Open dataset
Prop firm rules, by account type
Every comparison of prop firms uses the firm as its unit. The published rules say that unit is wrong: one brand routinely sells accounts whose two most important rules run in opposite directions. So the row here is the account, not the company.
The finding, in one line
FTMO sells three products that all state a 10% maximum loss. On the 2-Step it never moves. On the 1-Step it follows your best day upward and never comes back down. On the Instant Account it follows every closing high in real time, and withdrawing a reward does not reset it. Same brand, same checkout, same number. It does not mean the same thing.
The dataset
11 account types across 3 firms. Every cell is quoted from the firm's own published trading objectives, not from a review site, and not from the page selling the account.
| Account | Firm | Profit target | Daily loss | Max loss | Does it trail? | Min days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Step | FTMO | 10% | 3% | 10%, trailing at end of day | Yes, it follows your high | None stated |
| 2-Step | FTMO | 10% then 5% | 5% | 10%, static | No, it stays put | 4 per phase |
| Instant | FTMO | None (no evaluation) | 3% | 10%, trailing intraday | Yes, it follows your high | None stated |
| Stellar 1-Step | FundedNext | 10% | 3% | 6%, static | No, it stays put | 2 |
| Stellar 2-Step | FundedNext | 8% then 5% | 5% | 10%, static | No, it stays put | 5 per phase |
| Stellar Lite | FundedNext | 8% then 4% | 4% | 8%, static | No, it stays put | 5 per phase |
| Stellar Instant | FundedNext | None (funded from day one) | None | 6%, trailing | Yes, it follows your high | None |
| Zero (50K) | Alpha Futures | $3,000 (6%) | $1,000 (2%): locks you out, does not fail you | $2,000 (4%), EOD trailing, locks at start balance | Yes, until it reaches your starting balance | None stated |
| Standard (50K) | Alpha Futures | $3,000 (6%) | None during the evaluation; $1,000 (2%) once qualified | $2,000 (4%), EOD trailing, locks at start balance | Yes, until it reaches your starting balance | None stated |
| Advanced (50K) | Alpha Futures | $4,000 (8%) | None at either stage | $1,750 (3.5%), EOD trailing, locks at start balance | Yes, until it reaches your starting balance | None stated |
| Direct (50K) | Alpha Futures | $3,000 to the first payout, $2,000 to each one after | $1,000 (2%): locks you out, does not fail you | $2,000 (4%), EOD trailing, locks at start balance | Yes, until it reaches your starting balance | None (qualified from day one) |
Read on 2026-10-19 from FTMO’s trading objectives, FundedNext’s trading objectives and Alpha Futures’ trading objectives. These change, and they change per account type, so check the current page for the product you are buying.
Alpha Futures states its objectives in dollars per account size rather than as percentages, and the sizes differ per account type. 50K is the one size all four of its types offer, so its rows are shown at 50K with the percentage of the starting balance in brackets. Those ratios do not hold at every size.
Checked by all three firms. Alpha Futures support confirmed its rows in writing on 15 September 2026, including that its Max Loss Limit stops trailing once it reaches the starting balance and that a Daily Loss Guard breach is a soft breach rather than a failed account. FTMO’s Partners & Affiliates team confirmed its rows in writing on 16 September 2026. FundedNext’s Partner Success Team replied on 17 September 2026 that its rows appear to be in order. One exception: FTMO’s Instant Account row was added on 19 October 2026, after that confirmation. It is read from FTMO’s own published objectives, but FTMO has not checked it.
What the rows show
One number, three meanings, one brand
All three FTMO products publish a 10% maximum loss. The 2-Step fixes it at the starting balance. The 1-Step recalculates it daily from the highest balance recorded at midnight on any preceding trading day, so it rises with your best close and never falls back. The Instant Account moves it in real time, the moment a trade closes at a new high, and does not reset it when you withdraw: FTMO itself warns that once your balance passes 110% of the starting capital, a reward withdrawal would breach the limit. A trader comparing the three on the number alone is comparing nothing.
“Trailing” is 3 different rules, not one
4 of these accounts fix the maximum loss at the starting balance and never move it. 3 let it follow your high upward with no stated ceiling. The other 4 follow your end-of-day balance high and then stop dead the moment the level reaches your starting balance. Alpha Futures publishes that a 50K account's limit climbs from $48,000 to $50,000 and stays there for the life of the account. All 11 are sold under the words “maximum loss” or “drawdown”.
The daily loss limit does not even mean the same punishment
At FTMO and FundedNext, going past it ends the account. At Alpha Futures the identically-named Daily Loss Guard is a soft breach: your positions are flattened, pending orders cancelled and new trades blocked until 6PM ET, and you keep the account. One firm's worst day is another firm's afternoon off. And within Alpha alone the rule is present on two account types, arrives only after you qualify on a third, and does not exist at all on the fourth.
The firm name predicts nothing
Across these 11 accounts the maximum loss runs from 3.5% to 10% of the starting balance, and all 3 drawdown behaviours appear, with the same brand sitting on more than one side. Knowing which company you bought from tells you almost nothing about the rules you agreed to.
The daily limit watches your open trades
Every firm here measures it on equity, not on closed results. FTMO states it is “based on equity, not only on closed results”, including the floating P/L of open positions plus commissions and swaps; FundedNext calculates from the initial balance and counts floating P/L too; Alpha Futures counts unrealised and realised P&L alike, and warns its Guard fires liquidation orders rather than acting as a stop loss, so the fill will not land exactly on the stated figure. A position that dips past the line intraday counts even if it later closes in profit. Each firm resets on its own clock, not yours.
Method, and what this does not cover
Each row was read directly from the firm's own trading-objectives or help-centre page on 2026-10-19 and linked above. Nothing is taken from a review site: while researching this, a third-party article stated that floating losses do not count toward a daily limit, which contradicts what every firm here publishes itself.
Coverage is 11 account types across 3 firms, deliberately only what has been read to per-account depth. The table grows as firms are read, and the date above moves with it.
None of this is hidden information. Every figure is published by the firm that charges for the account. It is simply on a different page from the one selling it, and no one had put the products side by side.
Use this
The table is free to reproduce, in whole or in part, for any purpose including commercial, under CC BY 4.0. The only condition is a credit and a link back, so a reader can check the figures and see how current they are.
Suggested citation
SMCM, “Prop firm rules, by account type”, 2026-10-19. https://smcm.io/prop-firm-rules
Spotted a figure that has changed, or run a firm whose objectives belong here? Tell us. Corrections are published with the date they were made.
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