RANKED BY TRUST SCORE · UPDATED DAILY
Best prop trading firms.
TrueBroker is a free broker safety checker, and this page is its ranking of prop trading firms by trust score alone: the company behind the brand checked in its register, the payout claims read against receipts, and the rules that decide whether you get paid. Nobody pays to be on it.
Of the 11 prop firms on TrueBroker’s record on 15 October 2026, FTMO and Topstep share the highest trust score at 7.0 out of 10, the lowest score is 4.1, and no position on the list is paid for.
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TOP PICK
FTMO
7.0 / 10 OK-ISH STRONGEST: THREE CZECH OPERATING ENTITIES NAMED ON THE SITE AND ALL VERIFIED ACTIVE ON THE STATE REGISTER Compare with #2 → - 27.0
Topstep
Chicago futures prop firm selling a simulated evaluation, with a narrow live funded stage above it.OK-ISHSTRONGEST: CHICAGO BASED US ENTITIES NAMED IN THE BINDING DOCUMENTS, WITH A VERIFIABLE STREET ADDRESSCompare with #3 → - 36.8
Apex Trader Funding
US futures evaluation firm whose Evaluation and Performance Accounts are both simulated, with each funded account capped at six payouts.OK-ISHSTRONGEST: PUBLISHES DRAWDOWN, SAFETY NET, CONSISTENCY AND PAYOUT CEILINGS AS EXACT NUMBERS WITH WORKED EXAMPLES, BEFORE PURCHASECompare with #4 → - 46.1
City Traders Imperium
UK founded prop firm selling simulated challenge and instant funding accounts on MT5 and Match-TraderOK-ISHSTRONGEST: FOUNDERS DANIEL BAUTISTA MARTIN AND MARTIN NAJAT NAMED AND VERIFIABLE AS DIRECTORS ON THE UK REGISTER SINCE JULY 2018Compare with #5 → - 56.0
The 5%ers
Prop evaluations from 19 USD, simulated at every stage in the firm's own words, with liability capped at 100 USD and disputes bound for Tel Aviv.OK-ISHSTRONGEST: STATES ON EVERY PAGE OF ITS SITE, NOT IN A HELP ARTICLE, THAT ALL TRADING IN ITS HUB IS SIMULATED AND THE FUNDS FICTITIOUSCompare with #6 → - 65.8
Earn2Trade
US futures evaluation firm offering a real live-funded route through NFA registered FCMs, taken by 5.23% of qualifying traders, with the other 94.77% trading a simulation.RISKYSTRONGEST: A GENUINE LIVE-FUNDED ROUTE EXISTS, CARRIED AT FUTURES COMMISSION MERCHANTS WE CONFIRMED AS NFA MEMBER APPROVED ON BASIC - 75.6
FXIFY
A UK prop firm selling forex, index and crypto trading assessments from $19, with payouts routed through a third party and a funded stage governed by a contract it does not publish.RISKYSTRONGEST: CHALLENGES ACTIVELY ON SALE WITH TWO DATED PROMOTIONS RUNNING, SO THE FIRM IS NOT WITHHOLDING NEW BUSINESS - 85.4
FundingPips
Simulated prop evaluations from 29 USD, splits to 100 percent, and a payout guarantee its own terms disclaim.RISKYSTRONGEST: STATES PLAINLY ON ITS OWN HOMEPAGE AND IN ITS TERMS THAT EVERY ACCOUNT, INCLUDING THE FUNDED STAGE, IS SIMULATED - 95.2
Alpha Capital Group
UK prop firm selling simulated trading evaluations with an 80 percent performance fee splitRISKYSTRONGEST: STATES PLAINLY ON ITS OWN HOMEPAGE AND IN ITS TERMS THAT BOTH THE EVALUATION AND THE FUNDED STAGE ARE SIMULATED - 104.5
E8 Markets
US prop firm selling simulated trading challenges, formerly E8 Funding, now split across Texas, Puerto Rico and Saint Lucia entitiesRISKYSTRONGEST: STATES IN ITS OWN HELP CENTRE AND ITS OWN TERMS THAT BOTH THE CHALLENGE AND THE FUNDED STAGE ARE SIMULATED, WITH NO AMBIGUITY - 114.1
Maven Trading
A simulated UAE prop firm that is unusually clear about the simulation and unusually unclear about who owes you the money.RISKYSTRONGEST: THE FUNDED ACCOUNT IS SIMULATED AND MAVEN SAYS SO PROMINENTLY AND REPEATEDLY: IN THE HOMEPAGE HERO, IN THE FOOTER OF EVERY PAGE IN ALL 11 COUNTRIES WE TESTED, IN TERMS SECTION 1 UNDER A HEADING IN CAPITALS, IN THE USER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND IN THE RISK DISCLOSURE.
