Risk: Prop challenges, including futures prop firms, are paid tests: most people don’t pass, the fee is usually lost, and funded accounts are usually simulated.
A prop firm challenge might be advertised at £100. But that’s only the price of one attempt. Most people fail their first attempt, and many fail several. Add resets, activation fees, card charges on payments in dollars, and the chance you lose the funded account before your first payout, and the real cost of getting funded can be several times the sticker price.
This calculator works out that true cost in pounds, using your own honest estimates.
Prop Firm True Cost Calculator (UK, in £)
Work out what getting funded might really cost once you allow for failed attempts, resets, activation fees, currency conversion and refunds. It’s an educational estimate, not a prediction. The defaults are example inputs, not statistics. Replace them with your firm’s current prices and your own honest estimates.
Your results (all in £)
How the pass rate changes the picture
The same inputs at different pass rates, with your attempt limit applied. Your current row is highlighted.
| Pass rate per attempt | Chance of passing within limit | Expected attempts | Expected spend | Expected net result |
|---|
Assumptions and how it’s calculated
- Independent attempts: each attempt is assumed to have the same pass chance, independent of the others. In reality skill, nerves and conditions vary.
- Stopping rule: you stop buying attempts once you pass or reach your maximum.
- Expected attempts = (1 − (1 − p)N) ÷ p, where p is the pass chance and N is your maximum. Chance of passing within N = 1 − (1 − p)N.
- Expected spend = first fee + (expected attempts − 1) × retry price + chance of passing × activation fee, converted to £ at your rate plus your card/FX fee.
- Payout: only paid if you pass and reach a first payout. It’s calculated as simulated profit × your split, converted to £ and reduced by the payout cost. Only the first payout is included. Later payouts are not.
- Monthly mode (futures firms): each attempt costs (monthly fee + monthly data/platform fee) × your average months per attempt. If you tick the reset option, each retry costs the reset price plus the data fee for those months. Any refund is taken as a percentage of one monthly fee.
- Refund: it’s assumed to be a percentage of one full challenge fee (the passing attempt), paid only with a first payout. Card/FX fees aren’t refunded.
- Not included: tax (see our UK tax guide), platform or data fees (unless you enter them in monthly mode), the value of your time, add-ons, and the risk that a firm changes its rules, refuses a payout or stops trading.
- “Expected” means the long-run average over many people with the same inputs. It is not what will happen to you. Your real result could be much better or much worse.
Educational tool only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based entirely on your inputs. Check each firm’s current prices and rules on its own website.
How to use the calculator
- Enter the firm’s prices. Use the current fee from the firm’s own website, in the currency it charges. If it charges in dollars or euros, enter today’s exchange rate and any foreign transaction fee your card charges.
- Be honest about your pass chance. This is the chance you’ll pass every phase of the evaluation on a single attempt. If you haven’t yet followed a tested strategy on a demo account under the same rules, your chance is probably lower than you’d like to think.
- Set your maximum attempts. Decide your stopping point before you start. It’s one of the best protections against chasing losses.
- Add reset or retry prices. Some firms sell resets or discounted retries. Tick the box and enter the price if so.
- Fill in the funded stage. Enter your profit split, any fee refund, and a “what if” simulated profit for your first payout. The default is an example, not a typical result.
- Read the table. See how much the picture changes if your real pass rate is lower or higher than you hoped.
A worked example (using the default inputs)
These are example inputs, not real firm prices or statistics:
- Challenge fee: £100, no activation fee
- Your estimated pass chance per attempt: 10%
- Maximum attempts: 5
- Once funded, a 50% chance of reaching a first payout
- First payout based on £1,000 of simulated profit at an 80% split, with no fee refund
What the calculator shows:
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Chance of passing within 5 attempts | 41% |
| Chance of failing all 5 attempts | 59% (you’d spend £500) |
| Expected number of attempts | 4.1 |
| Expected total spend | £409.51 |
| Average spend per successful pass | £1,000 |
| Expected payout + refund | £163.80 |
| Expected net result, before tax | −£245.71 |
| Simulated profit needed at first payout to break even | £2,500 |
In plain English: with these inputs, it’s more likely than not that you’d spend £500 and never get funded. And even when you include the chance of a payout, the long-run average is a loss. It would only break even if you expected £2,500 of simulated profit at your first payout, not £1,000.
Change one input – say your pass chance goes from 10% to 30% because you’ve practised properly – and the expected result changes a lot. That’s the point: your skill and discipline matter far more than finding the cheapest challenge.
