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Prop Firm Cost Calculator

Work out what a funded account really costs you before the first payout arrives.

USD
Enter an account size greater than zero.
USD
A fee cannot be negative.
tries
Enter at least one attempt.
%
Enter a target of zero or more.
%
Enter a profit of zero or more.
%
Split must be between 0% and 100%.

Your Result

Cost To First Payout $1,000.00
Fees paid across all attempts
Profit needed to pass
First payout, your share
Position after the first payout
Account gain needed to break even
Cost of each failed attempt
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The calculation runs in your browser. Rates used for currency conversion are indicative — check your broker for the exact figure.

A challenge fee is quoted as one number, and almost nobody pays it once. The published price is the cost of a single attempt; the cost of getting funded is that price multiplied by however many attempts it actually takes, and only the last one comes with a refund.

This calculator puts those together. It shows what you have really spent by the time the first payout lands, how much profit the account has to make before you are square, and what each failed attempt cost you. The break-even figure is the one worth carrying around: it is the percentage the account must gain, after the split, purely to return the money already spent.

When to use it

  • Before buying a challenge, to price it honestly rather than at the sticker price.
  • When comparing a cheap challenge with a hard target against a dearer one with an easier target.
  • After failing an attempt, to see what the next one has to earn back.
  • When deciding between two account sizes at the same firm.

Fees are counted for every attempt; the refund, when there is one, applies to a single fee.

Fees Paid = Challenge Fee × Attempts
Profit Needed = Account Size × Target %
Your Share = Account Size × Payout % × Split %
Cost To First Payout = Fees Paid − Refunded Fee
Break-even Gain = Cost ÷ (Account Size × Split %)
  • The refund is one fee, not all of them. Firms that return the challenge fee return the fee for the attempt you passed. Money spent on attempts that failed is gone.
  • Two step challenges have two targets. Enter the total, not the first phase alone — 8% then 5% is 13% here.
  • The split applies to profit only. A 5% payout on a $100,000 account is $5,000 of profit, and an 80% split makes that $4,000 to you.
  • Payment processing and currency conversion are not counted and can take a further one to three percent of what arrives.

A $100,000 account with a $500 fee, passed on the second attempt, a 13% total target, a first withdrawal at 5% profit, an 80% split and the fee refunded.

Fees paid (2 attempts)$1,000.00
Refunded with first payout$500.00
Cost to first payout$500.00
Profit needed to pass$13,000.00
First payout, your share$4,000.00
Position after first payout$3,500.00
Gain needed to break even0.63%

Working: two attempts at $500 is $1,000 spent, of which $500 comes back with the first payout, so the account is $500 down before it earns anything. A 5% withdrawal at an 80% split pays $4,000, leaving $3,500 ahead. Break-even needed only 0.63% of the account, because the split works on the whole balance while the fee is fixed.

Why does the number of attempts matter so much?

Because it multiplies the only cost that is certain. The target, the split and the payout are all things that may or may not happen; the fee is spent the moment you buy the challenge. Two attempts double it, three treble it, and no refund brings back the failed ones.

What should I put for attempts?

Whatever your own record says. If this is your first challenge there is no honest number, so try it at one and again at three and look at the difference — that gap is the risk you are taking on.

Does the break-even figure include the split?

Yes. It is the gain the account must make so that your share, after the split, covers what you have spent. Without the split it would understate the number badly.

Is a refunded fee really free?

Only after the first payout, and only for the attempt that passed. Until then the money is with the firm, and if the account breaches a rule before a payout, it stays there.

Enter the FeeWhat one challenge costs
Be Honest About TriesMost traders need more than one
Enter Target and SplitFrom the firm’s own rules
Read the Real CostFees against first payout

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