Elite Trader Funding - Prop Firm Review
- US futures firm; every account you can BUY is simulated – the firm says so itself
- Up to 100% of simulated profits, but capped at $25,000 per trader for life
- Static, EOD-trailing or intraday-trailing – you choose the plan
- On conversion to LIVE ELITE, sim balances close and no payouts are owed from them
- Missing one calendar week of trading disables the account and forfeits profit
Correction, 14 July 2026. An earlier version of this review described buying a live funded account and trading firm capital immediately. That was not accurate. Every account Elite Trader Funding sells is a simulated account — the firm states this plainly itself. Its live-capital stage, LIVE ELITE, is earned and cannot be purchased at any price. We have corrected the page.
Last reviewed: 14 July 2026. Checked against Elite Trader Funding’s official terms of service, help centre, plan pages and blog. Figures below reflect the products on sale at the time of review; prop firm rules change often, so always confirm on the firm’s own pages before you buy.
Elite Trader Funding: the short version
- What it is: a US futures firm (Delaware). Every account you can buy is simulated — the firm says so itself, on a blog post titled “Is Elite Trader Funding Sim-Funded?”. Its live stage cannot be purchased at any price.
- The split: up to 100% of simulated profits — but capped at $25,000 per trader, for life. Reaching that cap converts you to LIVE ELITE at 80/20.
- The drawdown: your choice. Static on the Static plan and the 100K Direct to Funded. The 1-Step trails intraday; End of Day and Diamond Hands trail on realised profit.
- The catch: on conversion to LIVE ELITE the terms state sim balances close and no payouts are owed from them. And missing one calendar week of trading disables the account and forfeits accumulated profit.
- Cost: $87 a month by default, or a one-time $177–$307. All sales are final. Payouts twice weekly.
- Best for: active futures traders who trade every week and want unrestricted news trading — genuinely rare, and a real advantage here.
Firm Overview
Elite Trader Funding (ETF) is a US futures prop firm, operating as Elite Trader Funding, LLC from Wilmington, Delaware, and trading since February 2022. It is not regulated, and says so directly in its terms: it is “not a broker-dealer, a commodity trading advisor, a futures commission merchant or a commodity pool operator”, and “not any kind of entity that is regulated by CFTC/NFA rules”.
To ETF’s credit, it is unusually candid about what it sells. Its own blog carries a post titled “Is Elite Trader Funding Sim-Funded?”, and answers it directly: “when you pass your evaluation at Elite Trader Funding, you’re placed into a sim-funded Elite account… the capital isn’t live market capital yet”, adding “we don’t pretend sim-funded is ‘real funded’“. The footer of every page says the same.
That candour is worth acknowledging, because plenty of firms in this sector are considerably less clear. It also means our earlier description of buying a live funded account was our error, not a claim ETF ever made.
Three Stages, And Only Two Are Purchasable
- Evaluation — simulated. “A paid test in a simulated futures account… no real money at risk.”
- Elite Sim-Funded / Direct to Funded — still simulated. “You trade a simulated funded account, and ETF pays you real money from those sim gains.” The payouts are real; the capital is not.
- LIVE ELITE — real capital, and the only live stage. “LIVE ELITE is earned, not purchased… There is no checkout button for LIVE ELITE.”
The payouts from the simulated stage are genuine money, so this is not a criticism of the model — it is simply a description of it, and one traders should be clear on before buying.
The $25,000 Cap And What Happens When You Reach It
This is the mechanic that most affects a trader who does well, and it deserves careful reading.
Sim payouts are capped at $25,000 in total, per trader, for life. Reaching that cap — or 5 payouts, or 50 active trading days, whichever comes first — moves you to LIVE ELITE, where the split becomes 80/20 and is uncapped.
The part to understand is what happens to your simulated balance at that point. From the terms:
“Upon conversion, all Elite Sim-Funded Accounts will be closed and no payouts from those accounts will be owed.”
And from the LIVE ELITE page: “your sim balance and sim earnings do not carry over.”
LIVE ELITE starting balances run $1,250 to $2,500 depending on the account you came from. So a trader with a large simulated balance who converts does not bring that balance with them. ETF also reserves the right to convert a trader “at any time, before, during, or after a payout request”.
Declining the move carries a cost as well: a fee of 5% of earnings up to $12,500 (2% above), and a two-year prohibition on using ETF’s services.
None of this is hidden — it is all in ETF’s published terms — but it is the single most consequential thing on the page for anyone who expects to be successful, and it deserves to be read before purchase rather than after.
The Weekly Trading Requirement
A rule that quietly ends accounts, and it is worth putting in bold:
“All traders are required to execute at least one valid trade per account every calendar week.” Failing to do so means: “Account Disabling: the account will be disabled, interpreted as voluntary abandonment. Profit Forfeiture: all accumulated profits or credits in the account will be forfeited.”
It applies even after a payout has been approved. There is also a separate 30-day login requirement. Both can be paused in advance via a trading-break form, which is the sensible route if you are going on holiday.
The Product Line
| Plan | Sizes | Drawdown type | Daily loss limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Step | 50K, 100K, 250K | Intraday trailing – follows highest unrealised profit | None |
| Static | 10K, 25K, 50K | Static – never trails | None |
| End of Day | 50K, 100K | End-of-day trailing (realised only) | $1,100 / $2,200 |
| Diamond Hands | 100K | End-of-day trailing | $1,500 |
| Fast Track | 10K | EOD trailing or static | None |
| Direct to Funded | 10K – 100K | EOD trailing; static on 100K | None |
ETF defines the three models clearly on its own site, which is helpful: live trailing “follows your highest unrealised profit, including open positions”; end-of-day trailing “only ratchets up at the session close on realised profit”; static is “a fixed dollar floor set on day one that never trails”.
