Last verified: August 6, 2026. Every cell comes from the firm’s official documentation — click any firm for its full sourced profile. We re-verify weekly and log every change. Prices are what checkout actually charged at verification, not marketing schema (which we found stale at two firms).
Quick verdicts: best, cheapest, easiest — answered from the data
This comparison chart ranks nothing by opinion. Every verdict below is grounded in figures we re-verified against each firm’s official pages on August 6–8, 2026 — and where a question can’t be answered with data, we say so instead of inventing a ranking.
Which prop firm is the best?
There is no single best prop firm — the honest answer depends on which measurable dimension you care about. Cheapest entry ticket: The5ers ($19 one-time, 2.5K High Stakes) for forex, or Apex during its rolling ~90%-off promos ($16.70 for a 25K eval with code) for futures. Highest advertised split: Apex (100%, capped payouts). Longest-operating major: FTMO (Prague, 2015). Lowest-cost monthly track: Topstep 50K at $49/month. Pick the dimension, then use the tables below.
What are the top 3 prop firms in 2026?
By measurable criteria rather than opinion, three firms lead a dimension each in 2026: FTMO is the longest-operating and largest of the majors we track; Apex leads futures on price-with-promo and a 100% split (capped); FundingPips is the lowest-cost two-step forex entry ($29 at 5K) with no time limit. A “top 3” that ignores what you trade — forex vs futures — is marketing, not ranking.
What is the cheapest prop firm right now?
As of August 2026, the cheapest verified entry tickets are The5ers at $19 (2.5K High Stakes, one-time) for forex and — during its near-constant coupon windows — Apex at about $16.70 for a 25K futures eval (regular $167). Close behind: FundedNext Stellar Lite $24.74 (5K) and FundingPips $29 (5K). Cheapest ticket is not cheapest per dollar of buying power: a $19 account controls $2,500; Topstep’s $49/month controls $50,000. Our true-cost calculator does that math, including resets.
Which prop firm is best for beginners?
For beginners the data points to firms where a first mistake costs least: the lowest-cost entries are The5ers ($19) and FundedNext Stellar Lite ($24.74); FTMO offers a free trial to practice the exact rules before paying; and FundingPips’ evaluations have no time limit, removing deadline pressure. Avoid choosing by payout split as a beginner — you pay evaluation fees long before a split matters.
Which prop firm is the easiest to pass?
Measured purely by rulebook hurdles — not by odds of trading profitably — Apex has the fewest: a single phase, no minimum trading days (a one-day pass is allowed), and hitting the daily loss limit pauses trading rather than failing you. One-step models at FundingPips and Goat Funded Trader also skip the second verification phase most two-step firms require. No rulebook makes profit targets easy: “easiest to pass” means fewest procedural ways to fail, nothing more.
What is the most trusted prop firm?
We don’t rank trust, because “most trusted” isn’t measurable from official data — but the verifiable proxies are. Track record: FTMO has operated since 2015, the oldest of the majors we cover; Topstep is the longest-running US futures name we track. Transparency: every figure on this site links to the firm’s own documentation with a verification date. For reputation, read recent, specific complaints on Trustpilot and Reddit rather than star averages — payout-delay reports are the signal that matters most.
Looking for PropFirmMatch, the directory? That’s a different site — propfirmmatch.com lists firm-supplied offers. Prop Data Lab independently re-verifies each figure against official documentation and stamps the date.
