Evaluation Models, Explained

Before you pay, name the product. Our directory uses a funding-model taxonomy, not marketing names. Three of those models are the usual retail decision. Two more exist so we do not force a hybrid into the wrong bucket.

Evaluation

A paid challenge with a target and a floor. One-step and two-step are structures inside this model — see /glossary/one-step-evaluation and /glossary/two-step-evaluation. On a Directory profile, when we have a program block, the tier table can show profit target and drawdown per account size. The program facts list max drawdown (type and percent), daily loss limit, and min trading days when those fields are filled. They are not always filled. A blank is a blank. Read the firm's rulebook.

Instant funding

A fee, no challenge phase, rules from the first trade. Compare's "Instant funding" row is the yes/no. Instant programs often pair a smaller account with a tighter floor. That is a trade-off to read, not a slogan.

Firm capital

No fee to "unlock" an account. You are hired or invited onto firm capital. Directory still lists these firms so you can see they are a different product. Match can prefer them if that is what you asked for.

Also in the taxonomy, not this page's main job: leveraged trader capital, and bank or institutional desks. Filter them in /directory if that is your search. Do not treat them as a two-step challenge.

What you are buying, in numbers

Write down, from the profile in front of you: model, entry cost, max drawdown type and percent, daily loss limit, news trading (yes/no on the profile), overnight, weekend, copy trading. Compare currently renders news, overnight, weekend, and copy as yes/no, plus cost, splits, and payouts. It does not currently render drawdown percent, daily loss, consistency, or min trading days in the table. Those live on the firm profile's program block when we have them, and in the rulebook either way.

Do not infer the firm's economics from a challenge fee. We do not publish a revenue mix for evaluation firms on this page.

Next

/article/what-is-proprietary-trading for the name. /article/evaluation-strategy for how to use the four numbers. /compare once you have two programs. /glossary/evaluation and /glossary/instant-funding for the terms.

FAQ

Q: Is a one-step challenge a different funding model from a two-step? A: No. Both are evaluation. The step count is the structure of the test. The model is still: pay a fee, pass rules, then a funded account.

Q: Where is consistency in Compare? A: It is not a Compare table row today. Read /glossary/consistency-rule, the research note at /research/consistency-rules, and the firm's own rulebook. If the profile's program block does not list it, do not invent a percentage.