A futures prop firm does not sell you capital. It sells you a rulebook. You pay for an evaluation, you prove you can trade inside the rules, and the firm hands you a funded account. Most traders prepare a strategy. Very few prepare for the rulebook. The rulebook is what decides whether the account survives.
A prop firm rule is a contractual limit attached to the account: a drawdown floor, a maximum daily loss, payout conditions. These rules decide the account's fate because enforcement is mechanical: depending on the rule you hit, the session pauses, the evaluation fails or the funded account closes, no matter how good the trade was. Preparing for the rules before you pay matters as much as preparing a strategy.
How it works: evaluation first, funded account second
The path is the same almost everywhere. First an evaluation on a simulated account: hit a profit target without ever touching the drawdown floor. Then a funded account, with its own payout rules. The business model moves fast. Tradeify, for example, dropped subscriptions in 2026, and all of its plans are now one-time purchases.
Apex vs Tradeify on a 50K account: the verified parameters
To make futures prop firm rules concrete, here are the verified parameters of the two 50K evaluations this series tracks closely: the Apex evaluation (end of day or intraday) and the Tradeify Select evaluation. Apex column: figures re-checked on August 9, 2026. Tradeify column: figures re-checked on August 19, 2026. This is a dated snapshot, not a ranking: these values move several times per quarter. Case in point: the reset fee on the Tradeify Select 50K evaluation changed three times in two weeks, $95 on August 6, $109 on August 9, and $95 again on August 19, 2026.
| 50K account | Apex, evaluation | Tradeify Select, evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation price | Listed on the official site (not tracked in our verified data) | $165 one-time, $95 reset |
| Profit target | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Drawdown | $2,000 trailing, end of day or intraday depending on the product | $2,000 trailing, end of day |
| Daily loss limit during the evaluation | $1,000 on EOD, none on intraday | None |
| Consistency during the evaluation | None | 40%, which forces a 3 trading day minimum |
| Maximum contracts | 6 contracts | 4 minis (40 micros) |
| Funded account activation | One-time fee, amount shown on the dashboard, due within 7 days | Free and instant |
| Payout minimum once funded | $500 per request | $250 per withdrawal on Daily; on Flex, 50% of total profit every 5 winning days, capped at $3,000 |
Two firms with the same profit target do not feel the same day to day: the rule environment around the number makes the difference. A full Apex vs Tradeify comparison deserves its own article. For now, keep the structure in mind: an entry price, a target, a floor, position limits, then payout rules. Before any purchase, re-read both official help centers (links at the end of this article): they are the only pages that count.
The four rule families that decide everything
1. The profit target
The amount you have to reach to pass the evaluation. For scale in 2026: $3,000 on a 50K account with Tradeify Select. Firms adjust these regularly. Tradeify tested $2,500, then went back to the $3,000 standard in June 2026.
The scale logic is the same at both firms: $1,500 on a 25K, $3,000 on a 50K, $6,000 on a 100K and $9,000 on a 150K, for the Apex evaluation as well as the Tradeify Select evaluation. The target alone tells you nothing about difficulty: everything depends on the drawdown and the limits built around it.
2. Trailing drawdown: the floor that follows you up
This is the most misunderstood rule in the industry, and the most common reason accounts get lost. The floor is not fixed. It follows your account high and never comes back down. There are two flavors. End of day trailing recalculates once per day on your closing balance. Intraday trailing follows every tick, including unrealized profit: a trade that runs up and then gives it back can move your floor even though you never banked a dollar.
A detail few traders know about Apex: end of day and intraday accounts carry the same drawdown distance ($2,000 on a 50K). What changes between them is how fast the floor climbs, not how far away it sits.
On funded accounts, the floor eventually stops moving. At Apex and at Tradeify Select Flex the formula is identical: it locks at your starting balance plus $100 once the account reaches starting balance plus drawdown plus $100. On a 50K with a $2,000 drawdown, the lock triggers at $52,100 and the floor freezes at $50,100 for the life of the account.
At Apex, the drawdown distance scales with account size: $1,000 on a 25K, $2,000 on a 50K, $3,000 on a 100K and $4,000 on a 150K, on evaluations and funded accounts alike. The size by size breakdown, contracts included, is in the Apex drawdown table for all 4 account sizes.
When the floor freezes also depends on the product and the platform: never on a Tradovate evaluation, at the Profit Target level on Rithmic and WealthCharts evaluations, at the Safety Net on funded accounts. These three locking regimes of the trailing drawdown are covered in the dedicated Apex trailing drawdown article.
3. The daily loss limit
A maximum loss per trading day, used by some firms and on some programs only. Verified example: $1,000 on a 50K Apex account, measured on both realized and unrealized P&L, resetting at 6:00 p.m. New York time. At Apex, hitting it pauses your session, it does not close the account. Elsewhere the consequence can be different, which is exactly the kind of detail worth checking before you buy.
