Free trial prop firms: Pros, Cons, and How to Maximize Value (2024)

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Prop firms or proprietary firms are financial institutions that enable individuals to trade financial instruments with the firm’s money, aiming to make a profit. They often provide traders access to their trading capital, technology, and resources. Many prop firms started offering what’s called a free trial. After a brief intro about critical points, we will provide a free prop trading firms list.

Free trials refer to temporary access or limited-time offers from these firms, allowing trailers to use their services and trading platforms without an initial financial commitment, such as fees. The best free prop trading firms provide a risk-free opportunity for traders to evaluate the firm’s offerings before deciding to invest in fees and get funded. Since taking a challenge to get a funded trader requires fees, a free trial is very advantageous for traders to check if the firm is worthy of time and effort. Since different brokers have slightly different price data and prop firms are offering services through different brokers, checking services before applying to a live challenge can make a huge difference.

What is a free trial prop firm?

Proprietary firms employ different marketing strategies to promote their funded account services. One such way is to allow new clients to see what the firm is offering through a free trial. During the free trial period, traders can speculate on markets, access real-time spreads, and price data, and check the firm’s dashboard. Free trials can be seen as time-limited prop firm demo accounts that offer the ability to fully evaluate the trading services of the firm. Trading on the free prop firm account has distinctive advantages but also bears risks which we will discuss in more detail soon.

Free trial prop firms: Pros, Cons, and How to Maximize Value (1)

Pros

  • Pros of a free trial
  • Testing tradable assets and price data quality
  • Spreads and commissions
  • Risk-Free Evaluation
  • Skill Development

Free trial prop firms: Pros, Cons, and How to Maximize Value (2)

Cons

  • Limit time
  • No Profit Withdrawals
  • Not Representing Real Risk
  • Limited features

Evaluating Free Prop Trading Firms

Any newly established prop firm can offer free trials and various free challenges, but this doesn’t make them legit and safe. The firm might just show everything best during the free trial and then terminate the actual funded account with hidden rules or other obscure reasons. This is why it is crucial to ensure the firm is safe and legitimate. For this purpose, traders need to do research and see what other traders are saying about the prop firm they are interested in. Another much easier way is to read our unbiased reviews of prop firms and conclude if your time and effort are worth it to the firm under question. If you still decide to check everything yourself, we got you covered. Below are the must-do steps to evaluate the prop firm with a free trial:

The Best Prop Firms with Free Trials

FirmOverall ScoreMin instant fundingMax instant fundingMin instant funding feeProfit shareDaily loss limitMax loss limit
Funded Trading Plus4.055,000 USD250,000 USD229 USD70-80%3-4%5-8%
FTMO4.0310,000 USD200,000 USD164 USD90%5%10%
Smart Prop Trader3.5710,000 USD200,000 USD67 USD85%4%8%
Fidelcrest3.515,000 USD1 Million USD99 EUR80-90%5%10%
Finotive Funding3.352,500 USD3.2 million USD50 USD75%4%7.5%

Utilizing Free Prop Firm Trials

Not to waste your time when signing up for a free trial, there are several general steps to make maximum use of these accounts. Our free prop trading firms rating is unbiased and reliable as we consider every crucial metric when evaluating prop firm safety. Keep in mind that the main goal of this account is to have a general idea about the firm’s spreads, commissions, and price data quality. It is also important to check the firm’s trader’s dash or any other tools that can become helpful for monitoring your performance and progress in a challenge.

How to Maximize the Value of a Free Prop Firm Account

Here are important use cases for the free trial accounts:

  • Learn and Research – Familiarize yourself with the firm’s trading platforms, tools, and resources. It is not a good idea to start learning on the live account, so ensure you know how to open and manage trading positions with ease.
  • Developing a trading plan – While you should develop and test a trading plan before applying for a challenge, using a free account to test and develop a trading plan fully is an absolute must.
  • Practice and test – Execute simulated trade to ensure the effectiveness of your skills and strategy. This allows you to refine your approach and trading style without risking failing in the challenge or losing real money.
  • Build a track record – Aim to build a positive trading track record. Imagine yourself on the funded account and write down all your positions in the trading journal to analyze your performance and spot inefficiencies. A strong performance history will help when transitioning to a funded account.
  • Plan your transition to a funded account – Try to follow the firm’s rules and gain experience to succeed during the real challenge of a funded account.

Free accounts offer valuable insight into the firm’s trading conditions and, what’s more importantly, the rules and risk limit conditions. Using a free account, it will be possible to fully adjust your trading strategy to adhere to the firm’s requirements. With this information about free prop firm challenge, it will be easier to use the free trial to your advantage and aim to become profitable on the live-funded account.

Why some prop firms don’t offer free trials

Sometimes prop firms may teach their trading strategies. This exposes their strategies and data to individuals who are not bound by confidentiality agreements, which can compromise their competitive advantage and security. Another reason is risk management, as providing free trials may attract traders who are seeking to exploit the firm’s resources or test risky strategies without commitment. This can increase the firm’s risk exposure, which is never a good thing in the financial trading business.

