Home › Resources › Evaluation Cost

How Much Does a Prop Firm Evaluation Really Cost?

Published August 2026 · ~8 min read

The advertised eval fee is only part of the real cost. Between retry fees, monthly data/platform costs, and the realistic odds you'll need more than one attempt, the honest budget to get funded is usually 2-4x the number on the pricing page. Here's what actually goes into it.

The advertised fee: what you're actually paying for

Most firms price by account size, with smaller accounts (25k-50k) starting around $150-200 and scaling up from there for 100k-150k accounts. This is a one-time fee per attempt, not a subscription — you pay it, you get one shot at that evaluation's rules, and if you fail, you pay again to retry (usually the same fee, sometimes discounted for a "reset").

Exact pricing varies by firm and changes with promotions — check current pricing directly on the firm's site, and see our promo codes page for active discounts before paying full price.

The cost most traders don't budget for: more than one attempt

This is the number that actually determines your total cost, and it's the one most traders skip when budgeting. Even a strategy with a genuine statistical edge fails evaluations sometimes — normal variance, an unfamiliar rule set, a losing streak that happens to land during the eval window. Assuming you'll pass on attempt one and budgeting exactly the sticker price is the most common reason traders feel "surprised" by how much getting funded actually cost them.

Platform and data costs (often overlooked)

Depending on the firm and your setup, you may also need:

• TradingView subscription — free tier works for manual trading, but automated alert-based strategies typically need at least the Essential tier (~$13-30/mo depending on promo) for enough concurrent alerts.
• Market data — some firms' platforms require a separate real-time data subscription ($10-100/mo depending on exchange and platform).
• Automation bridge — if you're automating Pine Script alerts to a broker (see our TradersPost automation guide), that's typically $50-150/mo depending on plan tier.

None of these are large individually, but stacked together over a multi-month evaluation process, they add up faster than the headline eval fee suggests.

What you get back

The good news: most major firms (Apex, Topstep, FTMO, MyFundedFutures) refund or credit the evaluation fee once you pass, either immediately or folded into your first payout. This means the eval fee, once you succeed, functions more like a refundable deposit than a pure cost — but only if you actually pass, and the exact refund mechanism (immediate credit vs. first-payout deduction) varies by firm, so confirm the specific policy before paying.

Total realistic budget: an example

Against a headline "$170 eval fee" advertised on the pricing page, that's the more honest number to actually plan around — and it's still recoverable once you pass and the eval fee itself gets refunded.