The5ers Futures: Information and detailed review

Two programs, separated by one question: do you hold overnight?

The5ers Futures runs a single evaluation model in two variants, and the only real decision is whether you need to keep positions open past the close.

Day Trade closes flat every session. All positions must be manually closed and pending orders cancelled at least 10 minutes before the market close (4:50 PM CT). No overnight risk.

Swing lets you hold through the maintenance break and across multiple days, but only 1 mini or 10 micro contracts overnight. Anything larger must be closed before that 4:50 cut-off and can be reopened after the break.

Neither program allows weekend holding. Everything closes at least 10 minutes before the Friday close, and The5ers warns plainly that missing these requirements can result in account termination.

Everything runs on BlackArrow, which is currently the only supported platform — available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and browser.

The fee is one-off, and you get it back on your third payout

There is no monthly subscription here, unlike several futures competitors. You pay once: $59 for a 25K evaluation, with Swing accounts at $69 (25K), $120 (50K), $189 (100K) and $219 (150K) after permanent price cuts that also introduced the two larger Swing sizes.

More notably, the full evaluation fee is refunded when you reach your third payout on any funded account, added directly to your equity. It applies universally across Day Trade and Swing, at every size, and returns exactly what you paid out of pocket.

The drawdown trails your highest midnight balance

Both programs use a 4% maximum drawdown, and the base is the detail that matters: it is calculated from your highest midnight balance or equity, not from the initial balance.

The5ers' example makes it concrete. Start at $50,000 and close day 1 at $50,200; your floor becomes $48,200. Lose $100 on day 2, ending at $50,100, and the floor stays at $48,200 — it tracks your high-water mark, not your current balance.

Withdrawing resets it. Every payout re-anchors the drawdown to 4% below your new balance. Grow to $55,000 (floor $52,800), withdraw $1,500 to leave $53,500, and your new floor is $51,360. Each payout hands you a fresh 4% buffer from wherever you stand.

That is the opposite of most firms, where a withdrawal shrinks your cushion. Here it rebuilds it.

Daily limits differ by account size

The maximum daily loss is 4% measured end-of-day on the smaller accounts. On the $100K and $150K accounts, both Day Trade and Swing, it tightens to 2.5% — and hitting it terminates the account permanently, not just for the day.

Targets and contract limits

The evaluation asks 6% profit; the funded stage asks 4% for scaling purposes. Contract limits scale with size and are identical in evaluation and funded stages:

• $25K: 2 minis or 20 micros
• $50K: 4 minis or 40 micros
• $100K: 8 minis or 80 micros
• $150K: 12 minis or 120 micros

Overnight, Swing accounts are capped much lower: 2 minis or 20 micros on $100K, 3 minis or 30 micros on $150K.

The Consistency Rule is measured per trade, not per day

This is the single most important difference from almost every competitor, and it is easy to misread.

Most firms measure a best day. The5ers Futures measures a best trade:

(Best Trade Profit ÷ Total Profits) × 100 = consistency percentage

Your best single trade must account for less than 40% of total profit to qualify for a payout or a scale-up. A best trade of $1,500 requires total profit above $3,750.

Two clarifications the documentation gives explicitly. First, exceeding it is not a failure — you simply keep trading until the share falls. Second, and easier to get wrong, the calculation uses your total gross P&L including losses. Their worked example: trades of +$1,000, +$500, −$300 and +$200 give a net of $1,400, and the best trade of $1,000 against that total is what gets measured.

You may pass the evaluation in a single day, but the 40% rule still applies — which in practice means one lucky trade cannot carry you.

There is no minimum profitable days rule anywhere in the futures program.

Payouts and scaling

Three conditions unlock a payout: it must be a funded account, you must have reached 4% profit from the initial balance, and the account must be at least 14 days old.

The split is 80/20 in your favour across all accounts.

Payout caps depend on size: $1,250 flat on 25K accounts, and 3% of the initial balance on $50K to $150K — so $3,000 on a $100K account.

Scaling adds balance, profit and contracts together

Hit a 10% profit milestone and the account scales automatically. The process: close all positions, the account is disabled and reviewed by the Risk Department, and a new scaled account is issued.

Two things grow each time. Your balance rises 5%, and your contract limits increase by 1 mini and 10 micros.

The5ers' worked example on a $50,000 account: the original $50,000 plus a $2,500 buying-power increase plus your 80% share of the $5,000 profit ($4,000) produces a $52,500 new balance.

Evaluation profits do not carry over. A funded account starts at the program's defined balance regardless of how well the evaluation went.

Rules, costs and instruments

News trading is completely unrestricted. No blackout windows, no deducted profits — only the standard risk and account rules apply.

Prohibited outright: arbitrage, high-frequency trading with holds of a few seconds or less, algorithmic trading, and hedging. The5ers is blunt that any trader found using them will be banned from the programs.

Copy trading is narrowly permitted: only on 25K and 50K accounts up to a combined $75,000, only between your own accounts and your own trades. You cannot copy another trader, and nobody may copy you.

Account limits are tight: one 150K account and two 100K accounts, counting Swing and Day Trade together.

Commissions are flat and easy to predict

$5.00 round turn on standard contracts, $2.50 on micros (every symbol starting with M). One exception worth knowing: the E-mini versions of Crude (QM) and Gold (QG) are still priced at $5.00 despite being smaller contracts.

The instrument list covers the standard CME catalogue — ES, NQ, YM, RTY, EMD and Nikkei on indices, 6A/6B/6C/6E/6J/6S on currencies, plus metals and energy, with micro versions of most.

There is also something unusual: Micro Single Stock Futures, cash-settled contracts sized at 10 shares of a single US equity, covering Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Broadcom, AMD, Intel, Boeing, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Cisco among others. They give near-24-hour exposure to individual stocks without the PDT restrictions that govern US equity accounts.

Market hours and refunds

Futures run nearly 24 hours, Sunday 5:00 PM CT to Friday 4:00 PM CT, with a daily maintenance break from 4:00 to 5:00 PM CT.

Refunds are available only if no trades have been placed, within 14 days of purchase. Black Arrow Pro is non-refundable regardless of activity. Processing takes 5 to 7 business days to the original payment method.

Anyone over 18 can join except residents of around 35 countries — the same list as the forex side, including Russia, Iraq, Lebanon, Laos, Bosnia and, notably, Israel, where the parent company is registered.

Summary: who this firm suits

The5ers Futures fits a futures trader who wants a one-off fee they can earn back, and who values a drawdown that rebuilds itself after every payout.

It suits you well because of two mechanisms most competitors do not offer. The fee is fully refunded at your third payout, so a consistent trader effectively trades free. And the drawdown re-anchors 4% below your balance after every withdrawal, meaning payouts restore your cushion instead of eroding it. There is no monthly subscription, no minimum profitable days, news trading is unrestricted, and the Micro Single Stock Futures give access to individual US equities without PDT rules. Scaling at every 10% adds balance, contracts and your profit share together.

It suits you poorly if you automate anything: algorithmic trading, HFT and hedging are all banned outright, with a ban rather than a warning. It is a poor fit if you want several large accounts, since one 150K and two 100K is the ceiling. And BlackArrow is the only platform — no NinjaTrader, no Tradovate, no TradingView.

Three things to understand before buying. The Consistency Rule measures your best trade, not your best day, and it counts against total P&L including losses — a harder test than it first appears. The $100K and $150K accounts carry a 2.5% daily limit that terminates the account permanently, tighter than the 4% on smaller sizes. And Day Trade requires manual closing 10 minutes before the bell; missing it can cost you the account rather than just the position.