Hidden Rules Database

Apex switched from monthly subscriptions to one-time evaluation fees in March 2026. Accounts expire after 30 days — no resets, no recurring billing.

Payouts are capped per request: $1,000-$2,500 (1st payout) scaling up to $1,000-$5,000 (6th payout) depending on account size. Account closes after 6 payouts.

No single trading day can account for 50% or more of total profit on the Performance Account (PA).

AquaFunded's Trustpilot rating is currently unavailable due to a breach of Trustpilot guidelines. Many reviews mention payout issues.

Blue Guardian's Trustpilot rating is currently unavailable due to a breach of Trustpilot guidelines. Exercise caution.

Blueberry Funded's Trustpilot rating is unavailable due to a breach of Trustpilot guidelines. Reviews mention unclear rules and martingale detection.

Bulenox offers a choice between Real-Time Trailing and End-of-Day drawdown at the time of purchase. EOD costs slightly more but provides intraday protection. Choose carefully as it cannot be changed later.

DNA Funded has a 40% consistency rule - no single day profit can exceed 40% of total profit. Multiple traders report payout denials for this rule.

On the funded (Trader) stage, no single trading day can account for more than 40% of the total profit. This doesn't apply during evaluation.

Traders must maintain a 4% profit buffer in the account to be eligible for payouts. You can't withdraw until the buffer threshold is met.

Active Sim-Funded accounts carry an $80/month subscription fee. This is charged every month regardless of trading activity.

Live accounts require CME market data fees: $128 for CME/COMEX/NYMEX/CBOT bundle, $80 for Eurex.

On 1-Step FTMO Challenge, your most profitable day cannot exceed 50% of your total Positive Days' Profit. This doesn't breach your account but you must trade until the ratio drops below 50%.

The 1-Step FTMO Challenge has a stricter 3% daily loss limit (vs 5% for 2-Step). The daily loss recalculates based on previous day's closing balance.

The 1-Step Max Loss limit trails your highest end-of-day balance upward (but never downward). This makes it a semi-trailing drawdown, stricter than the fixed 2-Step drawdown.

FTMO accounts are simulated (demo) accounts. You never trade with real capital — profits are paid from FTMO's revenue, not from actual market trades.

Stellar 1-Step has only 3% daily loss and 6% max loss — much tighter than the 2-Step's 5%/10%. Easy to confuse.

Stellar Express uses a trailing drawdown (not static). 6% max loss with no daily limit. Different from other Stellar programs.

FundedNext Futures accounts have a 40% consistency rule: no single day's profit can exceed 40% of total profit. CFD programs have no consistency rule.

FundedNext Futures evaluation has tighter rules than CFD: only 2% daily loss ($1,000) and 4% max loss ($2,000) on $50K account.

The classic 2-Step offers significantly higher leverage (Forex 1:100 vs 1:30 on 1-Step) and larger max drawdown (10% vs 6%). The 1-Step and Pro have tighter risk limits.

FundingPips does not support MT4 or MT5. Only MatchTrader, TradeLocker, and cTrader are available. This may be a dealbreaker for traders with MT-specific EAs.

The Lightning Challenge has a 30% consistency rule - no single day's profit can exceed 30% of your total profit. Combined with the 7-day time limit and 3 minimum trading days, this makes it the most demanding program.

Goat Funded Trader's Trustpilot rating is currently unavailable due to a breach of Trustpilot guidelines. Multiple negative reviews mention slow payouts and support.

Lux Trading has a controversial 'risk consistency' rule that many traders report being breached for unexpectedly. Lot sizes and risk per trade must remain consistent.

During evaluation, no single day's profit can exceed 50% of your total profit. This rule applies to Flex and Rapid accounts and prevents traders from passing with one lucky trade.

Unlike the Flex/Pro EOD drawdown, Rapid accounts use real-time trailing drawdown. Your max loss limit trails your peak unrealized equity during winning trades, making it stricter for scalpers.

MyFundedFX rebranded to Seacrest Markets in 2025 and pivoted to becoming a regulated FSCA broker. Prop trading programs may be transitioning — check their website for latest program availability.

After passing the evaluation, the PRO funded account switches from EOD trailing drawdown to intraday trailing drawdown. This is significantly stricter than the evaluation phase.

No single day's profit can exceed 50% of total profits earned during the evaluation or funded phase.

Bootcamp program requires a stop-loss set within 3 minutes of opening a trade, with max 2% risk per position. Other programs do not require SL.

Hyper Growth has 6% fixed max loss with a 3% daily 'pause' (not breach — trading paused until next day). Very tight margin for error.

Futures programs (Basecamp/Rebate) have a 3% end-of-day max loss — much tighter than CFD programs. Funded stage uses 4% scaling target.

Standard path requires a $149 one-time activation fee after passing the Trading Combine. 'No Activation Fee' path has higher monthly fees ($109-$209 vs $49-$149).

No single trading day can account for 50% or more of total profits (Standard path). The Consistency path tightens this to 40%.

The Maximum Loss Limit trails your end-of-day balance high. It only stops trailing once it reaches the initial starting balance. TopstepX has removed the Daily Loss Limit.

The max drawdown of 3% ($1,500 on $50K) is tighter than most competitors (Apex: 6%, Topstep: 4%). This limits room for error.

Tradeify uses a very tight 3% EOD trailing drawdown. Combined with no daily loss limit, one bad day can wipe your account.

UProfit uses real-time trailing drawdown. Your max loss trails your highest equity point during the day.