- On a futures 50K account, getting funded at the first attempt costs between about $116 and $309 at the firms we track. Needing three attempts lifts that to about $296 to $667.
- Passing doesn’t pay you anything. You have to make back your fees as profit, after the firm’s split, before a payout is money in your pocket.
- Published pass rates suggest most buyers need several attempts. Budget for the number of attempts you’re prepared to pay for, and decide it before the first one.
The price on a prop firm’s pricing page is the cost of one try. What you actually spend before your first payout is that price multiplied by the attempts you need, plus any activation fee, plus any monthly rebilling while you work on it. This page puts those numbers side by side for every firm we track, using each firm’s list prices.
Our cheapest challenges guide ranks firms by the cost of a single attempt. This one asks a different question: what does it cost to get from your first purchase to money you can withdraw?
What you actually pay for
- The evaluation. Either a one-time fee or a monthly subscription that rebills until you pass or cancel.
- Repeat attempts. If you breach a rule, you buy a new evaluation or pay for a reset. A reset can be much cheaper than starting again: Lucid lists a $90 reset on a 50K that costs $146 new. Check the reset price before you buy, not after you fail.
- The activation fee. A one-off charge some futures firms add when you pass, from $130 to $149 among the firms that still charge one. Many firms now charge nothing.
- Withdrawal costs. Most firms don’t charge to withdraw, but check. Take Profit Trader charges $50 on withdrawals under $250.
Sale codes usually cut only the evaluation. The activation fee and resets are normally full price.
Futures: the cost of one, and three, attempts
All futures firms are compared on the 50K account. Pass first try is the evaluation plus any activation fee, assuming you pass within the first month on a monthly plan. Pass on 3rd try assumes two failed attempts, each replaced at the same price, then a pass. For monthly plans this is roughly three months of billing.
| Firm | Evaluation | Activation | Pass first try | Pass on 3rd try | Profit to break even* | First payout after funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BluSky | $59/month | $99 | $158 | $276 | $307 | About 1 day |
| Topstep | $49/month | $149 | $198 | $296 | $329 | About 5 days |
| TradeDay | $131/month | None | $131 | $393 | $491 | Not clearly published |
| FundedNext Futures | $141.99 | None | $142 | $426 | $448 | About 5 days |
| Bulenox | $143 | None | $143 | $429 | $477 | About 5 days |
| Lucid Trading | $146 | None | $146 | $438 | $487 | About 5 days |
| Legends Trading | $151 | None | $151 | $453 | $503 | About 14 days |
| Tradeify | $165 | None | $165 | $495 | $550 | Not clearly published |
| Alpha Futures | $169/month | None | $169 | $507 | $563 | About 5 days |
| E8 Futures | $170 | None | $170 | $510 | $638 | Not clearly published |
| Funded Futures Network | $178 | None | $178 | $534 | $668 | Not clearly published |
| MyFundedFutures | $209 | None | $209 | $627 | $697 | About 1 day |
| Take Profit Trader | $170/month | $130 | $300 | $640 | $800 | About 1 day |
| Earn2Trade | $170/month | $139 | $309 | $649 | $811 | About 30 days |
| Top One Futures | $218/month | None | $218 | $654 | $727 | Not clearly published |
| Purdia Capital | $179/month | $130 | $309 | $667 | $741 | About 14 days |
| Phidias Prop Firm | $580 | None | $580 | $1,740 | $2,175 | About 10 days |
| Apex Trader Funding | $1,190 | None | $1,190 | $3,570 | $3,570 | About 8 days |
What the table shows
- Monthly plans reward speed. Topstep’s $49 a month is the cheapest three-attempt route in the table, as long as each attempt takes no more than a month. Each extra month adds another $49.
- An activation fee hurts most at the first attempt. At Topstep the $149 activation fee is three-quarters of a first-try pass. At Take Profit Trader, Earn2Trade and Purdia it’s close to half.
- The cheapest firm changes with the number of attempts. A firm with no activation fee and a higher evaluation price can overtake a cheaper sticker once you add repeat attempts. That’s why the table is sorted by the three-attempt cost.
