Frequently Asked Questions

PropFirmSim is a prop firm challenge simulator that lets you test your real trading history against any firm's rules. Import your trades, configure the challenge parameters, and see your statistical probability of passing — before you pay the fee.

PropFirmSim is built for active traders who are considering (or already participating in) prop firm challenges. Whether you trade futures, forex, or CFDs, if you have a track record you can test it.

No. PropFirmSim is an educational and informational tool only. It does not provide financial, investment, or trading advice. Simulated results do not guarantee future outcomes. See our full Financial Disclaimer for details.

Yes — during our beta phase, all features are completely free. In the future, some advanced features (Risk Sweep, Compare, Break-Even analysis) may move to a paid tier, but core simulation will always be available.

At minimum, your CSV needs a column with the dollar profit/loss (PnL) per trade. For full drawdown rule checking, include MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) and MFE (Maximum Favourable Excursion) columns. The importer auto-detects common column names and handles most formats from MT4, MT5, NinjaTrader, and TradingView.

In MT4/MT5, go to the Account History tab in the Terminal window. Right-click and select "Save as Detailed Report" or "Export". Save as CSV. The importer will auto-detect the MT4/MT5 format.

In NinjaTrader, go to the Trade Performance window. Use the export function to save your trades as a CSV file. Ensure the export includes PnL, and ideally MAE/MFE columns.

In TradingView's Strategy Tester, click "List of Trades" then use the export button to download as CSV. The format is auto-detected by PropFirmSim.

No. All data processing happens entirely in your browser (client-side). Your CSV files and trade data are never uploaded to any server. When you close the page, your data is gone. We have zero access to your trading history.

MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) is the largest unrealised loss during a trade before it closed. MFE (Maximum Favourable Excursion) is the largest unrealised profit. These are critical for simulating intra-trade drawdown rules that prop firms enforce.

Rolling Start tests every possible entry date in your trade history as the start of a prop firm challenge. For each start date, it simulates the challenge forward using your actual trades in sequence. This shows you how your pass rate varies depending on when you would have started, giving you a more realistic picture than a single simulation.

Pass rate is the percentage of simulated challenge attempts that met all of the firm's rules (hit the profit target without breaching any drawdown or consistency limits). A 73% pass rate means roughly 73 out of 100 simulated attempts were successful.

The Break-Even tab uses a binomial probability model based on your pass rate, challenge cost, and profit share. It calculates the number of challenge attempts you'd need to be statistically profitable, accounting for the cost of failed attempts versus the expected payout from passes.

Fixed drawdown means your maximum loss is measured from your starting balance — it never changes. Trailing drawdown means the limit follows your highest equity point. For example, if you start at $100,000 with a $5,000 trailing DD, and your equity reaches $103,000, your floor becomes $98,000 (not the original $95,000).

The PRNG (pseudo-random number generator) engine creates synthetic trades based on return percentage distributions — useful for hypothetical testing. CSV import uses your actual trade results with real PnL, MAE, and MFE values for historically accurate simulation.

You can make custom rules for any firm — just set the balance, profit target, drawdown limits, and other parameters manually. We also have built-in presets for the most popular prop firms including FTMO, TopStep, MyFundedFX, and Apex Trader Funding.

Presets are based on publicly available information at the time of last update. Prop firms frequently change their rules and challenge structures. Always verify the current rules directly with the firm before purchasing a challenge. PropFirmSim is not affiliated with any firm unless explicitly stated.

Yes — the Compare tab lets you run the same trade data against multiple firm configurations simultaneously. See pass rates, expected values, and ROI side by side to find which firm's rules best suit your strategy.

A prop firm challenge (also called an evaluation) is a structured test where a proprietary trading firm assesses your ability to trade profitably within specific risk rules. You typically pay a fee to attempt the challenge, and if you pass by hitting a profit target without breaching drawdown limits, you receive a funded account to trade with the firm's capital and share in the profits.

