Guides
The rules, explained once and properly
Each of these answers a specific question in its first two sentences, then shows the working. They exist to make the database usable, not to fill a content calendar - which is why there are 8 of them rather than two hundred.
Rules
The rules that end evaluations
Drawdown, consistency and news restrictions - in that order of importance.
Prop firm drawdown explained: static, end-of-day and intraday trailing
Static drawdown fixes your maximum loss to the starting balance and never moves it. Trailing drawdown raises that line as you profit, which means giving back an open gain can breach an account that is still up on the month.
Consistency rules explained: the rule that blocks payouts
A consistency rule caps how much of your total profit a single trading day may represent. The limit varies by programme, so check the percentage that applies to your account and how the firm calculates it. At most of the firms we track that have one, breaching it delays your payout rather than failing your account, but the delay can run for weeks.
News trading rules at prop firms
News trading restrictions come in three forms: a blackout that breaches your account, an execution window that blocks entries around releases, and profit discounting that counts only part of what you made. Only the firms with none of the three genuinely allow news trading.
Payouts
Getting the money out
Passing a challenge and being paid are two different achievements.
Getting started
Before you buy anything
Sizing, vetting and the checks that are worth doing first.
Futures vs forex prop firms: which should you choose
Choose futures if you day trade and want dollar-denominated risk with the best available profit splits. Choose CFD if you hold overnight or over weekends, want percentage-based risk limits, or trade instruments beyond the futures exchanges.
How to choose a prop firm account size
Buy the smallest account whose daily loss limit comfortably exceeds three times your normal risk per trade. Buying larger only helps if you would genuinely trade it differently.
Prop firm red flags: how to check a firm before you pay
The reliable signals are all verifiable: how long the firm has operated, whether it publishes payout proof, how often it has rewritten rules this year, and whether its terms let it void profit retroactively.
Strategy
Making your approach fit
Automation, scalping and the rules that quietly rule them out.
Done reading?
Put it against the data
Every rule these guides explain is a filter in the directory. Narrow the list to the firms that pass, or answer five questions and let the matcher do it.