Trader tool

The real cost of a prop challenge

A $500 challenge only costs $500 if you pass on the first try. Most traders do not — and firms price for that. Put in your numbers and see the ticket you are actually buying: expected attempts, expected total cost, and how hard the curve punishes an optimistic self-estimate.

Your challenge

$500
$500
25%

Firms rarely publish pass rates, so this uses your estimate. The point is the shape of the curve — how fast the real cost grows when the pass chance drops — not the exact number.

Expected attempts
4.0
average to first pass
Expected real cost
$2,000
sticker price: $500
Cost multiple
4.0×
real cost vs sticker
At a 25% pass estimate the sticker price is mostly marketing: the average path is funding on roughly attempt 4, making the real ticket about 4.0× the sticker — $2,000. Budget for that, or work on the pass rate before buying.

How the cost curve bends

Expected total cost at every pass chance, with your current setting marked.

10%25%50%75%90%Expected cost (up to $10,000 at 5%)pass chance

Budget check

3
Still unfunded after 3
42%
chance every attempt fails
Spent by then
$1,500
3 paid attempts

If losing that amount would hurt, the position is too big — the same 1R logic from the Risk Academy applies to evaluation fees, not just trades.

What this deliberately leaves out

  • • Discounts, promo resets and free repeats — they lower the real cost; plug the discounted prices in above.
  • • Activation or monthly fees some firms charge after funding — check the rulebook.
  • • The cost of passing and then breaching: a funded account is not the finish line. Trailing drawdown and consistency rules end funded accounts every day.
Account-size marketing →Trailing drawdown →Why traders fail →Payout rules →
Compare prop firmsHow funded accounts work

Educational tool, not financial advice. The results are simple probability math applied to the numbers you enter — SMCM has not assessed your trading or your finances. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.