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▲ 21 r/PropFirmTester+1 crossposts

Are funded accounts really a game changer for small traders, or is it better to stick with a personal live account?

Hey guys, I’ve been trading for a couple of months and have been using my own live account with around $3k–$5k. Recently, some people have been telling me that funded accounts are a much better opportunity and that I can get access to a $100k account pretty easily. Since growing a small account is really difficult, I’m wondering if funded accounts are actually a game changer or if they’re overrated. For those who have experience with both, what would you honestly recommend? Is funded trading really worth it, especially for someone who doesn’t have a huge amount of capital? I’d appreciate your honest opinions, including the downsides!

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u/FXgram_ — 4 days ago
▲ 32 r/PropFirmTester

The5ers - Honest Review

I wanted to share an honest review of The5ers, not just based on the challenge itself, but on what happened after I actually started performing well. I think that’s the part most reviews miss. Anyone can talk about passing an evaluation. The real question is what happens once you’re funded, profitable, and expecting to be treated fairly.

To be clear, I did well with them. I passed, got funded, and produced consistent results. I wasn’t gambling or trying to exploit anything. I was trading my strategy and respecting the rules in place. For a while, everything looked like it was going in the right direction.

Then, as soon as I started making substantial money, they reduced my risk to 1% (expected from all prop firms). There wasn’t a breach, a rule violation, or any clear justification tied to my trading. It happened after I began performing at a level where the profits were becoming meaningful. I accepted it because I wanted to keep the account and continue trading, even though the change obviously limited my upside.

But it didn’t stop there. After I accepted the reduced risk, my leverage was cut to 1:10 as well.

When you put those changes together, it’s hard not to feel like the conditions were being adjusted specifically around my performance. I’m not claiming they sat down and said, "Let’s stop this trader from making money." But from my perspective, it felt like they studied how I was trading, saw that I was becoming consistently profitable, and then changed the environment in a way that made it much harder for me to continue growing.

I understand prop firms need risk controls. I understand they’re not charities and that payouts affect their business. But there’s a difference between responsible risk management and quietly tightening restrictions once a trader proves they can win. If the rules are going to change, traders deserve clarity, consistency, and a fair explanation, not conditions that seem to shift only after profits start coming in.

Then there’s the payment side, which is where my trust really broke down.

The5ers uses riseworks.io for payouts. At some point, I was blocked from the platform without any explanation. No warning beforehand. No reason given afterward. Just blocked.

When I asked why, I was told they couldn’t share that information with me. That answer is frustrating on its own, but it becomes much worse when your money is involved. If a trader is blocked from a payout platform, they should at least be told whether it’s a compliance issue, a technical issue, a security review, or something else. Being locked out and told you can’t know why doesn’t build confidence, it creates suspicion.

I can’t say with certainty that The5ers was directly involved in the riseworks.io block. I don’t have proof of that. But the sequence of events was hard to ignore: I started making significant money, my risk was reduced, my leverage was reduced, and then I was blocked from the payment platform without explanation. Even if each action had its own separate justification, the overall experience felt coordinated against my profitability.

That’s why I can’t give them a fully positive review, despite my results.

Would I recommend The5ers? I’d say proceed carefully. If you’re newer, trading smaller size, or never reach the point where your performance becomes a concern for them, your experience might be completely different. But if your goal is to trade seriously, scale responsibly, and eventually withdraw meaningful profits, I’d think very carefully before committing.

My biggest lesson from this is that passing a prop firm challenge is only the beginning. The real test is whether the firm allows you to keep trading under stable conditions once you’re actually profitable, and whether you can get paid without fighting for basic transparency.

In my case, The5ers failed that test.

u/tjsousam — 10 days ago
▲ 2 r/PropFirmTester

Why prop firm vs your own live acct ?

Im new to this prop firm thing. How long have you had a prop firm acct ? Curious to know if anyone has done it long term? I see they dont let you keep same acct forever or was that just the one site I was on.

How come you havent switched to a live acct or is it to hold you accountable?

Pros and cons

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u/BeginningNo2408 — 10 days ago
▲ 5 r/PropFirmTester

Shark Futures denied my first $1,500 payout after I built roughly $12K in funded profits — my experience

I found Shark Futures through Instagram, where they were advertising cheap evaluations. A $50K eval was under $68, which caught my attention, so I decided to try them. Altogether, I bought four evaluations: failed two, passed two. I eventually lost one funded account, but on the remaining account, I started putting together multiple successful trades. By around the third or fourth day, I had taken the balance from $50K to roughly $62K—about $12K in profit. This was my first time making over $10K in a week on a funded account, so it was a huge milestone for me. Obviously, account profits aren’t money in your pocket until you actually receive a payout, but I was excited.

My understanding of the payout requirements was that I needed to meet the profit target, complete six qualifying trading days with at least $150 in net profit each, and meet the 35% consistency requirement. My biggest winning day was around $4K, and I believed I had satisfied those requirements when I requested my first payout of $1,500, the first-payout cap for my account. After waiting several days without an approval message, I contacted support and was told it could take up to 10 days. That was longer than I’d personally waited for a payout elsewhere, but I gave them time.

About a week after requesting it, I received a denial. The email cited “Disproportionate Risk-to-Target Ratio (‘Lucky Shot’ Trading)” and “Lack of Risk Management Discipline.” What frustrated me most was that the notice didn’t identify which trades violated those rules or provide the calculations behind the decision. It also said a new evaluation account would be issued and gave me six calendar days to demonstrate compliance, without clearly explaining whether completing that process would restore my payout.

I understand that meeting a consistency requirement doesn’t automatically prove that every trade followed separate risk-management rules. But if you’re denying a payout over those rules, show me the specific trades, explain the risk involved, and show how they violated the policy. Calling it “lucky shot” trading without that explanation doesn’t give me a meaningful way to understand or challenge the decision. From my perspective, these were deliberate trades based on my analysis and experience, and I wanted my trading history assessed with actual evidence.

I’m seriously disappointed because I initially had enough confidence in Shark Futures that I wanted to explore partnering with them and promoting the firm. After this experience, I’m no longer comfortable recommending them. Cheap evaluations mean very little to me if the payout review leaves me with unanswered questions about why my request was denied. I’m glad I limited my spending to four evaluations, and based on what’s happened, I won’t be buying more.

This is my personal experience, and I’m sharing it so other traders can consider it before spending their money. I can’t speak for every customer, but I would not recommend Shark Futures based on how my payout request has been handled. If they provide a specific explanation or resolve the issue, I’ll update this post. Has anyone else received a similar denial, and were you able to get a proper review?

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u/Immediate_Barnacle22 — 9 days ago
▲ 1 r/PropFirmTester

Pay out

Hi guys, im really scared and hope someone can help me, I am close to my first pay out and realized I have bunch of trades open on my paper trading account on a completely separate account, will I get issues with the payout in regards of hedging violations?

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u/TimeMacaroon5902 — 9 days ago
▲ 3 r/PropFirmTester

Anyone tried Vest Markets?

All the big influencers seem to be promoting Vest Markets at the moment?

Any thoughts, any experiences?

Looking forward to reading the first Vest Markets reviews.

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u/Ok-Progress-8486 — 9 days ago