Cheapest Prop Firms (Real Cost After Discounts)

Rules checked: October 8, 2026

The cheapest prop firm isn't always the one with the lowest sticker price. In our view, the lowest real cost in futures comes from a one-time fee with no activation fee: Lucid, Tradeify, My Funded Futures or Apex's No Activation Fee evaluations. In forex, FTMO's 2-Step and FundedNext's Stellar 2-Step can give the fee back with your first reward.

Cheapest Futures Prop Firms This Month (After Codes)

Prices are for the 50K account after the current code. MyPropFirm checks them every day, so the order can change from one day to the next. Fixed fees in the table are as of October 2026.

Look past the price column first. Topstep and Take Profit Trader bill every month until you cancel, so their price is a monthly rate, not a total. And Apex and My Funded Futures don't sell resets on their current accounts, so a failed evaluation means paying full price again.

Topstep and Take Profit Trader don't work with MyPropFirm. We include them because a cost list without the two big subscription firms would hide the most common pricing model in futures.

Cheapest Forex/CFD Challenges

Forex firms start much smaller than futures firms, so the entry price is lower. A smaller account also means smaller payouts, which is why we compare cost per $1K further down.

Check the refund terms too. FTMO's 2-Step fee "may be refunded with the first Reward withdrawal", while the 1-Step fee is not refunded at all. FundingPips only refunds on the 2 Step Standard account, and only once you reach your 4th reward.

The5ers High Stakes gives back 30% of the fee as Hub Credit during the evaluation and 70% added to your funded account with a payout. Its own FAQ pages disagree on whether that's the first or the third payout, so confirm with The5ers support first.

FTMO and FundingPips don't work with MyPropFirm, but they're two of the biggest names in forex, so they belong on this list.

The Hidden Costs: Activation Fees, Resets, Monthly Subscriptions

The evaluation price is only the first payment. What you really spend depends on three other things, and they differ a lot between firms. All fees below are as of October 2026.

Activation fees

Some firms charge you again once you pass. Topstep charges $149 per Express Funded Account on its Standard path, and Take Profit Trader lists a one-time $130 fee for the PRO account, which some of its promo codes waive. Apex charges a Performance Account activation fee on standard evaluations, but it also sells No Activation Fee evaluations where that fee is $0.

Tradeify, Lucid and My Funded Futures don't charge activation on any plan. On the forex side, FTMO says it has no additional or hidden fees.

Resets

A reset puts a failed evaluation back at the start, usually for less than a new account. At Take Profit Trader, a 50K Test reset is $99 and your renewal date stays the same. At Topstep, a reset pushes your rebill date 30 days out from the day you buy it.

Tradeify sells resets for Select and Growth at fixed prices that codes can't discount. Apex's current evaluations and My Funded Futures have no resets at all: if you fail, you buy a new evaluation. Apex's coupon also can't be used on resets or activation fees.

Monthly subscriptions

Topstep and Take Profit Trader bill you every month until you cancel. Take three months to pass and you pay three times. The one-time fees at Apex, Tradeify, Lucid and My Funded Futures don't renew, so taking longer costs you nothing extra.

Smaller fees

Withdrawal and data fees are small, but they add up. Take Profit Trader charges $50 on withdrawals of $250 or less. Topstep charges $30 for ACH and wire payouts, while its other payout methods carry no Topstep fee. On a live account, Topstep covers data for one exchange and charges for the rest, and My Funded Futures deducts exchange fees at the start of each month.

From my experience: Before my first payout, I spent about $560 in total, counting every evaluation along the way. My first payout was $2,700. What surprised me was how quickly that one payout covered everything I'd spent, with a lot left over. Your numbers can look very different, so set a budget before you start.

Cost per $1K of Funded Capital (Our Metric)

A $5K forex challenge and a 50K futures evaluation can't be compared on price alone. So we divide the total cost by the account size in thousands:

Cost per $1K = (price after code + activation fee) ÷ account size in $1K

For a monthly subscription, multiply the price by the number of months you expect to need. If you fail and buy again or reset, add that too.

Take the activation fee on its own. On a 50K account, Topstep's $149 fee adds almost $3 per $1K ($149 ÷ 50 = $2.98) on top of the evaluation. A firm with no activation fee adds nothing.

The metric has one blind spot: refunds. FTMO's 2-Step fee comes back with your first reward, so its real cost can drop to zero, but only if you get paid. We count the full fee anyway, because you pay it upfront and only see it again after a payout.

In our view, small forex accounts usually look worse on this metric than their low price suggests.

Cheapest ≠ Best: Red Flags

A low price is worth nothing if the account is built to be failed or never pays. These are the warning signs we look for:

• A low price that renews every month. A subscription that looks cheap can cost more than a one-time fee after two or three months.
• An activation fee you only see on the payout page. Read the funded account pages before you buy, not just the checkout.
• No resets plus strict rules. If every failure means a new purchase, a cheap evaluation you fail twice costs you double.
• Fees that codes don't touch. Tradeify's reset prices can't be discounted, and Apex's coupon doesn't apply to resets or activation fees.
• Instant funding with a tight drawdown. Tradeify Lightning and LucidDirect skip the evaluation, but they cost more upfront, and Tradeify Lightning can't be reset. FundingPips Zero skips it too, with a 5% trailing max loss and a 3% daily loss.

None of this means a firm is a scam. It means you'll pay more than the checkout says.

Verdict

In our view, the cheapest way into futures is a one-time fee with no activation fee: Lucid, Tradeify, My Funded Futures or Apex's No Activation Fee evaluation. Which of these is cheapest this month depends on the codes in the first table.

In forex, FTMO's 2-Step costs more upfront than the smallest challenges, but its fee may be refunded with the first reward. FundedNext's Stellar 2-Step does the same.

Now the downsides. Apex and My Funded Futures don't sell resets, so every failure is a full new purchase. Topstep and Take Profit Trader look cheap per month but keep billing every month until you cancel. And a refund only helps once you've actually been paid.

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