Last updated: 2 October 2026 Have prop firm evaluation stickers kept up with inflation? We pulled dated list prices for one comparable plan at each of four firms from Wayback Machine captures (and our own dated fetches), converted FTMO’s euro fee to dollars with FRED DEXUSEU, and set every observation against BLS CPI-U via FRED CPIAUCSL. Client-side-rendered prices that archives never stored (FundedNext, MyFundedFutures, Take Profit Trader) are omitted rather than guessed.
List prices barely moved. US consumer prices did. From 2023-01 to 2026-08, BLS CPI-U (FRED CPIAUCSL) rose 11.2% (300.420 → 334.131). Over the same span, FTMO’s 2-Step $100K Challenge stayed at €540, and Topstep’s 50K Standard Path stayed at $49/month for every archive we could price.
Apex’s comparable monthly 50K rose once. The Apex Trader Funding homepage listed the 50K FULL (Rithmic) evaluation at $147/month from January 2023 through May 2025, then $157/month on 10 August 2025 (+6.8% nominal, -0.8% in 2023-01 dollars). That monthly product later left the homepage in favour of one-time Intraday/EOD plans, so this series ends there.
In inflation-adjusted dollars, stickers got cheaper. Topstep’s $49 is -5.5% lower in 2023-01 dollars between 2024-10 and 2026-10. FTMO’s €540 fee is unchanged in euros; in USD (FRED DEXUSEU) it moved with the exchange rate (+8.0% nominal USD, -2.9% real).
These are list prices, not what traders usually pay. FTMO’s archives often show a special at €439 next to the €540 list. Apex and Tradeify run public %-off codes on top of sticker. Promo/effective prices are labelled separately in the CSV when an archive showed them; they are not mixed into the list-price series.
The comparable plan at each firm
| Firm | Plan tracked | Date range | List price path |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Trader Funding | 50K FULL evaluation (Rithmic), monthly | Jan 2023 – Aug 2025 | $147 → $157/month |
| FTMO | FTMO Challenge (2-Step), $100,000 USD account | Jan 2023 – Oct 2026 | €540 (unchanged) |
| Topstep | Trading Combine 50K, Standard Path | Oct 2024 – Oct 2026 | $49/month (unchanged) |
| Tradeify | Growth 50K evaluation, one-time | Apr 2026 – Oct 2026 | $145 (unchanged) |
Each firm has exactly one plan in this dataset. We do not mix account sizes or billing models without a new row. Apex’s later one-time Intraday/EOD 50K products are a different plan and are not spliced onto the monthly series.
List price vs CPI-adjusted price
CPI index = 100 × CPIAUCSL / CPIAUCSL(2023-01). Real price = list price in USD × CPIAUCSL(2023-01) / CPIAUCSL(capture month). FTMO fees are converted to USD on (or just before) the capture date with FRED DEXUSEU before CPI adjustment. Latest CPI month used where a capture falls after the last published CPI observation: 2026-08.
| Firm | First → last capture | List (native) | List (USD) | Real USD (2023-01 $) | CPI index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Trader Funding | 2023-01-01 → 2025-08-10 | $147/mo → $157/mo | $147.00 → $157.00 | $147.00 → $145.89 | 100.0 → 107.6 |
| FTMO | 2023-01-02 → 2026-10-02 | €540 → €540 | $570.19 → $615.60 | $570.19 → $553.49 | 100.0 → 111.2 |
| Topstep | 2024-10-14 → 2026-10-02 | $49/mo → $49/mo | $49.00 → $49.00 | $46.64 → $44.06 | 105.1 → 111.2 |
| Tradeify | 2026-04-02 → 2026-10-02 | $145 → $145 | $145.00 → $145.00 | $131.05 → $130.37 | 110.7 → 111.2 |
Every priced observation
| Firm | Capture date | List | USD | Real (2023-01 $) | CPI idx | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Trader Funding | 2023-01-01 | $147/mo | $147.00 | $147.00 | 100.00 | Archive |
| Apex Trader Funding | 2023-07-02 | $147/mo | $147.00 | $144.98 | 101.39 | Archive |
| Apex Trader Funding | 2024-01-04 | $147/mo | $147.00 | $142.60 | 103.09 | Archive |
| Apex Trader Funding | 2024-07-06 | $147/mo | $147.00 | $140.84 | 104.38 | Archive |
| Apex Trader Funding | 2025-05-13 | $147/mo | $147.00 | $137.74 | 106.72 | Archive |
| Apex Trader Funding | 2025-08-10 | $157/mo | $157.00 | $145.89 | 107.61 | Archive |
| FTMO | 2023-01-02 | €540 | $570.19 | $570.19 | 100.00 | Archive |
| FTMO | 2026-01-01 | €540 | $633.74 | $582.96 | 108.71 | Archive |
| FTMO | 2026-04-01 | €540 | $627.16 | $566.81 | 110.65 | Archive |
| FTMO | 2026-09-03 | €540 | $627.64 | $564.32 | 111.22 | Archive |
