1. The five things we score

Every prop firm gets a final score out of 10. That number is the weighted sum of five sub-scores. We do not score on logo, marketing copy or Trustpilot count.

  • Rule set quality (30%) — daily loss limit, max drawdown, consistency rules, news-trading restrictions, weekend holds, minimum trading days, profit target. Lower friction at fair targets wins.
  • Payout reliability (25%) — median time from request to received funds, percentage of payouts disputed, and how transparent the cycle is. We track at least one full withdrawal per firm before scoring.
  • Pricing (20%) — fee per $100K of buying power, refund mechanics, profit-split tiers across phases. Cheap is not automatically good — we discount aggressively for refund hoops.
  • Operational track record (15%) — years live, ownership transparency, broker partner, regulatory posture in the firm's home jurisdiction.
  • Support & UX (10%) — first-response time on chat, account dashboard quality, statement clarity.

2. Minimum bar before a firm gets reviewed

A brand cannot be reviewed at all until it meets the basic minimums below. Brands that fail any single test are listed as Under Review with no score until they fix the gap.

  • At least 12 months live with a real funded payout history.
  • Public rule documentation (no PDF-on-request).
  • A working dispute path for failed challenges.
  • A named legal entity behind the brand.

3. How we test

For each firm we fund and run at least one full evaluation through to payout using our own money. That is the only way to confirm the rule set actually behaves the way the marketing page describes. The funded account, the failed challenge attempts and the withdrawal receipts are kept on file and used as primary sources in the review.

When a firm changes its rule set, the test is re-run on the new version. Old screenshots stay in our archive but never in the live review.

4. When a review is rewritten

Reviews are reviewed at least once a quarter. They are rewritten whenever any of the following happens:

  • The rule set, profit split or payout cycle changes.
  • A new account tier is launched or an existing one is killed.
  • The firm changes its broker partner or legal entity.
  • A material complaint pattern emerges in our reader inbox.

5. Independence

Most offer links on this site are affiliate links. Editorial scoring is decided before any affiliate relationship is offered or accepted. We have published reviews that scored partner brands below 7/10 and we have declined partnerships with brands whose rules failed our minimum bar. See Disclosure for the operating policy.

6. Corrections

If a number is wrong, we want to know. Email czkteampro@gmail.com with the page URL and the figure you are challenging. Confirmed corrections are pushed within 48 hours and the change log is appended to the review.