Prop Firm Comparison 2025: Apex, TopstepTrader, FTMO, and Earn2Trade Reviewed

Why the Prop Firm You Choose Matters as Much as Your Strategy A prop firm comparison is not just about fee prices. The evaluation rules, scaling plans, consistency requirements, and payout terms can make the difference between a trading approach that translates to a funded account and one that technically has positive expected value but fails the evaluation due to rule violations. YMI members have collectively experienced $50M+ in funded accounts across the major prop firms — this comparison reflects that real-world experience, not just marketing comparisons. Overview of the Major Futures Prop Firms Four firms dominate the retail futures prop trading space in 2025: Apex Trader Funding, TopstepTrader, FTMO (which expanded into futures), and Earn2Trade. Each targets a different type of trader and has meaningfully different evaluation structures. Apex Trader Funding Apex is one of the most popular choices among YMI community members for ES and NQ day trading due to its straightforward rules and competitive pricing. The evaluation structure: one-phase (single evaluation, no second phase), with a profit target of 6% of account size, daily loss limit of 2-3% depending on account, and a trailing max drawdown of 4% of account size during evaluation that resets to a fixed drawdown once you reach a certain profit threshold. Key features: unlimited evaluation duration (no time limit to hit the profit target), multiple contract size options from 25K to 300K simulated accounts, and relatively low monthly evaluation fees. The consistency rule: no single day can account for more than 30-40% of total profits — this is a critical rule that catches traders who hit the profit target with one large winning day and multiple smaller gains. Apex's trailing drawdown is the most commonly misunderstood rule. During evaluation, the drawdown threshold trails up as your account value increases — if your account reaches $52,000 on a $50,000 evaluation, the trailing max drawdown adjusts to reflect that high watermark. Once funded, the drawdown converts to a fixed maximum drawdown from your funded account's starting balance. Understanding exactly when and how the trailing drawdown works prevents the most common Apex evaluation failures. Best for: systematic ES and NQ day traders with consistent daily performance who want a simple one-phase evaluation and can adhere to the consistency rule without relying on outlier days. TopstepTrader TopstepTrader is one of the oldest and most established futures prop firms. The evaluation uses a two-step process: a Trading Combine (the evaluation) followed by a funded Trader account. The Combine has no explicit time limit but requires hitting a profit target while keeping daily losses within a defined limit. The funded account has a daily loss limit and a maximum drawdown limit. Key differentiator: TopstepTrader offers a 100% profit split for the first $10,000 of profits withdrawn from a funded account, then 90% after that. This is among the most favorable payout structures for new funded traders. The funded account rules are strict — the daily loss limit is firm and the account is terminated immediately if hit, with no grace period. TopstepTrader's customer support and community infrastructure is one of the strongest in the industry. The TopstepTV educational content, live coaching calls, and funded account management tools are more developed than most competitors. For newer traders, this infrastructure has real value. Potential downside: the evaluation fees are higher than Apex on an equivalent account size basis, and the two-phase evaluation takes longer to complete than Apex's single evaluation for traders who pass quickly. The consistency rules are also strict — Apex's 30% single-day limit is more flexible than TopstepTrader's equivalent requirements for some account sizes. Best for: traders who want the most established brand with the strongest infrastructure, are willing to pay somewhat higher evaluation fees, and value the 100% profit split on early withdrawals. FTMO (Futures Expansion) FTMO built its reputation in forex prop trading and expanded into futures. The FTMO evaluation is two-phase with a 10% profit target in phase one and 5% profit target in phase two, both with maximum daily loss limits and overall drawdown limits. The time limits are 30 days for phase one and 60 days for phase two. The time limits are the most challenging aspect of FTMO for most futures traders — hitting a 10% profit target within 30 calendar days requires aggressive performance that may conflict with systematic, risk-managed trading. Traders who trade methodically with 1-2% risk per trade may struggle to reach 10% profit within the time constraint without taking on disproportionate risk. FTMO's payout structure for funded accounts starts at 80% profit share, scaling to 90% for traders who maintain consistent performance. The scaling plan increases funded account size systematically for traders who meet performance thresholds. Best for: traders with a track record of consistent monthly performance above 5-8% and who can sustain that pace for 30 consecutive calendar days. Traders with slower but more consistent approaches may find the time limits creating pressure that distorts natural trading behavior. Earn2Trade Earn2Trade offers two evaluation products: the Gauntlet Mini (a subscription-based evaluation) and the Gauntlet (a one-time fee). The Gauntlet Mini has a 15-calendar-day minimum with no maximum time limit and is priced at a monthly subscription rather than a one-time fee, making it economically advantageous for traders who expect to take more time to complete the evaluation. Earn2Trade's funding partner is Helios Trading Partners, which has a different structure than the other firms on this list. The payout model starts at 80% profit share. The evaluation rules include daily loss limits and maximum drawdown consistent with industry standards. Best for: traders who expect to need more time for the evaluation and prefer a subscription pricing model over one-time fees. The Gauntlet Mini's no-maximum-time-limit structure removes pressure for traders with methodical, lower-frequency approaches. Rule Comparison: The Details That Matter Daily loss limit structure differs significantly across firms. Some firms use a static daily loss limit (a fixed dollar amount regardless of account performance), while others use a dynamic limit that adjusts based on your account's current equity. Dynamic limits can work for or against you: if your account is above starting balance, the dynamic limit is higher in dollar terms; if you have had prior losses, the limit tightens. Understand exactly which structure your chosen firm uses. Consistency rules — the requirement that no single day represents an outsized portion of total profits — catch traders who pass evaluations on one or two outlier sessions. The specific thresholds vary: Apex uses approximately 30-40% depending on account size and program. This rule specifically affects high-volatility event traders who take outsized positions on FOMC or CPI days to hit profit targets quickly. If your strategy involves deliberately sizing up for high-impact events, verify whether the consistency rule disqualifies your approach before paying evaluation fees. News trading restrictions exist at some firms — a rule prohibiting entries within 1-5 minutes before or after major economic releases. YMI members who trade news-driven setups (the ES news trading strategy guide covers this) must verify their target firm allows this approach before evaluating. Weekend holding restrictions: most futures prop firms prohibit holding positions over the weekend. Verify this rule if your strategy includes holding positions into the weekend session. The Total Cost of Evaluation: Beyond the Fee The evaluation fee is only the first cost. Firms that fail your evaluation do not refund the fee in most cases, so the expected number of attempts to pass matters as much as the per-attempt fee. A firm with a $150 evaluation fee that most traders fail 2-3 times before passing costs $450-$600 in total evaluation fees — comparable to or more than a firm with a $300 fee that most traders pass in one or two attempts. Calculate the all-in expected cost: (average attempts to pass) x (evaluation fee) plus (monthly platform fees if applicable) plus (opportunity cost of time). YMI community data suggests the average trader requires 2-4 evaluation attempts before passing their first funded account, regardless of firm. Psychological factors (rule violations under pressure, revenge trading near the daily loss limit) account for most failures, not strategy deficiencies. YMI's Recommendation Framework For new traders attempting their first funded evaluation: start with a smaller account size ($25K-$50K range) regardless of firm, to limit total evaluation fees during the learning process. The rules for smaller accounts are the same structure as larger accounts — learning to comply with the rules on a $25K evaluation costs less than learning on a $100K evaluation. For experienced traders with a documented track record: Apex or TopstepTrader on an account size that matches your actual typical position sizing. Trading 3-5 ES contracts at your normal sizing on a $150K funded account is very different from trading the same size on a $50K funded account where 3 contracts represents significantly higher proportional risk relative to the drawdown limits.