Prop Firm Trading: Complete Guide to Getting Funded (2026)
Last updated: February 2026
Prop firm trading has quietly changed what's possible for independent traders. Instead of grinding a small personal account for years, you can prove your skill through an evaluation and trade $100K, $200K, or more in firm capital — keeping 70-90% of what you make without risking your own savings.
The model works because both sides benefit. You get meaningful capital. The firm gets a share of your profits with their downside capped at the evaluation process. When it goes right, a skilled trader with $500 in personal savings can generate the same income as someone trading a $100,000 account.
The catch is that most traders fail their evaluations — not because they can't trade, but because they can't maintain documented discipline under pressure. Breaking risk rules, emotional decision-making, and no clear record of what's actually working are the culprits behind the vast majority of failed challenges.
TradeZella gives traders preparing for prop firm evaluations something they've never had before: a complete record of their trading discipline across every account. With automated journaling that syncs with platforms like MetaTrader, NinjaTrader, and DXtrade, you can track multiple evaluations simultaneously and identify the exact patterns that lead to success or failure.
By the end of this guide, you'll understand how prop firms work, which ones fit your trading style, the rules you'll need to follow, and how to build the documented track record that separates funded traders from failed evaluations.
In This Guide
TL;DR: Most traders fail prop firm evaluations not from bad strategies but from discipline breakdowns and poor risk management documentation. TradeZella's multi-account tracking and 50+ analytics reports help you identify exactly when and why discipline fails, so you can pass evaluations and manage multiple funded accounts without violations.
What is Prop Firm Trading?
Prop firm trading (proprietary trading firm trading) is a funding model where traders demonstrate their skills through an evaluation process, then trade the firm's capital while keeping 70-90% of profits. Unlike traditional retail trading where you risk your own money, prop firms absorb the downside risk in exchange for a share of your gains. The model has democratized access to significant trading capital for skilled traders who lack the personal funds to trade meaningfully.
The industry has evolved dramatically since 2020. Traditional prop firms required traders to work in physical offices. Today's online prop firms let you trade from anywhere, with evaluations conducted through demo accounts that simulate real market conditions. The barrier to entry dropped from six-figure minimums to evaluation fees starting around $100.
TradeZella integrates directly with the platforms prop firms use most: MetaTrader 4 & 5, DXtrade, TradeLocker, and NinjaTrader. When you connect your evaluation account, every trade automatically syncs to your journal. You see real-time drawdown tracking, daily P&L against your limits, and can tag trades with notes about your mental state. Instead of manually calculating whether you're approaching your max daily loss, TradeZella shows you exactly where you stand at any moment.
Why Prop Firm Trading Matters for Traders
Access to Capital Without Personal Risk
The math of trading a $500 account is brutal. Even a skilled trader pulling 10% monthly returns makes $50. After several months, you're still nowhere near trading for a living. That frustration — having a strategy but no capital to make it meaningful — pushes traders to take excessive risks, which usually ends in blown accounts.
Prop firms flip this equation. A $100,000 funded account with the same 10% return produces $10,000 in profit. Keep 80% of that and you've made $8,000. The opportunity cost of personal capital disappears because you're trading someone else's money.
TradeZella's drawdown tracking becomes essential here. You can monitor your equity curve across your funded account in real-time, seeing exactly how close you are to maximum drawdown limits. The platform calculates your risk metrics automatically — no spreadsheet gymnastics required. You focus on trading while TradeZella tracks whether you're staying within the rules.
Proof of Skill Creates Real Opportunities
Here's something most traders don't consider: a verified track record from a prop firm is proof of competence that opens doors beyond just that firm's capital. Over 50,000 active traders use TradeZella to document their performance, and many share these records with mentors, trading communities, and potential investors.
When you can show consistent profitability across multiple prop firm accounts — with detailed analytics on win rate, expectancy, and profit factor — you're no longer just claiming you can trade. You're proving it with data that anyone can verify.
TradeZella's Playbooks feature lets you standardize your approach and track performance by strategy. You can show exactly which setups work, which market conditions favor your edge, and how your risk management holds up over hundreds of trades.
Structured Accountability Improves Performance
Trading alone is psychologically difficult. Without external accountability, it's easy to bend your own rules, skip journal entries when you lose, and convince yourself that "this time is different." Prop firm rules impose the discipline that most traders struggle to maintain on their own.
The daily loss limits and profit targets create guardrails. You can't revenge trade after a bad morning because the rules stop you. Many traders find they perform better under these constraints than they ever did with complete freedom.
