Unbiased Prop Firm Data, Reviews & Comparisons
Prop trading glossary
195 terms, defined in plain English.
Prop trading terms - the short answer
Most prop firm rules come down to four ideas: how much you must make, how much you may lose, when the loss limit is measured, and what you are not allowed to do to get there. Everything below is a variation on one of those. The terms that most often cost traders an account are the consistency rule, the trailing drawdown and the daily reset time - none of which are about trading skill.
Evaluations and challenges
22 terms.
Activation fee
A one-off charge some firms take after an evaluation is passed, before the funded account is switched on.
Challenge fee
The price paid to take an evaluation, normally scaled to the size of the account on offer.
Challenge phase
The first stage of an evaluation, where a trader must reach the main profit target without breaching any drawdown or trading rule.
Demo account
An account that trades on simulated money at live or delayed prices, with no financial consequence.
Evaluation
A paid test requiring a trader to hit a profit target without breaching a drawdown limit, in order to qualify for a funded account.
Free trial
A no-cost version of an evaluation, usually a practice account that cannot lead to funding.
Funded account
The account a trader receives after passing an evaluation, on which they earn a share of profits.
Instant funding
A funded account bought outright, with no evaluation to pass.
Live funded account
A funded account whose trades are executed in the real market with the firm’s capital, rather than on a simulated account.
Minimum trading days
The least number of days on which you must place a trade before an evaluation can be passed.
Monthly subscription
An evaluation billed every month until it is passed or cancelled, rather than as one upfront fee.
One-step challenge
An evaluation with a single phase: hit one profit target without breaching the risk limits and you are funded.
Pass rate
The share of evaluations that end in a trader reaching funding.
Profit target
The percentage gain required to pass a phase of an evaluation.
Reset
Restarting a failed evaluation, usually at a discount to the original fee.
Reset fee
The price of restarting a failed or struggling evaluation from its original balance, instead of buying it again.
Scaling plan
A programme that increases a funded account’s size as the trader hits performance milestones.
Straight-to-funded account
A funded account sold without any evaluation - another name for instant funding.
Three-step challenge
An evaluation with three phases, each with its own profit target, before a funded account is issued.
Time limit
A deadline by which an evaluation phase must be completed.
Two-step challenge
An evaluation with two phases: a profit target, then a verification phase at a lower target before funding.
Verification phase
The second stage of a two-step evaluation, usually with a lower profit target and the same risk limits as the first.
Risk and drawdown
37 terms.
Absolute drawdown
How far an account has fallen below its starting balance, ignoring any peak reached along the way.
Balance-based drawdown
A drawdown measured only on closed trades, so unrealised losses do not count.
Buying power
The total position value an account can open with its current equity and leverage.
Compounding
Growing position size as the account grows, so returns are earned on previous returns.
Daily drawdown
The most an account may lose in a single trading day before it is failed.
Drawdown
The loss limit on an account. Breach it and the account is failed.
Drawdown duration
How long an account takes to climb back to its previous high after a drawdown begins.
Drawdown lock
The point at which a trailing drawdown stops moving up, usually once the floor reaches the starting balance.
End-of-day drawdown
A drawdown limit recalculated once at the daily close rather than continuously.
Equity-based drawdown
A drawdown measured on live equity, so open positions count against the limit in real time.
Expectancy
The average amount a strategy makes or loses per trade over many trades.
Hard breach
A rule violation that fails the account outright - typically hitting the maximum drawdown.
Intraday trailing drawdown
A trailing drawdown that follows the highest equity an account reaches during the session, including open profit, not just the closing balance.
Leverage
How much position size an account may control relative to its balance, expressed as a ratio like 1:100.
MAE and MFE
The furthest a trade moved against you (MAE) and in your favour (MFE) before it was closed.
Margin
The collateral set aside to open and hold a leveraged position.
Margin call
A warning, or an automatic action, when an account’s equity falls too close to the margin its open positions need.
