Rules explained

The rules that decide whether you keep the account

Price is only half of it. How the loss limit moves, when it stops, what a bad day does and when you can withdraw decide how much room you really buy. Here is each rule in plain words, with how many of the 1,603 accounts we compare use it.

1. How the drawdown floor moves

Every account has a floor: if your balance or equity touches it, the account closes. The type of drawdown is how that floor moves after you make money. The dashed line is your starting balance; the grey line is your equity; the coloured line is the floor.

Static

The floor stays at the same level below your starting balance, whatever you make. The most room you will ever have is the max drawdown plus your profit.

953 accounts · 59% of all we compare

End-of-day trailing

The floor moves up with your highest closing balance, once a day. Open profits during the day do not move it, so a winning trade you give back before the close costs you nothing extra.

221 accounts · 14% of all we compare

Intraday trailing

The floor follows your highest balance or equity as it happens, open profits included. A trade that runs up and comes back can drag the floor up and close you with no loss on the day.

84 accounts · 5% of all we compare

Trailing, timing not stated

The floor trails your highest balance, but the firm does not say whether it updates intraday or at the close. We treat it as the stricter, intraday case in the simulator.

345 accounts · 22% of all we compare

Ranked from gentlest to strictest: static, end of day, trailing, intraday. The Rules purist trader type keeps only static and end-of-day accounts. See them

2. When a trailing floor stops

Most trailing floors stop rising at some point, so the room you have can only grow from there.

Stops at the startOnce your profit equals the max drawdown, the floor locks at your starting balance. 285 trailing accounts.Stops a little above the startIt locks at the start plus a small amount, often $100. 148 accounts.Stops below the startIt locks before it reaches your starting balance, so some of the first loss stays allowed. 9 accounts.Never stopsThe firm names no level where it stops. It keeps following your best balance. 208 accounts.

3. The daily loss limit

A second limit, counted from each day's start. It decides how much one bad day can cost you.

Hard

Touching it fails the account, like the max drawdown. 1,163 accounts.

Soft

Touching it closes your trades for the day; you trade again tomorrow. 151 accounts.

None

Only the max drawdown applies, so one day can use all of it. 289 accounts.

The Day planner trader type ranks by the price of each $1,000 of daily room: the daily limit, or the max drawdown where there is none.

4. Evaluations and instant accounts

1-step, 2-step, 3-stepYou pass one, two or three phases, each with a profit target and often a minimum number of trading days, before the account is funded. The Target column shows the first phase.InstantFunded from the start: no target, usually a higher price and a tighter floor. 348 accounts.One-time or monthlyMost fees are paid once; 83 accounts bill every month until you pass. We plot monthly plans at one month's price and mark them /mo.Activation feeSome firms charge again when you pass. Where the firm shows it, it is in the price.

5. Getting paid

SplitYour share of the profit you withdraw, from 50% to 100%. Some firms raise it after the first payouts.Waiting timeA first payout often needs a number of trading days, or calendar days since the first trade.ConsistencyA best-day rule: your biggest day may be at most a set share of the profit before you can withdraw.Smallest and largest payoutMany firms set a minimum request and cap the first payouts.BufferSome funded accounts keep the first profit as a cushion before anything can be withdrawn.

Each firm page lists these rules for every size. How fast each account pays you is modelled day by day on Propsoon, our sister site.

6. How we price accounts

Accounts are put on the same footing so you can compare a $50 account with a $500 one.

Price per $1K of drawdown

Price ÷ max drawdown × 1,000. What each $1,000 you are allowed to lose costs you. Our default ranking.

Price per $1K of daily room

Price ÷ daily loss limit × 1,000, or the max drawdown where there is no daily limit.

Price per $10K of size

Price ÷ account size × 10,000. The most account per dollar, whatever its rules.

Prices are today's, with the discount the firm shows and any public code applied. A monthly plan counts one month.

7. What kind of trader are you?

Each trader type sets the order, the filters and the columns to watch on the compare page. Pick one to see its ranking.

Budget starterCheapest way in today Size hunterMost account per dollar Cushion seekerMost room to lose Day plannerRoom for each day Rules puristStatic or end of day only Platform loyalistRuns on my platform Bot runnerMy algo can trade it Market specialistFirms built for my market Payout chaserKeep more of each payout Cautious traderWill they pay me?

8. Trust tiers

VerifiedRules readable on its own pages, Trustpilot 4.0 or more, nothing current pointing to unpaid withdrawals.CautionListed, with one warning sign named on every row it appears in.WatchUnder review for a recent problem; out of rankings unless you turn the watch list on.Not listedFails the bar today, named with the reason on the firms page.

9. How we rank and how we earn

The order is yours. Every list is sorted by the rule you pick and says how it was sorted. No firm can pay to move a row, earn a badge or change a page.

Today we earn nothing from these links. If that changes, links that pay us will be marked, and any paid place will be violet, say Sponsored, sit outside the ranking and be open only to Verified firms.

Prices are the firms' own. We read each price, code and rule on the firm's pages. Where a firm does not publish a price, the row says the price came from a third party.

10. Where the data comes from

PropFirmCompare is the sister site of Propsoon, which reads the rules of every program on each firm's own pages. This version uses the check of 7 Nov 2026: 220 firms checked, 84 listed, 340 programs and 1,603 account sizes.

Firms change prices and rules often, sometimes daily during sales. Always check the checkout page before you pay. Nothing here is financial advice: most prop firm fees are lost, and past payouts do not promise future ones.