TradeZella amplifies this structure by making rule compliance visible. You can set up alerts when approaching daily loss limits, review your trades with tick-by-tick replay to understand what happened, and track which emotional states precede your worst decisions. The Notebook feature lets you document your trading plan and session recaps, creating a feedback loop between your intentions and your actual behavior.
How Prop Firm Trading Works
Prop firm trading follows a clear path: prove your skills, get funded, trade profitably, and keep most of the money. The details matter enormously, though. Understanding the mechanics helps you choose the right firm and prepare properly.
Stage 1: The Evaluation Process
Most prop firms require you to pass one or two evaluation phases before receiving funded capital. You pay a fee (typically $100-$500 depending on account size), receive a demo account with simulated capital, and must hit profit targets while respecting strict risk rules.
Evaluation models vary:
Two-phase evaluations (FTMO, E8 Markets): Phase 1 requires 8-10% profit, Phase 2 requires 5% profit, with identical risk rules throughout.
One-phase evaluations (Apex, some MyFundedFX programs): Single challenge with profit targets around 6-10%, typically faster to complete.
Instant funding (higher fees, lower profit splits): Skip evaluations entirely but pay significantly more upfront.
TradeZella connects to your evaluation account and tracks every trade automatically. You can see your progress toward profit targets, monitor daily and total drawdown, and identify patterns in your trading that might cause problems. The running P&L visualization shows exactly where you stand at any moment during your trading day.
Stage 2: Funded Account Management
Pass your evaluation and you receive a funded account — still technically a demo account, but your profits become real payouts. The risk rules remain identical or sometimes become stricter. Most firms require consistent trading for a minimum period before your first withdrawal.
Profit splits typically range from 70-90%, with some firms offering scaling programs where your split increases as you prove consistency. Withdrawal schedules vary from bi-weekly to monthly, with some firms requiring minimum profit thresholds before payout.
Managing a funded account requires different psychology than passing an evaluation. The pressure shifts from hitting targets to avoiding violations. TradeZella's multi-account tracking (up to 20 accounts on the Pro plan) becomes invaluable here. You can monitor multiple funded accounts simultaneously, ensuring you're not accidentally violating rules across different firms with slightly different parameters.
Stage 3: Scaling and Multiple Accounts
Successful prop traders rarely stop at one account. The standard approach is to run multiple funded accounts across different firms, diversifying your capital allocation and protecting against any single firm's payout issues.
Managing five or more funded accounts manually is a logistical nightmare. Each firm has different rules, different platforms, and different payout schedules. One oversight — trading during a restricted news window, exceeding a position size limit — can cost months of work.
TradeZella consolidates everything into a single dashboard. Connect all your accounts regardless of platform and see unified analytics across your entire prop trading operation. The strategy tagging system lets you track which approaches work best on which accounts, and the notes feature helps you remember firm-specific rules that might otherwise slip through.
Major Prop Firms Compared
Choosing the right prop firm depends on your trading style, capital goals, and risk tolerance. Here's how the major players stack up as of February 2026:
Prop FirmEvaluation Fee ($100k)Profit SplitMax Daily LossMax Total LossProfit TargetPayout FrequencyFTMO~$580 (€540)80-90%5%10%10% Phase 1, 5% Phase 2Bi-weeklyThe5ers~$325 (High Stakes)50-100%4-5%8-10%10%Bi-weeklyTopstep$165/month90%TrailingTrailingStep-basedWeeklyApex Trader Funding$16790-100%*TrailingTrailing$6,000 ($100k account)Every 8 trading daysMyFundedFX / SeacrestFunded$49980-90%5%8%8% (one-phase option)Bi-weekly
*Apex: 100% on first $25,000 per account, then 90%
FTMO remains the industry benchmark with the longest track record and most transparent payout history. Note that FTMO no longer accepts US clients as of 2025 due to regulatory changes — US traders should use Topstep, Apex, The5ers, or SeacrestFunded instead.
The5ers offers the most patient scaling path in the industry. Starting profit splits are lower (50% in Hyper Growth), but top-performing traders can reach 100% as they scale. Their 4.9/5 Trustpilot rating from 17,000+ reviews is the best in the space.
Topstep pioneered the modern prop firm model and focuses exclusively on futures trading. Note their profit split changed in January 2026 — new traders are on a straight 90/10 split; the legacy 100% on first $10K applies only to accounts opened before January 12, 2026.
