The Trader's Path · Prop trading
How prop firms work, the rules that fail most traders, and how to choose a firm without getting burned.
Not financial advice · Education only · Trading involves a high risk of loss · Risk disclosure
How prop firms work, who they are for, and what nobody tells you before you pay.
A proprietary trading firm, or prop firm, gives you a trading account once you prove you can follow its rules. You never deposit trading capital. You pay a one-off evaluation fee, trade a simulated account under strict limits and, if you pass, trade the firm’s account and keep most of the profit.
For a disciplined trader with a small account, that changes the maths completely. For an undisciplined one, it is just a faster way to lose evaluation fees. This page explains both sides.
01
Before you pay, read the firm's rules line by line: daily loss limit, maximum drawdown and how it is calculated, news and weekend restrictions, consistency rules, minimum trading days and payout conditions. Most evaluations fail on rules, not on analysis.
Evaluations & Rules Explained →02
Reach a profit target without breaching the daily and total loss limits. Two-step evaluations usually ask for 8 % in the first phase and 5 % in the second, often with no time limit. One-step models exist too, usually with a single target and tighter limits. You trade a simulated account the whole time.
03
After passing and completing identity checks (KYC), you receive a funded account under the same loss limits, usually without a profit target. Your maximum loss is still the evaluation fee: breach a rule and the account closes. You can buy a new evaluation, but you never owe the firm the lost balance.
04
Profits are split with the firm, typically 80–90 % to you, on a fixed payout cycle. Consistent traders can qualify for scaling plans that increase the account size over time.
Scaling to Millions →Understanding the business model is the best protection you have. Here is how it generally works in retail prop trading today. Every firm is structured differently, so read your firm’s terms for the specifics.
Simulated vs. real capital. In most retail prop firms, both the evaluation and the funded account are simulated. Your trades are executed on a demo-type environment with live prices, and the firm pays you a share of the simulated profit from its own revenue. Some firms copy or hedge the trades of consistent traders on real markets; how and whether they do is their business decision, not yours.
Where the revenue comes from. The main income of most firms is evaluation fees. Many traders buy an evaluation and do not pass it, often several times. Those fees fund the payouts to the traders who do pass and stay consistent. This is not a scandal; it is the model. But it means a firm does not need you to succeed in order to make money, so your success is your responsibility.
Why the rules exist. The daily loss limit and maximum drawdown cap how much any single trader can cost the firm. Consistency rules filter out traders who pass with one lucky, oversized day. News and weekend rules limit exposure to gaps and slippage. From the firm’s side, the rules are risk management. From your side, they are the same rules a professional should follow anyway.
What this means for you. Choose firms with a long, verifiable payout history, clear rules and transparent terms. Treat every evaluation fee as a business expense with a plan behind it, not a lottery ticket.
A firm does not need you to succeed in order to make money. That is why you need a plan.
Taste of membership · Free · no e-mail needed
The question that saves the most prop accounts is not “where do I enter?” but “how big?”. The calculator takes your account size, the firm's limits and your stop, and tells you the position size and how much of the daily and total limit a single trade uses. A worked example of the logic it follows:
The Red Tape: every rule that can cost you an account.
Most evaluations are not lost because the trader read the chart wrong. They are lost because of a rule the trader did not fully understand: a daily limit calculated on equity instead of balance, a drawdown that trails intraday peaks, a server reset at an unexpected hour, a news window, a consistency cap.
This page explains the rules that matter, the ways the same number can mean very different things, and how to read a firm’s terms before you buy.
| Two-step | One-step | |
|---|---|---|
| Profit target | Usually 8 % in phase 1, then 5 % in phase 2 | Usually a single target, often around 10 % |
| Daily loss limit | Commonly 5 % | Often tighter, for example 3–4 % |
| Maximum loss | Commonly 10 %, often static | Often lower, and frequently trailing |
| Time limit | Often none | Often none |
| Minimum trading days | Some firms require a few days per phase | Some firms require a few days |
| Who it suits | Traders who want room for normal variance and are willing to prove consistency twice | Traders with a proven, low-drawdown method who want a faster route |
Typical structures only. Targets, limits, fees and minimum days differ between firms and change over time.
Learn these six before you buy any evaluation. For each one, find the exact wording in your firm’s terms and write down how it would apply to your own trading.
01
The maximum you can lose in one trading day. Check two things: is it measured from the start-of-day balance or from equity, including open positions? And when does the day reset? The reset follows the firm's server time, which is rarely your local midnight.
02
The total loss limit for the account. It can be static, trailing at the end of the day, or trailing intraday. The same 8 % can mean three very different things, as the example below shows.
03
Some firms cap how much of your total profit can come from a single day, for example to stop a trader passing with one oversized win. Breaching it may not close the account but can delay passing or a payout.
04
Some firms forbid opening or closing trades in a window around high-impact news, or holding positions over the weekend, at least on certain account types. Others allow both. Know which calendar events count and how the window is measured.
