Prop Firm Rules: What to Check Before You Buy

Types of drawdown

Drawdown is the most important rule to understand, because it decides how much room you have to lose before the account is closed. Three common types appear across firms:

• End-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdown: the floor moves up based on your highest end-of-day balance. Intraday swings below that level usually do not count.
• Intraday trailing drawdown: the floor follows your highest intraday equity, so it can rise during a winning session and leave less room.
• Static drawdown: the floor is a fixed amount below your starting balance and does not move.

Use the trailing drawdown calculator to see how a given floor behaves against your own P&L.

Consistency rules

Some firms limit how much of your total profit can come from a single best day. Others require a minimum number of trading days or cap daily profit. Read the exact wording: whether the rule applies during the evaluation, at payout, or both, changes the outcome. You can test a daily P&L series on the consistency calculator.

Payout splits and caps

The profit split is the share of profit you keep after a payout. Splits are often shown as 80%, 90% or 100%, but the rate may differ by account type or by payout tier. Some firms also set a maximum payout amount per cycle. Work out what you would actually receive with the payout calculator.

Activation and evaluation fees

Fees are the upfront cost of getting funded. Some firms add activation fees, reset fees or monthly data fees on top of the evaluation price. Add up every fee you expect to pay, not just the headline price, before you compare firms.

Position sizing

A rule-compliant account can still fail if position size is too large for the drawdown. Plan contract or lot size from your stop distance and the floor you have left, using the position size calculator. Our main page is at FundedCalc home.

Use the trailing drawdown calculator to see how a given floor behaves against your own P&L.

Pre-purchase checklist

Before you buy any evaluation, write down the answer to every item below from the official rulebook, not from a review or a social post. If a rule is hard to find or unclear, treat that as a warning sign.

• Profit target: the gain you must reach, and whether it is measured on balance or equity.
• Maximum loss limit: the total drawdown allowed, and whether it is trailing, end-of-day or static.
• Daily loss limit: the most you can lose in one session, and when the day resets.
• Consistency rule: any cap on how much of your profit can come from one day.
• Minimum trading days: how many days with activity you must log before a target counts.
• News and weekend rules: whether you can hold through news events or over the weekend.
• Scaling plan: whether account size or position limits change as you grow.
• Payout split, frequency and minimum: your share, how often you can withdraw, and the minimum amount.
• Fees: the evaluation price, activation fee, reset fee and any recurring data or platform fees.
• Instrument and strategy restrictions: which markets are allowed and whether copy trading or automated trading (EAs or bots) is permitted.

How drawdown works, with numbers

The examples below use a hypothetical $100,000 account with a $6,000 maximum loss limit. They are for illustration only and do not describe any firm.

Static drawdown. The floor is fixed at $94,000 (starting balance minus $6,000). If your balance ever falls to $94,000 or below, the account fails. The floor never moves, so the rule is easy to track.

End-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdown. The floor is based on your highest end-of-day balance. Suppose you end day 1 at $102,000. The floor rises to $96,000 ($102,000 minus $6,000). During day 2 you might dip to $97,000 intraday, which does not breach the floor because the EOD balance is what counts. Check the rulebook to confirm whether the floor stops rising once it reaches the starting balance; some rulebooks say it does, and some do not.

Intraday trailing drawdown. The floor follows your highest intraday equity. If day 1 peaked at $104,000 intraday but ended at $101,000, the floor is $98,000 ($104,000 minus $6,000), even though the end-of-day balance would only give $95,000. A later dip to $97,500 looks safe on the close but breaches this floor during the session. This is the most common way traders lose accounts they believed were safe.

Consistency rule, with numbers

A consistency rule caps how much of your total profit can come from a single best day. Suppose the rule limits the best day to 40% of total profit (a hypothetical figure). If your best day made $1,500 and your total profit is $3,000, the best day is 50% of the total and you fail the rule. To pass, you need total profit of at least $1,500 divided by 0.40, which is $3,750. Some firms apply the rule only during evaluation, others only at payout, and some at both stages. Test your daily results on the consistency calculator before you rely on a plan.

Minimum trading days, news and weekends

A minimum trading days rule requires you to log activity on a set number of days before a target can be claimed. A rule that looks easy can still slow you down if you must trade on low-quality days just to qualify. Holding rules are the other trap: some rulebooks restrict positions around major news releases, and some require you to close everything before the weekend or the market close. A single overnight or weekend position can breach a rule you did not notice. Read the definitions of "news event" and "holding" carefully, because they are often narrower or broader than the everyday meaning.

Scaling, payouts and fees

Scaling plans change account size or position limits as you grow. Check whether the drawdown floor is recalculated when the size changes, and whether scaling depends on keeping a profit level for a set period. A scaling step that resets the floor can help; one that keeps the old floor on a larger account can be harder to pass.

Payout split is your share of profit. A headline split can apply only to some account types, or it can apply after a tier is reached. Work out the net amount, not just the percentage, using the payout calculator. Example: a hypothetical $2,000 profit at a 90% split is $1,800 to you, before any fees.

Payout frequency and minimums decide when you can withdraw. Some rulebooks require a minimum balance above the starting level, a minimum number of winning days, or a waiting period after your last payout. A payout you cannot yet claim is not income.

Fees add up. Note the activation fee, the price of resets after a failed account, any monthly data or platform charge, and any fee charged on payout. A cheap evaluation with frequent resets can cost more than a higher-priced one with a clearer path.

Instrument, copy-trading and automation rules

Many rulebooks restrict which instruments you can trade, the maximum position size per instrument, and whether trades must be made manually. Some prohibit copy trading, signal services or expert advisors (EAs) and bots; others allow them only under conditions. Breaking these rules can close an account even when your P&L is within every limit, so read this section before you write or buy any automated strategy.

Use the lot size calculator to check the size of a forex trade against your stop distance, and the risk of ruin calculator to see how a sequence of losses could reach your floor before the account is closed.

Rule types at a glance

This table lists rule types, not firms. Use it to find the rule to check and the calculator that tests it.

Firm comparison

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Frequently asked questions