Apex Trader Funding offers 100% profit retention on your first $25,000 per account and supports up to 20 simultaneous accounts. The trailing drawdown model can feel stressful if you're not used to it, but their $378M+ in verified payouts confirms the model works for serious traders.
SeacrestFunded (formerly MyFundedFX) gives you the most platform flexibility, supporting MT5, cTrader, Match-Trader, and DXtrade. Good option if you want to choose your trading environment rather than being locked into one platform.
When tracking multiple firms in TradeZella, you can tag each account by firm and see performance breakdowns over time. This reveals which firm's rules actually suit your trading style — data that helps you decide where to focus future evaluations.
Getting Started with TradeZella: Step-by-Step
Step 1: Connect Your Trading Accounts
Start by creating your TradeZella account and connecting your trading platforms. TradeZella supports 100+ brokers and integrations, including the platforms most prop firms use: MetaTrader 4 & 5, NinjaTrader, Tradovate, cTrader, DXtrade, and TradeLocker.
For MT4/MT5 accounts (used by FTMO, The5ers, SeacrestFunded), you'll add your account credentials through the integration wizard. TradeZella was the first trading journal to offer automatic DXtrade sync — critical since many newer prop firms use this platform exclusively.
Once connected, your historical trades import automatically and new trades sync in real-time. No more end-of-day data entry. The Pro plan allows up to 20 connected accounts, which covers most traders managing multiple evaluations and funded accounts at once.
Name each connected account clearly (e.g., "FTMO Challenge 1" or "Apex Funded Main") so you can filter analytics by specific accounts later.
Step 2: Configure Your Risk Parameters
Each prop firm has different rules, and violating them means instant failure. In TradeZella, you can set up custom tracking that mirrors your specific evaluation parameters.
Navigate to your account settings and input your maximum daily loss percentage, maximum total loss (or trailing drawdown if applicable), and profit target. TradeZella's dashboard then shows your current standing against these limits throughout your trading day.
The "Zella Scale" feature displays your running P&L during trades, showing exactly how close you get to limits in real-time. Many traders discover they routinely approach daily loss limits without realizing it — data that helps them adjust position sizing before it causes a violation.
For firms with trailing drawdown (like Apex), track your high-water mark separately in the Notebook feature so you always know your real threshold.
Step 3: Document Your Trading Plan and Setups
Before trading your evaluation, use TradeZella's Playbooks feature to document your exact strategy. Include your entry criteria, exit rules, position sizing approach, and the market conditions where your edge applies.
This isn't busy work — it's the foundation of discipline. When you're in an evaluation under pressure, a documented plan prevents improvisation. You either follow your playbook or you don't, and the trades you take outside your defined setups become obvious in your journal.
Tag each trade with the relevant playbook, and TradeZella tracks performance by strategy automatically. You'll see which setups actually work under evaluation conditions, not just in backtests.
Create a separate playbook for "evaluation rules" listing the specific restrictions for each firm. Review it before every trading session.
Step 4: Review and Tag Your Trades Daily
After each trading session, spend 10-15 minutes reviewing your trades in TradeZella. Use the Trade Replay feature to watch tick-by-tick what happened during each trade. Add tags for emotional states — was this a FOMO entry? A revenge trade after a loss? A clean execution of your playbook?
This daily review habit is what separates traders who eventually pass from those who keep failing. Over 20.5 billion trades have been journaled through TradeZella, and the traders who actively review their sessions consistently outperform those who just log and forget.
The 50+ analytics reports then aggregate this data into patterns. You might discover your win rate drops dramatically on Fridays, or that trades tagged "FOMO" have a 23% win rate versus 67% for playbook-following trades. This is the kind of specific, actionable data that actually changes behavior.
Track your prop firm evaluation in TradeZella
Step 5: Analyze Cross-Account Performance
Once you're running multiple evaluations or funded accounts, TradeZella's unified analytics become genuinely powerful. You can compare performance across firms, identify which platform or rule structure brings out your best trading, and spot consistency issues before they cause failures.
Filter your analytics by account, date range, instrument, or strategy tag. Look for patterns: do you perform better under FTMO's stricter rules or Apex's trailing drawdown structure? Which currency pairs or futures contracts produce the most consistent results? Does your win rate shift between morning and afternoon sessions?
This data drives smarter decisions about where to focus your efforts. Instead of guessing which prop firm to attempt next, you have evidence showing where you're most likely to succeed.
Export your performance reports when applying for funded accounts that offer scaling, or when you want to document your track record for mentorship programs.
