Futures firms comparator
Pick two prop firms and see them side by side: rules, plans, platforms, leverage, commissions and payouts, next to each one's discount.
- Field by field, side by side
- Only the differences in one click
- Link to the written comparison
51 differences
Am Langenwall 1, 18439 Stralsund, Germany
30 North Gould Street, Ste R
City: Sheridan
State: Wyoming (WY)
Postal code: 82801
Lennard Wenderholm
Matt Morris
Germany
United States
2024
Lvlup charges no payout fee.
Both the evaluation and the funded account are simulated, unless a separate agreement says otherwise.
Transition to Live
After 3 successful payouts, a risk manager will evaluate your account and decide whether you continue in INSTANT or move to Live (the transition may occur before the third payout).
During the transition:
- All other accounts are paused or closed
- Only 1 Live account is allowed
- Trading on SIM accounts is not allowed while the review is ongoing
Pre-Live Stage
Pre-Live is an intermediate phase created to facilitate the move from SIM to real capital and to evaluate discipline and risk management under conditions close to Live:
- 1 daily payout from the first day in profit
- No consistency rule
- No maximum withdrawal limits
- Activation in 3–5 days
Move to Full Live
After demonstrating consistency in Pre-Live, the account is upgraded to Live (Plus500) with real capital, without restarting the process or affecting payouts:
- Up to 10% of the initial balance of the SIM account is transferred
- Only one account migrates to Live
- The highest profit from a single account is transferred
- Lvlup: every 14 days. The days in the cycle do not need to be profitable.
- Starter: after every 5 profitable days. 5 payouts at most; the fifth closes the account.
Elite Challenge / Elite Sim Funded
- Profit target per payout cycle: 6% (1st) / 5% (2nd) / 4% (3rd onward)
- Consistency resets after each payout
Elite Daily (Funded)
- Daily payouts starting from day 1
- Must reach buffer + $500 minimum
Elite ACCESS (Funded)
- On-demand payouts (any time after meeting requirements)
- Min 5 profitable days (per size: 25k=$200, 50k=$250, 100k=$300, 150k=$350)
Instant Sim Funded
- Profit target per payout cycle: 6% (1st) / 5% (2nd) / 4% (3rd onward)
- Consistency rule 20%
S2F Sim Pro
- Min 10 trading days, at least 7 profitable (profitable day = 0.1% of starting balance)
- Profit target per cycle: 6% / 5% / 4%
- ESS 20% or less
IGNITE
- 5% profit target each payout (resets after every payout cycle)
- No minimum trading days
X-ULTRA
- 7 profitable days before each payout; 4 with the paid add-on
- Minimum closing profit for a day to count: 50K $250 / 100K $500 / 150K $750
- New qualifying days required after each payout
X-Daily Spark: daily payout requests, with no minimum trading days.
Approved payouts are processed within 48 hours at most, usually 24 to 48h.
Less than 12 hours on average from request to payment. Average support response time: under 60 seconds via 24/7 live chat.
- Lvlup: 10% of the starting balance per payout.
- Starter: 4% on 25K and 50K, 2.5% on 100K and 2% on 150K, never more than 50% of the profit generated.
Maximum payout per withdrawal before moving to Live. No cap applies after moving to Live.
ELITE and S2F Sim Pro
| Account Size | Max Payout Per Withdrawal |
|---|---|
| $25,000 | $1,500 |
| $50,000 | $2,500 |
| $100,000 | $3,000 |
| $150,000 | $3,500 |
INSTANT Sim Funded, purchased before 7/27/2026
| Account Size | Max Payout Per Withdrawal |
|---|---|
| $25,000 | $1,500 |
| $50,000 | $2,500 |
| $100,000 | $3,000 |
| $150,000 | $3,500 |
INSTANT Sim Funded 2.0, purchased on or after 7/27/2026
| Account Size | Max Payout Per Withdrawal |
|---|---|
| $25,000 | $1,000 |
| $50,000 | $2,000 |
| $100,000 | $2,500 |
| $150,000 | $3,000 |
IGNITE
| Account Size | Max Payout Per Withdrawal |
|---|---|
| $25,000 | $500 |
| $50,000 | $1,000 |
| $100,000 | $1,500 |
X-ULTRA
| Account Size | Max Payout Per Withdrawal |
|---|---|
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $7,000 |
| $150,000 | $9,000 |
X-Daily Spark: $1,000 per payout; excess profit stays available for later payouts.
- Starter: $500 on every size.
- Lvlup: no published minimum.
IGNITE: $250
Elite Daily / Elite ACCESS / Instant / S2F / Elite Challenge: $500
X-ULTRA: $50
X-Daily Spark: $500
- KYC with Sumsub before the funded account. The payout method must belong to the verified holder.