Forex: higher fees, sometimes refunded
Forex firms mostly sell two-step evaluations with a single fee and no activation charge. Plans are mostly 100K, so fees are higher than a futures 50K. Several firms refund the fee, but only with your first payout (Maven on the third), so the refund helps traders who reach a payout. It doesn’t lower the cost of the attempts that fail.
| Firm | Plan | Fee | 3 attempts | Fee refunded? | First payout after funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E8 Markets | E8 One 50K (1-step) | $288 | $864 | Not stated | Not clearly published |
| The5ers | High Stakes 100K (New) | $405 | $1,215 | Not stated | About 14 days |
| Maven Trading | Standard 2-Step 100K | $440 | $1,320 | Fee refunded on the third withdrawal | About 14 days |
| BrightFunded | 2-Step 100K | €477 | €1,431 | Not stated | About 30 days |
| Alpha Capital Group | Alpha Pro 10% 100K | $497 | $1,491 | Not stated | About 7 days |
| FunderPro | Classic 2-Phase 100K | $539 | $1,617 | Not stated | About 14 days |
| FTMO | 2-Step Challenge 100K | €540 | €1,620 | Fee refunded with first payout | About 14 days |
| FXIFY | Two Phase Standard 100K | $549 | $1,647 | Fee refunded with first payout | About 2 days |
| FundedNext | Stellar 2-Step 100K | $549.99 | $1,650 | Fee refunded with first reward | About 21 days |
| For Traders | Classic 2-Step 100K | $599 | $1,797 | Not stated | About 14 days |
| Goat Funded Trader | 2-Step Standard 100K | $628 | $1,884 | Not stated | About 14 days |
| FundingPips | 2-Step 100K | $652 | $1,956 | Not stated | About 7 days |
| Funding Traders | 2-Step PRO10 100K | $750 | $2,250 | Fee refunded with first payout | About 21 days |
How many attempts should you budget for?
Firms rarely publish pass rates, and the few figures we have are averages across every buyer, not a forecast for you. They are still the best guide to how many attempts most people need:
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 16.8% | Topstep Trading Combines passed in 2025 | Topstep’s 2025 disclosure |
| 33.3% | Topstep funded traders who received a payout | Topstep’s 2025 disclosure |
| 7% | Prop trading accounts that reached a payout, out of 300,000 | FPFX Tech data, reported by Finance Magnates |
If every attempt had the same 1-in-6 chance as the average Topstep Combine, the average buyer would need about six attempts to pass once. At $150 an attempt, that’s around $900 before activation. Real traders don’t have fixed odds: a trader with a tested plan and small position size will usually do far better than the average, and one who sizes up after losses will do worse. Our guide to why traders fail covers what moves those odds.
Break even before you count a profit
Getting funded is the halfway point for your money, not the finish. Take a trader who needs three attempts at Take Profit Trader’s 50K Test:
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Three months of the 50K Test at $170 | $510 |
| Activation fee after passing | $130 |
| Total spent | $640 |
| Funded profit needed at an 80% split to get $640 back | $800 |
Only the payouts after that $800 are profit. On a 50K account with a $2,000 drawdown, $800 is a large share of your room, and it has to come out of the account in payouts you can actually request. That depends on each firm’s payout rules: how long you wait, how many winning days you need and the minimum you can take. Our payout rules guide compares them, and the funded-account guide explains how much you can safely withdraw.
Five ways to spend less getting funded
- Set your attempt budget first. Decide how many attempts you’ll pay for, and at what total, before you buy the first. When you hit it, stop and review your trading rather than buying another.
- Size so one bad day can’t end the attempt. Most attempts end on a drawdown breach. Risking a small fraction of the drawdown per trade is the cheapest way to cut the number of attempts you need. See position sizing.
- Match the billing to your schedule. If you only trade a few hours a week, a monthly plan can rebill several times before you finish. A one-time fee is usually cheaper. Our day-job guide has the rules that matter for part-time traders.
- Compare the reset price with a new evaluation. Buy whichever is cheaper, and check whether a sale applies to resets.
- Buy on a sale, but price the whole route. A large discount on the evaluation can still lose to a firm with no activation fee. The deals page shows current sales next to the full cost.
Questions
How much does it really cost to get funded at a prop firm?
For a futures 50K account, about $116 to $309 if you pass at the first attempt, and about $296 to $667 if you need three, at list prices across the 18 futures firms we track. Forex 100K evaluations cost about $405 to $750 per attempt (FTMO and BrightFunded charge in euros). Your own number depends mostly on how many attempts you need.
Is an activation fee worth paying to get a cheaper evaluation?
Only if you expect to pass quickly. The activation fee is paid once, so it matters most when you pass at the first attempt. If you expect several attempts, the evaluation price matters more. The futures table above shows both.
Do prop firms refund the evaluation fee?
Some forex firms do, including FTMO, FundedNext, FXIFY and Funding Traders, but only with your first payout. Maven refunds it on the third withdrawal. Failed attempts are never refunded. Among the futures firms we track, refunds are not part of the standard offer.
Should I count sale prices when I budget?
Use the sale price for the evaluation if the firm almost always runs one, but use the full price for activation fees and resets, which are rarely discounted.