How Apex Trader Funding works, step by step

The basics

Three steps, two simulated accounts

Apex Trader Funding is a futures prop firm. Every account it sells is simulated, from the evaluation to the Performance Account.

1. Evaluation. A one-time fee for 30 calendar days in a simulated account. Reach the profit target without touching the drawdown. There’s no minimum number of days.
2. Activation. Pass, then pay a one-time activation fee within 7 days. Coupon codes don’t apply to it, and it’s $0 on No Activation Fee evaluations.
3. Performance Account. Also simulated. After 5 qualifying trading days, and if you meet the other requirements, you can request a payout, at most 6 per account.

Apex sells you a test (the evaluation), lets traders who pass activate a simulated funded account (the Performance Account, or PA), and may pay cash Rewards based on the PA’s simulated profits to traders who meet its payout rules. It describes those Rewards as discretionary. You never deposit money into a trading account: the money you put in is fees.

Step 1

The evaluation

The evaluation is the test: a simulated account with a profit target, a drawdown limit and 30 calendar days to reach the target.

What it costs

You pay once for one account size and drawdown type, and neither can be changed later. The fee doesn’t renew and isn’t refundable. Coupon codes, such as our affiliate code DLAB, go in at checkout: Apex can’t add one after you’ve paid.

During Apex’s sale, our estimate is about $49 to $219 for a standard EOD evaluation and about $16.70 to $119 for an Intraday one.

Apex list prices as of Oct 22, 2026. Sale shown on Apex’s homepage on Oct 22, 2026.

Estimates take 90% off Apex’s list prices, as in Apex’s sale ending Oct 22, 11:59 PM ET. Apex’s checkout shows the final price. If Apex is running a sale, its checkout shows the discount. You pay the activation fee within 7 days of passing, and coupon codes don’t apply to it.

The rules

Profit target

6% of the balance, $1,500 to $9,000

Max drawdown

$1,000 to $4,000, EOD or Intraday

Daily loss limit

$500 to $2,000 on EOD, none on Intraday

Max contracts

4, 6, 8 or 12 by size (10 micros count as one)

Time

30 calendar days, no minimum days

Consistency rule

None until the PA

Every day

Flat before the market close: 4:59 PM ET for most contracts, earlier for agricultural futures and on CME holiday early-close days.

EOD and Intraday differ in how the drawdown moves. An EOD threshold trails your highest closing balance: it’s set once a day at the close, then enforced in real time during the next session. An Intraday threshold trails your highest balance in real time, open profit included. Neither moves down. Our EOD vs Intraday guide compares them.

How it ends

If you reach the target without breaking a rule, Apex reviews the account at the close and marks it Passed after 6:00 PM ET. Touching the drawdown fails it on the spot, while the EOD daily loss limit only pauses trading for the session. If time runs out, the evaluation expires at 6:00 PM ET on day 30, with no extension or reset. Prohibited activity, such as hedging across accounts, can close an account too.

Apex’s rules, size by size

Step 2

Activation

Passing lets you activate one Performance Account of the same size and drawdown type. You do it by paying a one-time fee within 7 calendar days ($0 if you bought a No Activation Fee evaluation).

What it costs

Apex activation fees as of Oct 22, 2026.

Paid once per account, with nothing to renew. It isn’t refundable or transferable, and coupon codes don’t apply to it.

On Oct 22, 2026, Apex listed a 50K EOD No Activation Fee evaluation at $1,190, against $590 for the standard one plus $129 to activate.

The rules

• The 7 days start when Apex marks the evaluation Passed, after 6:00 PM ET on the trading day you pass, not when you hit the target. You get the full window even if you pass on the last day of your evaluation.
• The passed evaluation is locked, so you can’t keep trading it while you decide.
• A missed deadline can’t be undone. Apex doesn’t extend the window or reinstate an expired activation, so you would need to pass a new evaluation.
• Your PA is created within up to 6 hours (activations after Friday’s close are created Sunday at 6:00 PM ET) and uses the same login.

Step 3

The Performance Account

Apex calls the PA a Simulated Funded account. It keeps the size and drawdown type of the evaluation you passed, then adds scaling for contracts and the daily loss limit, an inactivity rule and payout rules.

What it costs

There’s no recurring fee: the activation covers the PA for as long as it stays open. If a PA closes, getting another means passing a new evaluation and activating again.

The rules

Contracts

Set each day by the prior day’s closing balance. A 50K PA starts at 2 and tops out at 4, against 6 in the evaluation.

Daily loss limit

Set by the same balance tiers. Hitting it closes your positions and pauses trading until the next session.

Drawdown

Same type and amount as the evaluation. It stops trailing at the starting balance plus $100, and touching it closes the PA.

Inactivity

At least 2 trading days with $50 or more net profit in every rolling 30-day period, or the PA closes.

Accounts

Up to 20 PAs at once per household, across all sizes and types.

Not allowed

Hedging, bots or other automation, and holding a position through the close.

Payout requests

To request a payout, the PA has to meet every requirement below at the same time. Apex’s risk disclosure says Rewards are paid at its discretion and that its decision on each one is final.

Qualifying days

5 days that each reach a minimum profit, $100 to $350 by size and type. They don’t have to be in a row.

Minimum request

$500

Balance

At or above Apex’s minimum to request, $52,600 on a 50K

Payout split

100% of approved payouts

Consistency

Your best day must be under 50% of your profit since the last approved payout.

Per account

At most 6 payouts, each capped. The PA closes after the last one.

Payout caps

$1,000 to $5,000 per payout, by size, type and payout number. Caps are maximums set by Apex’s rules. They are not expected results.

How Apex payouts work

Beyond the PA

Apex Live is by invitation

Apex also runs a live prop trading program, separate from the simulated accounts. Selection is at Apex’s discretion.

Apex says it may weigh discipline, consistency, risk management, trading results and how quickly simulated profit builds, among other things, and that there are no automatic qualification rules. Its Live Prop Trading Program FAQ says that moving to live closes your evaluations (active ones are refunded) and deactivates your Performance Accounts, and that declining an invitation deactivates your Apex account. Read the FAQ, linked in our sources, before you plan around it.

Weighing it up

Who it tends to suit, and who it doesn’t

It comes down to how you trade and what you expect from a Performance Account.