Maximum drawdown
The most an account may lose overall, measured either from the starting balance or from its peak.
Monte Carlo simulation
Running a strategy’s win rate and payoff through thousands of random trade sequences to see the range of outcomes.
Position sizing
Choosing how large a trade to take so that a stop-out loses a set amount of the account.
Profit factor
Gross profit divided by gross loss over a set of trades.
R multiple
A trade’s result expressed as a multiple of the amount initially risked on it.
Realised P&L
The profit or loss locked in by closing positions.
Relative drawdown
The largest fall from a peak to a subsequent low, expressed as a percentage of that peak.
Risk of ruin
The probability that a strategy loses enough to hit an account’s drawdown limit before reaching its target.
Risk per trade
The amount, usually as a percentage of the account, that a trader stands to lose if a trade hits its stop.
Risk:reward ratio
The potential profit of a trade compared with its potential loss, written as 1:2 for a trade that risks $100 to make $200.
Sharpe ratio
Return above the risk-free rate divided by the volatility of returns - a measure of how smooth the profit is.
Soft breach
A rule violation that closes the offending trades or pauses the day, without failing the whole account.
Static drawdown
A maximum drawdown fixed to the starting balance. It does not move as the account grows.
Stop-loss
An order that closes a position automatically once price moves a set distance against it.
Stop-out
The forced closing of positions when margin level falls to the broker’s or firm’s liquidation threshold.
Take-profit
An order that closes a position automatically once it reaches a chosen profit.
Trailing drawdown
A maximum drawdown that follows the account’s peak, tightening as profits are made.
Trailing stop
A stop-loss that moves in the trade’s favour as price does, locking in profit while leaving the position open.
Unrealised P&L
The profit or loss on positions that are still open.
Win rate
The percentage of trades that close in profit.
Payouts and profit
14 terms.
Buffer
An amount of profit a funded account must hold above its starting balance before, or after, a withdrawal.
First payout
The earliest a funded trader can withdraw, usually expressed in days from funding.
High-water mark
The highest balance an account has reached, above which new profit must be made before it is shared again.
Minimum payout
The smallest profit amount a firm will pay out in one withdrawal request.
Payout
A withdrawal of the trader’s share of profits from a funded account.
Payout cap
A ceiling on how much can be withdrawn in a single payout, or in the first few.
Payout certificate
A branded image a firm issues to show that a trader has been paid a given amount.
Payout cycle
The recurring period after which a funded trader becomes eligible to request a withdrawal.
Payout denial
A refused withdrawal, usually because a rule breach was found when the account was reviewed.
Payout frequency
How often a funded trader may request a withdrawal - commonly on demand, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
Payout method
How a firm sends profit to the trader - bank transfer, crypto, or a payments platform such as Rise.
Profit split
The share of trading profits the funded trader keeps, typically 70–90%.
Refundable fee
An evaluation fee returned to the trader, normally alongside a first payout.
Winning day
A trading day that closes with profit above a set threshold, used by some firms to decide payout eligibility.
Trading rules
24 terms.
Account sharing
Letting anyone other than the registered trader place trades on an account.
Best day rule
A form of consistency rule that limits the share of total profit your single best day may account for.
Consistency rule
A cap on how much of total profit may come from a single day or a single trade - commonly 15–50%.
Contract limit
The maximum number of futures contracts an account may hold, usually quoted in minis with micros counted at a ratio.
Contract scaling
A futures-account rule that raises the number of contracts you may trade as the account’s profit grows.
Copy trading
Mirroring trades between accounts, either your own or someone else’s.
Expert Advisor
An automated trading script, typically for MetaTrader.
Flat by close
A futures-account rule that every position must be closed by a set time before the daily session ends.
Gambling rule
A clause allowing a firm to fail an account for position sizing it considers reckless, even without a hard limit breach.
Grid trading
Placing a ladder of buy and sell orders at fixed intervals above and below the price.
Hedging
Holding opposing positions in the same or correlated instruments.
