How We Rate Prop Firms

Our full methodology — the signals we score, the weights we use, our data sources, our independence, and how often we refresh.

This page exists so nothing on PropTradingScanner is a black box. We track 22 futures prop firms and rank each one on a 0–10 overall score, with a separate 0–10 Payout Reliability Score for firms that have enough public signal. Below is exactly how those numbers are built, what data we use, and the rules we hold ourselves to. If you disagree with a score, the reasoning is in the open — you can email us and we’ll re-check it (details at the bottom).

The five signals behind our overall score

Every futures prop firm we cover is scored on the same five signals. No single signal decides the ranking — the overall score is a weighted view of all five, weighted by what actually matters to a funded trader.

If a firm is new or a signal is missing, we do not fabricate a number. New firms are marked as provisional; missing signals are simply not counted for that firm. That is how you keep a ranking honest as new firms enter the market.

The Payout Reliability Index — full weights

The single biggest question a trader has about a prop firm is: will they actually pay? Our Payout Reliability Index gives every firm a 0–10 score built from five public, checkable signals. These are the weights, applied to every firm the same way.

Newer firms (founded 2023 or later) get a provisional cap until they have enough public payout history to score fully — a strong marketing story is not the same as a proven payout record. Firms with no verifiable signal are kept out of the index entirely rather than given a made-up number.

What data we use, and where it comes from

Every score above is built from public, verifiable sources. Here is the full list:

• Each firm’s own site & docs. We read every plan page, rules page and FAQ, and re-check when a firm updates them.
• Trustpilot reviews. We track the rating and volume; drops trigger a re-review. We do not treat any single review as fact.
• Public payout proofs. Published totals paid, screenshots and confirmations that a firm has surfaced on its own channels.
• Community discussion. Reddit (r/PropFirms and adjacent), industry threads and social posts — treated as sentiment, not evidence.
• Regulator context. US futures fall under the CFTC and NFA. Prop firm evaluations are simulated funded accounts, not brokerage accounts, and are not regulated the same way.
• Our own tests. We run through pricing and evaluation mechanics using our challenge cost calculator and cross-check firm data before we score.

If we cannot verify a claim from at least one of these sources, it does not go into the score. That includes marketing claims from the firm itself — a firm saying “we pay fast” on its own homepage is not, on its own, evidence of payout speed.

How often we refresh

Data on this site moves for two reasons: firms change their offer, and new public signal arrives. Here is our refresh cadence:

• Prices, plans and coupons — monitored automatically. Our coupon monitor runs weekly and flags any code that has drifted; we re-verify against the firm’s own site before publishing a change.
• Payout Reliability scores — rebuilt each publish cycle from the underlying signals. Trustpilot volume is auto-tracked and drops trigger an alert.
• Firm reviews — refreshed when a firm changes its rules, pricing or ownership, and re-checked on a rolling basis regardless.
• Live screener — the ranking on our home page and lists recalculates every few minutes so you see current data, not last month’s.

Our independence — and how we make money

This is the part most affiliate sites skip. We’ll say it clearly: we make money from affiliate links. When you sign up to a prop firm through some of our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you (and, in many cases, you pay less because we surface an active discount code).

Here is what that does not mean:

• No firm can pay to be on the site. Coverage is decided by us on the merits — not by whether a firm runs an affiliate programme.
• No firm can pay to rank higher. The score is built from the signals above. Commissions do not enter the formula anywhere.
• No hidden ordering. The live table sorts by our score, price or the axis you pick — not by commission rate.
• Negative coverage stays. If a firm we’re affiliated with has a payout problem, we say so. Independence is the product.

The full affiliate disclosure lives on our About page, and every affiliate link is marked as such near the button.

What is not in our score (on purpose)

There are a few things we deliberately leave out because they are not honest signals:

• Sponsored review rate. If a firm pays reviewers, that inflates a rating but does not tell you the firm pays traders.
• Marketing claims. “World’s #1”, “most trusted” and similar copy is not evidence of anything.
• Affiliate commission size. A big commission does not mean a good firm. It never enters the ranking.
• Anecdotal wins or losses. A single trader passing or failing does not describe the firm — it describes one account.

How to report an error or challenge a score

If a price, rule or payout claim on this site looks wrong, please tell us. We’d rather fix it fast than defend a mistake.

Email hello@proptradingscanner.com with the URL and what you think is off. If you’re disputing a score, tell us which signal you disagree with and, if possible, a link. We reply, we re-check, and if we agree we update the page and note the correction in our editorial log.

This is written and maintained by the PropTradingScanner team and follows our editorial standards. If you want the shortest version: we score on rules, price, payout reliability, product depth and track record; we weight the payout index at 30/25/20/15/10; we don’t let commissions influence rankings; and we fix mistakes fast.

🔒 How we verify & rank firms · Not financial advice · Affiliate disclosure