- Lvlup: the 40% consistency rule must be met when you request the payout.
- Starter: the account is locked from the request until the payout is approved.
- The full requested amount comes off the balance and the drawdown is not reset.
X-ULTRA: at least 50% of each payout request must come from new profit earned since the previous payout. No payout buffer.
X-Daily Spark: from the second payout, at least 50% of each request must come from new profit earned since the previous payout.
A failed account cannot be reset or reactivated: you have to buy a new evaluation.
Elite Challenge (challenge)
- $25K: $29
- $50K: $39
- $100K: $79
- $150K: $119
Elite Sim Funded (funded reset)
- $25K: $199
- $50K: $299
- $100K: $399
- $150K: $499
Elite Daily (challenge)
- $25K: $79
- $50K: $99
- $100K: $189
- $150K: $265
Elite Daily (funded)
- $25K: $299
- $50K: $499
- $100K: $849
- $150K: $849 (V1); V2 confirm pending
Elite ACCESS (challenge)
- $35 flat (all sizes)
Elite ACCESS (funded)
- $25K: $299
- $50K: $499
- $100K: $849
- $150K: $1,349
Instant / S2F Sim Pro / IGNITE
- No reset option
X-ULTRA
- Paid evaluation resets remain available after new accounts sell out. Each reset starts a new 30-day evaluation period.
X-Daily Spark: evaluation resets available; no funded reset.
Payout Protector (+25% of the price): if a funded account fails while in profit, they review the case and may pay what was eligible. It does not prevent the breach or keep the account open, and it must be added at purchase.
X-ULTRA: 4 profitable days before each payout instead of 7 (+30%).
No DLL: Elite Access only, approximately +30% on activation; unavailable afterwards or on resets.
X-Daily Spark: static evaluation drawdown (+$15); lower evaluation target, 5% (+$15) or 4% (+$30). Bought at checkout, evaluation only. No funded daily loss limit (+$30), selected at activation.
End-of-day trailing: it follows the highest closing balance and updates once the day ends; intraday moves do not shift it. On Lvlup it stops trailing once the account is up 6% and locks at the starting balance; Starter does not publish that lock. Touching it closes the account.
EOD trailing drawdown: Elite Challenge, Elite Daily, Elite ACCESS Standard, Instant Sim Funded and IGNITE.
Elite ACCESS Intraday uses EOD trailing drawdown during evaluation and real-time intraday trailing drawdown when funded. The funded drawdown follows the highest realized or unrealized equity and locks at starting balance + $100 after the first payout.
S2F Sim Pro uses intraday trailing drawdown.
For Instant Sim Funded, the trailing drawdown locks above the starting balance once its lock condition is reached or after the first payout.
X-ULTRA
EOD trailing in evaluation and funded stages; follows the highest closing balance, never moves down and locks at starting balance + $100. Falling below the threshold fails the account. Funded drawdown: $3,000 / $4,500 / $6,000 for 50K / 100K / 150K.
X-Daily Spark: EOD trailing in evaluation and funded; follows the highest closing balance and never moves down. Funded threshold locks at starting balance + $100. Static evaluation drawdown available as an add-on.
80% on Lvlup and 100% on Starter.
Products listed below, excluding X-Daily Spark: 90/10 (trader keeps 90%).
- Elite Challenge / Elite Daily / Elite ACCESS
- Instant Sim Funded
- S2F Sim Pro
- IGNITE
No daily loss limit.
Elite Challenge
- 2.5% (EOD soft breach)
Elite Daily
- $25K: 2% ($500)
- $50K: 2% ($1,000)
- $100K: 1.25% ($1,250)
- $150K: 1% ($1,500)
- V2 (5/11/26 onward, evaluation and funded): same as V1
Elite ACCESS
- Evaluation: none
- Funded: $25K $500 / $50K $1,000 / $100K $1,250 / $150K $1,750
Instant Sim Funded
- 2.5% ($625 / $1,250 / $2,500 / $3,750)
S2F Sim Pro
- 2% intraday ($500 / $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000)
IGNITE
- 2% ($500 / $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000)
X-ULTRA
- Hard breach in evaluation and funded accounts, measured from the starting balance for the day. Includes closed and floating losses, commissions and fees. Resets at 6:00 PM ET.
X-Daily Spark: no evaluation daily loss limit. Funded soft breach pauses trading for the day; calculated from the previous closing balance, including realized and unrealized losses. Trading day: 6:00 PM to 4:10 PM ET. Optional removal at activation.
$1,000,000 per trader, adding up every active account, evaluation and funded.
