Today you’ll learn all about proprietary trading firms, and I’ll give you a list of the best firms out there.

Here are the topics:

• What Is A Prop Firm
• Prop Firm Challenge – How To Pass
• How Do Prop Firms Make Money
• List Of Top Proprietary Trading Firms
• This Is What You Learned Today

What Is A Prop Firm

A Prop Firm, a short form of Proprietary Firm, is a company that engages in the activity of prop trading.

Prop firms use their own money to trade or invest, rather than their client’s money.

The advantage?

They keep all the profits for themselves and don’t have to share them.

These firms allow traders to access their capital and use it to trade. The profits are shared between the firm and the trader.

This is a good solution for a lot of retail traders to gain access to a trading account with enough size to trade and get decent returns.

When you trade for a prop firm you may also have access to sophisticated software and analysis tools.

The firm wins when you win, so they have their interests aligned with you. For this reason, they also frequently give you mentorship, support, and access to education provided by experienced traders.

Prop Firm Challenge – How To Pass

To get qualified to trade for a proprietary firm you need to pass their challenges first. A few prop firms fund traders without challenges (which you can find in the list below), but the majority will require you to pass the challenge.

These challenges have one or two phases and are made to prove that you are qualified to trade the firm’s own money.

To pass the prop firm challenges, you need to have trading skills like a trading strategy that you can trade with consistency and good risk management.

The challenges are often very similar from firm to firm. You basically have to achieve a certain amount of profit, within a defined period, and without exceeding a maximum loss.

Usually, an initial fee is required to enroll in the prop firm challenge, and you do the challenge using a demo account.

Once you pass the challenge phase, you’ll get rewarded with a real trading account.

All profits that you make with this trading account will be shared between you and the proprietary firm. Typically the trader gets the bigger chunk of the profits, which can go up to 90%.

If you keep performing well, the prop firm may keep increasing your trading capital in steps.

Below in this article, there’s a list of the best prop firms, with links to detailed info about how to pass each prop firm challenge.

How Do Prop Firms Make Money

Proprietary firms make money when you make money.

When you trade using an account funded by them, your profits will be shared with the prop firm, although typically the trader gets the bigger piece.

Prop firms also won’t let you deviate from good trading and good risk management.

Why?

Because if you lose, you are also losing their own money, and of course, the company doesn’t want that.

There are a set of rules that you need to follow, especially when it comes to risk management. If you take a big risk or if you go into a big drawdown, your account may be closed and you’ll need to pass the prop firm challenges again. So, don’t ever forget to set your stop loss, and calculate and respect your maximum lot size.

List Of Top Proprietary Trading Firms

Here’s a list of the best top proprietary firms.

Topstep

Topstep is a Futures prop firm located in Chicago, Illinois, USA, founded in 2010.

What can you trade: Equity Futures, Foreign Exchange Futures, Agricultural Futures, Oil and Natural Gas Futures, Financial/Interest Rate Futures, and Metals Futures (Gold, Silver, and Copper).

Max account balance: up to $150k (buying power).

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at $165/month.

Platforms: TSTrader, NinjaTrader, Quantower, TradingView, Sierra Chart, T4, Jigsaw Daytradr, Multicharts, R|Trader Pro, VolFix, Trade Navigator, ATAS OrderFlow Trading, MotiveWave, Bookmap, Investor/RT.

Learn more: Topstep (20% off link).

Review: Read my full Topstep Review.

FTMO

FTMO is a prop firm located in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 2014.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Metals, Stocks, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $400k

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at €155

Platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader.

Learn more: FTMO.

Review: Read my full FTMO Review.

TradeThePool

TradeThePool is a prop firm located in Israel and founded in 2016.

What can you trade: Stocks.

Max account balance: up to $260k (buying power).

Profit split: up to 80%.

Cost: Start at $300.

Platforms: Proprietary.

Learn more: TradeThePool.

SurgeTrader

SurgeTrader is a prop firm located in Naples, Florida, USA, and was founded in 2021.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Metals, Commodities, Stocks, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $1 Million.

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at $250.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

Learn more: SurgeTrader (20% off link for repeats)

Review: Read my full SurgeTrader Review.

FundedNext

FundedNext is a prop firm founded in 2016. It started in Bangladesh but already expanded to the UAE, USA, and UK.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Commodities, and Metals.