If you want a floor that does not move, take the Static plan or the 100K Direct to Funded. The 1-Step uses the harshest model — intraday trailing — and that should be a deliberate choice rather than a default.
A useful feature across all plans: once realised profit reaches your maximum drawdown plus $100, the drawdown is removed entirely for payout purposes.
Fees and Payouts
Fees are a $87 monthly subscription by default, with a one-time option you must actively select, running $177 to $307 depending on plan and size. Resets are $47 and unlimited during the evaluation. A point worth noting: if you fail an account and do not wish to reset it, you must cancel the subscription manually or billing continues.
| Payout term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sim cadence | Twice weekly – Mondays and Wednesdays |
| LIVE ELITE cadence | Daily, business days, $250 minimum |
| First payout | 8 active trade days (10 thereafter) |
| Consistency | Each qualifying day must clear 23% of your best day |
| Cycle maximums | $2,000 to $5,000 depending on plan |
| Lifetime sim cap | $25,000 per trader |
| Method | Rise (ACH or crypto), after KYC |
On refunds, the terms are clear: “all sales are final and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, are non-refundable.” A separate marketing page offers a “100% satisfaction guarantee” — a 7-day, first-purchase-only, fewer-than-5-trades window that is “voidable at our sole discretion”. Both are live; the terms are the binding document.
Trading Rules
- News trading: explicitly allowed. ETF “does not impose any restrictions or limitations on traders during major economic news events” — genuinely unusual, and a real advantage for futures traders.
- Automation, EAs, AI and trade copiers: prohibited unless authorised in writing.
- Minimum trade duration: ten seconds, “no exceptions”.
- Overnight and weekend holding: not permitted except on Diamond Hands and Direct to Funded. Everything else must be flat one minute before the instrument close.
- Hedging: prohibited across accounts using correlated instruments (NQ against MNQ, ES against MES).
- Martingale and averaging down: prohibited.
- VPN, VPS and proxies: prohibited. One account per person; two traders in the same household may not both participate.
- Platforms: fourteen supported, including NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Rithmic, Sierra Chart, Quantower and Bookmap. LIVE ELITE is Rithmic-only.
Company Information
- Entity: Elite Trader Funding, LLC, Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Trading since February 2022
- Regulation: none. The terms state ETF is not a broker-dealer, CTA, FCM or CPO, and is not regulated by CFTC or NFA rules
- Account type: all purchasable accounts are simulated. LIVE ELITE uses real capital and cannot be bought
- Disputes: binding arbitration, with a class-action waiver
- Trustpilot: 3.8 out of 5 from around 1,110 reviews, with no consumer alert on the listing. Note that ETF’s own blog cites “a 3.9 rating from over 59,000 registered users” – the 59,000 figure is its customer count, not its review count
Who Elite Trader Funding Actually Suits
For an active futures trader, there is a lot here. Fourteen platforms is the widest choice we have seen. News trading is allowed without restriction, which is rare and valuable. Payouts run twice a week, resets are cheap and unlimited, a static-drawdown plan is available for those who want one, and the safety-net rule removes the drawdown entirely once you are properly ahead.
The considerations are about the shape of the model rather than its fairness. Everything you buy is simulated, and the firm says so. Sim payouts stop at $25,000 for life, and converting to live capital means starting again on $1,250 to $2,500 without your simulated balance. Missing a single week of trading can forfeit accumulated profit. And the flagship 1-Step plan trails intraday, which is the least forgiving drawdown model in futures.
Consider it if you trade futures actively every week, you want the platform range and unrestricted news trading, and you are taking the Static plan or have consciously chosen the intraday trail.
Avoid it if you cannot trade every calendar week, you were expecting to buy live capital, or you are planning to build a large simulated balance before withdrawing — the $25,000 cap and the conversion rule make that the wrong strategy here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Elite Trader Funding sim-funded or live?
Every account you can buy is simulated. ETF states this plainly on its own blog: “when you pass your evaluation… you’re placed into a sim-funded Elite account… the capital isn’t live market capital yet.” The payouts are real money paid from those simulated gains. Real capital exists only at the LIVE ELITE stage, which “is earned, not purchased” and has no checkout button.
What is the $25,000 cap at Elite Trader Funding?
Simulated payouts are capped at $25,000 in total per trader, for life. Reaching it — or 5 payouts, or 50 active trading days, whichever comes first — converts you to LIVE ELITE at an 80/20 split. Importantly, the terms state that on conversion your sim accounts are closed and “no payouts from those accounts will be owed”, so the simulated balance does not carry over.
What happens if I miss a week of trading?
The account is disabled and any accumulated profits are forfeited. ETF requires “at least one valid trade per account every calendar week“, and the consequence is stated as voluntary abandonment. A separate 30-day login rule also applies. Both can be paused in advance using the firm’s trading-break form.
Does Elite Trader Funding have a trailing drawdown?
It depends on the plan, and ETF offers all three models. The 1-Step trails intraday, following your highest unrealised profit. The End of Day and Diamond Hands plans trail on realised profit at the session close. The Static plan does not trail at all, and neither does the 100K Direct to Funded.
Can you trade news at Elite Trader Funding?
Yes, without restriction. ETF states it “does not impose any restrictions or limitations on traders during major economic news events”. That is unusual in this sector and is a genuine point in the firm’s favour.
How much does Elite Trader Funding cost?
Funded accounts are $87 a month by default, or a one-time fee of $177 to $307 if you select that option at checkout. Evaluations are billed monthly, and resets are $47 and unlimited. If you fail an account and do not reset it, remember to cancel the subscription — billing continues otherwise.
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