We did not trade these accounts. This is a rules analysis built from each firm’s own help centre, checked on 27 September 2026. JoinProp’s Real Prop Challenge is a disclosed partnership with The Trading Pit, one of the 12 firms.
What We Learned From 12 Prop Firm Challenges: Your Questions Answered
Which 12 prop firm challenges did JoinProp compare?
Eight forex and CFD firms at the $100,000 size: FTMO, The5ers, FundedNext, Funding Pips, Goat Funded Trader, Alpha Capital, Blueberry Funded and The Trading Pit. Four futures firms at the $50,000 size: Topstep, Apex Trader Funding, Take Profit Trader and Lucid Trading. For each firm we used its main two-step or standard evaluation, and every one of the 12 has its own funded-trader page on JoinProp.
What is the most common rule that catches traders after they pass?
News trading. All eight forex firms limit trading around high-impact news in some way, but each one defines the window and the penalty differently, from a two-minute ban to a rule that counts only 40% of the profit. Several firms allow news trading during the challenge and restrict it only once real payouts are at stake.
Are futures prop firm challenges easier than forex challenges?
They are different rather than easier. All four futures firms use a $2,000 maximum loss on a $50,000 account, which is 4%, and none of them lets you hold positions overnight. Most forex firms give you a 10% static maximum loss and let you hold over the weekend during the challenge. A swing trader and a scalper will reach opposite conclusions from the same rules.
Did JoinProp trade these challenges with real money?
No. This article compares the published rules, which is where most failed payouts actually start. For first-hand accounts, JoinProp’s separate interviews with funded traders are linked throughout, and our Real Prop Challenge documents live challenge accounts.
How We Compared 12 Prop Firm Challenge Rules
For each firm we recorded more than a dozen prop firm rules from its own help centre or rules page: profit targets, maximum and daily loss, minimum trading days, time limit, consistency rules, news and weekend policy, profit split, first payout conditions, refund policy, prohibited strategies and the legal entity named in its terms. Where a firm’s page and a third-party tracker disagreed, we used the firm’s page. In the few cases where a firm’s own page did not load or did not state a rule, we used a named third-party rules summary and say so in the text. A minimum trading day means a day with at least one trade, although The5ers, Goat Funded Trader and Blueberry Funded only count days with a set minimum profit.
We deliberately left prices out of the comparison tables. Most of these firms run permanent discount codes, several price in euros, and list prices moved more than once during September 2026 alone. A price table would be out of date within a week. Our prop firm comparison pages track current pricing firm by firm.
One disclosure matters here. JoinProp’s Real Prop Challenge runs as a disclosed partnership with The Trading Pit. The Trading Pit’s rules are treated exactly like the other 11 below, and where they are stricter than average, we say so.
The 12 Prop Firm Challenges at a Glance
This master table puts the rules that matter most side by side, with the funded-account version wherever it differs from the challenge. Forex and CFD firms are shown at the $100,000 size and futures firms at $50,000. Rules marked with an asterisk come from third-party rules summaries because the firm’s own page did not state them.