Accounts per trader or household:
- 5 ELITE (Elite Challenge / Elite Sim Funded)
- 5 ELITE DAILY
- 5 ELITE ACCESS
- 5 INSTANT Sim Funded
- 5 S2F Sim Pro (more during special promotions)
- 10 IGNITE (same size, for copy trading)
Purchasing limits (Elite / Elite Daily / Elite ACCESS)
- 10 evaluation accounts per rolling 30-day window
- 12 resets per 30-day window
- Max 5 active funded accounts at any time
X-ULTRA
- Maximum 3 X-ULTRA accounts at the same time
No fixed number of accounts: the limit is the total capital.
X-Daily Spark: maximum 3 accounts in total, evaluation and funded combined.
- Lvlup: no expiry, but you must trade at least once every 30 days.
- Starter: 30 days from the first trade; it does not renew.
Elite ACCESS (evaluation)
- 30 days to pass
Elite Challenge / Elite Daily / Instant / S2F / IGNITE
- No time limit
X-ULTRA (evaluation)
- 30 days to pass; a purchased reset starts a new 30-day period
X-Daily Spark evaluation: 30 days to pass.
5 in the evaluation. Any day with at least one executed trade counts.
Elite Challenge
- None (can pass in 1 day)
Elite ACCESS
- 1 day minimum to pass evaluation
Elite Daily (Funded)
- 1 day (for payout eligibility)
S2F Sim Pro
- 10 trading days, at least 7 profitable (profitable day = 0.1% of starting balance)
Instant Sim Funded / IGNITE
- None
X-ULTRA (evaluation)
- No minimum trading days.
X-Daily Spark: no minimum trading days in evaluation or before a funded payout.
- Lvlup: activation fee after passing, due within 30 days. It is lower if the evaluation was monthly. No monthly fee once funded.
- Starter: no activation fee.
Elite Challenge: one-time activation fee after passing.
Elite ACCESS Standard activation: $139 / $189 / $259 / $359 for 25K / 50K / 100K / 150K.
Elite ACCESS Intraday activation: $69 / $94 / $129 / $179.
Elite Daily, Instant Sim Funded, S2F Sim Pro and IGNITE: no activation fee.
Lvlup Elite: 1 point per dollar paid out by Lvlup and 200 per passed Lvlup account; verified payouts and passes at other futures firms count too. 10,000 points unlock 12 months in a club with events and trips, where each point is worth $1. It cannot be bought.
- Lvlup: none; payouts follow 14-day cycles.
- Starter: 5 profitable days before each payout.
Elite ACCESS (Funded)
- 5 profitable days required before first payout
- Min daily profit: $25K $200 / $50K $250 / $100K $300 / $150K $350
S2F Sim Pro
- 7 profitable days out of 10 trading days
- Profitable day = 0.1% of starting balance
Elite Daily / Instant Sim Funded / IGNITE / Elite Challenge
- No minimum profitable days requirement (consistency targets only)
- Lvlup: monthly or one-time payment, your choice. The monthly fee runs while the evaluation is open and stops when you pass, fail or cancel.
- Starter: one-time payment only.
- On Volumetrica, Lvlup monthly ($129, $225, $369 and $476) and Starter ($161, $226, $291 and $356) cost more. Lvlup one-time costs the same on both platforms.
Elite Challenge and Elite Daily: monthly subscription.
Elite ACCESS Standard and Intraday: $39 one-time entry fee; a one-time activation fee applies after passing.
Instant Sim Funded, S2F Sim Pro and IGNITE: one-time fee.
Receive a practice account when you purchase a paid
X-Daily Spark: $3,000 must remain in the funded account after every payout.
Per-product consistency targets
- Elite Sim Funded: 25% (best day / total profit)
- Elite Daily (evaluation only): 45% V1 / 40% V2 (accounts from 5/11/26)
- Elite ACCESS (Funded): 40%
- Instant Sim Funded: 20%
- S2F Sim Pro: 20% Equity Stability Score (ESS), not a consistency rule per se
- IGNITE: 15%
Consistency / ESS resets after each payout cycle.
X-ULTRA: 50% during evaluation (best day / total profit); none when funded.
X-Daily Spark: none in evaluation or funded.
X-ULTRA funded accounts: contract limits adjust daily using closing profit, increasing or decreasing with the applicable level. Payouts can reduce the level. No scaling during evaluation.
X-Daily Spark funded: 1 mini / 10 micros below $1,500 closing profit; 2 minis / 20 micros from $1,500 to $1,999; 3 minis / 30 micros from $2,000. The next trading day uses the previous closing balance. No evaluation scaling.
Your own bots are allowed, for the holder's own trading. High-frequency bots and bots that copy trades between different traders are forbidden.
EAs and bots are NOT allowed on any account type. Manual trading only. Violations may lead to account suspension, termination or loss of funding privileges.
Allowed within the same account. Forbidden across accounts, yours or another firm's.
