Detailed Comparison: QT Funded vs Upcomers (2025)

Cape Town, South Africa, Western Cape, 7764, ZA

Building A1, IFZA Business Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Tanswell Sassman

Jakub Zeliska

South Africa

United Arab Emirates

Only when purchasing with add-on

200% Challenge fee refund after the 3rd fully approved payout on Challenge accounts (Ash, Thunderbolt and Phoenix). The trader must request it through support. A partially approved payout or a payout with a strategy violation permanently disqualifies that account. It does not apply to Instant Funding accounts.

• QT ONE: 4-day cycle
• QT TWO: 14-day cycle
• QT INSTANT: 4-day cycle
• QT Power: 14-day cycle for accounts purchased from August 11, 2026. Accounts purchased on or before August 10 receive the first payout on demand, then move to a 14-day cycle.
• QT 1 Step (BNPL): 14-day standard cycle
• QT Bonus (promotional accounts): 30-day cycle

• Withdrawal review by Risk Team: 24-48h (account trading is frozen during review).
• Bank transfers: 2-5 business days after approval.
• Crypto: faster, depends on blockchain network.
• Other programs: minimum 1% profit required per payout (resets after each payout).
• Turbo accounts: minimum 5 trading days per payout (each ≥0.5% profit).
• Vanguard (Instant Funding): minimum 5 trading days per payout (each ≥0.5% profit).
• Horizon and Odyssey: first payout 14 days after the funded account starts, then every 14 days. At least 3% profit of the initial balance is required before each payout, including between payouts, together with the required valid trading days.

1% of profit ($100 min) — except QT INSTANT: 5% of profit, and a 3% buffer applies (8% profit must be reached before the first payout request).

• Bank Transfer (recommended): $19.90 + 2.49%.
• Cryptocurrency: $19.90 + 30% (higher due to limited UAE crypto liquidity).
• Returned payouts: $30 reprocessing fee (covers real bank/admin cost of reprocessing; not a penalty).

Payout cap progresses with each approved withdrawal on the same funded account:

• Payout #1: 1% of initial balance
• Payout #2: 2%
• Payout #3: 3%
• Payout #4: 4%
• Payout #5: 5%
• Payout #6: 6%
• Payout #7: account resets to initial balance with NO payout cap (unlimited from #8 onwards)
  Cap only increases after a FULLY approved withdrawal. Partial or declined payouts do not progress the cap.

All accounts are swap‑free

Phase 2 reset available with add-on

Resets are offered as an alternative to full suspension after a rule violation. The account continues trading, but every future payout on that account is permanently capped at 50% of the approved amount.

• Variable Spreads
• Usage of EA
• Swap Free
• 10% Profit Split Extra (80% → 90%)
• Refund on First Payout
• 14 Day Payout cycle
• 7 Day Payout cycle

Scaling Plan for Thunderbolt and Vanguard accounts:

• Apply every 4 consecutive months via help@upcomers.com.
• +35% increase on simulated initial balance per cycle.
• Maximum allocation scalable up to $4,000,000.
  Requirements per cycle:
• ≥15% cumulative account growth across the 4 months.
• ≥2 withdrawals completed in the 4-month period.
• Final cycle must end in profit.
  Separate "4M on request" individual contract available after 6+ consecutive profitable months.

• QT ONE: 6% static
• QT TWO: 8% static
• QT INSTANT: 6% trailing, locked at starting balance once a withdrawal is made
• QT Power: 8% static
• QT 1 Step (BNPL): 6% trailing

Current CFD programs use two systems:

• Dynamic Risk Shield™: 6% on Ash and Thunderbolt, 10% on Phoenix Legacy, 8% on Vanguard, 5% on Oracle and 4% on Ember. It trails the equity high-water mark and locks at the initial balance where specified.
• Static maximum loss: 6% on Phoenix Classic. The floor is fixed from the initial balance.
  Percentages and behavior are shown per phase in the challenge catalogue.
• Horizon and Odyssey: Dynamic Risk Shield™ follows the highest equity, only moves upward and stops at the initial balance, in evaluation and funded phases.

• QT ONE: 70%
• QT TWO: 80%
• QT INSTANT: 100%
• QT Power: 80%
• QT 1 Step (BNPL): 80%
  Upgradeable to 90% with the "10% Profit Split Extra" add-on on eligible plans.

Standard profit split: 90%. A trader can select 80% or 100% at checkout; changing the split also changes the Challenge price. The selected split remains linked to that account, and older accounts retain their original conditions.

• QT ONE: 3% trailing (fixed amount, threshold recalculated daily on the higher of previous close balance or equity)
• QT TWO: 4% fixed (balance-based)
• QT INSTANT: 3% fixed
• QT Power: 4% fixed
• QT 1 Step (BNPL): 3% daily trailing

Resets daily at 00:00 UTC and is calculated under the rules of each program. Current limits:

• Ash Classic/Turbo and Thunderbolt Classic/Turbo: 3%
• Phoenix Classic: 4%
• Phoenix Legacy: 5%
• Vanguard and Oracle: 4%
• Ember: no daily drawdown
• Horizon: 3% and Odyssey: 4%, in evaluation and funded.

• Max total funded allocation: $300,000
• Max Instant funded allocation: $100,000
• No duplicate asset trading when at limit

Unlimited

Classic and Legacy challenges have no time limit. Ash Turbo and Thunderbolt Turbo have 30 calendar days and a maximum of 7 trading days.

