Challenge cost calculator

The price shown on a prop firm's page assumes you pass on the first attempt. That is not the most common outcome. This calculator adds the entry fee, the cost of resets for the number of attempts you expect, and any activation fee charged when moving to a funded account — then subtracts the fee refunded on the first payout where the firm offers it. The result is the real net cost of reaching a funded account at that firm, and the ranking at the bottom applies the same scenario to every firm to show which offers the cheapest path at a comparable account size.

FirmAccount sizeAttempts before passing : 2One attempt means passing first try. Two or three is closer to the typical path.

Entry fee: €499
Resets × 1(reset price not published — full price applied): €499
Total paid: €998
Fee refunded on first payout: − €499
Net cost: €499

Market data fees and monthly subscriptions, which apply mainly to futures firms, are not included: they depend on how long you stay funded.

Same scenario across firms

Net cost to a funded account, at the closest available account size.

The four cost lines

The entry fee is the visible line. It varies with account size, and the price-to-size ratio is not linear: the cost per dollar of allocated capital falls as size rises, which mechanically pushes traders towards larger accounts than they need.

Resets are the line that decides the total. After a failure, most firms let you restart the evaluation at a reduced rate rather than full price. Where a firm does not publish a reset price, this calculator applies the full price and flags it: that is the prudent assumption, not an invented figure.

Activation fees appear at some firms when the funded account is opened. Traders often leave them out of their comparison, even though they land exactly when you believe you have finished paying.

Monthly subscriptions mainly concern the futures segment, where the business model rests on a recurring fee rather than a one-off ticket, plus CME market data fees. Over a long run these exceed the entry price.

The attempts assumption

The attempts slider is the most structural variable in the calculation. Setting it to one compares optimistic scenarios; setting it to two or three gives a picture far closer to the real path of most candidates, particularly on challenges with intraday trailing drawdown, where elimination often arrives without the trader feeling they traded badly.

What a refund changes

Where the fee is refunded on the first payout, the net cost of a successful attempt drops to zero — but only for the refunded attempt. Resets are almost never refunded. An expensive but refundable firm therefore becomes cheaper than a low-cost non-refundable one as soon as you pass, and the reverse holds if you fail repeatedly.

Frequently asked questions

Why is a reset price sometimes missing?

Because not every firm publishes it on their site: some show it only in the account dashboard, after a failure. In that case the calculator applies full price and flags it, rather than using an estimate.

Is the fee refunded if I fail?

No. Where an evaluation fee refund exists, it happens on the first withdrawal from a funded account. Failing during the evaluation gives no refund at any firm.

Should market data fees be included?

In the futures segment, yes: real-time CME data is billed monthly and is a significant recurring cost over a multi-month run. In forex these fees do not exist.

Is a pricier challenge a better challenge?

Not mechanically, but price often correlates with rule flexibility. A cheap challenge carrying intraday trailing drawdown and a strict consistency rule costs more in resets than a dearer evaluation you can actually pass.