Prop Firm Pass Rates: What the Few Firms That Disclose Show

2 firms we track publish a funnel from evaluation to payout: Topstep and Tradeify. Our dataset covers 30 firms with structured programme data as of 13 September 2026, and none of the others publishes one. Both sets of figures are self-reported by the firm and unaudited. Nobody outside either firm has checked them, and we cannot.

Topstep's disclosure covers 2025 ^[1]. It reports that 16.8 percent of Combines passed, that 51.8 percent of participants passed at least once, that 33.3 percent of funded participants received a payout, and that 0.71 percent reached Live. Topstep counts the first figure per Combine, the evaluation product it sells, and the second per person.

Tradeify's disclosure covers August 2025 to July 2026 ^[2]. It reports that 17.2 percent of evaluations completed successfully, that 40.3 percent of participants advanced to Funded in at least one evaluation, that 28.5 percent of Funded-level participants received a payout, and that 3.0 percent of Funded accounts were called up to Live Funded. Tradeify names its stages Funded and Live Funded, and its last figure is per account rather than per person.

Reading the funnel

The first two rows measure different things. 16.8 percent of Combines passed, but 51.8 percent of Topstep participants passed at least once ^[1]. The gap is repeat attempts. A participant who fails two Combines and passes a third counts once in the participant figure and one in three in the Combine figure. Tradeify's numbers have the same shape, 17.2 percent per evaluation and 40.3 percent per participant ^[2]. The participant figure is the one a firm prefers to quote. The per-evaluation figure is the one that tells you the chance of a single fee producing a funded account.

Neither firm publishes how many attempts the average participant made, so you cannot recover the average cost of reaching funded status from these figures. Neither firm states a first-attempt pass rate.

From funded to paid

Passing is not being paid. 33.3 percent of Topstep's funded participants received a payout in 2025 ^[1]. 28.5 percent of Tradeify's Funded-level participants received one between August 2025 and July 2026 ^[2]. Multiply the two stages at each firm and about 5.6 percent of Topstep Combines and 4.9 percent of Tradeify evaluations end in a paid trader, if you treat one evaluation as one participant. The participant figures show that simplification is wrong, and the firms do not publish enough to remove it. Use the combined figure as an order of magnitude, not as a rate.

From funded to live

Live means real capital rather than a simulated account. 0.71 percent reached Live at Topstep in 2025 ^[1]. 3.0 percent of Funded accounts were called up to Live Funded at Tradeify between August 2025 and July 2026 ^[2]. DayTraders.com, which does not publish a full funnel, states that about 1 percent of its sim-funded traders move to live, at the firm's discretion. The three figures use three denominators: Topstep's figure is quoted as stated, Tradeify's is Funded accounts, DayTraders.com's is sim-funded traders. They are not comparable beyond the observation that each sits at or below 3 percent.

What nobody publishes

0 firms in our dataset published a payout denial rate as of 13 September 2026. 0 publish a first-attempt pass rate. The "14 percent pass on first attempt" figure that circulates has no primary source and we do not use it. Tradeify claims 0 percent payout denials; at least one denied appeal is documented on Trustpilot as of September 2026, and we treat the claim as marketing rather than as a rate. Topstep quotes a 99.26 percent payout approval rate in its marketing. A rate of approvals among requests says nothing about how many funded traders ever make a request, which is what the 33.3 percent figure measures.

Marketing totals are not rates

$1.5 billion plus paid to traders all-time and 750,000 plus traders is Topstep's marketing ^[3]. $650 million plus paid in rewards to 4.5 million plus customers across 140 plus countries since 2015 is FTMO's. Neither total has a denominator you can use. Total paid does not say how many people were paid, over what period, or from how many fees. The two funnels above are the only figures we hold that carry a denominator, and FTMO publishes no funnel.

How to use these numbers

Use each figure only for the firm that published it and the period it covers. Topstep's 2025 funnel does not describe Tradeify, and neither describes any other firm. Use the per-evaluation rate, not the per-participant rate, when you price a single attempt. Treat any pass rate quoted without a firm name, a period and a definition as unsourced. Every figure on this page sits behind a stored quote and a human check, and corrections appear in our public ledger with the old value visible ^[4].

What this means for you

At the two firms that disclose, roughly 1 in 6 evaluations passes and roughly 1 in 3 funded participants is paid. Price your fee against the per-evaluation figure for the firm you are buying from, where one exists.

Where no funnel exists, you have no rate. A firm that publishes total payouts and a customer count has given you marketing, not a probability.

A published funnel is not proof of anything, since nobody audits it. It is evidence that the firm was willing to write its numbers down, and it gives you a denominator you can hold the firm to next year.

Data note

Figures marked "our dataset" come from the PropTraderCheck structured dataset as of 13 September 2026: 30 firms with structured programme data (of 37 tracked), 159 programme rows, 48 programmes. Regulatory positions are stated as of the date given and change.