Cheapest Prop Firm 2026
Every prop firm we checked on 16 September 2026 was running a discount. Tradeday was 55% off. Earn2Trade was 50% off. Goat Funded Trader was 50% off for new customers. Take Profit Trader was 40% off ‘for life’. FundedNext was 20% off for new users, 15% for existing ones. FTMO had a special on its $100K challenge. Not one firm was selling at list price.
That is the first thing to understand about this question: the list price is fiction, and so is any table that ranks firms by it. Discount codes rotate weekly and most are close to permanent. A page that tells you firm X costs $249 is quoting a number almost nobody pays.
The second thing matters more. The cheapest entry fee is often the most expensive account. Three costs decide what you actually pay, and the headline price is only one of them:
- Is the fee one-time or monthly? A $45/month evaluation looks cheaper than a $130 one-time fee, and is more expensive by month four. Futures firms mostly bill monthly; forex firms mostly bill once.
- What does a reset cost? Most traders fail the first attempt. A cheap challenge with a $78 reset is not cheap if you need two.
- Is there an activation fee on the funded account? Several firms charge again at the point you pass — the moment you are least likely to walk away.
Below is what we found on each firm’s own site on 16 September 2026, followed by the cost comparison that actually holds up: price per $1,000 of simulated capital, and how long a monthly plan takes to overtake a one-time fee. We re-check this page monthly and date every figure. How we rate explains our scoring; we earn a commission on some sign-ups, which never affects a score or a placement.
What each firm cost on 16 September 2026
Observed directly on each firm’s own pricing page on the date shown. Promotional prices are what the site displayed to a new visitor, not a negotiated rate.
| Firm | Billing | Entry price seen | Discount running | Reset / activation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FundedNext | One-time | Stellar 6K from $29.99; 50K $69.99 (list $133.99); 100K $129.99 (list $249.99) | 20% off new users, 15% existing | Reset fee $77.99 |
| Tradeday | Monthly | 25K at $45/month (from $100) | 55% off — accounts from just $45 | Resets $45 · no activation fee |
| Earn2Trade | Monthly | Gauntlet Mini from $150/month, rising to $350/month by size | 50% off + free reset, code 50PLUSRESET |
Reset $100 · free when rebilled · no upfront activation fee |
| Take Profit Trader | Either | PRO account: $130 one-time or a monthly recurring fee | 40% off for life + no activation fee, code NOFEE40 |
Up to 3 resets on PRO; none on the other plan |
| The 5%ers | One-time | 100K programme at $250 | None displayed | Fee refunded from your 3rd payout |
| Goat Funded Trader | One-time | Sizes 5K–400K; prices shown included $361 and $657 | 50% off for new customers | Fee described as 100% refundable; resets sold separately |
| FTMO | One-time | Sizes $10K–$200K, one-time refundable fee | Special on the $100K 1-step challenge | Fee refunded with first payout |
| Bulenox | Monthly evaluation | Funding up to $150,000 | None displayed | No monthly fees once the master account is activated |
Read this before you use the table. These are the figures each firm displayed on 16 September 2026. Several firms price by account size behind an interactive selector, so a size we did not open may cost more or less. Where we could not read a firm’s price directly we have said so rather than estimating it. Check the current price on the firm’s own site before paying.
Full reviews of every firm above: FundedNext · Tradeday · Earn2Trade · Take Profit Trader · The 5%ers · Goat Funded Trader · FTMO · Bulenox. Each sets out that firm’s drawdown type, consistency rule and payout record — the things that matter more than the price on this page. The complete list is in our prop firm reviews.
The comparison that actually holds: cost per $1,000 of capital
Headline prices are not comparable because the accounts are different sizes. Divide by the capital and they are:
- FundedNext 100K at $129.99 — $1.30 per $1,000, paid once
- FundedNext 50K at $69.99 — $1.40 per $1,000, paid once
- Tradeday 25K at $45/month — $1.80 per $1,000, every month
The third one is the trap. At month one Tradeday looks like the cheapest account on this page. By month three you have paid $135 for $25,000 of simulated capital, while the FundedNext trader paid $129.99 once for $100,000 and owes nothing further. Monthly billing is where cheap stops being cheap, and it is the single most common mistake in choosing a firm on price.
So which is actually cheapest?
For a one-off attempt at the smallest possible cost: FundedNext’s Stellar 6K at $29.99 was the lowest entry price we saw anywhere. It funds $6,000, so it is a way to test a firm’s process, not a way to earn.
For the lowest cost per $1,000 of capital: a one-time fee beats a monthly plan on any horizon longer than about two months. On the day we checked, FundedNext’s discounted 100K at $1.30 per $1,000 was the lowest we could verify.
For a trader who expects to need resets: Tradeday’s $45 reset and Earn2Trade’s free-reset-when-rebilled are materially cheaper than FundedNext’s $77.99, and Take Profit Trader’s PRO plan includes up to three. If you fail evaluations more often than you pass them, reset cost dominates entry cost and the ranking inverts.
For a firm where the fee comes back: FTMO, The 5%ers and Goat Funded Trader all describe their fee as refundable — on first payout, from the third payout, and in full respectively. A refundable $250 is cheaper than a non-refundable $70 if you get paid. Read each firm’s payout conditions in our review before treating a refund as money you will see.
What cheapest should not mean
A low entry price tells you nothing about whether a firm pays. The firms on this page differ far more in payout reliability, drawdown calculation and rule clarity than they do in price, and those differences cost more than $50 either way. Our individual reviews set out each firm’s drawdown type, consistency rules and payout record. Start with price if budget is the constraint — but do not finish there.