• QT ONE: no minimum on the evaluation (can pass in a single day); 4 days when funded
• QT TWO: 4 days per phase
• QT INSTANT: 4 days when funded
• QT Power: 4 days in each evaluation phase and 4 days per funded payout cycle
• QT 1 Step (BNPL): no minimum on the evaluation; 5 days when funded

No minimum trading days to pass the challenge in any Classic or Turbo program. Turbo challenges require only 1 trading day with real activity. For those programs, minimums apply only at the payout stage: see 'minimumProfitableDays'.
Horizon requires 2 valid trading days in its evaluation. Odyssey requires 2 valid trading days in each evaluation phase. A valid day earns at least 0.5% of the initial balance.

• QT TWO: 4 days of +0.5% profit per cycle
• QT INSTANT: 4 days of +1% profit per cycle
• QT ONE: not required

Payout eligibility requirements (a valid day has at least 0.5% realized profit):

• Vanguard, Oracle, Ember, Phoenix Legacy, Ash Turbo and Thunderbolt Turbo: 5 valid days
• Ash Classic, Thunderbolt Classic and Phoenix Classic: no valid-day minimum
  The counter resets after each successful payout.
  Horizon funded accounts require per payout 3 valid days up to $50,000, 4 above $50,000 and below $200,000, and 5 from $200,000. Odyssey funded accounts require 3 below $100,000 and 4 from $100,000. Each valid day earns at least 0.5% of the initial balance.

Before using EAs, they must go through a pre-approval process.

Allowed, including third-party EAs, bots and trade or risk managers, as long as the trading rules are followed. HFT, tick scalping, latency arbitrage, emulators and running the same EA with the same settings as other traders are prohibited.

Not explicitly prohibited, but strongly discouraged. Use of VPN/VPS during KYC/AML verification is prohibited and can result in the account not being funded or being closed. If suspicious activity is detected, VPN usage will be used against the trader in the review.

Prohibited, also within the same account and across multiple accounts.

A Stop Loss must be placed within 60 seconds of opening a trade. Applies to QT TWO and QT INSTANT (funded accounts). QT ONE has no stop loss rule.

Cannot have three or more open positions on the same asset at the same time (only funded account

Multiple challenges and funded accounts combinable under a single user profile, as long as total funded capital does not exceed $1,500,000 across all Upcomers programs.

• QT ONE (Funded): 1% max floating loss across all open positions
• QT TWO (Funded): 1% max floating loss (first violation is a soft breach, second is a hard breach)
• QT TWO (Evaluation): exposure must stay under 75% of the daily drawdown limit
• QT INSTANT (Funded): 1% max exposure per instrument
• QT Power (Evaluation): exposure must stay under 75% of the daily drawdown limit
• QT Power (Funded): no exposure limit
• QT 1 Step (BNPL, Funded): 2% floating loss

Maximum loss per trade in the funded phase (all positions on the same instrument and direction count as one trade):

• Ash Classic, Thunderbolt Classic and Phoenix Classic: 3%
• Phoenix Legacy, Odyssey, Vanguard and Oracle: 2%
• Ash Turbo, Thunderbolt Turbo, Horizon and Ember: 1.5%
  Exceeding the applicable limit is a hard breach.

Allowed without restrictions when allocation is lower than $300,000.
Not allowed when the allocation is $300,000 or above.

Only between accounts owned by the same person (Upcomers, other prop firms or brokers). Copying to or from other people's accounts and signal services are prohibited.

• No new entries or exits within the 10-minute window around a restricted news event (5 minutes before and 5 minutes after).
• Order modifications ARE permitted during that window: adjusting stop loss, modifying take profit and cancelling orders.
• Positions or limit orders placed more than 5 minutes before the release (with SL and TP set) may remain open or be triggered during the event.
• Restricted releases: CPI, FOMC statement and meetings, Non-Farm Payrolls and USD PMI. Red folder events restrict every pair involving that currency and any index priced in it.
• News source: Forex Factory.
• The News Rule does NOT apply to QT ONE, QT INSTANT, QT Power or QT 1 Step (BNPL) accounts.

• QT TWO: no inactivity rule
• QT INSTANT, QT Power, QT 1 Step (BNPL): 14 days
• QT ONE: the comparison table states 7 days while the plan article states 14 days; confirm with support before relying on it.
  The period runs from the purchase date if no trade has been placed, or from the most recent closed trade.

35 consecutive calendar days without a trade closes the account automatically. Warning email sent 7 days before expiration.

• QT INSTANT: 30%
• QT Power: 35% in both evaluation and funded
• QT 1 Step (BNPL): 20%
• QT ONE, QT TWO: no consistency rule

Consistency is checked at payout and does not breach the account:

• 20% Best Day Rule: current Classic, Legacy and Turbo challenges, Vanguard, Oracle and Ember
  The Best Day cycle resets after each successful payout.
• Horizon and Odyssey: no consistency or Best Day Rule in evaluation or funded accounts.

• All-or-Nothing
• Latency Trading
• Arbitrage Trading
• High-Frequency Trading
• Tick scalping
• Reverse Trading or Group Hedging
• Order book spamming
• Flooding the server with messages due to incorrect use of algorithm
• One side betting
• Trading behaviours that the Risk Department deem Toxic

• Emulators, and running the same EA with the same settings as other traders to produce identical trades.
• Tick scalping (trades held under 2 minutes on Oracle) and high-frequency trading (HFT).
• Martingale, grid trading, one-sided bets, reverse trading and hedging (also within the same account).
• News straddling (bracket orders placed around economic releases).
• Signal services and copying trades from other people's accounts.
• Team/group trading or executing identical trades across accounts to bypass the $1.5M cap.
• Sharing passwords, account access or identity (KYC).
• Exploiting platform bugs, delays or pricing errors.
• Opening multiple user profiles (One Person, One Account policy).
• Splitting trades intentionally to bypass the 20% Best Day Rule.