Prop firms, on their own published rules
A prop firm is not a broker. It holds no client money, no financial regulator licenses it, and in most cases the funded account is simulated — FTMO’s own objectives page says “Initial Simulated Capital” in as many words. What you buy is an evaluation. The fee is the product.
None of that makes them a scam. It does mean the questions worth asking are different from the ones asked about a broker, and that the rules — which every firm publishes — matter more than the marketing that surrounds them.
Every programme we have read, side by side
The last column is the one that decides things, and no firm publishes it: how many losing trades in a row end the attempt, at 1% risk per trade. It is not the same as the daily limit, because a daily limit that pauses the account is not a way to lose.
| Programme | Target | Drawdown | Daily | Ratio | Ends after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 2.00 | 10 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 10 losers | |||
| | 0.40 | 10 losers | |||
| | — | 10 losers | |||
| | 0.50 | 8 losers | |||
| | — | 8 losers | |||
| | — | 6 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 6 losers | |||
| | — | 6 losers | |||
| | — | 6 losers | |||
| | — | 6 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 6 losers | |||
| | 2.00 | 6 losers | |||
| | 2.50 | 6 losers | |||
| | 2.00 | 6 losers | |||
| | — | 6 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.30 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 3.60 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.30 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 2.00 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.00 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.60 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | — | 5 losers | |||
| | 3.00 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.80 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.30 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.30 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.63 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.30 | 5 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.33 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.63 | 4 losers | |||
| | 2.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.75 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.40 | 4 losers | |||
| | 2.25 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.63 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.88 | 4 losers | |||
| | — | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.63 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.75 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.75 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | — | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.40 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 0.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.40 | 4 losers | |||
| | 1.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | 2.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 3 losers | |||
| | 2.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | 0.60 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.25 | 3 losers | |||
| | 0.33 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.50 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 2.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.60 | 3 losers | |||
| | 3.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | 3.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | 2.40 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.67 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.00 | 3 losers | |||
| | — | 3 losers | |||
| | 1.00 | 2 losers | |||
| | 3.00 | 2 losers | |||
| | — | 2 losers | |||
| | — | 2 losers | |||
| | — | 2 losers |
Worth reading twice: FundedNext's Stellar 1-Step and The5ers' Hyper Growth publish the same 10% target, the same 6% drawdown and the same 3% daily limit. One of those daily limits closes the account and the other pauses it, so the attempt ends after three losing trades at one firm and six at the other. Identical on the pricing page, twice the rope in practice.
Two of these rows are the same programme
FundedNext’s Stellar 1-Step and The5ers’ Hyper Growth publish the same 10% target, the same 6% drawdown and the same 3% daily limit. One ends the attempt when that limit is hit and the other pauses the account, which at 1% risk is the difference between failing 97% of the time and 43%. Side by side →
And within one firm: FTMO’s 1-Step asks half the profit of its 2-Step against the same drawdown, which makes it the easier programme by every published number and the one that fails 97% of the time rather than 78%. Why →
Ranked by the chance a losing streak ends them, the single-phase programmes span nearly the whole range — on rules that look almost identical. Ranked →
And the whole field in one order: every firm whose rules we have read, sorted by the odds its best challenge gives you rather than by anything editorial. Best prop firms, ranked →
The two biggest names, compared whole: the flagship 2-Steps are near-twins on every rule that governs losing, and everything that differs is commercial. FTMO vs FundedNext →
And the fees: the sticker prices one attempt, almost nobody passes in one, and netting the refund across three reorders the list. What a challenge actually costs →
The two-step field behaves the other way round: there the difficulty ratio mostly holds, and the one programme that breaks it is the cheaper, roomier, more flexible one. Ranked →