| Firm and account | Max loss / daily loss | Profit targets | Minimum trading days | News on the funded account | Weekend or overnight when funded | First payout | Fee refund |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO, 2-Step | 10% static / 5% | 10% / 5% | 4 | No trades 2 min either side (Standard account) | Close before the weekend (Standard account) | 14 days after first funded trade | With first reward |
| The5ers, High Stakes (New) | 10% static / 5% | 10% / 5% | 3 profitable days | No orders 2 min either side | Allowed | 14 days after activation | Not stated |
| FundedNext, Stellar 2-Step | 10% static / 5% | 8% / 5% | 5 | Only 40% of profit counts within 5 min | Allowed | 21 days after first funded trade | With first reward |
| Funding Pips, 2-Step Standard | 10% static / 5% | 8% / 5% | 3 | Profit removed within 5 min | Weekend holding not allowed | 7 days on the weekly (60%) cycle | With fourth reward |
| Goat Funded Trader, GOAT 2-Step | 10% static / 4% | 8% / 6% | 3 | Profit capped at 1% within 5 min | Allowed | Every 14 days | Unclear: help centre and terms disagree |
| Alpha Capital, Alpha Pro 8% | 8% static / 4% | 8% / 5% | 3 | No trades 5 min either side | Weekend holding not allowed | 5 trading days and $100 profit | Non-refundable |
| Blueberry Funded, Prime 2-Step | 10% static / 4% | 8% / 6% | 3 | No new trades 2 min either side | Allowed | Every 14 days | Non-refundable |
| The Trading Pit, CFD Prime 2-Phase | 8% end-of-day trailing / 4% | 10% / 5% | 3 | No new trades 2 min either side, both phases | Allowed per help centre, “Limited” per purchase page | Every 14 days | Not stated |
| Topstep, $50K Combine | $2,000 end-of-day trailing / optional $1,000 | $3,000 | 2 | Allowed | Flat by 3:10 PM CT | 5 winning days of $150 | Subscription model |
| Apex Trader Funding, $50K EOD | $2,000 end-of-day / $1,000 | $3,000 | None, 30-day limit | Allowed, no straddling releases | Flat before the close | 5 days of $250 and $52,600 balance | One-time fee model |
| Take Profit Trader, $50K Test | $2,000 end-of-day, intraday once funded / none | $3,000 | 3 | Flat 1 min around FOMC, NFP and CPI* | Auto-closed at 4:55 PM* | From day one above a $52,000 buffer* | Test fee plus activation fee |
| Lucid Trading, LucidFlex $50K | $2,000 end-of-day, locks at $50,100 / optional | $3,000 | None stated | Allowed | Close by 4:45 PM ET | 5 days of $150 | One-time fee model |
The lessons below explain what sits behind each column and why the differences matter more than the headline figures.
Lesson 1: Funded Account Rules Are Not Challenge Rules
Six of the 12 firms add at least one restriction when you move from the challenge to the funded account, so the funded account rules deserve as much attention as the challenge rules. The challenge is often the more relaxed version of the job, which is why a strategy that passed can still fail its first payout.
| Firm | What changes once you are funded | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| FTMO | Standard funded accounts cannot open or close trades from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after selected news, and must close before the weekend. Neither applies in the challenge. | Stricter |
| FundedNext | Only 40% of profit counts on trades opened or closed within 5 minutes of high-impact news. The challenge has no news restriction. | Stricter |
| Funding Pips | Profit is deducted on trades opened or closed within 5 minutes of news, and weekend holding has not been allowed on funded Master accounts since 29 January 2026. | Stricter |
| Alpha Capital | No trades within 5 minutes of major news on the affected instrument, and no weekend holding. Both are free during the evaluation. | Stricter |
| Apex Trader Funding | A consistency rule appears: no single day can be 50% or more of the profit since your last payout. The evaluation has none. | Stricter |
| Take Profit Trader | Drawdown switches from end-of-day to intraday trailing, and you must be flat 1 minute either side of FOMC, NFP and CPI, according to third-party rules summaries. The 50% consistency rule is dropped. | Mostly stricter |
| Topstep | The 55% best-day rule from the Combine disappears on the Standard funded path. A separate Consistency path applies a 40% rule. | Depends on path |
| Lucid Trading | The 50% consistency rule applies only in the evaluation. | Looser |
| Goat Funded Trader, The Trading Pit | News and weekend rules are the same in both phases. | Same |
| The5ers, Blueberry Funded | Both publish a 2-minute news restriction without stating whether it differs between phases. | Not stated |
The practical takeaway is to read the funded-account rules before you buy the challenge, not after you pass it. If your edge depends on trading news releases or holding over a weekend, five of these firms will let you prove it in the challenge and then restrict it once you are funded.