High-frequency trading
Automated trading that opens and closes very large numbers of positions within seconds or less.
Inactivity rule
A rule that closes or fails an account after a set period, often 30 days, with no trades.
Latency arbitrage
Exploiting the delay between a firm’s quoted price and the underlying market.
Mandatory stop-loss
A rule requiring every trade to carry a stop-loss, sometimes within a set time of opening.
Martingale
Increasing position size after a loss to recover it.
Maximum funded accounts
A cap on how many funded accounts, or how much total funding, one trader may hold at a firm.
Maximum position size
The largest position, in lots or contracts, an account is allowed to hold at once.
Minimum hold time
A rule that trades must stay open for a minimum time, often a minute or more, for their profit to count.
News trading
Holding or opening positions during high-impact economic releases such as NFP, CPI or FOMC.
Overnight holding
Keeping a position open through the daily close.
Tick scalping
Trading for gains of one or a few ticks, holding positions for seconds.
VPS
A rented remote computer used to run a trading platform or Expert Advisor around the clock.
Weekend holding
Keeping a position open across the weekend close.
Platforms and execution
34 terms.
Bracket order
An entry order submitted with a stop-loss and a take-profit attached, so both exits are placed the moment the entry fills.
Commission
A per-lot or per-contract charge on each trade, separate from the spread.
CQG
A futures market-data and order-routing provider that trading platforms connect through.
cTrader
A platform favoured for transparent order execution and depth-of-market display.
Depth of market
A live ladder showing resting buy and sell orders at each price level around the market.
DXtrade
A web-based multi-asset platform used by many prop firms as an alternative to MetaTrader.
Latency
The delay between sending an order and it reaching the market, or between a price changing and you seeing it.
Limit order
An order to buy or sell only at a set price or better.
Market data fee
A monthly charge for real-time exchange prices, most often on futures accounts.
Market order
An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price.
Match-Trader
A white-label trading platform commonly deployed by prop firms running their own brand.
MetaTrader 4
The long-standing retail forex platform, still widely supported for its enormous library of Expert Advisors.
MetaTrader 5
The successor to MT4, with more instruments, more timeframes and a different scripting language.
MQL4 and MQL5
The programming languages used to write Expert Advisors and indicators for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.
NinjaTrader
A desktop futures platform with advanced order-flow tooling, standard across futures prop firms.
OCO order
A pair of orders where filling one automatically cancels the other.
Order flow
Analysis of the actual buying and selling transacted at each price, rather than of the price chart alone.
Partial fill
An order only part of which is executed because not enough volume was available at the price.
ProjectX
The futures trading platform behind TopstepX, previously also licensed to other prop firms.
Quantower
A multi-asset platform popular with futures traders for its order-flow and volume tooling.
Rithmic
A futures order-routing and market-data provider that many platforms connect through.
Sierra Chart
A long-established desktop charting and order-entry platform, popular for futures order flow.
Slippage
The difference between the price you expected and the price you were filled at.
Spread
The gap between the bid and ask price - the cost of entering a trade.
Stop order
An order that becomes a market order once price reaches a trigger level.
Stop-limit order
An order that becomes a limit order, rather than a market order, once its trigger price is reached.
Swap
The interest charged or paid for holding a position overnight.
Swap-free account
An account with no overnight interest, offered so the account complies with Islamic finance rules.
Trade copier
Software that replicates trades from one leader account onto one or more follower accounts.
TradeLocker
A browser-based platform used widely by newer prop firms, with TradingView-style charting.
Tradesea
A browser and mobile futures platform pairing TradingView charts with Rithmic execution.
TradingView
A charting platform increasingly supported for order entry directly against a prop account.
Tradovate
A cloud-based futures platform, common on futures evaluation programmes.
Volumetrica
The developer of the Deepchart and DeepDom order-flow platforms, which also supplies technology and market data to futures prop firms.
Markets and instruments
45 terms.
CFD
A contract that pays the difference in an asset’s price between opening and closing, without owning the asset.
