Guides
Prop firm guides
Plain-English explainers on the rules that decide whether you pass a prop firm challenge and get paid. Each one links to the firms and accounts it describes.
Prop firm rules explained
- How trailing drawdown works, and why it catches traders out
Static, trailing, end-of-day and locking drawdowns explained with worked examples, plus how to trade a trailing limit without losing the account.
- Prop firm consistency rules explained
What a best-day consistency rule is, how to work out if you meet it, why it delays payouts, and which strategies it hurts most.
- How prop firm payouts work
Payout schedules, profit splits, minimum profit, buffers and payout caps explained, with figures from the accounts in our directory.
- The daily loss limit explained
How prop firms calculate the daily loss limit: initial vs start-of-day balance, equity vs balance, reset times, and limits that pause instead of fail.
- Prop firm trading restrictions you need to know
The rules beyond profit targets and drawdowns: news trading, weekend holding, inactivity, open-loss caps, hold times and payout limits.
- Minimum trading days and time limits
How minimum trading days, profitable-day rules and time limits work at prop firms, how common they are, and how to plan around them.
Strategy and risk
- Why most traders fail prop firm challenges
What prop firms' own figures say about pass and payout rates, the rules and maths that end most accounts, and how to improve your odds before you pay.
- How much to risk per trade on a prop firm challenge
A simple way to size trades from the maximum loss, daily limit and your own losing streaks, with tables for common prop firm limits.
- How to backtest a strategy for a prop firm challenge
How many trades you need, which costs to include, how to size the test, and how to avoid a backtest that looks better than reality.
- How to pass a two-step prop firm challenge
A practical plan for each phase of a two-step challenge: sizing, protecting progress near the target, phase two adjustments and the funded stage.
- Prop firms for swing traders
What swing traders need from a prop firm: weekend and overnight holding, static drawdown, how daily limits treat open trades, swaps and news.
Choosing a prop firm
- One-step vs two-step prop firm challenges
How one-step and two-step evaluations differ on targets, loss limits, time and cost, with live figures from our directory and which suits which trader.
- Instant funding: what's the catch?
Instant funding skips the evaluation, but the rules move to the funded account. Drawdowns, consistency rules, payout conditions and costs explained.
- Futures vs forex prop firms
How futures prop firms differ from forex and CFD firms: dollar drawdowns, end-of-day trailing, consistency rules, payout caps and costs.
- Are prop firm challenges worth it?
A plain look at the expected value of a prop firm challenge: fee, pass chance, payout chance and payout size, with worked examples.
- How to choose a prop firm
A practical checklist for choosing a prop firm: rules that fit your strategy, payout terms, track record, restrictions and warning signs.
- What happens after you pass a prop firm challenge
The funded account explained: KYC, the trader agreement, rule changes when funded, first payout conditions, buffers, caps and scaling.
Testing your strategy
- How to export your trades from MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView
Step-by-step instructions to export a backtest or trade history as HTML, Excel or CSV, ready to test against prop firm rules.
- Why the order of your trades matters
How Monte Carlo simulation estimates your chance of passing a prop firm challenge, why it beats a single backtest, and what the real-order replay adds.