What Is a Funded Trading Account? A Practical Overview

The deal in one paragraph

A funded trading account is capital a proprietary trading firm lets you trade after you pass their test. You pay a one-time fee — anywhere from about $12 to $2,600 in our database of 31 firms — hit a profit target without breaking loss rules, and the firm gives you an account where you keep 80–100% of the profits. You never risk your own capital beyond the fee; the firm's risk rules make sure you can't lose theirs either.

What you're really buying

The honest framing: you're buying leverage on a fee. A $100K account with a 10% max drawdown means the firm is really giving you $10,000 of risk capital — for a fee of $95–$800 depending on the program. If you're profitable, the payouts dwarf the fee. If you're not, the fee is the tuition.

The three numbers that matter

• ›Profit target — what you must make to pass (commonly 8–10% phase one).
• ›Drawdown — how much you may lose, daily and overall, and whether the limit is *static* (fixed) or *trailing* (follows your equity up — much harsher). Our programs table shows both for every challenge, plus the DD:PT ratio that compares room-to-breathe against the target.
• ›Payout terms — split percentage, frequency, minimum days. Getting paid is the point; check this before the price.

Is it simulated?

Usually yes — most firms run evaluations and funded accounts on simulated capital and pay you from their revenue. That's fine in practice (the payouts are real — the industry pays out hundreds of millions a year), but it's why firm *reliability* matters as much as the deal. Check the Trustpilot column on our firms list and start with established names.

Where to start

Read how funded accounts work next, then run your own stats through our pass simulator before paying anyone.