Apex Trader Funding Rules 2026: Drawdown, Consistency & Payouts Explained

Rules checked: October 6, 2026

Apex Trader Funding rules in 2026 depend on when you bought your account. New accounts (sold since March 1, 2026) have no consistency rule in the evaluation, a 50% consistency rule for payouts and up to six payouts per account. Legacy accounts keep the old rules: a 30% consistency rule, 8-day payout cycles and no cap from the sixth payout.

Apex in short (new accounts)

What Changed in 2026 (New Accounts vs Legacy)

On March 1, 2026, Apex retired its old evaluation and Performance Account (PA) products. Since then Apex sells two new account types: EOD (end-of-day) trailing drawdown and intraday trailing drawdown.

Everything bought before March 1 is now called "legacy". Apex says there are no retroactive changes, so legacy accounts keep the old rules. Legacy accounts can't be converted into a new account type. As of October 2026, Apex is again selling legacy evaluations as a limited-time promotion, so check which rules your account follows before you buy.

If you traded Apex before 2026, these are the changes that matter most:

• You can pass an evaluation in a single day. There's no consistency rule until you ask for a payout.
• That payout rule is now 50%. Legacy PAs still use 30%.
• You can request a payout every 5 qualifying days, not every 8 trading days.
• Each account pays out six times at most. After that it's done, and you start a new evaluation.
• The MAE rule and the 5:1 risk-reward rule are gone. Apex also advertises "no payout denials" on new accounts.
• You pay once. There's no monthly subscription anymore.

Evaluation Rules: Profit Target, Drawdown, Time Limit

To pass an Apex evaluation, you hit the profit target without touching the drawdown threshold. The targets and drawdowns are the same for EOD and intraday accounts.

A few more rules apply during the evaluation:

• You have 30 calendar days from purchase to hit the target.
• There's no minimum number of trading days. Hit the target on day one and you've passed.
• No consistency or scaling rules apply. Your contract limit stays the same the whole time.
• Only EOD evaluations have a daily loss limit. Hit it and you're done for the session, not failed.
• The trading day resets at 6:00 PM ET.
• Once you pass, you have 7 calendar days to activate your Performance Account.
• New accounts can't be reset. Fail one and you buy another.

One thing to watch is the contract limit. The evaluation lets you trade 6 contracts on a 50K account, but a new 50K PA starts at a maximum of 4. If you passed with 6 contracts, plan to trade smaller after activation.

EOD vs Intraday Trailing Drawdown at Apex (with Examples)

Both drawdown types set the lowest balance your account may reach, and both only move up. The difference is when they move. EOD drawdown is recalculated once a day from your closing balance. Intraday drawdown follows your peak balance in real time, including open (unrealized) profit.

EOD drawdown: a 50K example

You start at $50,000 with a $2,000 drawdown, so your threshold is $48,000. This is Apex's own example:

The threshold is enforced in real time. If your balance touches it during the session, Apex closes all positions and the account fails.

Intraday drawdown: the same trade, different result

You start a 50K account at $50,000 (threshold $48,000). You buy, and the trade runs to $900 in open profit. Then the market turns, and you close it at +$200.

The intraday account lost $700 of room on a winning trade. That is why intraday drawdown is harder for traders who let winners run and then give part of the profit back.

From my experience: I trade EOD accounts at Apex because intraday drawdown is too strict for how I manage risk. A common case: price gets close to my take profit, turns around, and I close the trade at breakeven.

On an intraday account, that open profit has already pulled my threshold up, so I lose room on a trade that made nothing. On an EOD account, the threshold only updates after the session closes. That leaves me more room to manage positions during the day, including sudden moves on unexpected news.

When the drawdown stops trailing

• Performance Accounts (both types): the threshold stops at your starting balance + $100. For a 50K PA, that's $50,100.
• Evaluations on Rithmic and WealthCharts: the trail stops at the profit target balance.
• Evaluations on Tradovate: the drawdown keeps trailing and never locks.