CL futures
NYMEX WTI crude oil futures, covering 1,000 barrels per contract.
CME Globex
CME Group’s electronic trading platform, where its futures trade nearly 24 hours a day.
CME Group
The exchange group that runs CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX - where the futures traded at prop firms are listed.
Commodities
Physical goods traded as contracts - oil, natural gas, agricultural products.
Contract rollover
Moving from an expiring futures contract to the next one before it expires.
Currency pair
Two currencies quoted against each other: EURUSD at 1.0800 means one euro (base) costs 1.08 dollars (quote).
Day trading
Opening and closing all positions within the same trading day.
Day-trading margin
A reduced margin a broker allows for futures positions opened and closed within the same session.
ES futures
The E-mini S&P 500 futures contract on CME, worth $50 times the index.
Extended trading hours
For US equity index futures, the part of the nearly 24-hour session outside regular trading hours.
Forex
Currency trading - the most widely offered market on prop evaluations.
Front month
The futures contract with the nearest expiry - normally the one with the most volume.
Futures
Exchange-traded contracts to buy or sell an asset at a set date and price.
GC futures
COMEX gold futures, covering 100 troy ounces per contract.
Indices
Instruments tracking a stock index such as the S&P 500 or the DAX.
Lot
The standard unit of position size in forex - one standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency.
Mark-to-market
Valuing open positions at the current market or settlement price, so their profit or loss is reflected in the account daily.
MES futures
The Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures contract, worth $5 times the index - a tenth of ES.
Metals
Gold, silver and other precious metals, usually quoted against the dollar.
Micro contract
A futures contract at a fraction of the standard size, letting a small account trade the same market.
Micro lot
One hundredth of a standard lot - 1,000 units of the base currency.
Mini contract
The standard-size CME equity index futures contract, such as ES or NQ, ten times the size of the matching micro.
MNQ futures
The Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contract, worth $2 times the index - a tenth of NQ.
NAS100
A CFD tracking the Nasdaq-100 index, offered on forex prop platforms under names like NAS100, US100 or USTEC.
NQ futures
The E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contract on CME, worth $20 times the index.
Opening range breakout
A strategy that marks the high and low of the first minutes of a session and trades a break of either side.
Pip
The standard smallest price increment in forex, normally 0.0001 of a quote.
Pip value
What a one-pip move is worth for a given position size.
Pipette
A tenth of a pip - the fifth decimal place on most currency pairs, or the third on yen pairs.
Point value
What a one-point move in a futures price is worth per contract.
Price gap
A jump between one price and the next with no trading in between, most often across a weekend or overnight close.
Regular trading hours
For US equity index futures, the session from 9:30am to 4:00pm ET that matches the stock market’s hours.
RTY futures
The E-mini Russell 2000 futures contract on CME, worth $50 times the index.
Scalping
Trading for small gains over seconds to minutes, many times a day.
Settlement price
The official daily price the exchange sets for a futures contract, used to value open positions.
Swing trading
Holding positions for several days to catch a larger move.
Tick size
The smallest price increment a futures contract can move by.
Tick value
What one minimum price movement is worth on a futures contract.
Trading session
The Asian, London and New York windows that divide the 24-hour forex market by where most trading is happening.
US30
A CFD tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average, offered on most forex prop platforms.
Volatility
How far and how fast a price moves over a period, often measured by average true range (ATR).
VWAP
The average price traded during a session, weighted by volume at each price.
XAUUSD
Spot gold quoted in US dollars per troy ounce - the gold instrument on forex prop platforms.
YM futures
The E-mini Dow Jones futures contract on CBOT, worth $5 times the index.
How prop firms work
19 terms.
A-book and B-book
An A-book broker passes client orders to the market; a B-book broker takes the other side of them itself.
Affiliate link
A tracked link that pays a commission to the referrer when someone buys a challenge.
Broker
A regulated firm that executes trades on its clients’ own money; a prop firm lets you trade its capital, or a simulation of it, instead.
