Methodology and sources

Every headline figure on this page cites its origin. External figures link to the publisher. Internal estimates document the calculation basis so a reader can reproduce the number.

1. [1]

   Apex Trader Funding — cumulative payout counter· 2026 · External source
2. [2]

   PropTraderCheck internal audit (Schema v2 variant capture)· 2026 · PropTraderCheck estimate

   Basis:Count of firm-variant rows in the internal dataset that passed the Schema v2 field-completeness check (fee, split, drawdown, consistency, payout cadence).

3. [3]

   FTMO — public payout report· 2026 · External source
4. [4]

   PropTraderCheck estimate from aggregated firm disclosures· 2026 · PropTraderCheck estimate

   Basis:Weighted average of self-reported challenge-pass rates from FTMO (10%), FundedNext (12%), Topstep (18%) and 9 other audited firms, weighted by disclosed 2025 challenge volume.

5. [5]

   PropTraderCheck estimate from firm payout disclosures· 2026 · PropTraderCheck estimate

   Basis:Ratio of unique paid traders to unique challenge starts across the 12 firms that publish both figures, 2024–2026. Excludes reset attempts by the same trader.

6. [6]

   PropTraderCheck estimate from published payout distributions· 2026 · PropTraderCheck estimate

   Basis:Median lifetime payout divided by median total challenge spend for traders who reached at least one payout, sampled from FTMO, FundedNext and Apex disclosures.

7. [7]

   Google Trends — worldwide, query "prop firm"· 2026 · External source
8. [8]

   PropTraderCheck watchlist — firms with announced model changes· 2026 · PropTraderCheck estimate

   Basis:Firms flagged in the last 30 days for pending rule, fee, or payout changes; re-audited within 7 days of the flag.