| FTMO | 2026-10-02 | €540 | $615.60 | $553.49 | 111.22 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2024-10-14 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $46.64 | 105.06 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2025-02-17 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $46.05 | 106.41 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2025-05-15 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $45.91 | 106.72 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2025-09-18 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $45.40 | 107.93 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2026-02-06 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $44.95 | 109.00 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2026-04-15 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $44.28 | 110.65 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2026-05-15 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $44.08 | 111.17 | Archive |
| Topstep | 2026-10-02 | $49/mo | $49.00 | $44.06 | 111.22 | Archive |
| Tradeify | 2026-04-02 | $145 | $145.00 | $131.05 | 110.65 | Archive |
| Tradeify | 2026-10-02 | $145 | $145.00 | $130.37 | 111.22 | Archive |
Hover or open the archive link for the firm page as captured. Exact quotes and promo notes are in the CSV.
Methodology
On 2 October 2026 we reused Wayback CDX samples and archived HTML already collected for our Rule Change Index and Discount Tracker, then saved fresh 2 October 2026 captures of the Topstep pricing article, FTMO homepage and Tradeify homepage. Every price cell has a primary quote and an archive (or dated watchdog) URL.
Comparable plan rule: one named product per firm (Apex 50K Rithmic FULL monthly; FTMO 2-Step $100K; Topstep 50K Standard Path monthly; Tradeify Growth 50K one-time). We record firm-reported sticker/list prices only. When an archive also showed a discounted_price or banner %, we store that in source notes / discounted_price_eur and do not substitute it for list. Firms whose prices are injected only by client-side JavaScript and never appear in archived HTML (FundedNext, MyFundedFutures, Take Profit Trader in our samples) are left out.
Inflation: FRED series CPIAUCSL (CPI all urban consumers, monthly, seasonally adjusted index). FX for FTMO: FRED DEXUSEU (USD per EUR, daily; last available on or before the capture date). CPI base month for the index and real-price columns is 2023-01 (value 300.42), the month of the earliest observation in this file. Observation dates for CPI are the series month; if a capture falls after the latest CPI release we use that latest month and say so.
What this is not: a claim about what traders actually paid after coupons, a ranking of firms, or a splice across product redesigns. Related: True Cost Index, Discount Tracker, Rule Change Index, methodology.
How to cite this
Prop Data Lab, “Prop Firm CPI: Evaluation Price Inflation”, updated 2 October 2026, https://propdatalab.com/prop-firm-cpi/
The table and the CSV are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: copy, chart or republish them, commercial use included, as long as you link back to this page. CPI figures are BLS data via FRED (CPIAUCSL); EUR/USD from FRED (DEXUSEU). Please also cite FRED/BLS when you reuse those columns.
Common questions
Did prop firm evaluation prices rise with inflation?
For the four comparable plans we could price from archives, list prices were mostly flat in nominal terms while US CPI-U rose 11.2% from 2023-01 to 2026-08. Apex's monthly 50K Rithmic FULL rose from $147 to $157 in August 2025; Topstep's 50K Standard Path stayed $49/month; FTMO's 2-Step $100K Challenge stayed €540; Tradeify Growth 50K stayed $145 from April to October 2026.
What is a 'real' evaluation price here?
List price converted to USD (if needed), then scaled by CPIAUCSL(2023-01) / CPIAUCSL(capture month). It answers: what is this sticker worth in 2023-01 dollars?
Why are FundedNext, MyFundedFutures and Take Profit Trader missing?
Their prices are often rendered only in the browser. Wayback HTML for those homepages in our samples did not contain reliable dollar amounts, so we omitted them rather than inventing figures.
Is the discounted FTMO price in the inflation series?
No. The list/sticker series uses €540. Archives that also showed €439 (or similar) as discounted_price are noted in the CSV; that promo is not treated as the list price.