7 guides · updated September 29, 2026
Prop Trading Guides
Every guide uses numbers from our database of 90 prop firms and 2,228 challenges, so the medians and examples you read are current, not remembered.
What is a prop firm?
How funded trading works, with data from every firm we track.
How do prop firms work and make money?
The business model behind challenges, fees and payouts.
How to get a funded trading account
Seven steps from choosing a market to your first payout, with real prices.
How to pass a prop firm challenge
Risk maths, position sizing and the rules that fail most traders.
Prop firm consistency rule + calculator
What the best-day cap is, how it is calculated, and a calculator.
Trailing vs static drawdown
Every drawdown model explained with one equity curve.
Are prop firms legit?
How to check a firm before you pay, and the red flags.
Prop trading glossary
- Challenge / evaluation
- A paid trading test with a profit target and loss limits. Pass it to get a funded account.
- One-step / two-step
- The number of evaluation phases. Two-step splits the target into two smaller ones.
- Instant funding
- A funded account sold without an evaluation, at a higher price.
- Daily loss limit
- The most you may lose in one trading day, as a percentage of the starting or daily balance.
- Maximum loss
- The floor your equity may never touch. Static or trailing.
- Trailing drawdown
- A loss floor that rises with your highest balance or equity. Explained.
- Consistency rule
- A cap on the share of total profit from your best day. Calculator.
- PT:DD ratio
- Profit target divided by maximum loss. Lower means an easier target for the room you get.
- Profit split
- Your share of the profit on a funded account, usually 80-90%.
- Payout cycle
- How often you can request a withdrawal: daily, weekly, bi-weekly.
- Activation fee
- A one-off fee some futures firms charge when you pass, before the funded account starts.
- Scaling plan
- Rules for increasing your account size after profit and payout milestones.