Lesson 2: “News Trading Allowed” Means Five Different Things
The 12 firms use at least five different approaches to news: a full ban, a profit deduction, a profit cap, a restriction on funded accounts only, and no restriction at all. The width of the window runs from 1 minute to 5 minutes on either side of the release.
| Approach | Firms | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Ban on new trades | The Trading Pit, Blueberry Funded, The5ers | No new trades or order fills from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after high-impact news. The Trading Pit applies this in both phases on $100,000 accounts. Blueberry Funded and The5ers do not say whether it differs by phase. |
| Profit deduction, funded accounts only | FundedNext, Funding Pips | Free during the challenge. On funded accounts, profit inside the 5-minute window is cut: FundedNext counts 40% of it, Funding Pips removes it. |
| Profit cap, both phases | Goat Funded Trader | A trade within 5 minutes of news can make at most 1% of the initial balance. Anything above that is removed, with no breach, according to its help centre. |
| Ban, funded accounts only | FTMO, Alpha Capital, Take Profit Trader | Free during the challenge. Restricted once funded, with windows of 2, 5 and 1 minutes respectively. Alpha Capital voids profits from trades closed inside the window. |
| Allowed | Topstep, Lucid Trading, Apex Trader Funding | Normal news trading is permitted. Apex bans taking both sides of a release, and Topstep bars trading full size straight into a major release. |
If news trading is central to how you trade, our list of prop firms that allow news trading goes deeper on the firms that permit it without conditions.
Lesson 3: Futures Firms Send You Home Flat Every Day
None of the four futures firms lets you hold a position overnight, while most of the forex firms allow weekend holding, at least during the challenge. The cut-off times differ enough to matter for anyone trading the US close.
- Topstep: flat by 3:10 PM Central Time.
- Lucid Trading: close by 4:45 PM Eastern Time on simulated accounts.
- Take Profit Trader: positions are closed automatically at 4:55 PM, according to third-party rules summaries.
- Apex Trader Funding: flat before the market close.
On the forex side, The5ers, FundedNext, Goat Funded Trader and Blueberry Funded allow weekend holding in both phases. The Trading Pit’s help centre allows it on all CFD accounts, although its purchase page labels weekend holding as “Limited”, a conflict worth confirming with support before you rely on it. FTMO, Alpha Capital and Funding Pips restrict weekend holding once you are funded, as covered above.
Lesson 4: The Drawdown Headline Hides the Real Difference
Six of the eight forex firms advertise a 10% maximum loss, but the daily limit and the way the floor moves decide far more than the headline figure. The master table above lists each firm’s limits.
Two details stand out. First, the gap between a 4% and a 5% daily limit is 25% more room on a bad day, and four forex firms sit at 4%. Second, The Trading Pit changed its maximum loss to an end-of-day trailing floor for accounts bought from 29 April 2026. The floor rises with your closing balance and stops trailing once it reaches the starting balance, which makes it the only forex firm here where the floor moves as you profit. Accounts bought earlier keep a static limit. Our guide to static and trailing drawdown explains how each model behaves in practice.
Lesson 5: Your First Payout Has Its Own Rulebook
Passing unlocks a second set of conditions before any money moves: waiting periods, qualifying days, balance buffers and payout caps. These vary more than any other rule we compared.
| Firm | First payout condition | Cap or limit worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| FTMO | 14 days after your first funded trade, then every 14 days | None found at this size |
| The5ers | 14 days after funded activation, then every 2 weeks | $4,000 per payout on $100,000 |
| FundedNext | 21 days after your first funded trade, then every 14 days | None found at this size |
| Funding Pips | 7 days after first trade on the weekly cycle (source) | The weekly cycle pays a 60% split |
| Goat Funded Trader | Every 14 days, with 3 or 4 qualifying days | First two payouts capped at 6% or $10,000, whichever is lower |
| Alpha Capital | At least 5 trading days and $100 profit, bi-weekly | On-demand payouts add a 40% best-day rule |
| Blueberry Funded | Every 14 days, with 3 active days of at least 0.5% profit | None found at this size |
| The Trading Pit | Every 14 days, above $100 | None found at this size |
| Topstep | 5 winning days of at least $150 | Each request up to 50% of balance, $2,000 cap on the Standard path |
| Apex Trader Funding | 5 qualifying days of at least $250, balance of $52,600 | $1,500 on the first two payouts, maximum six payouts per account |
| Take Profit Trader | From the first day, above a $52,000 balance buffer (third-party summaries) | No cap, daily withdrawals |
| Lucid Trading | 5 days of at least $150 profit per cycle | 50% of profit up to $2,000, five payouts before moving to live |
The practical difference is large. A trader who passes Take Profit Trader’s test can withdraw profit above the buffer the next day, while a FundedNext trader waits at least 21 days. Neither is better on its own, but you should know which one you signed up for. One trader JoinProp interviewed about FTMO put the risk plainly: “My failure was not making withdrawals at the right time,” according to our FTMO funded trader interviews.
