"What is the Apex drawdown?" is one of the most searched questions about the firm, and the short answer is useless. It depends on the account size, and above all on the stage you are at. An evaluation and a funded account of the same size carry the same drawdown, but not the same contract limit, not the same daily loss limit, and not the same lock point. Here are all four sizes side by side, taken straight from the official help center.
The drawdown is the same in EOD and Intraday
Apex offers two drawdown structures: End of Day (EOD), recalculated once a day at the close, and Intraday Trailing, which follows your peak in real time. Many traders assume one gives more room than the other. It does not.
The distance is identical in both formats, for every account size. What changes is how fast the floor climbs behind you:
- EOD: the threshold is calculated once per day, at 4:59:59 PM ET, on the closing balance. It becomes active for the next session and does not move during the day. It is still enforced in real time: touching it mid-session liquidates the account and fails the evaluation.
- Intraday: the threshold follows your Peak Balance continuously, unrealized gains included. A trade that runs to +800 and gives it all back has moved your floor up by 800, without you banking a single dollar.
In both formats, the threshold never moves down.
Evaluation parameters, all four sizes
Evaluation parameters are the same in EOD and Intraday, with one exception: the daily loss limit, which does not exist at all in the Intraday evaluation.
| Parameter | 25K | 50K | 100K | 150K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit target | $1,500 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| Max drawdown (EOD and Intraday) | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $4,000 |
| Daily loss limit, EOD evaluation | $500 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,000 |
| Daily loss limit, Intraday evaluation | none | none | none | none |
| Max contracts | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Access period | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
| Consistency | not applied | not applied | not applied | not applied |
| Scaling | not applied | not applied | not applied | not applied |
Two things the table does not say, and they matter just as much:
- No minimum number of trading days. An Apex evaluation can be passed in a single session, as long as the target is reached and no rule was broken.
- Hitting the daily loss limit does not fail an EOD evaluation. Only the drawdown threshold is disqualifying. The DLL pauses your day, it does not close anything.
Funded account parameters
Once the evaluation is passed, you have 7 calendar days to activate your Performance Account. It is issued in the same size and follows the same drawdown structure. But two lines change.
| Parameter | 25K | 50K | 100K | 150K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max drawdown (EOD and Intraday) | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $4,000 |
| Max contracts | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Tier based scaling | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Tier based daily loss limit | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Inactivity rule | yes | yes | yes | yes |
The contract trap: fewer when funded than in evaluation
This is the line that surprises most traders. In evaluation, position size is fixed and generous: 4, 6, 8 or 12 contracts depending on size. In the funded account, the ceiling drops to 2, 4, 6 or 10, and it is not handed to you on day one. It unlocks in tiers, alongside the daily loss limit, as the account's profit grows.
In practice, a trader who passes a 50K evaluation using 6 contracts and keeps the exact same sizing once funded runs straight into a ceiling of 4, starting from an even lower tier. The method that passed the evaluation does not transfer as is. The funded account is not the relaxed version of the evaluation, it is a tighter frame, and it is spelled out in the official parameters.
When the floor stops climbing
"The trailing eventually locks" is true, but not everywhere, and not at the same level. There are three regimes, and in evaluation it is the execution platform that decides.
- Tradovate evaluations: the threshold never locks. It trails the peak indefinitely.
- Rithmic and WealthCharts evaluations: the threshold locks at an amount equal to the profit target balance. The official 50K example: the floor freezes at $53,000, which happens once the highest balance reaches $55,000.
- Funded accounts: the threshold locks at starting balance plus $100. On a 50K, it freezes at $50,100, as soon as your highest balance, realized or not, reaches $52,100.
That $52,100 level has a name at Apex: the Safety Net. Its formula is official and applies to every size: starting balance, plus the drawdown for that size, plus $100. Once crossed, the floor is permanently fixed, and only profit above the Safety Net becomes eligible for a payout request. That threshold must hold for the lifetime of the account: it is never consumed.
The 150K is not the comfortable option
A common assumption says the bigger the account, the easier the evaluation. The table says otherwise. Compare the profit target to the drawdown, size by size: $1,500 against $1,000 on the 25K and $3,000 against $2,000 on the 50K, so one and a half times your margin for error. On the 100K, $6,000 against $3,000, twice. On the 150K, $9,000 against $4,000, more than twice.
In other words, the larger the account, the more profit you have to produce per dollar of available room. The 150K asks for six times the 25K target with only four times the distance to the floor. Proportionally, it is the most demanding of the four, not the most forgiving.
Add that the 150K drawdown is identical in evaluation and funded, exactly like the other three sizes: nothing widens on the way through. Picking your account size on the headline number rather than on the target-to-drawdown ratio means buying a constraint you never calculated.
How to actually use this
These tables do nothing sitting in a browser tab. Three concrete uses:
- Before buying: compare the target-to-drawdown ratio, not the headline numbers. It tightens as size goes up. Then cross it with the number of contracts you can genuinely handle, funded and not in evaluation.
- Before every session: recalculate your real floor and the distance left to it. On Intraday, that floor moved yesterday on gains you may never have banked.
- When you go funded: resize. The contract ceiling dropped, the daily loss limit now depends on accumulated profit, and the inactivity rule kicks in.
These are risk constraints, not paperwork, and they get handled before the open, never mid-position. If you are new to these mechanics, start with the general guide to prop firm rules, then the 50K account in detail in drawdown, Safety Net and payouts explained. Turning these thresholds into execution rules you can hold session after session is what the Ephore Prop System is built for.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Apex drawdown the same in EOD and Intraday?
Yes. The distance is identical in both formats, for every account size. What changes is how the floor moves: in EOD it is recalculated once a day at 4:59:59 PM ET on the closing balance, while Intraday trails your Peak Balance in real time, unrealized gains included. In both formats, the threshold never moves down.
What is the max drawdown for each Apex account size?
$1,000 on the 25K, $2,000 on the 50K, $3,000 on the 100K and $4,000 on the 150K. The amount is identical in evaluation and in the funded account: nothing widens when you pass. That distance is the trailing drawdown, and it only makes sense measured against the profit target, not read on its own.
How many contracts can you trade on an Apex account?
In evaluation: 4 contracts on the 25K, 6 on the 50K, 8 on the 100K and 12 on the 150K. Once funded, the ceiling drops to 2, 4, 6 and 10, and it unlocks in tiers as the account's profit grows. The sizing that passed your evaluation does not transfer as is.
Does hitting the daily loss limit fail an Apex evaluation?
No. In the EOD evaluation, the daily loss limit pauses your day, it does not close anything: only the drawdown threshold is disqualifying. The Intraday evaluation has no daily loss limit at all. The EOD amounts: $500 on the 25K, $1,000 on the 50K, $1,500 on the 100K and $2,000 on the 150K.
When does the Apex trailing drawdown stop trailing?
It depends on the stage and the platform. Tradovate evaluations never lock: the threshold trails the peak indefinitely. Rithmic and WealthCharts evaluations lock at the profit target balance, $53,000 on a 50K. Funded accounts lock at starting balance plus $100, so $50,100 on a 50K, as soon as your peak reaches $52,100: that level is the Safety Net.
Figures reviewed on the official Apex Trader Funding help center on August 4, 2026. These rules change often: always check the official source before you trade.
Futures trading involves substantial risk of capital loss. This article is educational and does not constitute investment advice.