Trailing vs static vs daily-loss drawdown: the full taxonomy
Three different rules end most funded accounts. They're often confused, frequently combined, and each demands a different sizing approach. Here's the clean map of all three.
KEY FACTS
- Standard on forex/CFD evaluations — FundingPips , FTP , FTMO 2-Step.
- Where the floor locks, and what that does to the buffer: 40 firms (September 2026) Every row below is taken from the firm’s rules card .
- A 50K account that reaches $50,100 in closing balance has, at most firms, converted its trailing floor into a static one — and from that point the model differences above stop mattering.
- Filter all 40 firms by drawdown model on the comparison table ; per-firm detail on the rules cards .
Source: Puravida Edge, from the article below; rules data verified 29 September 2026.
Every prop firm enforces some mix of these three rules. Treat them as one "drawdown" and you'll get caught off-guard; understand the differences and you can match your strategy to the right structure.
| Rule | What it measures | What it punishes |
|---|---|---|
| Trailing drawdown | A floor that rises with equity highs and never falls | Giving back profit |
| Static drawdown | A fixed floor at a set distance from the starting balance | Total drawdown beyond a threshold |
| Daily loss limit | Max loss within a single session | Bad days, regardless of overall balance |
Source: Puravida Edge rules cards, 40 futures and CFD prop firms, verified 29 September 2026.
1. Trailing drawdown — the floor that climbs
A trailing limit follows your equity up and stays put when you give back. Comes in two flavours: end-of-day (re-marks at the close) and intraday (re-marks on every tick, including unrealised highs). See EOD vs intraday. Common at the major US futures firms — Apex, Topstep, Tradeify, Lucid. Sizing: size from the floor, not the balance.
2. Static drawdown — the fixed floor
A static limit sits at a fixed dollar distance from the starting balance. It doesn't move with profit. That makes it the friendliest for swing/multi-day strategies because intraday noise can't tighten your headroom. Standard on forex/CFD evaluations — FundingPips, FTP, FTMO 2-Step.
3. Daily loss limit — the session cap
A separate, per-session ceiling on losses. You can be profitable overall and still breach it in one bad day. Crucially, some firms measure it on intraday equity (an unrealised dip counts), others on closed P&L only. Full mechanics: daily loss limit explained.
Where the floor locks, and what that does to the buffer: 40 firms (September 2026)
Every row below is taken from the firm’s rules card. The lock threshold is the number that decides how long the trailing phase lasts; where a firm publishes none, the row says so instead of guessing.
| Firm | Model (evaluation → funded) | Lock threshold | Buffer once locked (50K) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex | EOD or intraday trailing, sold as separate products; same model once funded | Floor locks at starting balance + $100 ($50,100) | Accumulated profit above $50,100 |
| Topstep | EOD trailing on the Combine, Express Funded and Live | Live: the Maximum Loss Limit stops trailing at the starting balance | Profit above the starting balance |
| MyFundedFutures | Pro, Builder, Rapid EOD: EOD at both stages; standard Rapid: EOD in the evaluation, intraday (incl. unrealized) on sim-funded | Start + $100 after the first payout (EOD plans); $100 above start on standard Rapid; Rapid Live starts at $0 and locks at zero | Profit above the lock |
| Tradeify | EOD trailing on every plan, updated once at the close | Locks permanently once the EOD balance exceeds the drawdown amount by $100, or at a payout on Select, whichever comes first | Profit above the locked floor |
| Lucid Trading | EOD on Pro, Flex, Direct; LucidDaily intraday once funded; LucidLive EOD | Locks once the balance exceeds the Initial Trail Balance (start + trail amount); Live locks at $100 | Initial maximum loss + $100 held as buffer on Pro and Daily ($2,100); no buffer on Flex |
| Take Profit Trader | EOD trailing on the Test; intraday on PRO, EOD on PRO+ | Lock point not stated on the rules card; verify with firm | Verify with firm |