05
Payouts follow a fixed cycle, for example every two weeks or monthly, often with a minimum number of trading days or a minimum amount. Plan around the cycle, not the hope.
06
Consistent traders can grow the account size if they meet the firm's criteria, typically a profit threshold over a period and a number of payouts. This is where prop trading becomes a career.
| Drawdown type | How the floor moves | Floor after this day | Room left from 104,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Static | Fixed at the starting balance minus 8 %. It never moves. | 92,000 | 12,000 |
| End-of-day trailing | Moves up with your highest closing balance or equity, checked once a day. | 96,000 | 8,000 |
| Intraday trailing | Moves up with your highest equity at any moment, including unrealised profit you never booked. | 98,000 | 6,000 |
Hypothetical example. Many firms stop trailing once the floor reaches the starting balance, and some calculate the end-of-day value from equity rather than balance. Check the exact definition in your firm's terms.
Taste of membership · Free for your e-mail
One page, every rule on this site in checklist form, with the questions to ask before you pay for an evaluation and the numbers to write down before your first trade. Get the PDF by email, together with The Bulletin every Saturday.
Pros, cons, country restrictions, and the hidden quirks we learned the hard way.
There are many prop firms, and their landing pages look almost the same: big account sizes, high profit splits, fast payouts. The differences are in the terms, the payout record, the platforms, the country you live in and small execution details that only show up once you trade.
This page gives you the checklist we use, the structure of our firm comparison, and one example of the kind of trap that never appears in a marketing banner.
Work through all six before you buy an evaluation. If you cannot find a clear answer to one of them in the firm’s own published terms, treat that as an answer.
01
Daily limit and how it is measured, drawdown type, consistency rules, news and weekend restrictions, minimum trading days, banned strategies. Do the rules fit how you actually trade, or would you have to change your style to pass?
02
How long has the firm been paying traders, and is that verifiable outside its own marketing? Look for consistent reports over time from real traders, and read how the firm handles denied payouts.
03
Which platforms are offered, and are they available in your country? Check spreads, commissions and swaps on the instruments you trade, and the server time used for daily resets.
04
Ask a specific rule question before you buy. How fast, and how precisely, do they answer? You will need the same support when a payout or a breach is in question.
05
When is identity verification required, what documents are accepted, and what contract do you sign when funded? The contract defines how your payouts are classified, which matters for taxes.
06
Rules that are vague or change without notice, payouts denied on unclear grounds, pressure-selling and countdown discounts, terms that allow the firm to reinterpret your trades after the fact, and an unclear company identity or address.
| Firm | Evaluation models | Drawdown type | Payout cycle & split | Platforms | Country availability | Our notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BrightFunded | Per the firm's current terms | Per the firm's current terms | Per the firm's current terms | Per the firm's current terms | Per the firm's current terms | Our first partner firm and the firm our founder trades with. Affiliate relationship, see below. |
| Firm 2 | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone |
| Firm 3 | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone | Full table in the member zone |
Comrade members see the full table with pros, cons and dated notes, plus evaluation discount codes in Deals.
Taste of membership · Members only
Inside the member zone, every firm we track has its own row with dated notes: the rules that matter, what we like, what to watch out for, and which countries and platforms are affected. Next to it, Deals and Coupons hold the evaluation discounts available to members.
A firm that works perfectly for a trader in one country may not accept a trader in another. Before you compare account sizes, check the parts that depend on where you live:
The firm’s terms and FAQ list the excluded countries and accepted payout methods. If they are unclear, ask support in writing and keep the answer.
Check that your documents will be accepted before you pay, not after you pass.
This is the kind of quirk you only learn by trading. Around the daily rollover, when one trading day ends and the next begins on the server, liquidity across the forex market is thin. Many market makers step back, and spreads widen, sometimes dramatically. On some pairs and some firms’ feeds the effect is much stronger than on others.
EURCHF is a good example. It is a quiet, low-volatility pair most of the day, which makes it attractive to traders who like tight ranges. But in the rollover window its spread can widen far more than you would expect from its daytime behaviour. Combine that with prop rules and you get a specific risk:
The lesson is not “never trade EURCHF”. The lesson is that every firm’s execution has its own fingerprint, and you need to learn it before it costs you an account. In the member zone we document which pairs, sessions and firms this applies to.
Every firm's execution has its own fingerprint. Learn it before it costs you an account.
BrightFunded is our first partner firm. It is also the firm where Alan runs his own funded accounts, and every trade he takes there is logged in the founder’s public journal, losses included.
Affiliate disclosure: Comrade Trading has an affiliate relationship with BrightFunded. If you buy an evaluation through our link or with a member discount code, we may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you. This does not change how we describe the firm, and it does not mean BrightFunded is the right firm for everyone. Use the checklist above and compare it like any other.
Terms as published by the firm in October 2026. Always read the current terms before you buy.
A partner is not a recommendation for everyone. Use the checklist.
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