Lesson 6: Faster or Bigger Payouts Often Come With a Consistency Rule
At three of the forex firms, the faster or richer payout option adds a consistency rule that the standard option does not have.
- FundedNext: the standard bi-weekly payout at 80% has no consistency rule. The on-demand option needs 2% growth and a 40% consistency score, and pays a 60% split unless you buy the Lifetime Reward add-on.
- Alpha Capital: bi-weekly payouts have no consistency rule. On-demand payouts apply a 40% best-day rule and a 2% minimum gross profit.
- Funding Pips: the split runs from 60% on weekly payouts to 100% on monthly payouts, and the on-demand and monthly cycles apply a 35% consistency rule.
On the futures side, Topstep pays 90% from the first dollar for accounts opened after 12 January 2026, Lucid pays 90% from day one, Take Profit Trader pays 80% on PRO accounts, and Apex pays 100% of approved payouts within its caps. A 100% split with a $1,500 first payout cap is not automatically worth more than 80% without one, which is why our profit split comparison treats the headline percentage as only one input.
Lesson 7: Only Two Firms Give Your Fee Back With the First Payout
FTMO and FundedNext refund the challenge fee with your first reward. Funding Pips waits until the fourth payout, and Alpha Capital and Blueberry Funded state that evaluation fees are non-refundable.
A fee refunded on the fourth payout is worth far less than one refunded on the first, because many funded accounts never reach a fourth payout. Goat Funded Trader is harder to read: its help centre describes a refund with the fourth payout for some account types, while its terms say there are no refunds on any services, so confirm in writing before relying on it. Alpha Capital adds what it calls a performance fee bonus on the fourth withdrawal rather than a refund. The5ers and The Trading Pit did not state a refund policy on the pages we checked. Futures firms mostly price differently: Topstep charges a monthly subscription plus an activation fee on its Standard path, Apex moved to a one-time fee on 1 March 2026, and Lucid charges a one-time fee with no activation fee.
Lesson 8: Seven of the 12 Changed a Core Rule in 2026
In the first nine months of 2026, seven of the 12 firms changed a rule that affects how an account passes or pays out. Rules you read in January may not be the rules on your account in September.
- Topstep moved to a 90/10 split from the first dollar for accounts opened after 12 January, then restructured its funded payout paths.
- Funding Pips stopped weekend holding on funded Master accounts from 29 January, and its current payout options, including a 100% monthly split, took effect on 15 August.
- Apex Trader Funding launched Apex 4.0 on 1 March, replacing subscriptions with a one-time fee, adding a 30-day limit and removing several older rules. Accounts bought earlier stay on legacy rules.
- The Trading Pit switched to an end-of-day trailing maximum loss for accounts bought from 29 April.
- Goat Funded Trader raised funded qualifying days from 3 to 4 per cycle for accounts bought from 25 July.
- Take Profit Trader cut the minimum days on new tests from 5 to 3 on 17 August.
- Blueberry Funded cut funded active days from 5 to 3 per cycle for accounts bought from 17 August.
Not every change is bad news, and several made accounts easier. But firms that change terms often are harder to plan around, and rule stability is one of the ten factors in the JoinProp Trust Index. Our prop firm survival analysis found that sudden rule changes often come before a firm closes, which is a reason to watch them, not ignore them.
Lesson 9: Check Which Company You Are Actually Contracting With
The 12 firms name companies in at least eight different jurisdictions, and the brand’s location often differs from the contracting entity.
- Israel and the United Kingdom: The5ers (Five Percent Online Ltd, registered in both). Alpha Capital (Alpha Capital Group Limited) is registered in England.
- Czech Republic: FTMO, headquartered in Prague.
- Liechtenstein: The Trading Pit (The Trading Pit Challenge GmbH, Vaduz).
- Comoros: FundedNext (FundedNext Ltd., with GrowthNext F.Z.E. in the UAE also named in its terms) and Funding Pips (FundingPips Corp).
