trading days you can request a payout — daily, weekly, bi-weekly or on demand depending on the firm. Many firms cap the first payouts.

A way to grow your account: hit profit milestones and the firm raises your balance or contract limit.

Futures firms trade CME products (NQ, ES, gold, oil) via platforms like Tradovate, Rithmic or NinjaTrader. Forex/CFD firms trade CFDs on MT5, cTrader or Match-Trader — usually with percentage-based rules and 2-step challenges.

Crypto-native firms route orders to a real exchange such as Bybit, Kraken or Hyperliquid. Multi-asset firms usually offer crypto as a CFD on a broker feed, with different spreads, funding and liquidity.

Very few firms let you trade real shares with Level 2 data. Most "stock" accounts are CFDs on MT5 or cTrader.

Because the market moves fast: many of the most talked-about perps and onchain firms are new. We only list them when they publish their prices and rules openly, and we label them "New firm" so you can weigh the risk yourself.

Rules that change after you bought (sometimes applied to existing accounts), payouts that get delayed or denied over unclear rules, payout caps that appear later, the firm running out of money or closing within months, and support that disappears. With little history, you cannot yet see how a firm behaves when traders win big.

Start with the smallest account. Read the full rulebook and take screenshots of the rules when you buy. Request a first payout as soon as you are eligible. Prefer firms with a public payout reserve or onchain payouts you can verify. Never put in more than you can afford to lose on one firm.

Automatically, 12 months after launch. We keep checking these firms more often; if a firm starts denying payouts or changes rules retroactively, we add a warning or move it to the graveyard.

Trustpilot removed that firm's rating after finding fake reviews (a breach of its guidelines). We show this so you know a high score elsewhere may not be reliable.

Slower payouts combined with rule changes — especially rules applied retroactively to accounts that were already bought. See our graveyard for examples.