Why the number of attempts matters so much
If each attempt has the same chance of passing, the average number of attempts needed to pass is 1 ÷ your pass chance, if you keep going until you pass:
| Pass chance per attempt | Average attempts to pass (no limit) | Average cost to pass at £100 per attempt |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | 20 | £2,000 |
| 10% | 10 | £1,000 |
| 20% | 5 | £500 |
| 33% | 3 | £300 |
| 50% | 2 | £200 |
This is simple probability maths based on the pass chances in the left-hand column. Those are illustrations, not real pass rates.
That’s why we suggest a maximum attempt limit. It caps your worst case. The calculator includes your limit in every figure.
What “true cost” includes – and what it doesn’t
Included:
- Challenge fee for every attempt you’re expected to make
- Reset or discounted retry prices
- Activation fees on passing
- Currency conversion and card fees on payments in dollars or euros
- Fee refunds paid with a first payout (only if you reach one)
- Profit split and payout transfer costs on your first payout
Not included:
- Tax. Payouts are likely to be taxable. See our UK prop firm tax guide.
- Charting, data or platform subscriptions
- The value of your time
- Payouts after the first one
- The risk that a firm changes its rules, delays or refuses a payout, or stops trading
Things to check with any prop firm before you pay
- Is the account simulated? Many firms say plainly that their accounts are simulated. FTMO, for example, says that “all accounts we provide to our clients are demo accounts with fictitious funds and any trading is in a simulated environment only” (FTMO website, checked 17 October 2026). Your payouts come from the firm under its terms, not from profits made in a real market.
- What exactly ends a challenge? Daily loss limit, maximum drawdown (and whether it’s trailing or static), minimum trading days, news trading rules, consistency rules.
- Is the fee refunded – and when? Usually only with a first payout, if at all.
- What can stop a payout? Rule breaches, “prohibited strategies”, identity checks, and minimum payout amounts.
- Do they accept UK residents and pay out in a way that works for you?
- Is the firm regulated? Most prop firms aren’t authorised by the FCA, and evaluation fees aren’t covered by the FSCS. Read our guide: Are prop firms regulated in the UK?
Improve your odds before you pay anything
The cheapest way to raise your pass chance is to practise for free first:
- Learn risk management and position sizing.
- Backtest one strategy properly.
- Run it on a demo account using the same rules as the challenge – same daily loss limit, same drawdown, same targets.
- Only consider paying for a challenge once you’ve passed your own “practice challenges” several times in a row.
Start at the beginning with our free course: Learn to Trade from Scratch.
FAQ
How much does a prop firm challenge cost in the UK? Prices vary by firm and account size, and many firms charge in US dollars. What really matters is the true cost, which depends on how many attempts you’ll need. Use the calculator above with the firm’s current price and your honest pass chance.
What’s a realistic prop firm pass rate? Firms rarely publish independently audited pass rates, and figures quoted online are often unverified. What matters is your pass chance, which you can estimate by running practice challenges under the same rules on a demo account. Be conservative.
Are prop firm fees refundable? Some firms refund the evaluation fee with your first payout. Many don’t. You almost never get it back if you fail. Check the terms.
Is it cheaper to reset or buy a new challenge? It depends on the firm’s prices. Tick “retries cost a different price” in the calculator and compare.
Do I pay tax on prop firm payouts? Probably, yes. Read our UK prop firm tax guide and speak to an accountant.
About this page: This calculator page has no affiliate links. Good Trading Guide doesn’t use affiliate links yet. If we add them elsewhere, each will be marked (Ad), and when you buy through one the firm will pay us a commission. How we make money.
Disclaimer: This page is general education, not financial or investment advice or a personal recommendation, and it doesn’t take your circumstances into account. Results are estimates based entirely on the inputs you enter, and the defaults are illustrative examples, not statistics or typical results. The calculator doesn’t predict your outcome. Examples are hypothetical, for illustration only, and not an invitation to buy or sell. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future results. Futures, spread bets and CFDs are complex and carry a high risk of losing money quickly because of leverage, and most retail traders lose money. With a real futures account, losses can exceed your deposit. Prop firm challenges are paid evaluations: the fee is usually lost, and funded accounts are usually simulated. Payouts depend on each firm’s terms, so check current prices and rules on each firm’s own website. Only trade with money you can afford to lose, and speak to an independent FCA-authorised adviser if you’re unsure. Read our full risk warning.