No minimum trade duration, but no HFT and no sub-60-second trades at the contract limit.
Scalping allowed, with one restriction:
10-second rule (all account types)
- All trades must remain open longer than 10 seconds
- 10.00 seconds = violation; 10.01 seconds = acceptable
- Closing any portion of a trade before 10 seconds violates the rule
- Adding to a trade (scaling in) within 10 seconds is permitted
- Occasional minor violations are tolerated; if ~50% or more of profits/trades violate this rule, profits are removed
Contract limit by account size, counting all open exposure together (1 mini = 10 micros). Risking an outsized share of the account on a single move is forbidden.
Only between your own accounts, within contract and capital limits. Copying other traders or following signal groups is forbidden.
PRO
- Only allowed to copy trades from one PRO account to other PRO accounts of the exact same size.
- Limited to a maximum of 5 PRO accounts for copy trading.
- NOT allowed: copying between S2F Sim Pro and Instant Sim Funded, or between S2F and Elite plans.
Classic ELITE & Instant Sim
- Only allowed to copy trades between accounts of the same type and same size
- Limited to a maximum of 3 ELITE Sim accounts or Instant Sim accounts for copy trading.
ELITE DAILY
- Copy trade up to 5 accounts.
IGNITE
- Copy trading allowed on up to 10 IGNITE accounts of the same size
- Not allowed: between different plan types (IGNITE to Instant or Elite), or between different IGNITE sizes
Copy Trading Between Firms:
- It's allowed but all trade decisions must originate from activity on their platform.
Allowed in evaluation and funded, with no 3-minute restriction. The general terms of Prop Account, the company running the evaluations, do forbid opening positions 3 minutes before and after a news event.
News trading allowed by default on all account types, with the exceptions below:
Elite Daily (Funded)
- No trades 2 minutes before or after high-impact news events
Elite ACCESS (Funded)
- No trades 2 minutes before or after high-impact news events
Elite Challenge / Instant / S2F / IGNITE: no news restriction.
X-Daily Spark: unrestricted during evaluation. Funded accounts cannot open or close trades within 2 minutes before or after major high-impact news.
At least one trade every 30 days; the timer cannot be paused. On Lvlup it also applies once funded.
14 calendar days without a trade (entry and exit) results in hard breach. The 14-day window includes weekends and holidays. Applies to all account types.
40%: your best day cannot exceed 40% of total profit. On Lvlup it applies in the evaluation and at every payout request; on Starter, only in the evaluation. Exceeding it does not fail the account: you keep trading until it drops below 40%.
INSTANT: To request a payout, no single trading day's profit can exceed 20% of your total accumulated profits
ELITE (funded phase): 25%
ELITE DAILY (evaluation only): 45% V1 / 40% V2 (accounts from 5/11/26)
ELITE ACCESS (funded): 40%
IGNITE: 15%
PRO: You need an ESS score of 20% to request a payout. To calculate ESS Score: (Best Day Profit + Worst Day Loss [as a positive number]) ÷ Total Profit × 100%
X-ULTRA: 50% during evaluation (best day / total profit); none when funded.
X-Daily Spark: none in evaluation or funded.
All trades must be closed by 4:10 PM EST. The system force-liquidates any open positions at that time. No overnight or weekend holding allowed. Weekend trading is prohibited.
Trading hours: 6:00 PM EST (Sunday) to 4:10 PM EST (Friday), with a daily break from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM EST.
- Exploiting price errors, delays or latency
- High-frequency trading (HFT)
- Hedging or arbitrage across accounts, other firms included
- Front-running and insider information
- Group trading, signals or copying other traders
- Having a third party trade or pass the evaluation for you
- All-in or excessive risk on a single move
- Passing with one strategy and switching it once funded
- Trading at or near the contract limit for under 60 seconds (Prop Account terms)
- Exploiting System, Pricing, or Latency Errors
- Use of Insider or Non-Public Information
- Front-Running
- Hedging Between Accounts
- Unauthorized Account Access
- Minimum Trade Duration (10-Second Rule)
- Trading That Risks Broker Relationships
- Trading That May Create Regulatory Concerns
- Externally Marked Challenge-Passing Strategies
- Rolling, Churning, or Gambling Accounts
Everything closed by 15:55 CST on normal days; trading resumes at 17:00 CST. Hours change on holidays and closing in time is the trader's job.
Not advised. Must notify or your account might be breached.
Allowed
- Trading from different devices (mobile, desktop)
- VPS with static IP (must notify support in advance and provide the invoice)
- Traveling and trading (may require documentation)
Not Allowed
- Using multiple IPs on the same account frequently
- Trading multiple accounts from the same IP
- Using a VPN (strictly prohibited)



