Crypto prop firm
A prop firm whose accounts trade cryptocurrencies, either as CFDs or through an exchange-style interface.
Discount code
A code that reduces the price of an evaluation at checkout.
Forex prop firm
A prop firm whose accounts trade currency pairs, usually alongside indices, metals and crypto as CFDs.
Futures prop firm
A prop firm whose accounts trade exchange-listed futures such as ES, NQ, gold and crude oil.
KYC
Identity checks a firm runs before releasing a payout.
Liquidity provider
The institution supplying the prices a firm’s platform quotes.
Prop firm
A company that gives a trader access to a funded account, usually after an evaluation, in exchange for a share of the profits.
Prop firm collapse
A firm ceasing operations, usually leaving unpaid payouts and voided funded accounts.
Proprietary trading desk
A trading team at a bank or trading company that trades the firm’s own capital, usually with salaried traders.
Regulation
Oversight by a financial authority. Most retail prop firms are not regulated as brokers, because they sell evaluations rather than holding client funds for trading.
Restricted country
A country whose residents a firm will not accept, usually for sanctions or licensing reasons.
Simulated funded
A funded account that trades on simulated capital rather than in the live market, with the firm paying real profit shares.
Terms and conditions
The binding rulebook behind a firm’s marketing - and the only version that counts in a payout dispute.
Trading journal
A record of every trade - entry, exit, size, reason and result - kept to find what works and what does not.
Verification
On Prop Firm Pal, a check that a firm’s published rules, pricing and payout terms match its own documentation.
White label
A prop firm running on another company’s trading platform and back office under its own brand.
Browse Prop Firm Lists
Rankings by country, platform, assets, challenge type and more-built from live firm data.
Countries
Prop firms that accept traders from your country or region.
Platforms
MT5, cTrader, TradeLocker and other supported trading platforms.
Assets
Forex, crypto, futures, stocks and other tradable asset classes.
Features
Instant funding, scalping rules, profit splits and program benefits.
Challenges
One-step, two-step, instant funding and evaluation program types.
Trader types
Beginners, scalpers, swing traders and other trading styles.
Payment methods
Card, crypto, bank transfer and other ways to pay for challenges.
Payout methods
How firms pay traders-Wise, crypto, bank wire and more.
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FAQs - Prop Trading Questions Answered
Answers on prop firms, funded accounts, challenges and how our platform works
To save money on a funded trading account, traders can use verified prop firm discount codes available on Prop Firm Pal. By applying these promo codes during checkout, traders reduce the cost of evaluation challenges. Combining structured comparisons with active discounts helps traders choose competitive programs while lowering upfront costs.
Prop trading is generally legal in most countries, but the regulatory status of specific prop firms can vary. Some jurisdictions have introduced rules affecting how prop firms operate or market their services. Certain prop firms also restrict access to traders in specific countries. Prop Firm Pal includes restricted country information on individual firm pages so you can quickly check whether a firm is available to traders in your region.
Yes, most prop firms charge a one-time challenge fee to enter an evaluation program. This fee typically ranges from around $50 for smaller account sizes to several hundred dollars for larger funded accounts. The fee covers access to the evaluation environment. If you pass, some firms refund the challenge fee with your first payout. Firms offering free challenges are rare and often compensate by taking a larger profit split or applying stricter conditions.
The best prop firm for futures trading will offer access to CME or exchange-listed contracts, clear rules around leverage and contract limits, and a payout structure suitable for high-frequency or systematic futures strategies. Futures prop firms often operate differently from forex-focused ones, with different fee structures and account types. Prop Firm Pal includes futures-focused firms in its comparisons so you can evaluate which programs support your preferred instruments and trading approach.
Each prop firm page on Prop Firm Pal includes a detailed company overview, evaluation rules, profit targets, drawdown limits, profit split information, available account sizes, trading instruments, restricted countries, FAQs, and user reviews. We aim to provide everything a trader needs to evaluate a funded trading program in one place.
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