Prop firm comparison methodology

The unit of comparison is a named account size, evaluation billing option and specific simulated-funded path.

Coverage and evidence

This release covers 29 selected paths from 8 providers, using official product and help pages checked 17 October 2026. It is not an exhaustive market census. Topstep Labs, Apex legacy products, LucidPro/Direct/Black, Tradeify Growth/Lightning, Alpha Advanced/Direct and many other variants are outside the selected records.

Each fee, evaluation, funded and payout category links to its own source. Some direct archival requests returned HTTP 403 while the official page remained readable through the research tool. That access limitation is recorded internally; no local copy was fabricated. Provider publication is evidence of stated terms, not independent verification that payouts, fills or service claims occur.

Unknowns and conflicts

Not verified is different from zero. Unknown entry fees do not pass the verified-price filter or sort ahead of known fees. Unknown reset costs matter only when the scenario includes paid resets. A selected No Activation Fee path can have verified zero activation while its entry fee remains unknown.

The MFFU Builder-specific policy includes a soft DLL despite a broad overview saying no DLL. LucidFlex describes its 50% payout basis inconsistently as balance and profit; the unambiguous dollar ceiling is recorded, with the conflict exposed. Price-selector defaults, promotional prices and marketing placeholders are not used to invent missing configuration prices.

Evaluation and funded phases

Evaluation target and loss distance do not automatically describe the funded phase. The account-size label can represent nominal buying power. The selected funded paths are simulated, including Earn 2 Trade LiveSim; live-account conversion and eligibility are separate. A stated profit split applies only to eligible approved payouts and may be tiered.

Fees and scenarios

Catalogue prices are USD list or explicitly stated starting prices, excluding coupon codes. Monthly charges, purchases, paid evaluation resets and activation count are separate inputs. Activation count cannot exceed purchases. Scenario results do not estimate success, expected payouts, investment returns or losses from live trading. Unknown required prices block a total, and manual overrides are labelled as your inputs.

Country and other rules

Country-policy links are provided for all eight providers. Citizenship, residency, travel, payment processors and live-stage access can differ. The directory does not grant or automatically determine eligibility. Conduct, inactivity, news, scaling, position and identity rules can impose additional restrictions beyond the condensed fields.

Ordering and commercial policy

Default order is provider name. Optional ordering by entry fee is not a total-cost or quality ranking. There is no composite trust score, purchased account test, payout verification, user review system or affiliate tracking link in this release. Corrections can be sent through the site's contact page with a specific plan and official source.

Version and exports

The public JSON includes the version, checked date, selected plan records and source register. CSV contains the same plan identifiers and condensed comparison fields. They are snapshots and do not refresh a live trading account. The initial change register records publication scope rather than inventing a history of prior rule changes.