For a US resident the prop firm market splits cleanly in two. Futures firms are broadly open: most of those evaluating traders on listed CME products are US-based themselves and treat American traders as their core audience. Forex and CFD firms are the opposite case, and many exclude US persons outright. Offering leveraged retail forex to Americans falls under a demanding CFTC and NFA framework, and the offshore brokers behind most challenge programmes are not registered to serve that audience. A minority still accept US residents, sometimes with a narrower instrument list or modified rules. This ranking separates the two families rather than blending them, then sorts firms by rule clarity, documented payout history and the transparency of the contracting entity.
Verified on 12 firms ranked
Our ranking
Prop Firms That Accept US Traders: Comparison 2026
Coming in at number 1, FTMO has been operating since 2015 and scores 88/100 on our scale. Entry starts at €79 for a 1-phase evaluation. The risk envelope is a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with 3 % allowed per day. Funded traders keep 90 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 14 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit, expert advisors allowed, news trading allowed. Available on mt4, mt5, ctrader, dxtrade, tradingview.
Founded in Prague in 2015, FTMO reports more than $450 million paid to traders and closed its acquisition of broker OANDA in December 2025. The 2-Step challenge, static drawdown and no deadline, remains its core product, with fees fully refunded on the first payout. Price is the weak spot, and it rose again in 2026.
Ranked 2 on this list, The5ers has been operating since 2016 and scores 86/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $39 for a 2-phase evaluation. The risk envelope is a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with 5 % allowed per day. Funded traders keep 100 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 14 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit, no consistency rule. Available on mt5, ctrader, tradingview.
Founded in Israel in 2016, The5ers is one of the oldest forex prop firms still operating. Its strongest asset is the rulebook: static drawdown across every program, no time limit and no consistency rule. The tradable universe stays narrow, though — forex, indices, metals and futures, with no crypto and no equities.
In third place, FundedNext has been operating since 2022 and scores 85/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $59.99 for a 2-phase evaluation. The risk envelope is a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with 5 % allowed per day. Funded traders keep 95 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 5 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit, no consistency rule, expert advisors allowed. Available on mt4, mt5, ctrader, match-trader.
On the forex and CFD side, FundedNext runs just two routes: Stellar 1-Step (10% target, 6% max loss) and Stellar 2-Step (8% then 5%, 10% max loss). Both use static drawdown, carry no deadline and come with refundable fees. Pricing is on the high side, and the headline 95% split needs a paid option — the contractual base is 80%.
In 4th place, City Traders Imperium has been operating since 2018 and scores 83/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $29 on an instantly funded account. The risk envelope is a trailing intraday drawdown capped at 6 %. Funded traders keep 100 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 7 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit, no consistency rule, expert advisors allowed, news trading allowed. Available on mt5, match-trader.
City Traders Imperium has funded forex traders since 2018 through four routes — 1-Step, 2-Step, Instant Funding and Direct Funding — with no time limit and entry from $29. The profit split starts at 80% and can reach 100%, but the 1-Step allows only 5% trailing drawdown and every trade must carry a stop loss.
In 5th place, FundingPips has been operating since 2022 and scores 83/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $29 for a 2-phase evaluation. The risk envelope is a static drawdown capped at 6 %, with 3 % allowed per day. Funded traders keep 100 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 7 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit. Available on mt5, ctrader, match-trader.
FundingPips lets you choose the withdrawal rhythm and prices the split accordingly: 60% weekly, 80% biweekly, 90% on demand, 100% on a monthly cycle. Its four evaluation models keep static drawdown, with only the instant-funding Zero account switching to trailing. Against that, a Striking System closes a funded account on the fourth warning.
In 6th place, Bulenox has been operating since 2022 and scores 81/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $145 for a 1-phase evaluation. Funded traders keep 100 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 10 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit, expert advisors allowed, news trading allowed. Available on ninjatrader, rithmic, quantower.
Bulenox is a futures-only firm run from Delaware since 2022. Accounts are sold as renewable monthly subscriptions, $145 to $325 for $25,000 to $150,000, payouts clear every Wednesday, and the first $10,000 goes entirely to the trader. It holds 4.7/5 across 1,761 Trustpilot reviews, but a 40% consistency rule gates withdrawals and drives recurring complaints.
Coming in at number 7, Alpha Capital Group has been operating since 2021 and scores 80/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $27 for a 1-phase evaluation. The risk envelope is a trailing (end of day) drawdown capped at 4 %, with 3 % allowed per day. Funded traders keep 90 % of profits. Notable freedoms: no time limit, news trading allowed. Available on mt5, ctrader, dxtrade, tradelocker.
Alpha Capital Group is a UK forex prop firm registered in 2021, running eight programs that span a $27 two-phase challenge through to accounts funded at purchase. The rulebook is permissive — news, weekend and overnight holding allowed, four platforms — but the tradable universe stops at forex, indices and metals, and Trustpilot has suspended the rating over fake reviews.
Ranked 8 on this list, Funded Trading Plus has been operating since 2021 and scores 80/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $89 for a 1-phase evaluation. The risk envelope is a trailing intraday drawdown capped at 6 %, with 4 % allowed per day. Funded traders keep 100 % of profits. Notable freedoms: no time limit, expert advisors allowed. Available on mt5, ctrader, dxtrade, match-trader.
A London firm founded in late 2021 and bought by Instant Funding in May 2026, Funded Trading Plus pays every 7 days on its 1-Step Express and Instant programs, with the split rising from 80 to 100% and scaling up to $5 million. The catch: intraday trailing drawdown on both, and a Trustpilot score the platform has pulled.
Coming in at number 9, My Funded Futures has been operating since 2023 and scores 80/100 on our scale. The risk envelope is a trailing (end of day) drawdown capped at 4 %. Funded traders keep 90 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 1 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit, news trading allowed. Available on ninjatrader, tradovate, tradingview, quantower, volumetrica.
