What you are signing up for
An evaluation is a test where you trade with simulated money to prove you can be profitable before the firm grants you access to a funded account. You pay an entry fee to access this test.
Funded Futures Family (FFF) generally uses a monthly subscription model. For example, their $25,000 "Premier EOD" account costs $144 per month until you pass. If you fail and want to try again, you may have to pay a reset fee, which is a discounted price to restart the evaluation.
forTraders Futures uses a one-time fee model for its "Fast" and "Fast Pro" accounts. A $25,000 "Futures Fast" account costs $139 as a single payment. They do not offer a free trial, which is a zero-cost practice account, but they do have a free "Predictions Market" competition where you can win challenges.
How hard each one is
The difficulty depends on two main numbers: the profit target and the drawdown.
- The profit target is the specific amount of gain you must reach to pass the evaluation. For a $25,000 account, both firms set this at $1,500.
- The drawdown is the maximum amount your account balance is allowed to drop from its highest point before you are disqualified.
In Funded Futures Family, you can choose "End-of-Day" (EOD) drawdown. This means your loss limit only updates at the end of the trading day based on your closed positions. This is much friendlier for beginners than "Intraday" drawdown, which moves in real-time as your trades are still open.
In forTraders Futures, the "Fast" model uses a trailing drawdown. This is a loss limit that follows your balance as it grows. If your balance goes up by $100, your allowed loss limit also moves up by $100. This requires more discipline because you cannot afford to let winning trades turn into large losers.
How long it takes
There is no maximum time limit to pass either firm; you can take as many months as you need. However, there are minimum trading days, which is the fewest number of days you must place a trade before being eligible for a funded account.
Funded Futures Family is very fast:
- You can pass in just 1 or 2 days depending on the plan you choose.
- You must make at least one trade per week to keep the account active.
forTraders Futures requires more patience:
- The "Futures Fast" account requires 5 profitable days to pass.
- A profitable day is a session where you end with more money than you started.
Where beginners fail
Most beginners lose their accounts due to the consistency rule. This rule ensures you didn't just get lucky on one trade by limiting how much a single day can contribute to your total profit.
- At Funded Futures Family, most plans have a 40% consistency rule. This means no single day can account for more than 40% of your total profit target.
- At forTraders Futures, the limit is also 40% for their "Fast" evaluations.
Another trap is the inactivity rule. FFF will close your account if you don't trade for 2 consecutive weeks. forTraders is stricter, requiring a trade every 7 days during the evaluation phase.
What happens if you make it
If you pass, you move to a funded stage where you earn a profit split, which is the percentage of the gains you get to keep as real money.
Funded Futures Family offers a 90% profit split on their simulated funded accounts. They offer many platforms, including TradingView, which is a popular web-based charting tool, and NinjaTrader, a professional-grade software. Payouts can be requested as often as every 3 to 7 trading days depending on your plan.
forTraders Futures offers an 80% profit split. They use their own proprietary platform called For Traders X. This means you don't have to pay for external software, but you are limited to their specific tools. They guarantee that if they don't process your payout within 48 hours, you get to keep 100% of the profits for that request.
If it is your first time
Funded Futures Family is the better choice for a beginner. The main reason is the availability of "End-of-Day" drawdown, which gives you much more breathing room while you are learning. Additionally, being able to use TradingView makes the technical part of trading much easier for someone who is not yet comfortable with complex professional software.
While forTraders Futures has an attractive one-time fee, their trailing drawdown and proprietary platform create a steeper learning curve for a first attempt.
Frequently asked questions
Which firm is cheaper for a $50,000 evaluation, Funded Futures Family or forTraders Futures?
For a $50,000 account, forTraders Futures is generally cheaper for a first attempt because it charges a one-time fee of $199. Funded Futures Family charges $194 per month for its Premier EOD plan. If you take more than one month to pass the evaluation, you would have to pay the FFF fee again, whereas the forTraders fee covers you indefinitely until you either pass or fail.
Does Funded Futures Family or forTraders Futures offer a better profit share for the trader?
Funded Futures Family offers a higher profit split of 90% for the trader on its simulated funded accounts. In contrast, forTraders Futures offers an 80% profit split across all its futures products. This means that for every $1,000 earned, you would keep $900 at FFF compared to $800 at forTraders.
Which firm offers more trading platforms, Funded Futures Family or forTraders Futures?
Funded Futures Family offers much more variety, allowing traders to use NinjaTrader, Tradovate, and TradingView. This is helpful for beginners who prefer modern, web-based interfaces. forTraders Futures is more restrictive, as it only allows trading through its proprietary platform, For Traders X.
How do the withdrawal rules compare between Funded Futures Family and forTraders Futures?
Funded Futures Family allows for very frequent withdrawals, with some plans allowing requests every 3 trading days, though they require you to maintain a "buffer" (a minimum amount of profit that must stay in the account). forTraders Futures allows on-demand payouts after 5 profitable days for their Fast model and offers a "48-hour guarantee" where they pay you 100% of the profit if the transfer takes longer than two days.