Forex / CFD firms
| Rule | FTMO (2-step) | FundedNext (2-step) | The5ers (High Stakes) | FundingPips (Standard) | Goat (2-Step GOAT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US residents | Yes (FTMO US via OANDA) | Yes (Match-Trader only; no 15% reward) | Not restricted (no explicit statement) | Yes (Match-Trader only; reopened Aug 2026) | Yes (no MT5/cTrader in US) |
| 50K price | €345 | ~$270 (NEW25 25%) | $278 | $285 | In checkout* |
| Targets | 10% / 5% | 8% / 5% | 10% / 5% | 8–10% / 5% | 8% / 6% |
| Daily loss | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% |
| Max loss | 10% static | 10% static | 10% static | 10% static | 10% static |
| Min days | 4 + 4 | 5 + 5 (0.01 lot counts) | 3 + 3 profitable (≥0.5%) | 3 + 3 | 3 + 3 (≥0.5% days) |
| Fee refund | With 1st payout | With 1st reward | Split 10/20/70% across stages | At 4th reward | With 1st payout (see profile) |
| Split | 80→90% | 80→90% (95% paid add-on) | 80→100% + fixed salary at scale | 60–100% by payout cycle (locked choice) | 80% (→100% add-on) |
| First payout | On demand, day 14 | 21 days, then 14-day cycle | Day 14, bi-weekly, $150 min, 3.5% fee | Cycle-dependent, min 1% | Day 14, $100 min, 3% profit |
| Weekend holding (funded) | Standard: no / Swing: yes | Yes | Yes | Currently banned | Yes |
| EAs/algos | Yes (limits) | Yes (no HFT/grid) | Yes (visible SL required) | Own EAs only, with proof | Own EAs only (no HFT) |
| Scaling ceiling | $2M | $4M (+40%/4mo) | $500K (+ $10K/mo salary at top) | $2M Prime (mechanics in flux) | Up to $400K (claims $2M) |
Futures firms
| Rule (50K) | Topstep | Apex (intraday) | MFFU (Rapid) | Tradeify (Growth) | FundedNext (Flex) | Take Profit Trader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost model | $49/mo + $149 activation | $249 one-time (SAVENOW); +$69–$129 activation | $157/mo ($78.50 promo), no activation | $145 one-time, no activation | $69.99 promo, resets $78 | $170/mo + $130 activation* |
| Target | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $2,500 | $3,000 |
| Drawdown (eval) | $2,000 EOD-trail, locks at breakeven | $2,000 intraday-trail on unrealized peaks | $2,000 EOD-trail | $2,000 EOD-trail (enforced real-time) | $1,500 EOD-trail | $2,000 EOD-trail |
| Drawdown (funded) | Same, locks at $0 after payout | Intraday, locks at start+$100 | Switches to intraday-trail | EOD, locks at start+$100 | EOD | Intraday (PRO) |
| Time limit | None (subscription) | 30 days, no resets | None (subscription) | None | None stated | None (subscription) |
| Consistency | Best day ≤50% (raises target) | 50% gates payouts | 50% eval-only | None eval / 35% funded | 40% challenge only | 50% eval-only (non-fatal) |
| Split | 90% | 100% (capped) | 90% + daily payouts | 90% from first payout | Up to 95% | 80% (PRO) / 90% (PRO+) |
| Payout ceiling | XFA caps; LFA uncapped | ~$15K lifetime/account | $100K/user scaling claim; $10K/day cap | Per-payout caps rising to $3K | Per-cycle caps | No max |
| News (funded) | OK except max-size into releases | Normal strategies OK | Banned ±2 min (Rapid/Pro) | Unrestricted (“free reign”) | 40% profit haircut ±5 min | Flat ±1 min FOMC/NFP/CPI |
| Automation | Allowed | Prohibited | Allowed (no HFT) | Own algos only, provable | EAs within rules | Prohibited |
| Real capital stage | Yes (LFA) | Invite-only | Yes (Blue Row, $2–10K live) | Yes (Elite Live 80/20) | No | PRO+ (invite-only) |
| Disclosed pass rate | — | — | 20.35% (historical; not currently shown) | — | — | 16.86% / 20.37% (own) |
Which structure fits which trader
- US traders: your realistic forex/CFD list is FTMO (via OANDA), FundedNext, FundingPips and The5ers — all now serve US traders, but each steers you to a specific platform (FundingPips and FundedNext to Match-Trader; The5ers bars MT5 for US residents). Futures: Topstep, Apex, MyFundedFutures, Tradeify, Take Profit Trader and FundedNext Futures all serve the US.
- Swing/news traders: FTMO Swing (no news/weekend limits) or FundedNext (unrestricted challenge, 40%-profit news haircut when funded).
- Cheapest credible entry: FundedNext Lite ($172 at 50K, softer 8% drawdown) and FundingPips Pro ($224, 1 min day/phase) — if you’re outside the US for the latter.
- Long-horizon compounding: The5ers’ $10K/month fixed salary at $500K scale and FundedNext’s $4M ceiling are the deepest scaling structures; FTMO is the decade-old track record.
- Run the numbers before buying: the true-cost calculator computes expected cost to funded from your realistic pass rate.
*Goat Funded Trader sets per-size prices in its checkout app; only the $100K one-time fee ($438, or ~$263 with current 50%-off codes) is independently verified. Take Profit Trader’s $130 activation fee is routinely waived by a live promo code.
For dated records of every rule change we detect, see the Rule Changes log. This site may earn affiliate commissions — independence policy.