| Alpha Futures | EOD trailing on all plans, no intraday trail; same model once Qualified | The maximum loss limit does not slide to $0 at the first withdrawal; Advanced Qualified accounts run a locked floor | Plan-based |
| TradeDay | Quick Pay: intraday or EOD by choice; Fast Pass: EOD; same type once funded | On the first payout request the trailing drawdown moves up to the starting balance and stays fixed there | Profit above the starting balance |
| FundedNext Futures | Trailing; details to verify with firm | Verify with firm | Verify with firm |
| Maven Trading | Static by program in the evaluation (3% / 5% / 8%); funded: 8% trailing from highest floating equity plus a 4% daily EOD limit | Trails equity on the funded account; no dollar lock published | Not applicable |
| Bulenox | Option 1 trails in real time, Option 2 end-of-day; same dollar amounts ($2,500 on 50K) | Floor locks at starting balance + $100 on both options | Profit above $50,100 |
| Phidias | Express to Live: static; Fundamental and Premium: EOD trailing, unrealized intraday profit not counted | Cash accounts: stops at starting balance + $100 on the common 50K and 100K sizes | Profit above $50,100 (Cash accounts); static from day one on Express to Live |
| Funded Futures Family | Prime: EOD; Premier+: EOD or intraday in the evaluation, EOD funded; Velocity: intraday; Straight-to-Funded: EOD or a never-locking intraday trail (Accelerate) | Prime: non-withdrawable buffer of drawdown + $100; Premier+: locks at the base balance after the first payout | $2,100 held in the account on Prime 50K; no buffer on Premier+ |
| Top One Futures | EOD trailing on Elite Daily, Elite Access, Ignite and Instant; legacy S2F Sim PRO intraday | Elite Daily funded accounts hold a fixed buffer that stays in the account; the trailing floor is the breach line | Fixed buffer, retained (Elite Daily) |
| FTMO | Static: 10% maximum loss plus a 5% daily loss; 1-Step: 10% EOD trailing that resets to 90% of capital on each reward | Never moves on the standard two-step | Every dollar of profit widens it from day one |
| FundingPips | Static on 2 Step Standard (10%), 2 Step Pro and One Step (6%), Flex variants (12%); Zero: 5% trailing on equity | Zero locks once the account is 5% in profit; the static plans never move | Every dollar of profit widens it (static plans) |
| FundedNext (CFD) | Static: 10% on 2-Step, 6% on 1-Step, 8% on Lite; Instant: 6% trailing on the equity high; same once funded | Instant trail capped at the initial balance | Static plans: every dollar of profit widens it |
| The5ers | Static: 10% High Stakes, 6% Hyper Growth and Pro Growth, 5% Bootcamp | Never moves | Every dollar of profit widens it (one tracker: funded maximum loss 4% on some programs) |
| E8 Markets | Intraday trailing on E8 One, Classic and Track; EOD dynamic on Signature; 4% to 14% | Signature becomes static once the profit buffer is reached; E8 One expands 1% per payout cycle, capped at 14% | Plan-based |
| Alpha Capital Group | Static on Pro (6/8/10%), Swing (10%), Three (6%); Alpha One 6% trailing on the equity high | Alpha One locks at the initial balance | Static plans widen with profit |
| Blue Guardian | 6% trailing on the highest EOD balance (standard); 8% balance-based on some evaluations | Locks at starting balance + $100 once profit reaches 6% | $100 above start |
| GOAT Funded Trader | Static on 2-Step (10%) and 1-Step (6%); trailing on equity on Instant (6%), Pay Later (8%) and Goat $1 | Instant: the maximum loss resets after each payout | Static plans widen with profit |
| BrightFunded | Static on 2-Step Classic (10%) and Bright; 1-Step 6% trailing on highest equity | 1-Step locks at the starting balance once equity reaches +6% | Static plans widen with profit |
| Funded Trading Plus | 1-Step Express 6% trailing (balance); 2-Step Classic 8% static; Instant 6% trailing Smart Drawdown | Instant locks at the starting balance at the profit threshold | — |
| FXIFY | Static on 1-Phase, 3-Phase, 2-Phase Classic; trailing on the equity high on 2-Phase Standard, Lightning and Instant | Classic locks at the first payout | — |
| Instant Funding | Instant: Smart Drawdown 10%; Evolve: 4% EOD trailing at both stages | Instant tightens permanently to 5% once the account is 5% in profit | — |
| FunderPro | Static, balance-based: 6–10% (10% on Classic and Pro) | Never moves | Widens with profit |