And the size that makes any of them survivable: 1% risk per trade works on none of the challenges we have read. The figure per programme →
The cleanest version of that finding sits inside one firm: The5ers sell two programmes with identical published rules, and one pauses the account where the other ends the attempt. Hyper Growth vs Pro Growth →
The softest difficulty ratio the measure can produce, 1.00, belongs to the hardest programme in this data — because a 2.5% daily cap ends the attempt two losing trades in. E8 One vs E8 Pro →
Lux hold one drawdown across every account size and raise the target with the capital, so the biggest account is the hardest test rather than the same test scaled. Lux account sizes →
And the firm whose two best-looking models we will not rank, because their drawdown trails inside the session and the figures flatter them. Goat’s six models →
FundedNext line their three Stellar evaluations up by daily loss cap and the odds follow exactly — so the one asking the least profit is the hardest to pass. The Stellar ladder →
City Traders Imperium sell a challenge with half the drawdown of its sibling, and no daily limit at all. It is the safer of the two by a wide margin. CTI 1-Step vs 2-Step →
And Alpha Capital, which sells eight and never says what breaching the daily limit does — eight of the eleven programmes here whose figures are our reading rather than the firm’s. Alpha One vs Alpha Pro →
Or the trap that is only in the naming: Funding Pips’ “Pro” asks a smaller profit target than Standard and costs less, and halves both loss caps. Standard vs Pro →
And the case against the difficulty ratio itself: Fidelcrest’s Aggressive programmes ask up to three times the profit, compute to the same ratio, and are far likelier to be passed. Normal vs Aggressive →
Three phases sounds like three chances and prices like a discount. Ranked against the one- and two-step programmes, the extra phase is another target to clear inside the same drawdown. Three-phase challenges →
And the products with no evaluation at all, which every ranking here leaves unranked because there is no attempt for a losing streak to end — they agree on nothing except the absence of a target. Instant funding compared →
The fee prices one attempt. Price the attempts the odds expect and the order changes: the sticker ladder does not predict what a funded account costs. Cost per funded account →
What the tables above cannot show you
A comparison table holds the figures every firm publishes in the same shape. The rules that actually decide the outcome are the ones that do not fit that shape, and three guides exist for them.
- · The daily loss limit decides it — two programmes publishing identical numbers land tens of points apart on whether breaching that cap ends the attempt or pauses the account.
- · The rules that are not on the pricing page — every rule we have read that changes the odds and appears in no comparison table, grouped by what it costs you.
- · What to ask before buying — the questions with no answer on any pricing page, and what it means when a firm will not answer one.
The rest of the guides are here, including the risk each programme needs and the arithmetic every figure on this page is computed with.
All firms
Alpha One 10%: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 50 · Alpha One 6%: 6% target, 4% drawdown · Alpha One 12%: 12% target, 8% drawdown · Alpha Pro 6%: 6% → 6% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 40 · Alpha Pro 8%: 8% → 5% target, 8% drawdown · Alpha Pro 10%: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown · Alpha Three: 8% → 4% → 4% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 67 · Alpha Swing: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 577
Ability Challenge: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown · Ability One: 10% target, 6% drawdown · FTP (Instant Funding): no target, 10% drawdown
Buy Now Pay Later: 4% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 10 · 1 Step: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 30 · 2 Step Standard: 8% → 4% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 24 · 2 Step Pro: 10% → 4% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 18 · Instant: no target, 6% drawdown, from USD 54
Flex 1-Step: 12% target, 12% drawdown, from USD 105 · 1-Step (Legacy): 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 44 · Prime 2-Step: 8% → 6% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 37 · Synthetic 2-Step: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 25 · Instant Elite: no target, 10% drawdown, from USD 100 · Instant Lite: no target, 4% drawdown, from USD 42.5
1-Step Turbo: 9% target, 3% drawdown, from USD 20 · 1-Step Pro: 12% target, 5% drawdown, from USD 33 · 1-Step Classic: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 45
1-Step Challenge: 8% target, 5% drawdown, from USD 29 · 2-Step Challenge: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 39 · Instant Funding: no target, 6% drawdown, from USD 79 · Direct Funding: no target, 6% drawdown, from USD 229
2 Phases Evaluation: 8% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 58
1 Phase: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 59 · 2 Phase: 8% → 5% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 49 · Rapid (10 Days): 5% target, 5% drawdown, from USD 99 · Instant Funding: no target, 4% drawdown, from USD 199
E8 One: 6% target, 4% drawdown · E8 Pro: 8% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 32
2-Step Challenge: 8% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 99
