How We Rank Prop Firms: Our Methodology & Data Policy
PickMyFuturesProp · 2026-07-02
Every score on this site is computed from published firm rules — drawdown type, consistency, payout cadence, real cost. Here's exactly how the rankings work, where the data comes from, and how we make money.
Sixteen firms, dozens of plans, hundreds of size combinations — nobody can hold all of that in their head, and most "best prop firm" lists online are just affiliate links in a trench coat. This page explains exactly how this site ranks firms, where the data comes from, and how the site makes money. If you're going to trust a comparison tool, you deserve to see the machinery.
What we score, and how
Every firm and account on this site gets scored the same way, from the same inputs — the firm's own published rules:
- VALUE score — the overall number. It blends what you actually pay (discounted price, activation fees, resets, subscription vs one-time) against what you actually get (drawdown room, payout terms, rule freedom).
- Pass difficulty (out of 10) — how hard the evaluation is, computed from the profit target relative to drawdown, minimum days, consistency rules, and drawdown type. Lower is easier.
- Payout difficulty (out of 10) — how hard it is to get money out once funded: payout cadence, minimums, caps, buffers, funded consistency rules, and whether the funded drawdown is forgiving (end-of-day) or punishing (intraday trailing). Lower is easier.
The same formulas run against every firm. No score on this site is hand-set per firm, and no firm can pay to change one.
Where the data comes from
Firm rules change constantly, so this site runs on a strict data policy: numbers are updated only from the firm's own official pages, captured and verified by hand — not scraped from third-party blogs, not guessed. When a firm changes a rule, the data gets corrected and every score that depends on it recalculates automatically. If something on a firm's site contradicts what you see here, the firm's site wins — and I want to know about it.
How this site makes money (the honest part)
Some of the signup links and discount codes here are affiliate links — if you use them, the firm pays this site a commission. It costs you nothing, and in most cases the affiliate code gives you the same or a better discount than the public one.
Here's the commitment: affiliate status never changes a firm's scores. The VALUE, Pass, and Payout numbers are computed from the rules alone — several of the best-scoring accounts on this site carry codes that earn nothing. Featured placement on the Deals page may favor partners; the scores never do.
How to actually use this site
Start with the Pick My Prop matcher — it asks how you trade and shortlists firms whose rules fit. Then open the Compare tab and put your shortlist side by side on the numbers that matter: drawdown type, consistency, payout speed, real cost. Read the full review of whichever firm survives. That's the whole system — rules first, discounts second.