Which prop firm is the cheapest?
Cheapest depends on what you count. The list below gives the lowest list price that gets you into each firm, what that price actually buys, and whether the fee ever comes back. Three things move the real cost more than the headline does: a monthly subscription that rebills until you pass, an activation fee charged after you pass, and a refund that only arrives with a first payout many buyers never reach.
City Traders Imperium 6.1 OK-ISH
- $1 3-Step Challenge, smallest account: three phases with 3, 5 and 7 percent targets and a 4 percent trailing drawdown. The firm's own navigation does not list it.
- Fee back? Our review records a fee refund on the 1-Step and 2-Step only.
Maven Trading 4.1 RISKY
- $5 Buy Now Pay Later, a one-step evaluation. Pass and you pay the rest, $40 to $589 by account size, before the funded account opens.
- Fee back? Refunded on the third withdrawal according to the pricing cards. The Terms contradict it.
The 5%ers 6.0 OK-ISH
- $19 High Stakes two-step evaluation on a $2,500 account, with 10 then 5 percent targets.
- Fee back? Refunded on success.
FXIFY 5.6 RISKY
- $19 Instant Funding Lite on a $2,500 account, no assessment, with a 20 percent consistency rule. The cheapest assessment is the Three Phase from $39.
- Fee back? No refund on instant accounts. On 1, 2 and 3 Phase plans, in full with the first withdrawal.
Alpha Capital Group 5.2 RISKY
- $20 Alpha Direct on a $2,500 account, no evaluation. Evaluations start at $37.
- Fee back? Not refundable once the first trade is placed.
FundingPips 5.4 RISKY
- $29 2 Step Pro evaluation on a $5,000 account.
- Fee back? Non refundable from purchase. A refund on the fourth reward exists on 2 Step Standard only.
E8 Markets 4.5 RISKY
- $32 E8 Pro challenge on a $5,000 account at list price. A permanently available code takes up to 35 percent off.
- Fee back? Only while untraded, under 30 days old and not paid for in crypto.
Topstep 7.0 OK-ISH
- $49 a month $50K Trading Combine on the Standard Path. It rebills about every 30 days until you pass or cancel, then a $149 activation fee is due.
- Fee back? No refunds by default. A 14 day guarantee on a first Combine is one of three exceptions.
FTMO 7.0 OK-ISH
- EUR 79 1-Step challenge on a $10,000 account. The 2-Step at the same size is EUR 89.
- Fee back? 1-Step: never. 2-Step: in full with the first reward.
Earn2Trade 5.8 RISKY
- $150 a month Trader Career Path on a $25,000 account at list price. It is a monthly subscription and the headline discount rotates.
- Fee back? No refunds under any circumstances.
Apex Trader Funding 6.8 OK-ISH
- $199 25K intraday evaluation at list price, then $69 to activate the Performance Account: $268 in all.
- Fee back? Not on record. We could not retrieve the refund policy.
Read across before you read down. FTMO’s 1-Step looks cheaper than its 2-Step at every size, but the 1-Step fee is never refunded and the 2-Step fee is returned with the first reward, so the cheaper looking product is the dearer one for a trader who succeeds. Maven Trading’s $5 entry is $594 in all on a $100,000 account once you pass, against $380 at list for its standard one-step.
Which prop firm actually pays?