Pro Trader — Normal: 10% → 10% target, 10% drawdown, from EUR 149 · Pro Trader — Aggressive: 20% → 20% target, 20% drawdown, from EUR 249 · Micro Trader — Normal: 5% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from EUR 49 · Micro Trader — Aggressive: 15% → 15% target, 20% drawdown, from EUR 89
Pay After Pass (Forex): 2% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 9 · Fast (Forex): 9% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 36 · Fast Static (Forex): 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 51 · Classic (Forex): 8% → 5% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 50 · Instant (Forex): no target, 5% drawdown, from USD 69 · Instant Pro (Forex): no target, 6% drawdown, from USD 81 · Fast (Crypto): 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 44 · Fast Pro (Crypto): 6% target, 4% drawdown, from USD 102 · Instant (Crypto): no target, 5% drawdown, from USD 36
2-Step: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from EUR 89 · 1-Step: 10% target, 10% drawdown, from EUR 79
1-Step Express: 10% target, 6% drawdown · 2-Step Classic: 7% → 7% target, 8% drawdown · Instant: no target, 6% drawdown
Stellar 1-Step: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 49.49 · Stellar 2-Step: 8% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 44.99 · Stellar Lite: 8% → 4% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 24.74 · Stellar Instant: no target, 6% drawdown, from USD 44.99
2 Step Standard: 8% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 36 · 2 Step Pro: 6% → 6% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 29 · 2 Step Flex: 10% → 6% target, 12% drawdown, from USD 32 · 1 Step Flex: 12% target, 12% drawdown, from USD 59 · FundingPips Zero: no target, 5% drawdown, from USD 60
2-Step Pro (PRO6): 6% → 6% target, 6% drawdown · 2-Step Pro (PRO10): 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown · 1-Step Pro: 10% target, 10% drawdown · Instant Funding: no target, 6% drawdown
Three Phase: 5% → 5% → 5% target, 5% drawdown, from USD 39 · Two Phase — Pro (Static): 4% → 8% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 129 · Two Phase — Classic (Static): 5% → 10% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 59 · Two Phase — Standard (Trailing): 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 59 · One Phase: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 59 · Instant Funding — Lite: no target, 4% drawdown, from USD 19 · Instant Funding — Standard: no target, 8% drawdown, from USD 69 · Lightning Challenge: 5% target, 4% drawdown, from USD 59
1 Step Model (GOAT): 10% target, 6% drawdown · 2 Step GOAT Model: 8% → 6% target, 10% drawdown · 2-Step Standard: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown · 3 Step Model: 6% → 6% → 6% target, 8% drawdown · GOAT Blitz: 3% target, 5% drawdown · Pay Later Model: 4% target, 8% drawdown
1-Step Prime: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 59
One-Step Challenge: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 69 · Two-Step Challenge: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 59
1-Step Evaluation — $100K: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from GBP 199 · 1-Step Evaluation — $400K: 12% target, 6% drawdown, from GBP 449 · 1-Step Evaluation — $1M: 15% target, 6% drawdown, from GBP 999 · INSTA: 12% target, 6% drawdown, from GBP 699
Standard 1-Step: 8% target, 5% drawdown, from USD 14 · Standard 2-Step: 8% → 5% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 18 · Standard 3-Step: 3% → 3% → 3% target, 3% drawdown, from USD 12 · Instant Funding: no target, 3% drawdown, from USD 14 · Mini: no target, 3% drawdown, from USD 16 · Two Step Omo: 6% → 8% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 9 · Buy Now, Pay Later: 4% target, 10% drawdown · Prediction Markets One-Step Essential: 9% target, 3% drawdown, from USD 40 · Prediction Markets One-Step Elite: 9% target, 5% drawdown, from USD 67
1-Step Challenge: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 42 · 2-Step Challenge: 5% → 10% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 45 · 2-Step Challenge (lower-cost): 5% → 10% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 33 · Instant Funding: no target, 5% drawdown, from USD 40 · Instant Funding Pro: no target, 8% drawdown, from USD 250 · Phoenix Instant: no target, 6% drawdown, from USD 195
Core Challenge: 8% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 35 · Flash Challenge: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 56 · Value Challenge: 8% → 6% target, 8% drawdown, from USD 29 · Instant Funding: no target, 6% drawdown, from USD 79
Hyper Growth: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 260 · Pro Growth: 10% target, 6% drawdown, from USD 52 · High Stakes: 10% → 5% target, 10% drawdown, from USD 19 · Bootcamp: 6% → 6% → 6% target, 5% drawdown, from USD 22
No figures published here until we have read them from the firm’s own pages.
Why so few have figures
26 of 27. A firm appears here with rules once someone has opened its own rules page, read the numbers and cited them with the date. The rest are listed without figures so that a reader searching the name finds an honest page rather than nothing — and they stay out of the search index until that changes.
Challenge rules are, unusually, worth publishing: firms print them themselves and they change on the order of months. That makes this vertical citable in a way broker spreads never were.
The number to compare on
Total profit target divided by total drawdown allowance. Above 1.5 you must make half again as much as you are allowed to lose. It is computable from what every firm publishes, and no firm advertises it. Run it against your own risk per trade, or see every programme ranked by the odds of a fatal losing streak.