Prop firms invest time and resources in training and supporting their traders. Offering free trials to many individuals can strain a firm’s resources and reduce the quality of services for existing clients.

Free trials can attract traders with less motivation and commitment, reducing the number of serious traders for the firm. Firms may prefer to work with traders dedicated to trading as a profession and main source of income and are willing to invest in their own trading education.

FAQs on which prop firms offer free trials

Do prop firms offer free trials?

What can you do with a free trial for prop trading?

Is it worth using a free trial for prop trading?

Is it common for prop firms to have a free trial?

What are the rules of free prop firm accounts?

Free trial prop firms: Pros, Cons, and How to Maximize Value (2024)

FAQs

What percentage of people pass prop firms? ›

The article from Lux Trading Firm provides slightly different results. According to it, 4% of traders, on average, pass prop firm challenges. But only 1% of traders kept their funded accounts for a reasonable amount of time.

What are the disadvantages of prop firms? ›

Among many other potential factors, the main disadvantages of prop trading arise from being classified as a market professional, unfavorable profit sharing, and whether your net trading profits are taxed as capital gains or ordinary personal income.

How do prop firms not lose money? ›

Strict risk management rules — prop firms impose strict risk management guidelines to protect their capital. While these rules help financial companies preserve their assets, they can sometimes limit a trader's flexibility in executing trades.

What is the problem with prop firms? ›

Limited Control Over Capital and Payouts:

- Traders in prop firms often have limited control over the firm's capital. They may need to deposit their own money as collateral or risk management. - Additionally, payouts are subject to the firm's rules, which may restrict a trader's access to profits.

What is the failure rate of FTMO? ›

There is estimated to be a 90% fail rate of traders that take the FTMO challenge. The reason behind this is due to traders chasing the profit target with a time restriction in place. A trader doesnt know when a winning streak might occur, or when they may take a string of drawdowns.

How many people fail funded accounts? ›

According to FTMO statistics, only about 10% of traders are able to pass the funded account challenge at any account level. This means approximately 90% of aspiring funded traders fail the evaluation and are unable to gain access to the firm's capital.

Are prop firms risk free? ›

Although trading does always come with risks, the most you can lose on a prop firm challenge is the money it costs you to take the challenge in the first place.

What happens if you lose money on a funded account? ›

On a funded account, losing a large amount of money does not mean much. Even if it results in losing your funded account, you can still try to pass the evaluation at the same firm again or just join another one. Ultimately, you do not risk much and do not lose much.

Which prop firm has the lowest fees? ›

Top Best Cheapest Prop Trading Firms
  • 1) Funded Trading Plus.
  • 2) FTMO.
  • 3) TopStepTrader.
  • 4) Fidelcrest.
  • 5) LuxTradingFirm.
  • 6) OneUp Trader.
  • 7) FTUK.
  • 1) Funded Trading Plus.
Apr 4, 2024

Do prop firms really pay out? ›

Statistics on Average Trader Payouts

Profit Split: The average prop firm will offer a 80-20 profit split once you become a funded trader. TFT, on the other hand, gives up to a 90% split, — even as high as 95% in some promotions — the highest in the industry.

What happens if you lose a prop firm's money? ›

When you are trading with a prop firm, your losses are usually limited to the foregone risk of your challenge/account fee. You are generally not liable for the prop firm's lost funds.

What is the average return on prop trading firms? ›

Although extremely tough, if 5% of trades are routinely made each month, the annual return for the trader is 60%. It is a lot given that the most successful traders typically generate a 20–30% profit annually.

What are the pros and cons of prop firms? ›

However, if you understand the risk and trust the management and its operations, proprietary trading offers many advantages, although it mostly involves day trading. At the end of the day, the main advantage of proprietary trading is leverage, and the main disadvantage of proprietary trading is fraud.

What are prop firm challenges? ›

Prop Firm Challenges are meticulously crafted to replicate genuine trading scenarios. This exposure to live markets, complete with actual risk, is a priceless learning opportunity.

Are prop firms a pyramid? ›

There is a very slim likelihood that they will succeed if the prop firm does not have their best interests in mind. Actually, one could compare the 95% of prop companies to a pyramid scheme. They either set you up to fail or compensate you with other traders' losses.

Is it hard to pass the prop firm challenge? ›

If so, then you may have heard about the prop firm challenge. This is a popular way for traders to prove their skills and potentially secure funding from a prop firm. However, passing this challenge can be quite daunting and requires a lot of hard work and dedication.

How many people succeed in Prop Firm? ›

Apart from only 10-15% of all traders passing prop firm challenges, only about 1-2% of these traders get to keep their funded accounts for a reasonable amount of time.

Is it hard to get funded by a prop firm? ›

Becoming a funded trader with a prop firm involves showcasing your trading skills and adherence to risk management during an evaluation process. While the difficulty can vary, it's achievable with consistency, dedication, and a solid trading approach.

What is the failure rate of traders? ›

Key Takeaways. Profitable trading is difficult and successful traders share specific rare characteristics. It is estimated that more than 80% of traders fail and quit. One key to success is to identify strategies that win more money than they lose.

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