Launched in late 2023 in Delaware, My Funded Futures posts the highest customer satisfaction in our futures database, at 4.9/5 across more than 21,000 reviews. Its four plans share a 6 % target and an end-of-day trailing drawdown that locks above the starting balance. The notable trade-off: over 80 countries are excluded.
Ranked 10 on this list, TradeDay has been operating since 2020 and scores 80/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $131 for a 1-phase evaluation. Funded traders keep 90 % of profits, with a first withdrawal available after 0 days. Notable freedoms: no time limit, news trading allowed. Available on tradovate, rithmic, ninjatrader, tradingview.
TradeDay was founded in Chicago in 2020 by two former institutional market professionals, and that background shows in the rulebook: no daily loss limit, news trading and scalping allowed, and withdrawals available from day one. The May 2026 rework dropped static drawdown accounts in favour of two paths, Quick Pay and Fast Pass.
Ranked 11 on this list, Earn2Trade has been operating since 2016 and scores 79/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $150 for a 1-phase evaluation. Funded traders keep 80 % of profits. Notable freedoms: no time limit, news trading allowed. Available on ninjatrader, tradovate, tradingview, rithmic.
Earn2Trade does not fund traders itself: it is a US evaluation and education platform founded in 2016, with capital supplied by partner firms Helios, Appius and Kronos. Its TCP and Gauntlet Mini programs bill monthly, $150 to $550, cover CME futures only, cap the split at 80% and run a trailing EOD drawdown.
Ranked 12 on this list, Goat Funded Trader has been operating since 2023 and scores 78/100 on our scale. Entry starts at $36 for a 2-phase evaluation. The risk envelope is a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with 4 % allowed per day. Funded traders keep 100 % of profits. Notable freedoms: no time limit, expert advisors allowed, news trading allowed. Available on mt5, tradelocker, ctrader.
Goat Funded Trader launched in 2023 out of Hong Kong. It publishes a full price grid, runs static drawdown across its three evaluation models, and pays every 14 days with a profit split from 80 % up to 100 %. The counterweight: its Trustpilot score is suspended over fake reviews, rules tightened in summer 2026, and 29 countries are excluded.
Shutting out US residents is rarely a marketing decision. Offering leveraged retail forex to US persons requires registration with the CFTC and NFA, carries substantial capital requirements, imposes leverage limits far below what is available elsewhere, and bars simultaneous hedging on the same pair. Most prop firms route through offshore brokers that meet none of those conditions. Even when the trader only ever touches a simulated account, the contractual chain and any copying of orders to live positions create enough legal exposure that firms would rather write the United States out of their terms. Some go further and exclude individual states, usually because of local money transmission or securities rules rather than anything specific to trading.
Futures is the practical route
The futures segment runs on entirely different plumbing. Contracts are listed on regulated US exchanges, many of the firms are incorporated in the United States, and the evaluation model there predates the forex challenge boom by years, with operators such as Topstep shaping the category early. For an American trader this combination delivers the best availability, the clearest rule sets and a realistic path to recourse if something goes wrong. The trade-off is discipline: exchange data fees are usually yours to pay, drawdown is frequently trailing against the account high water mark, and holding through the close or through major releases is often prohibited outright.
What to verify when a forex firm says yes to the US
Three things deserve scrutiny. First, the identity and jurisdiction of the partner broker, because that is where the operational risk actually sits. Second, the stability of the policy itself: several firms have opened access to US residents and then withdrawn it mid-year, stranding traders partway through an evaluation with no clean remedy. Third, how seriously the firm handles KYC. A company that lets you register without ever verifying residency is the same company that can freeze a withdrawal months later on the grounds that your declaration was inaccurate. Using a VPN to bypass an exclusion puts you in breach of contract and eliminates any argument you might have had.
On tax, a US-based firm will generally issue a 1099 and treat you as an independent contractor, which brings quarterly estimated payments into play. This category fits American traders who are active during the session and willing to accept strict risk parameters in exchange for a far more stable framework than the forex side currently offers.
Frequently asked questions
Why do so many prop firms exclude US residents?
Because offering leveraged retail forex to US persons requires CFTC and NFA registration, substantial capital, and leverage limits well below international norms. The offshore brokers most prop firms rely on satisfy none of that. Writing the United States out of the terms is simply cheaper than absorbing the legal exposure, which is why the exclusion appears even on firms that never touch a US client's money.
Do futures prop firms accept American traders?
Yes, and this is the most reliable route. Futures evaluations run on contracts listed on regulated US exchanges, and many of these firms are incorporated in the United States with Americans as their primary market. The trade-offs are exchange data fees paid by the trader and drawdown that frequently trails the account high water mark rather than resetting daily.
Can I use a VPN to get around a country restriction?
Strongly inadvisable. Identity verification usually happens at withdrawal rather than signup, so a concealed residence surfaces exactly when money is at stake. The firm can void the account and refuse the payout under terms you accepted, with no refund of evaluation fees. You also forfeit any argument, since you breached the agreement yourself.
Are individual US states excluded by some firms?
Sometimes. A few firms restrict specific states because of local money transmission or investment offering rules, separately from their general stance on the United States. Read the restricted-jurisdictions clause in full rather than relying on a marketing page, and keep a dated copy of the terms as they stood on the day you purchased your evaluation.
How are prop firm payouts taxed in the US?
A US-based firm will normally treat you as an independent contractor and issue a 1099 once the applicable threshold is met. Payouts are ordinary self-employment income, subject to income tax and self-employment tax, with quarterly estimated payments. Offshore firms issue nothing at all, which does not remove the obligation, it just shifts all the record-keeping onto you.