Of the 23 payout claims on TrueBroker’s record across 11 prop firms, 20 are verified in the firm’s own documents, 3 are the firm’s unaudited figures, and none is backed by audited accounts.
A payout total on a homepage is the firm’s own number until something independent backs it. On our record, Apex Trader Funding publishes a ledger listing individual payouts by date, country, amount and status, and E8 Markets publishes one that held 22,464 entries when we read it on 12 August 2026. FTMO files audited company accounts, yet the payout figure it advertises is an unaudited aggregate. Topstep’s own pages gave three different all time totals on the same day. Every claim, with its standing and the date it was read, is on the payout record.
Are funded accounts real money?
Mostly not, and the firms say so in their own documents. All eleven on our record run a simulated account at the stage most traders reach, and the payouts are real money paid on simulated results. Two firms publish how narrow the door to live capital is: Topstep says 0.71 percent of its Express Funded Account participants were called up to a live account in 2025, and Earn2Trade says 5.23 percent of its qualifying traders traded a live account while 94.77 percent traded a simulation. That does not make the product a scam. It does mean the firm, not the market, decides whether you are paid, which is why the payout rules matter more than the profit split. What a prop firm actually sells explains the model.
Which prop firm is the most trusted?
The one at the top of the list, and the list is the only answer we give: the score is an unweighted mean of five criteria, computed before the review is written. A place near the top is usually earned in a company register, not on a pricing page. FTMO’s three Czech entities verify on the state register and it files audited accounts. Topstep names its US entities and has an affiliate that is a CFTC registered introducing broker and NFA member. Apex Trader Funding publishes its drawdown rules and payout ceilings as exact numbers. Those are the facts that move a score here; a discount code is not. No regulator supervises the evaluation business and no compensation scheme covers the fee, so a prop firm has to earn its number on documents alone.
What about instant funding, free trials and $1 accounts?
Some of the firms on this list sell accounts with no evaluation, some offer a free trial, and one sells a challenge from $1. What each of those buys, and what it costs once you pass, is set out in instant funding prop firms and free and $1 funded accounts.
How is this ranking made?
This ranking is the live output of our scoring method: five criteria, verified at source, recomputed daily. No placement on this page is paid, and the ranking changes when the evidence does. The full catalogue is on the board, and before you pay any firm on it, here is how to check a prop firm yourself. The other rankings are CFD brokers, crypto exchanges and stock brokers.
Fair questions
What is the best prop firm?
There is no single best prop firm, only the best documented one. TrueBroker ranks prop firms by trust score: the company behind the brand checked in its register, the payout terms verified at source and the rules that can void a payout. The ranking at the top of this page is live and re-ranked daily.
Which prop firm is the cheapest?
On TrueBroker's record the lowest entry prices are $1 for City Traders Imperium's 3-Step Challenge and $5 up front for Maven Trading's Buy Now Pay Later evaluation, both read in August 2026. The entry price is rarely the full cost: Maven's $5 becomes $594 on a $100,000 account once you pass.
Are prop firm funded accounts real money?
Mostly not. By their own documents, all eleven firms on our record run a simulated account at the stage most traders reach. Topstep says 0.71 percent of its Express Funded Account participants were called up to a live account in 2025, and Earn2Trade says 5.23 percent of its qualifying traders traded a live one. The payouts are real money; the trading mostly is not.
Do prop firms actually pay?
Some can show it and most only say so. Apex Trader Funding and E8 Markets publish ledgers of individual payouts. FTMO files audited company accounts but publishes only an unaudited payout total. Several firms publish no payout evidence at all. The payout record lists every claim we checked, with its standing and the date it was read.
How is this ranking different from other best prop firm lists?
No placement is paid and no affiliate deal moves a rank. Each firm is scored out of 10 on five criteria from evidence read at source, and the number is computed before the review is written. A firm can rent a labeled partner slot on the board, never a position on this list.
THE SHORT VERSION
TrueBroker ranks every prop firm on its record by a trust score built from the company register, the payout terms and the rules that can void a payout, re-ranked daily with no paid positions. Compare the cheapest entry, the refund and the payout evidence above, then run the firm through the six checks before you pay.