- Hong Kong and Saint Lucia: Goat Funded Trader names a Hong Kong company, with simulated trading services provided by a Saint Lucia company.
- St Vincent and the Grenadines: Blueberry Funded’s site footer names Blueberry Markets (SVG) LLC.
- United States: Take Profit Trader (TakeProfitTrader LLC, Florida), with Topstep, Apex Trader Funding and Lucid Trading also US-based.
None of this makes a firm good or bad on its own, but it decides which courts and which rules would apply if a payout were refused. Our regulated vs. unregulated framework explains how to weigh it.
Lesson 10: Banned Strategies Are Where Funded Accounts Quietly Die
All 12 firms ban hedging across accounts and some form of high-frequency or ultra-fast automated trading, but they split sharply on expert advisors, copy trading, hedging inside one account and very short trades. These rules rarely stop you passing. They are the usual reason a payout is denied afterwards, because firms review trading history before they pay.
| Firm | EAs and automation | Copying between your own accounts | Hedging in one account | Short-trade rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO | Allowed; no more than 2,000 server requests a day, and third-party EAs count toward a capital cap | Not stated | Banned where it shifts profit without risk | None stated |
| The5ers | Only if you own the source code | Not stated; copying others banned | Banned | Trades lasting a few seconds count as banned HFT |
| FundedNext | Allowed, but no high-speed bots and no switching between EA and manual after passing | Allowed | Allowed | Trades under 30 seconds flagged above 20% of profit |
| Funding Pips | Own EA with proof of ownership; third-party EAs only as trade managers | Allowed | Banned | None stated |
| Goat Funded Trader | Own EAs only; no off-the-shelf EAs | Funded to funded only | Banned | Profit from trades under 2 minutes removed on funded accounts |
| Alpha Capital | Only approved risk and trade-assistant tools on MT5 | Allowed with proof of ownership, MT5 only | Allowed | Average trade over 2 minutes, and half of profit from trades over 2 minutes |
| Blueberry Funded | Only self-built EAs with written consent | Allowed | Allowed | None stated |
| The Trading Pit | Custom EAs allowed | Allowed | Allowed for risk management | Flagged when about 40% of winning trades last 10 to 15 seconds |
| Topstep | API automation on Combine and funded sim accounts; no VPS | Allowed across funded accounts | Not clearly stated | Seconds-long high-volume trading targeted |
| Apex Trader Funding | Banned | Not stated; copying others banned | Banned | None stated |
| Take Profit Trader | Banned; all trades manual | Allowed, up to 5 PRO accounts | Banned | None stated |
| Lucid Trading | Allowed within the rules | Allowed | Same contract banned; micro against mini allowed | Flagged when over 50% of profit comes from trades of 5 seconds or less |
Three patterns stand out. First, bought EAs are the biggest trap: The5ers, Funding Pips, Goat Funded Trader and Blueberry Funded only allow EAs you own, Alpha Capital allows only approved assistant tools, and Apex Trader Funding and Take Profit Trader ban automated trading altogether. Second, only four firms, FundedNext, Alpha Capital, Blueberry Funded and The Trading Pit, allow hedging inside a single account. Third, five firms now police very short trades with a specific threshold, from 5 seconds at Lucid Trading to a 2-minute average at Alpha Capital. Every firm that addresses it bans copying another trader’s signals, and letting someone else trade your account is grounds for termination wherever it is mentioned.
What the Funded Traders We Interviewed Would Add
Rules explain how accounts fail on paper. JoinProp’s interviews with funded traders show how often they fail in practice before one works.
- One trader interviewed for our Topstep page said he started with Apex and burned “around 240 accounts”, as recorded in our Topstep interviews.
- A Funding Pips trader said he failed “more than 100 times before getting funded”, according to our Funding Pips interviews.
- A Take Profit Trader interviewee reported 35 blown evaluations before his first funded account, and that page notes the firm separates simulated PRO accounts from live-market PRO+ accounts. See our Take Profit Trader page.
- One trader in The Trading Pit’s Real Prop Challenge said it took eight months to pass, on purpose, as covered on our Trading Pit page.
Traders’ experiences with the other firms are collected on their own pages: The5ers, FundedNext, Goat Funded Trader, Alpha Capital, Blueberry Funded, Apex Trader Funding and Lucid Trading.