The daily loss limit is a separate rule. It only pauses trading for the rest of the day. The drawdown threshold closes the account.

Performance Account & Payout Rules

Apex funded accounts are called Performance Accounts (PA). They are simulated ("Sim Funded"), and you keep 100% of approved payouts. The Apex Trader Funding payout rules for new accounts come down to four requirements.

• Five qualifying days since your last payout. They don't have to be in a row, but each needs a minimum net profit (see the table below).
• No single profitable day can be 50% or more of your total profit since the last approved payout.
• Your balance must cover the Safety Net (starting balance + drawdown + $100) plus the $500 minimum payout.
• No rule breaks on the account.

The Safety Net never goes away on new accounts. It stays for the whole life of the PA, not just the first payout.

The 50% consistency rule in numbers

Here's the Apex Trader Funding consistency rule on a 50K PA. You've made $2,000 since your last payout, so your best day has to be under $1,000. If one day made $1,200, you can request only once your total profit is above $2,400.

The Apex Trader Funding 50% consistency rule doesn't fail the account. It only delays your payout.

Payout caps

Each PA gets a maximum of six payouts. The cap rises with each one, and the EOD and intraday tables are slightly different.

After the sixth payout, the account completes its cycle. To keep going, you pass a new evaluation.

From my experience: When I traded at Apex, I ran five 50K EOD accounts on the new rules, bought after the March 2026 changes. My payouts arrived in about 2 business days, which I consider normal. I've heard from EU traders that payouts through Plane can sometimes take up to two weeks.

What stood out to me most was the choice of accounts and their prices. The rules themselves are fair. Apex isn't my favorite firm, but in my view it works well for scaling, because you can run up to 20 funded accounts at once.

Timing, methods and limits

• You can ask for a payout once a week at most, and only after 5 new qualifying days.
• Apex reviews requests within 2 business days and sends the money within 3–4 business days. Add your bank's 3–7 business days, and most traders see the money within 5–11 business days.
• US traders get paid by ACH. Everyone else gets paid through Plane.
• You can hold up to 20 active PAs at the same time. Legacy, EOD and intraday accounts all count toward that limit.
• Inactivity closes accounts. You need at least two days with $50+ net profit in every 30 calendar days.
• The PA daily loss limit is tier-based. Hitting it pauses trading for the session, but the account stays open.

Prohibited Practices

Breaking these rules can close your account and cancel your profits, even after you pass. Apex can also put you on "Trader Probation" with extra audits.

• Holding positions through the close. Everything must be flat before 4:59 PM ET, so there are no overnight or weekend trades.
• Bots, algorithms and HFT. Apex funds manual traders only.
• Hedging of any kind, whether that's long and short on the same or correlated markets, or one account against another.
• Orders on both sides of the market around news, or strategies that "chase the market" on releases.
• Trading without a stop. Every trade needs a pending or mental stop, and the drawdown limit doesn't count as one.
• Strategies that risk far more than they aim to make.
• Copying trades with other traders, or sharing your account, computer, IP or card.
• VPNs, proxies and cloud servers used to hide who you are or where you trade from.
• Buying cheap evaluations to blow them up on purpose.

Apex's rules don't say whether copying trades between your own accounts is allowed. Confirm with Apex support first.

Apex Account Sizes Compared

Every Apex size comes in four versions: EOD or intraday drawdown, each with or without an activation fee. The total you pay can differ a lot between them, so compare the full cost, not just the evaluation price.

"Standard" means the evaluation fee plus the activation fee, which you pay after passing. The "no activation fee" version costs more up front but nothing after you pass. Discount code: BETZ.

Verdict: who Apex is for

In our view, Apex suits manual futures traders who want a low entry price, no evaluation consistency rule and a 100% split. The EOD account is the safer pick if your trades often swing in profit before you close them.

Now the downsides. Payouts stop after six per account, the Safety Net stays for the whole PA, and the PA starts with fewer contracts than the evaluation. If you trade with bots, hold positions overnight or want unlimited payouts from one account, look at another firm.

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