| The Trading Pit | Static, balance-based: 10% on CFD Prime; same in the Earning Phase | Never moves | Widens with profit |
| City Traders Imperium | Static on Instant, 2-Step and Direct; 5% trailing on 1-Step | Not stated on the rules card | — |
| TX3 Funding | 10% maximum; daily limit recalculated at 5 pm EST from the EOD balance | Not stated on the rules card | — |
| Funded Trader Markets | 1-step: balance-based trailing that tightens as the balance grows; 2-step static reported; instant by plan | Not stated on the rules card | — |
| Ment Funding | 6% static on forex and futures | Never trails | Widens with profit |
| PipFarm | Trailing on the balance high (1-Step Trailing, Instant) or static (1-Step Static, 2-Step Classic); Instant trails real-time equity | Instant resets after each payout | — |
| FTUK | Instant 6% relative trailing; One Step 8%; Two Step 10% / 5% static; Instant SIM futures: EOD trailing ($3,500 on 25K) | Not stated on the rules card | — |
| Earn2Trade | EOD trailing on the highest end-of-day balance | Not stated on the rules card | Verify with firm |
| Leeloo Trading | Trailing or static by account type; Explode variants 2.5% | Not stated on the rules card | — |
| Elite Trader Funding | Trailing on 1-Step, EOD and Diamond Hands (EOD counts realized P&L only); Static fixed | Not stated on the rules card | — |
| OneUp Trader | Real-time trailing on balance including commissions | Stops at the initial balance ($50,000 once the balance reaches $52,000 on a 50K) | Profit above $50,000 |
| TickTick Trader | EOD trailing recalculated at the close, $2,000–$9,000 by tier; funded reported static | Funded accounts reported static | Verify with firm |
| UProfit | DAY: EOD trailing once a day ($2,000 / $3,000 / $4,500); ONE 50K: $1,000 static | DAY trails up to the starting balance, never above; after the first payout the floor resets to $0 | — |
The lock threshold is the number that decides how long the trailing phase lasts. A 50K account that reaches $50,100 in closing balance has, at most firms, converted its trailing floor into a static one — and from that point the model differences above stop mattering. Until then, they are the whole game.
Which prop firms have end-of-day drawdown?
As of August 2026, the mainstream end-of-day trailing programs among US futures firms are Topstep (with the Combine's Maximum Loss Limit caveat below), Apex's EOD product line (recalculated at 4:59:59 PM ET), Tradeify, Lucid across all plans, and MyFundedFutures on the Core and Pro plans plus the Rapid EOD variant added in August 2026. MyFundedFutures Flex evaluations use an EOD-fixed floor that never trails at all.
Filter all 40 firms by drawdown model on the comparison table; per-firm detail on the rules cards.
Two cautions before treating any name on that list as settled. Programs differ inside one brand — the same firm frequently sells EOD, intraday, and static variants side by side, so the account type matters more than the logo. And EOD labels hide exceptions: Topstep's Maximum Loss Limit trails intraday during the Combine despite the firm's EOD framing, so a breach can occur mid-session on an open-profit pull. The maintained firm-by-firm list with verification steps is in prop firms with EOD trailing drawdown, and the mechanics comparison in EOD vs intraday trailing.
How firms stack them
Most prop accounts layer two of the three. Typical patterns:
- Futures (US): trailing drawdown + sometimes a daily cap (Topstep, some Apex types).
- Forex/CFD: static drawdown + daily loss limit on intraday equity (FTMO 2-Step, FundingPips).
- Pick-your-model: MyFundedFutures lets you choose EOD trailing, intraday trailing or static; Elite and TradeDay mix.
What it means for sizing
The rule that bites first decides your preset. Aggressive sizing belongs only on EOD trailing; intraday trailing demands conservative; static is the most forgiving for swing systems; daily loss limits demand a hard max-loss-per-day cap baked into the algo. Estimate modeled blow rate per portfolio in the Pass Estimator and size against the binding limit with the Position Size Calculator.
To see how the same sequence of trades behaves under each of these models, run it through the trailing drawdown visualizer.
For the daily limit specifically, the daily loss limit calculator converts it into a maximum position size.
