Prop Firm Evaluation Cost Calculator
Add up eval fees, resets, and activation costs, then compare the total to what a personal account would put at risk.
Apex Trader Funding · $50K account · billed monthly
Times you fail and restart.
None of the three firms publish this fee on their rules page, so it starts at $0. Add it if your firm or account size charges one.
Compare to a personal account
Defaults to NQ initial margin. Adjust for your contract or broker.
Defaults to the selected firm's trailing drawdown for a like-for-like comparison.
Total Cost to Funded
$334
$334 eval + $0 resets + $0 activation
Monthly Carry After Funded
$167
Personal Capital at Risk
$2,500
Personal Margin Tied Up
$17,600
Eval path risks $334 of fees. Personal path exposes $2,500 of capital.
How it works
Total cost to funded adds three things together: the eval fee itself (a monthly subscription multiplied by how many months you expect to need, or a flat one-time fee on firms that bill that way), any reset fees for evaluations you fail and restart, and a one-time activation or Performance Account fee if the firm charges one. Monthly carry after funded is separate: it is the eval fee only if that firm keeps billing monthly through the funded stage, and $0 for firms that charge a single one-time fee.
The personal-account comparison is not about which path is "better." It is about naming what each path actually risks. The eval path risks the fees you paid to attempt it. A personal account risks the drawdown budget you are willing to lose, on top of the margin capital it ties up that the eval path never requires you to post.
This tool is for planning purposes only. It does not guarantee passing any evaluation, and it does not account for every fee a firm may charge. Confirm current pricing directly on the firm's site before subscribing, and see disclosures for the full risk disclosure.
A worked example
Take the Apex $50K evaluation at its published $167/month rate. Budget 2 months to pass and the eval fee alone is 167 × 2 = $334. Apex does not publish a reset fee or an activation fee on its rules page, so this example leaves both at $0; add them in if you already know your actual numbers or fail an attempt along the way.
That puts total cost to funded at $334, with $167/month of carry if Apex keeps billing through the funded stage. Compare that to trading a $50K account yourself: the same $2,500 trailing drawdown Apex enforces on the eval is a reasonable drawdown budget to hold yourself to, and a single NQ contract ties up roughly $17,600 in margin at a retail broker.
The eval path risks $334 in fees to find out if the strategy can hit the target without breaching the drawdown. The personal path risks $2,500 of real capital on the same drawdown, on top of the $17,600 sitting in margin. Neither number says which path is right for you. They say what each path actually costs if it does not work out.
Published eval costs by firm
Standard plan parameters published on each firm's own rules page on this site. Firms update pricing without much notice, so verify current numbers before subscribing.
| Firm | Account | Eval cost | Trailing drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex | $50K | $167/mo | $2,500 |
| Apex | $100K | $207/mo | $3,000 |
| Apex | $150K | $297/mo | $5,000 |
| TopStep | $50K Combine | $49/mo | $2,000 |
| TopStep | $100K Combine | $99/mo | $3,000 |
| TopStep | $150K Combine | $149/mo | $4,500 |
| MyFundedFutures | $50K Starter | $80 once | $2,000 |
| MyFundedFutures | $100K Starter | $165 once | $3,000 |
| MyFundedFutures | $150K Starter | $265 once | $4,500 |
None of the three firms publish a reset fee or an activation/PA fee on the pages above, which is why the calculator starts both at $0. Check the firm's own site for current figures before you rely on them.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting that resets compound. Failing an evaluation twice does not cost one reset fee, it costs two, and the calculator only knows about resets you enter.
- Treating a one-time eval fee like a recurring one, or the reverse. Multiplying a flat fee by months overstates the real cost; treating a monthly fee as flat understates it.
- Comparing eval cost to the full personal account size instead of the drawdown budget you would actually risk. The account size was never at risk; the drawdown was.
- Ignoring monthly carry after funded. Some firms keep billing the same monthly fee through the funded stage, which changes the real cost of staying funded.
- Assuming a passed evaluation proves a profitable strategy. It proves the strategy hit a target once without breaching a drawdown, not that it holds an edge over time.