Best Practices for Passing Evaluations
Trade Smaller Than You Think You Should
Most evaluation failures happen because traders size positions for profit targets instead of drawdown limits. You're not trying to make as much money as possible — you're trying to not lose too much while eventually hitting your target.
Calculate your position size based on surviving your worst reasonable losing streak, not on maximizing returns from winners. If your daily loss limit is $500 and you typically see 3-4 losers in a row during drawdowns, each losing trade should cost no more than $100-125.
TradeZella's drawdown tracking visualizes your equity curve against limits. You can see how close past trading sessions came to violation and adjust your sizing accordingly. Many traders discover their normal position sizing would have violated rules multiple times — better to learn this in analytics than during a live evaluation.
Practice Under Evaluation Conditions First
Don't attempt a paid evaluation until you've passed a mock evaluation on your own terms. Trade a demo account with identical rules for at least 2-4 weeks, tracking everything in TradeZella as if the evaluation were real.
Review your mock evaluation data ruthlessly. Did you stay within daily loss limits every single day? Did you hit the profit target within a reasonable timeframe? What percentage of your trades followed your documented playbook?
TradeZella's backtesting feature lets you test strategies against up to 10 years of historical data before risking even demo money. Combine backtested edge verification with forward-testing in mock evaluations, and you'll have genuine confidence before paying for the real thing.
Schedule Trades Around Your Proven Best Times
Not every market hour suits your trading style. Some traders excel during London open, others during US session overlap, and many struggle during low-liquidity periods.
TradeZella's time-based performance reports show exactly when you trade best. You might find your win rate is 72% between 9-11am EST but drops to 45% after lunch. With that data, you can schedule your evaluation trading during proven profitable windows.
Prop firm rules don't require you to trade all day. A focused 2-hour session with high-probability setups beats an 8-hour grind through marginal opportunities. Your analytics tell you which approach your actual trading history supports.
Keep Detailed Notes on Every Trade
The traders who pass evaluations consistently share one habit: they document obsessively. Not just the entry and exit prices, but why they took the trade, what they were thinking, how they felt, and what they'd do differently.
TradeZella's tagging system and note feature make this easy. You can add screenshots, tag emotional states, and link trades to specific playbook setups. Over time, this creates a searchable database of your trading decisions.
When you fail an evaluation, this documentation tells you exactly why. Instead of vague "I need more discipline," you have specific data: "I violated my plan 14 times during news events, losing $1,847 on trades that weren't in my playbook."
Common Mistakes That Kill Evaluations
Ignoring the Daily Loss Limit Until It's Too Late
The most common evaluation killer isn't a bad strategy — it's losing track of your daily drawdown. Traders focus on their total P&L and forget that one catastrophic day ends everything, even if the week or month is profitable overall.
Evaluation pressure affects judgment. A morning loss feels recoverable, so you size up to "make it back quickly." Two more losses, and you've violated your daily limit before lunch.
TradeZella's real-time drawdown visualization prevents this by making your current risk exposure impossible to ignore. Set alerts when you hit 50% of your daily limit. If you've lost half your allowed daily amount, the trading session is over — full stop.
Trading Outside Your Documented Strategy
Evaluations create urgency that tempts traders into "opportunity" trades outside their edge. You see a setup that looks good but doesn't match your playbook. You take it anyway because you need the profit target.
These improvised trades have statistically lower win rates than planned trades for almost every trader. TradeZella's strategy breakdown reports prove this with your own data. Trades tagged as "playbook" versus "discretionary" show dramatically different outcomes over time.
Before each evaluation trade, check your playbook. If the setup doesn't match, don't take it. The patience to wait for your edge is worth more than any single opportunity.
Failing to Adapt Rules Across Different Firms
Each prop firm has quirks in their rules. Some restrict trading during news events. Some have specific position sizing limits. Some calculate drawdown differently than you expect. Traders who pass one firm's evaluation often fail another's — not from skill issues but from rule misunderstandings.
When managing multiple accounts in TradeZella, create separate playbooks or notes documenting each firm's specific restrictions. Review these before trading each account. The five minutes spent confirming rules prevents the weeks lost to avoidable violations.
Other Approaches to Consider
Before committing to prop firm trading, it's worth considering whether it's the right path for your situation.
Trading your own capital offers complete freedom — no rules, no profit splits, no evaluation fees. If you have sufficient personal funds and don't need the structure of external accountability, this remains a legitimate path. The downside is that most personal accounts are too small to produce meaningful income, which pushes traders toward excessive risk.