What This Means If You Are Choosing a Challenge in 2026
Pick the funded account you want to trade, then work backwards to the challenge. Most traders do the opposite and choose on price or profit target, which are the two things that matter least once you pass.
Run six checks before you pay. First, read the funded-account rules on news and weekends, not just the challenge rules. Second, look at the daily loss limit and how it is measured, because a 4% equity-based limit is much tighter than a 5% balance-based one. Third, find the first payout condition and any cap on the first two payouts. Fourth, check whether the higher split you are tempted by comes with a consistency rule. Fifth, note the date on the rules page, and whether the firm has changed terms in the last six months. Sixth, if you use an EA, a trade copier or very short trades, check the prohibited strategies page before you buy.
For a firm-by-firm overview of pricing and strengths, see our ultimate prop firm comparison guide. Then match the firm to how you trade. If you hold trades overnight, the futures firms here do not fit. If you trade news, three of the forex firms ban it outright around releases. If you need money out quickly, the first-payout table matters more than the profit target.
Verdict
Reading 12 rulebooks side by side taught us that the headline numbers, profit target, maximum loss and split, are the least useful part of a prop firm challenge. The rules that decide whether you get paid live further down: what changes when you are funded, how news is treated, when the first payout unlocks and whether the terms have moved recently. Half of these firms tighten something once you pass, and more than half changed a core rule this year. Treat every challenge as two contracts, and read the second one first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which prop firms change their rules after you pass the challenge?
Of the 12 firms JoinProp compared, six add at least one restriction on funded accounts: FTMO, FundedNext, Funding Pips, Alpha Capital, Apex Trader Funding and Take Profit Trader. The changes cover news trading windows, weekend holding, a new consistency rule or a switch from end-of-day to intraday trailing drawdown.
Which prop firms refund the challenge fee?
FTMO and FundedNext refund the challenge fee with the first reward. Funding Pips refunds it with the fourth payout on its 2-Step Standard account. Alpha Capital and Blueberry Funded state that evaluation fees are non-refundable, according to their help centres as of September 2026.
Can you hold trades overnight with a futures prop firm?
Not with the four futures firms JoinProp compared. Topstep requires positions to be flat by 3:10 PM Central Time, Lucid Trading by 4:45 PM Eastern Time on simulated accounts, Take Profit Trader closes positions automatically at 4:55 PM, and Apex Trader Funding requires traders to be flat before the market close.
Which prop firm pays out fastest after passing?
Of the 12 firms compared, Take Profit Trader allows withdrawals from the first day on its funded PRO account, for profit above a $52,000 buffer on a $50,000 account. Funding Pips allows a first request 7 days after the first funded trade on its weekly cycle, while FundedNext requires 21 days.
How many prop firms changed their rules in 2026?
Seven of the 12 firms JoinProp compared changed a core rule between January and September 2026, including Apex Trader Funding’s move to a one-time fee on 1 March, Funding Pips ending weekend holding on funded accounts and Take Profit Trader cutting minimum test days from 5 to 3.
Which trading strategies are banned at prop firms?
All 12 firms JoinProp compared ban hedging across accounts and some form of high-frequency or ultra-fast automated trading. Apex Trader Funding and Take Profit Trader ban automated trading entirely, four forex firms only allow EAs you own, Alpha Capital allows only approved assistant tools, and only FundedNext, Alpha Capital, Blueberry Funded and The Trading Pit allow hedging inside one account.
Is news trading allowed at prop firms?
It depends on the firm and the phase. Among 12 firms compared by JoinProp, Topstep, Lucid Trading and Apex Trader Funding allow normal news trading, The Trading Pit, Blueberry Funded and The5ers ban new trades 2 minutes either side of high-impact news, and FTMO, FundedNext, Funding Pips, Alpha Capital and Take Profit Trader restrict it only on funded accounts.
Methodology note: rules checked 27 September 2026 from each firm’s own help centre and rules pages, including FTMO, FundedNext, Funding Pips, Topstep and Apex Trader Funding. Prop firm rules change often. Always confirm the current terms on the firm’s own site before buying. JoinProp’s Real Prop Challenge is a disclosed partnership with The Trading Pit.