See every prop firm rule, grouped by mechanism →
Prop firms with the lowest drawdown rules: the most room to be wrong
“Lowest drawdown rules” means the floor that moves least and the fewest extra limits on top of it. Two things decide that: the model (static beats end-of-day trailing beats intraday) and whether a daily loss limit sits on top. From the rules cards (September 2026), the futures and CFD firms with the most forgiving combination:
| Firm | Drawdown and daily loss limit | Why it is forgiving |
|---|---|---|
| Phidias | No daily loss limit on any account; static drawdown on Express to Live, EOD trailing on the others | The only futures firm with no DLL anywhere and a static option |
| MyFundedFutures | No daily loss limit (Builder: $1,000 soft pause); EOD trailing on Pro, Builder, Rapid, Rapid EOD | EOD floor plus no DLL on the main plans |
| TradeDay | No daily loss limit (TradeDay 2.0); EOD trailing on Fast Pass | EOD plan without a DLL |
| Lucid Trading | No DLL on Flex and on Pro 25K; EOD trailing on Pro, Flex, Direct | EOD floor; DLL only on Pro 50K+ |
| Topstep | No universal DLL on the Combine (DLL only on Live); EOD trailing (MLL) | EOD floor through Combine and XFA |
| Apex Trader Funding | No DLL on intraday evaluations, soft DLL on EOD evaluations; EOD or intraday trailing by product | Choose the EOD product: EOD floor with a soft DLL |
| Funded Futures Family | No DLL on most plans; EOD trailing on Prime and S2F | EOD floor on the core plans |
| Alpha Futures | No DLL on Advanced; EOD trailing on all plans | EOD everywhere, one plan without a DLL |
| FTMO | Static 10% on the 2-Step with a 5% DLL | Static floor is the widest model; DLL applies |
| FundedNext (CFD) | Static 10% on the 2-Step, 6% on the 1-Step; no DLL on Instant | Static floors; Instant drops the DLL |
| The5ers | Static 10% on High Stakes with 5% DLL; 6% on Hyper and Pro Growth | Static floor at the widest level |
| FunderPro | Static balance-based 6–10%, DLL 3–5% resets daily | Static balance-based floor |
Static floors are rare on futures (see prop firms with static drawdown); on CFD accounts they are the norm, so the daily loss limit is the rule that separates firms there. The amounts in dollars and the lock points are on each card and in the table above.
Passing is sizing. The Playbook has the sizes.
Every portfolio configuration with the drawdown it is sized for, so the rules you just read map to a preset. One PDF, then our letters with what the systems did.
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Related
- Strategies sized to these rules: Topstep 50K, Apex 50K, MyFundedFutures 50K, Tradeify 50K, Lucid 50K
- Apex vs Topstep, MyFundedFutures vs Topstep, Apex vs MyFundedFutures: head-to-head, every rule
- VWAP trading strategy: anchored vs static
- Best instruments for EOD-trailing prop firms
- EOD trail on 50K vs 100K: when the buffer math changes
FAQ
What's the difference between trailing, static and daily-loss drawdown?
Trailing drawdown is a floor that rises with equity highs and never falls; static drawdown is a fixed floor from the starting balance; daily loss limit is a max loss within one session. Most prop accounts layer two of the three.
Which drawdown model is easiest to pass?
Static is the most forgiving (intraday dips don't tighten the buffer), then EOD trailing, then intraday trailing (the strictest). A daily loss limit is a separate, additional constraint on top.
Which prop firms have end-of-day drawdown?
As of August 2026: Topstep, Apex's EOD product line, Tradeify, Lucid, and MyFundedFutures on Core, Pro and the new Rapid EOD plan. Verify the specific account type — the same brand usually sells more than one drawdown model.
Can I have a daily loss limit and a trailing drawdown at the same time?
Yes — many firms layer both. You can pass the daily cap and still breach the trailing limit over a string of days, or have a great month but breach the daily cap in one bad session.
Which prop firms suit aggressive traders who need more drawdown?
The most room per dollar of account is on static floors (nearly all CFD firms: FTMO 10% on the 2-Step, FundedNext 10%, The5ers 10% on High Stakes; futures: Phidias Express to Live, Elite Trader Funding Static) and on end-of-day floors with no daily loss limit (MyFundedFutures, Topstep, Phidias, TradeDay). Intraday trailing products give the least room to an aggressive style.
Which proprietary trading firms have a trailing drawdown feature and which do not?
Trailing floors are the norm at futures firms: intraday at Apex (intraday products), Lucid Daily, Take Profit Trader, TradeDay Quick Pay; end-of-day at Topstep, MyFundedFutures, Tradeify, Alpha Futures, Lucid Pro/Flex and others. Static (non-trailing) floors are the norm at CFD firms and exist at a few futures firms as a separate plan. The table above lists the model per firm and stage.
Not financial advice. Performance figures referenced are hypothetical, modeled outputs (1,500-path Monte Carlo on a backtest + live sample). Past performance does not guarantee future results. Tool names are referenced for education; verify current features and prop-firm rules directly.
Firm rules cross-checked September 2026 against firm documentation and current rule trackers; per-firm sources on the rules cards. Rules change quarterly.