Max account balance: up to $4 Million.

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at $99.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4.

Learn more: FundedNext.

Review: Read my full FundedNext Review.

The Funded Trader Program

The Funded Trader Program is a prop firm founded in 2021 and is located in Miami, Florida, USA.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Metals, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $1.5 Million.

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at $129.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4 and Metatrader 5.

Learn more: The Funded Trader Program.

Review: Read my full The Funded Trader Review.

Lux Trading Firm

The Lux Trading Firm is a prop firm located in London, UK.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, and Metals.

Max account balance: up to $10 Million.

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at £299.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4, TradingView, and TraderEvolution.

Learn more: Lux Trading Firm.

The Trading Pit

The Trading Pit is a prop firm founded in 2022 in Liechtenstein.

What can you trade: Futures, Forex, Indices, Metals, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $1 Million.

Profit split: up to 80%.

Cost: Start at €99.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, ATAS, Rithmic, Quantower, Bookmap.

Learn more: The Trading Pit.

Review: Read my full The Trading Pit Review.

Audacity Capital

Audacity Capital is a prop firm located in London, UK, and was founded in 2012.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, and Commodities.

Max account balance: up to $480k.

Profit split: up to 75%.

Cost: Start at £199.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4.

Learn more: Audacity Capital.

E8Funding

E8Funding is a prop firm located in Dallas, Texas, USA, and was founded in 2021.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Commodities, Stocks, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $1 Million.

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at $138.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5.

Learn more: E8Funding.

Review: Read my full E8 Funding Review.

Fidelcrest

Fidelcrest is a prop firm located in Nicosia, Cyprus, and was founded in 2018.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Stocks, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $2 Million.

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at $99.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4.

Learn more: Fidelcrest.

City Traders Imperium

City Traders Imperium is a prop firm located in London, UK, and was founded in 2018.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Stocks, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $100k.

Profit split: up to 100%.

Cost: Start at £109.

Platforms: MetaTrader 5.

Learn more: City Traders Imperium.

Leeloo Trading

Leeloo Trading is a prop firm located in Montana, USA, and was founded in 2017.

What can you trade: Crypto Futures, Indices Futures, Interest Rate Futures, Currency Futures, Agricultural Futures, Energy Futures, Metals Futures

Max account balance: up to $300k (buying power).

Profit split: up to 90%.

Cost: Start at $77.

Platforms: NinjaTrader, Rithmic Pro, EdgeProX, Motive Wave, Multicharts, Jigsaw Daytradr, Trade Navigator, Volfix, Bookmap X-Ray, Investor/RT, Sierra Charts, OptimusFLOW

Learn more: Leeloo Trading.

Super Funded

Super Funded is a prop firm located in Victoria, Australia, and was founded in 2021.

What can you trade: Forex, Indices, Commodities, Metals, Stocks, and Crypto.

Max account balance: up to $200k.

Profit split: 90%.

Cost: Start at $99.

Platforms: MetaTrader 4.

Learn more: Super Funded.

Elite Trader Funding

Elite Trader Funding is a prop firm located in Florida, USA.

What can you trade: Crypto Futures, Indices Futures, Interest Rate Futures, Currency Futures, Agricultural Futures, Energy Futures, and Metals Futures.

Max account balance: up to $300k (buying power).

Profit split: 80%.

Cost: Start at $80.

Platforms: Rithmic, NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Sierra Chart.

Learn more: Elite Trader Funding.

Review: Read my full Elite Trader Funding Review.

BluFX

BluFX is a prop firm located in London, UK, and was founded in 2016 and provides instant funded accounts to traders.

What can you trade: Forex.

Max account balance: up to $1 Million.

Profit split: 50%.

Cost: Start at $99.

Platforms: cTrader.

Learn more: BluFX.

Review: Read my full BluFX Review.

This Is What You Learned Today

• Proprietary firms allow traders to access their capital to trade and share the revenue.
• To be able to access a proprietary firm account you need to pass a challenge with one or two phases.
• Prop firms make money when you make money, so you have a list of rules to follow especially risk management.
• Proprietary firms let you trade almost anything: Futures, Forex, Stocks, Indices, Metals, Commodities, and even Crypto.

Now I want to hear from you.

Did I miss any prop firm on the list? Which one?

Let me know below in the comments.