Futures prop firm guides

Nineteen featured guides to how futures prop firms work, plus our rule explainers and lists.

Featured guides: 19
Firms behind the examples: 12
Trading advice: None

Rules checked on September 26, 2026 · By helloweekends Editors

These prop firm guides explain what an evaluation buys, how funded accounts work and which rules decide whether you pass or fail. Each guide names its official sources and check date. The trading-day guide was checked October 18, 2026; other guides keep their own dated evidence. For one rule, use the rules section; for firm-by-firm choices, use our lists.

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Guides and related sections

Futures contract month codes

Decode the product root, expiry-month letter and year, with the full CME month-code table. Sources checked October 29, 2026.

Futures initial margin vs maintenance margin

Opening performance bond versus the lower equity threshold, with a worked margin-call example.

First notice day vs last trading day

Separate delivery-assignment risk from the final trading session, then check the exact contract calendar.

Futures volume vs open interest

Trades during a period versus contracts still open, with an illustrative calculation and report-date checks.

Futures contract expiration

Offset, roll or settle, with contract-specific deadlines. Sources checked October 23, 2026.

Futures order types

Triggers, price boundaries, partial fills and position checks. Sources checked October 23, 2026.

What counts as a trading day?

How firms define the session boundary, why the calendar date can mislead and when a profitable day counts. Sources checked October 18, 2026.

Topstep payout after the first payout

What resets after a payout, how the MLL moves to zero and what the next eligibility window requires. Sources checked October 16, 2026.

Are futures prop firms regulated?

How to check a legal entity in CFTC and NFA records, and why a simulated challenge is not a brokerage account. Sources checked October 14, 2026.

Futures tick value

How to turn the exchange’s minimum price move into dollars for one contract, with ES, WTI and Treasury examples. Sources checked October 11, 2026.

Futures vs forex prop firms

How markets, loss limits, trading hours and platforms differ between futures and forex or CFD evaluations. Sources checked October 10, 2026.

Prop Firm Reset: Rebilling, Credits and Cancellation

A prop firm reset restarts an evaluation. It may also change billing, depending on the firm's rules. Sources checked October 10, 2026.

Micro vs Mini Futures: Contract Size in Prop Accounts

Micro and E-mini futures use different dollar multipliers. Count exposure before counting contracts. Sources checked October 10, 2026.

Simulated vs live funded accounts

Execution, capital access and risk rules: what the “funded” label means at each stage.

Drawdown after a payout

Remaining balance, loss floors and qualification resets. Topstep and My Funded Futures policies checked October 7, 2026.

What is a prop firm?

How futures prop firms work today, how they make money and how they differ from a broker.

What is prop trading?

Proprietary trading in general, the retail evaluation model and US rules at a high level.

Funded account

Simulated or live, how you get one, how payouts work and what ends it, for 12 firms.

How to pass an evaluation

A rules checklist: drawdown, loss limits, consistency, days, flat-by times, news and cost.

Rules explained

Trailing drawdown, daily loss limit, consistency, weekend holding, news and activation fees.

Prop firm lists

The 12 firms sorted by price, instant funding, holding rules, loss limits, drawdown and platform.

Where to start

What is a prop firm. The retail model step by step: you pay for an evaluation on a simulated account, pass its rules, then trade a funded account for a share of the profit.
What is prop trading. What proprietary trading means at banks and trading firms, how the Volcker rule limits banks, and how to check a firm's registration.
Funded account. What you get after passing, which firms move traders to live accounts, and what ends a funded account.
How to pass a futures prop firm evaluation. Ten rule checks and a total-cost plan. Not a trading strategy.

What each guide answers

Facts from the firms' official pages, checked September 26, 2026.
Guide	Question it answers	A fact it uses
What is a prop firm	What am I buying, and how does the firm make money?	The cheapest confirmed 50K evaluation ranges from $49 a month at Topstep, plus $149 on activation, to $192 one-time at Lucid Trading.
What is prop trading	How does retail prop trading differ from a firm trading its own capital?	Topstep's registration as an introducing broker is held by its affiliate Topstep Brokerage LLC, not by Topstep LLC.
Funded account	Is the funded account real money, and what ends it?	Apex Trader Funding closes a funded account after its sixth payout.
How to pass a futures prop firm evaluation	Which rules fail accounts, and what will it cost?	Minimum trading days range from none at Apex and Earn2Trade to 4 on MyFundedFutures Rapid EOD.
Trading days vs winning days	When does a session count toward evaluation or payout rules?	Trading activity, qualifying daily profit and session boundaries are separate requirements.
Simulated vs live funded accounts	Does “funded” mean simulated or live trading?	Topstep calls its Express Funded Account a simulated funded-level account, while its Live Funded Account uses phased capital availability.

Key terms

Evaluation: a paid test on a simulated account. You must reach a profit target without breaking the rules.
Funded account: the account you trade after passing, usually also simulated, with a profit split on payouts.
Maximum loss: the lowest your balance may go. Most firms use a trailing drawdown that rises with your balance; see EOD vs intraday drawdown.
Daily loss limit: a cap on one session's loss, usually a pause rather than a fail. See daily loss limit.
Consistency rule: a cap on how much of your profit one day may make up. See consistency rule.
Profit split: your share of each payout from a funded account, from 50% to 100% at the firms we track.
Instant funding: a funded account sold without an evaluation, at a higher price.
Activation fee: a charge some firms add when you pass. See activation fee.
Flat-by time: the time by which positions must be closed each day. See weekend holding and news trading for related rules.

The firms behind the examples

The guides use examples from the 12 futures prop firms we track. Seven sell one-time evaluations, three sell monthly subscriptions and two sell both. Four also sell instant funding: Alpha Futures, Bulenox, Lucid Trading and Tradeify. Each firm has a profile in futures prop firms by firm, and every rule change we find goes into the rule change log. How we collect and check rules is on the methodology page.

Know the riskA prop firm evaluation is a paid service with simulated trading. Most people who buy one do not pass it, and firms change their rules, pause payouts and close. These guides are general information, not investment advice.

Questions

Which prop firm guide should I read first?

Start with what is a prop firm, then funded account. Read the evaluation checklist before you buy an evaluation.

Are these guides trading advice?

No. They explain how firms and their rules work. They do not tell you what or how to trade.

How current are the rules in the guides?

They were checked on the firms' own pages on September 26, 2026. Firms change rules often, so check the firm's current rules page before you pay.

Do the guides cover taxes?

No. US tax basics for prop firm payouts are on a separate page, as general information and not tax advice.

Sources

Each guide lists the official sources for its own figures.

All checked on September 26, 2026.