For stock trading, start with what each challenge lets you trade, then look at the score. Six of the 13 challenges here include stocks: FTMO, Upcomers, WSFunded, Trade The Pool, The Trading Pit (Prop Firm Details entry) and Crypto Fund Trader. Trade The Pool is the only one built on stocks alone, and it has the tightest loss limits. FTMO ranks highest and scales furthest but restricts weekend holding. Swing traders who hold over weekends have WSFunded, Upcomers and Crypto Fund Trader, which allow it. Upcomers has the most permissive rules but the lowest user rating. Apex Trader Funding, Bulenox, Alpha Futures and The Trading Pit Futures cover futures only. FXIFY covers forex and crypto, E8 Markets forex and futures, and For Traders forex, futures and crypto. Our score out of 10 rates each firm as a whole, not its stock offering.
What the order is based on
Each firm’s position follows its score, from FTMO at 8.1 down to E8 Markets and For Traders at 6.8. Each firm also has a user rating from trader reviews (4.8 from 56,205 reviews for FTMO), which does not determine rank. The two can diverge sharply. Upcomers is fourth with a score of 7.3 but has a 2.9 user rating from 578 reviews, the lowest here, while Trade The Pool sits eighth on score with a 4.5 user rating.
The “best for” labels on the top five (best overall, lowest costs, best for beginners, best platform, best for active traders) are general labels. Two of them go to Apex Trader Funding and Bulenox, whose challenges here are futures programs.
Partner links earn us a commission. This never affects scores.
How we checked the firms in this list
We checked all 15 brands on this page on 2026-11-13, connecting from Tallinn, Estonia, in the EU. Every official site opened normally. We then looked for company register records. Only four brands have a register lookup on record, and all four came back confirmed at Companies House (UK). Alpha Futures matched company 15655643, status Active, incorporated 17 April 2024. FXIFY Solutions Limited, the entity FXIFY names, is Active and was incorporated 31 October 2022. Five Percent Online Ltd, named by Trade The Pool, is Active with an incorporation date of 9 April 2020. OneFunded matched 15918986, status Active, incorporated 27 August 2024. For the other 11 brands, including FTMO, Apex Trader Funding and Bulenox, we have no register lookup on record. The entity names on those sites are not something we have verified.
Sign-up flows were not all the same. At FTMO, Bulenox and For Traders, the main button led to a sign-in or account page before any payment screen. At the remaining 12 brands, including Apex Trader Funding, FXIFY and Upcomers, the button opened a checkout without an account. We went no further than that screen. Trustpilot figures vary a lot. FTMO showed 4.8 from 56,660 reviews. Upcomers showed 2.9 from 585 reviews, and OneFunded showed 4 from 149 reviews, a much smaller sample. Archive dates add context on age. The first archive capture for Alpha Futures is 2024-04-20, shortly after its UK incorporation, while FTMO’s first capture is 2002-11-16. The Trading Pit appears twice in this list, and both entries point to thetradingpit.com with identical results.
These checks have limits. We did not open accounts, buy challenges or test payouts, so nothing here speaks to trading conditions or how any firm pays out.
Futures, CFDs and shares: three different kinds of “stock” exposure
Prop firms use “stocks” loosely. The tag can mean any of three instruments.
- Stock index futures are exchange-traded contracts on an index, such as the E-mini Nasdaq-100. They give index exposure, not access to individual company shares. Futures rules are quoted in dollars per account size.
- Stock CFDs track a share or index price and are typical of forex-style platforms. Index CFDs carry broker names such as NAS100 or US100, while NDX is the ticker of the Nasdaq-100 index itself.
- Exchange-listed shares are actual equities on exchanges such as the NYSE or Nasdaq.
The choice changes your costs and trading hours. CFD pricing may include a spread and overnight financing, while futures and shares carry commissions and exchange fees. “Stocks” in a firm’s marketing can mean a few dozen large caps or a broad list.
How the stock-tagged entries differ
The six stock-tagged challenges differ most on drawdown size, holding rules and payout terms. The rules below apply to the challenge and account size shown. Other programs at the same firm can differ.
FTMO
The FTMO Challenge (2-Step) on a $100K account costs $602, with phase targets of 10% and 5%, a 5% daily loss limit and a 10% maximum loss. It requires at least 4 trading days and refunds the fee. News trading and weekend holding are both restricted, the key point for a stock swing trader. The profit split is up to 90%, with the first payout 14 days from the first trading day. Maximum scaling is $2M, the highest in the table.
Upcomers
The Classic Phoenix challenge on a $100K account has two possible fees, $11 and $109. Targets are 4% per phase (8% total), with a 3% daily loss limit and a 6% static maximum loss. News trading, weekend holding and EAs are all allowed, there is no minimum day count, the split is up to 100% and payouts are on demand. This is the most permissive rule set among the stock-tagged challenges. Its 2.9 user rating is the counterweight.
WSFunded
The 2 STEP challenge on $100K costs $579, or $290 with a 50% discount code. Phase targets are 8% and 5%, with a 5% daily loss and an 8% static maximum loss. Weekend holding is allowed. News trading and EAs are restricted. The split is 80%, on a 30/10-day payout cycle.