Most challenges include a profit target (usually 5–10% of the account balance), a maximum daily loss limit (commonly 5%), a maximum overall drawdown limit (usually 10%), minimum trading days (typically 4–10 days), and sometimes a consistency rule limiting how much of your profit can come from a single day. Some firms also restrict news trading, weekend holding, or certain instruments.

A consistency rule limits how much of your total profit can come from a single trading day. For example, some firms require that no single day accounts for more than 15–30% of your total profit. This prevents traders from passing the challenge with one lucky trade and ensures repeatable performance. PropFirmSim models this rule in its simulations.

A one-step challenge requires you to hit a single profit target while staying within drawdown limits. A two-step challenge has two phases — the first (Challenge) typically has a higher profit target (e.g., 10%), and the second (Verification) has a lower target (e.g., 5%). Both phases must be passed before you receive a funded account. Two-step challenges are generally cheaper but take longer.

If you breach any of the firm's rules (daily drawdown, overall drawdown, or time limit), you fail and lose the challenge fee. This is why PropFirmSim exists — to help you estimate your probability of passing before you pay the fee, so you can make an informed decision about whether the challenge is +EV (positive expected value) for your strategy.

Industry estimates suggest only 5–10% of traders pass prop firm challenges. Common reasons for failure include over-leveraging, inconsistent strategies, poor risk management, and emotional decision-making. PropFirmSim helps you understand whether your specific strategy and risk level give you a realistic chance of passing.

After passing a challenge and receiving a funded account, profits you generate are split between you and the prop firm. Typical splits range from 70/30 to 90/10 in the trader's favour. Some firms offer higher splits as you scale up or hit performance milestones. The profit split directly affects your expected value, which PropFirmSim calculates for you.

This varies by firm. Some firms prohibit holding positions over weekends or during high-impact news events, while others allow it. FTMO's US accounts, for example, have no restrictions on news trading or weekend holding. Always check the specific firm's rules — PropFirmSim's presets reflect the most common configurations, but you should verify directly with the firm.

Most successful challenge traders risk between 0.5% and 2% of the account balance per trade. With a 10% maximum drawdown, risking 2% means you can only sustain about 5 consecutive losses before breaching the limit. PropFirmSim's Risk Sweep feature tests multipliers from 0.5x to 3.0x so you can find the exact sweet spot for your strategy.

We recommend at least 50–100 trades for reasonably reliable simulation results. Fewer than 30 trades may produce high-variance results that don't reflect your true edge. The more trades you have, the more statistically significant the rolling start and pass rate calculations become.

PropFirmSim uses your actual trade results (closed PnL) from your CSV, which should already include commissions and any slippage you experienced. If your platform exports gross PnL (before commissions), you may want to adjust your data before importing. The simulator itself doesn't add separate commission or slippage estimates.

Yes. PropFirmSim doesn't filter by instrument or timeframe — it processes every trade in your CSV sequentially. If your strategy trades multiple instruments across different timeframes, that diversity is naturally reflected in the simulation. You can also filter your CSV beforehand if you want to test a specific subset of trades.

Expected Value is the average profit or loss you'd expect per challenge attempt over many tries. It factors in your pass rate, challenge fee, profit share, and average profit when you pass. A positive EV means the challenge is statistically profitable for you over time. Even a 40% pass rate can be highly +EV if the payout per pass is large relative to the challenge fee.

A low pass rate with high EV means that when you do pass, you make enough to more than cover the cost of failed attempts. This is common with aggressive strategies. The trade-off is variance — you'll need enough capital to fund multiple challenge attempts before the statistics play out. The Break-Even tab shows exactly how many attempts this requires.

Enter your code in the affiliate code field (available on the landing page or simulator). Valid codes will display the associated firm's signup link with any applicable discounts.

Contact us through the Support page to request account deletion. We'll process your request within 30 days. Since we don't store any of your trade data, deletion only affects your account profile and preferences.

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