That fixed $1,000 only applies during the 50K EOD evaluation, by the way. On an Apex funded account, the daily loss limit climbs in tiers with account profit: $1,000 to start, $2,000 from $3,000 of profit, $3,000 from $6,000. And the Apex intraday evaluation has no daily loss limit at all.
At Tradeify Select, it depends on the path you pick once funded: no daily loss limit on the Flex path, $1,000 on a 50K on the Daily path. Same firm, same account size, two very different risk realities.
4. Payout rules
This is the part nobody reads before buying: qualifying days with a minimum profit, consistency rules (at Apex, no single day may account for 50% or more of the profit accumulated since your last approved payout), a minimum withdrawal amount, and a minimum balance you need before you are even allowed to request. Every firm has its own mechanics, and two programs inside the same firm can work completely differently.
Verified orders of magnitude on a 50K. At Apex: 5 qualifying days ($250 minimum net profit each on EOD, $200 on intraday), a $500 minimum per request, a cap of 6 payouts per account before it closes, and a 100% split for the trader. At Tradeify Select: a 90/10 split, and the rhythm depends on the path chosen after the evaluation. Flex pays every 5 winning days ($150 minimum per winning day on a 50K), Daily opens daily eligibility with a $250 minimum per withdrawal.
The consistency rule does not always live at the same stage. At Apex it applies at payout time, never during the evaluation. Tradeify Select flips it: a 40% consistency rule during the evaluation (no single day may carry more than 40% of total profit, which forces at least three trading days), then none at all once funded. Reading the right rulebook at the right stage avoids bad surprises.
The traps that cost accounts
- Two thresholds that look alike. On the same row of the official Apex 50K table, $52,100 is the Safety Net (where the floor freezes) and $52,600 is the Minimum Balance to Request (the balance you need before asking for a payout). Mixing them up throws off every risk calculation you make. Full breakdown here.
- Two programs with the same name that behave differently. At Tradeify, the Select funded account offers two payout paths, Flex and Daily, and Daily runs tighter drawdowns on the 100K and 150K accounts. Side by side comparison here.
- The rules change every quarter. Targets, drawdowns, payout policies: all of it moves. Read the firm's official help center before every purchase. Never a comparison site, never a dated video.
- Inactivity closes accounts. Apex example: without at least two days of $50 net profit in any 30 consecutive calendar days, the funded account gets closed.
How to approach a prop firm properly
Three numbers before every session: your real floor for the day, the distance between your balance and that floor, and your daily limit. The floor climbs with your profits and never comes back down, so it gets recalculated before each session. Not from memory, not from yesterday.
And one priority: build the buffer before you think about payouts. A funded account with no cushion above the floor is an account on borrowed time.
None of this replaces an execution plan. It requires one. That is the work laid out in the Ephore Prop System: firm rules, floor management and execution process inside a single framework.
Frequently asked questions
What is a futures prop firm?
A futures prop firm is a company that hands funded accounts to traders who can operate inside its rules. You pay for an evaluation on a simulated account, reach the profit target without touching the drawdown floor, then trade the funded account under specific payout rules. The firm does not sell capital: it sells a rulebook.
How much does a prop firm evaluation cost?
The price depends on the firm and the account size. At Tradeify, the Select 50K evaluation costs $165 as a one-time purchase, with a $95 reset and free activation of the funded account. Every firm lists its prices on its official site and they change often: always check the official page before buying.
What is a trailing drawdown?
A trailing drawdown is a loss floor that follows your account high and never comes back down. End of day versions recalculate once per day on the closing balance; intraday versions follow every tick, unrealized gains included. Touching it fails the evaluation or closes the funded account, which makes it the leading cause of lost accounts.
What is a consistency rule?
A consistency rule limits how much a single day can weigh in your total profit. At Apex, no single day may represent 50% or more of the profit accumulated since the last approved payout, applied at payout time. At Tradeify Select, a 40% consistency rule applies during the evaluation and forces at least three trading days.
What happens when you hit the daily loss limit?
At Apex, hitting the daily loss limit pauses the session: positions are liquidated and trading resumes the next session, with the account still active. That is not universal: consequences vary by firm and by program. It is exactly the kind of detail to verify on the official help center before you buy.
Can a funded account be closed without a single big loss?
Yes. At Apex, inactivity closes a funded account: you need at least two days of $50 net profit in every rolling 30-day window. And every Apex funded account is capped at 6 payouts before it closes for good. The rules that govern the life of the account matter as much as the loss rules.
Figures re-checked on the official help centers of Apex Trader Funding (August 9, 2026) and Tradeify (August 19, 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.