Prop firm evaluation rules, read from the firms' own pages
Futures prop-firm evaluation rules side by side, each with its source link and the date it was read. Where a firm's pages disagree, both are shown.
By Matthew Hendricks, from the firms' own help pages. No affiliate links (about this guide).
These guides read the rules that futures prop firms publish for their evaluation accounts and put them side by side. Every rule carries a link to the firm’s page and the date we read it. When a firm’s own pages disagree with each other, we show both and do not pick one.
They are not trading advice, a ranking of firms, or a promise about results. Firms change their rules, so check the firm’s page before you rely on a number here.
Guides
- Prop firm consistency rule calculator: each firm’s wording, a calculator for how much more profit you need, and worked examples.
- Trailing, end-of-day and static drawdown: what each kind of loss limit does, with the five firms side by side.
- Apex intraday vs EOD drawdown: how Apex’s two drawdown types move, and where its older and newer pages disagree.
- Topstep trailing drawdown: how the Maximum Loss Limit moves, when it stops, and what is tested in real time.
- Do prop firms allow trading bots?: what eight futures firms’ own pages say about running a bot.
- Pine strategy pre-flight before a prop-firm evaluation: seven rule checks to run on a Pine strategy’s source, citing TradingView’s own docs.
Rules you will meet, and where we cover them
The accounts on these pages use dollar limits, such as $2,000 on a 50K account, not the percentages that forex-style answers quote.
| Rule | Where it is covered |
|---|---|
| Drawdown: trailing, end-of-day, static | drawdown types, Apex, Topstep |
| Daily loss limit | Inside the Topstep and Apex pages, as a separate rule from the drawdown |
| Consistency rule | consistency calculator |
| Bots and automation | bots |
| News trading | news trading |
| Profit target, minimum trading days, flat-by times, contract limits | Not yet covered by a guide |
How a page is made
- We read the firm’s own help-centre or rules page, not a review site.
- The rule is written in plain words, with the firm’s exact words quoted where wording matters.
- The source link and read date sit next to the rule, as S numbers that jump to the Sources list.
- If two pages from the same firm say different things, both are shown under a disagreement note.
What is covered so far
Evaluation accounts at 50K size for Topstep, Apex, Tradeify, MyFundedFutures and Take Profit Trader, read on 2026-10-21. Some Apex and Tradeify pages refused automated reads, so those were read from archive snapshots; each page says which. The bot page covers eight firms (Topstep, Tradeify, MyFundedFutures, Lucid, TradeDay, Bulenox, Funded Futures Network, read on 2026-11-03, and Apex, read on 2026-11-05). Take Profit Trader is not on it.
Nothing here covers strategy edge or whether a strategy will make money. These pages are about the rules an account has to stay inside.
About this guide
Compiled from the firms' own help pages by Matthew Hendricks, founder of Matchstick (about Matthew). Where a source is an archive snapshot, the Sources list says so. There are no affiliate links on these pages. Matchstick also talks to prop firms about a paid pilot (the firms page).
Matchstick Replay is a tool for replaying recorded futures market data. These pages are for futures traders who take prop-firm evaluation accounts (the test accounts you must pass first). Not about retirement accounts, banking, restaurant orders or video calls.
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