Traditional institutional prop firms still exist and offer salary plus bonus structures rather than evaluation-based funding. These require relocation to trading floors and typically hire from top universities or existing finance careers. Not accessible for most retail traders, but worth pursuing if you have the background.
For traders serious about developing their skills while accessing meaningful capital, modern online prop firms combined with proper journaling through TradeZella provide the clearest path. You maintain control of your trading, build documented evidence of your edge, and can scale to multiple funded accounts as you prove consistency.
FAQ
What is prop firm trading and how does it work?
Prop firm trading is a model where you trade a company's capital after passing an evaluation, keeping 70-90% of profits without risking personal funds beyond the evaluation fee. You pay a fee to attempt an evaluation (typically $100-$500 for the account size), trade within strict risk rules to hit profit targets, and receive funded capital upon passing. Most firms use demo accounts for both evaluation and funded phases, with your profit share paid out as real money on regular schedules.
How much money do you need to start prop firm trading?
You can start prop firm trading with as little as $50-200 for smaller evaluation accounts. A $10,000 evaluation typically costs $100-200, while $100,000 accounts range from $400-600. Match account size to your actual trading ability — starting smaller lets you prove your edge before risking larger evaluation fees. TradeZella's analytics help you determine whether your historical performance justifies attempting larger accounts.
Why do most traders fail prop firm evaluations?
The primary reason is violating risk rules, particularly daily loss limits, rather than lacking profitable strategies. Evaluation pressure triggers different behavior than practice trading. Traders size positions too large, revenge trade after losses, or ignore their documented plans. TradeZella's drawdown tracking and emotional state tagging help identify exactly when and why discipline breaks down, giving you specific patterns to fix before your next attempt.
What's the difference between evaluation and instant funding prop firms?
Evaluation firms require you to pass one or two challenge phases before funding, while instant funding firms provide capital immediately for higher fees. Evaluation models (FTMO, The5ers) typically cost $400-600 for $100k accounts with 80-90% profit splits. Instant funding can cost $3,000-5,000 for similar capital but with 50-70% profit splits. Most serious traders prefer evaluations because the better profit splits and lower fees outweigh the additional work.
Can you trade multiple prop firm accounts simultaneously?
Yes, many professional prop traders manage 5-10+ funded accounts across different firms simultaneously. The challenge is tracking different rules, platforms, and performance across accounts. TradeZella's Pro plan supports up to 20 connected accounts with unified analytics, letting you monitor everything from a single dashboard. You can compare performance across firms and identify which rules and conditions produce your best results.
How do prop firms make money if traders keep most of the profits?
Prop firms profit primarily from evaluation fees paid by traders who don't pass, with successful traders representing a small percentage of total applicants. Industry estimates suggest 80-90% of traders fail evaluations, meaning fee revenue substantially exceeds profit-sharing payouts. Legitimate firms also benefit from successful traders as brand ambassadors and long-term profit generators. The model works for both parties when traders genuinely develop profitable, disciplined approaches.
What happens if you violate prop firm rules on a funded account?
Violating rules on a funded account typically results in immediate account termination. Unlike evaluations where you simply pay another fee and retry, losing a funded account means starting over. Most violations come from exceeding daily loss limits, trading restricted instruments, or position sizing errors. TradeZella's rule tracking and real-time alerts help prevent the accidental violations that cost months of work.
How does TradeZella help with prop firm trading specifically?
TradeZella provides automated trade journaling across 100+ platforms, real-time drawdown tracking against your specific firm's limits, and multi-account management for traders running multiple evaluations or funded accounts. The platform's 50+ analytics reports identify patterns in your trading that cause evaluation failures, while Trade Replay lets you review decisions tick-by-tick. With 20.5B+ trades journaled and 50K+ active traders, TradeZella is the standard tool for serious prop firm candidates documenting their discipline and edge.
Key Takeaways
Prop firm trading offers genuine opportunity for skilled traders to access meaningful capital without personal financial risk. Skill alone isn't enough — you need documented discipline, proper risk management, and the ability to perform consistently under evaluation pressure.
Choose prop firms based on your trading style, not just costs or profit splits. The comparison table above helps match firm rules to your approach. Practice under evaluation conditions before paying for challenges — TradeZella's analytics on mock evaluations reveal problems before they cost you real money.
The traders who consistently pass evaluations and maintain funded accounts aren't necessarily better at predicting markets. They're better at documenting their process, following their rules, and learning from data instead of gut feelings.
TradeZella tracks your drawdown, flags rule violations in real-time, and shows you exactly why evaluations fail. Use it to pass your next prop firm challenge.