Trade The Pool
Trade The Pool is the only firm here whose challenge covers stocks and nothing else. The Flex Evaluation on a $50K account costs $285. It has a 6% profit target, a 2% daily loss limit and a 4% maximum loss, the tightest loss limits of any challenge here. The split is 70/30 with payouts every 14 days, and maximum scaling is $200K. Payouts can be taken by wire, cryptocurrency or hub credits.
The Trading Pit (main entry)
The Trading Pit has two entries. The Futures entry covers futures only, with $150K maximum scaling. The main entry covers forex, futures and stocks, with $400K. Both use the same challenge, Futures Prime, at $110 for $50K, with a $3,000 target, $1,000 daily loss and $2,000 maximum loss (scaling up for $100K and $150K). Weekend holding is not allowed. Payouts require 5 profitable trading days of at least $150 each, and the split is 80% every 7 days.
Crypto Fund Trader
The 2 Phases Evaluation on $100K costs $660, with targets of 8% and 5%, a 5% daily loss and a 10% static maximum loss. News and weekend holding are allowed, EAs are restricted, and there is no minimum day count. The split is 80%, with payouts after 15 days or 30 calendar days.
Confirm before buying. Several terms are unclear. Upcomers quotes two fees for the same challenge, $11 and $109, and it is unclear which configuration each applies to, so check the price at checkout. WSFunded’s 30/10-day payout cycle does not say which cycle applies when. The Trading Pit’s stock-tagged entry uses a futures-named challenge, so ask which program gives stock access. For any firm, check whether it offers CFDs or exchange-listed shares, whether its symbol list covers your tickers, and how its daily limit is measured: on balance or on equity including open losses, and against the prior day’s closing balance, the starting balance or whichever is higher.
Comparing cost and difficulty on equal terms
Fees cover different account sizes, so scale them before comparing. Here is the cost per $10,000 of starting balance:
| Challenge | Fee | Account | Fee per $10K |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO 2-Step | $602 | $100K | $60.20 |
| Crypto Fund Trader 2 Phases | $660 | $100K | $66.00 |
| WSFunded 2 STEP | $290 with code ($579 full price) | $100K | $29.00 ($57.90) |
| Trade The Pool Flex | $285 | $50K | $57.00 |
| The Trading Pit Futures Prime | $110 | $50K | $22.00 |
Upcomers is left out because its two fees cannot be matched to a configuration. A refund changes the real cost: FTMO and Upcomers refund the fee, while The Trading Pit and Alpha Futures do not.
Difficulty is better read as the ratio of the profit target to the room you have to lose. Assume percentages are measured against the starting balance:
- FTMO: phase 1 target 10%, max loss 10%, a 1:1 ratio
- WSFunded: phase 1 target 8%, max loss 8%, 1:1
- Crypto Fund Trader: phase 1 target 8%, max loss 10%, 0.8:1
- Upcomers: 4% per phase against 6% max loss, about 0.67:1 per phase
- Trade The Pool: 6% target against 4% max loss, 1.5:1
- The Trading Pit: $3,000 target against $2,000 max loss on $50K, 1.5:1
A higher ratio means you must make more than you are allowed to lose. Trade The Pool pairs it with a 2% daily limit: one target instead of two, but less room for error on each trade.
Why daily loss limits bite harder on stocks
Individual stocks can gap at the open after earnings, guidance or news released outside the regular US session (9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern). A stop order does not protect you from a gap. It triggers at the stop price, but it fills at the next available price, which can be well beyond it.
Hypothetical example: on a $50K account with a 2% daily loss limit, your daily room is $1,000. Suppose you hold 100 shares of a $200 stock ($20,000 notional) overnight, and it opens 5% lower. That is a $1,000 loss before you can act, enough to hit the limit with one position. On a $100K account with a 5% daily limit ($5,000), the same position uses a fifth of the day’s room.
So holding rules decide which challenges suit a swing style. FTMO restricts weekend holding and The Trading Pit does not allow it. WSFunded, Upcomers and Crypto Fund Trader allow it. A static maximum loss (Upcomers, WSFunded, Crypto Fund Trader) stays fixed at its starting level. A trailing one, such as Bulenox’s end-of-day trailing drawdown, moves up as the account gains.
Choosing between them
Start with the instrument. If you trade individual US equities, keep the six stock-tagged challenges. If index exposure through contracts like the E-mini Nasdaq-100 is enough, the futures challenges are relevant. They are compared among the best futures prop firms. For index CFDs alongside currency pairs, see the best forex prop firms.
Then match the holding rules to your style. Intraday traders can work within weekend restrictions. Swing traders need weekend holding allowed and a daily limit wide enough to absorb a gap. After that, compare cost per $10K net of any refund, the target-to-drawdown ratio and payout timing: FTMO pays 14 days from the first trading day, Upcomers on demand, The Trading Pit every 7 days once its profitable-day condition is met. Where score and user rating disagree, as with Upcomers, check the prop firm reviews.