Trading with a prop firm can give retail traders the necessary capital and associated income to make their trading efforts worthwhile. Still, it does not necessarily provide a competitive edge. Trading remains dominated by algorithms, placing manual traders at a distinct disadvantage regardless of how much capital they manage. Therefore, trading with prop firms allowing EAs may level the playing field.
Want to know what you need before getting started? Read my research into prop firms allowing EAs to begin on the right footing.
Prop Firms that Allow EAs, Bots, and Algos
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- DNA Funded, .
- fundedprime, Portfolio scaling up to a maximum of $800,000 per trader.
- Hola Prime, The best prop firm for ultra-fast withdrawals.
- Profitex, A generous 7% daily loss limit with a 10% maximum drawdown.
- PipFarm, Industry-leading scalability up to $1.5M, 95% profit share, and crypto withdrawals.
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Year Established | N/A | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | 2023 |
Minimum Deposit | |||||
Trading Platform(s) | Other+ | DX Trade | Other, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DX Trade+ | DX Trade | cTrader |
| Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website |
DNA Funded
In SummaryI rank DNA Funded among the best Forex prop firms for its low evaluation fees. Traders pay $49 to $1,209 for portfolios between $5,000 and $200,000. Traders can choose among 16 challenges and one-phase, two-phase, and 10-day rapid evaluations. DNA Funded offers add-ons to increase the profit share up to 90% and decrease the payout frequency to seven days.
Prop traders will trade via the TradeLocker platform. The maximum daily drawdown is 5% for the one-step evaluation, 6% for the two-step alternative, and 4% for the 10-day challenge, with a maximum drawdown of 6%, 10%, and 5%, respectively.
Pros & Cons
- Maximum profit share of 90%
- Max allocation of funded accounts up to $600K
- Transparent trading conditions with TradeLocker login details
- A well-balanced asset selection of 800+ assets
- Limited operational history
fundedprime
In Summary Portfolio scaling up to a maximum of $800,000 per traderFundedprime offers five funded account options starting from $10,000 for a one-time evaluation fee of $65. It allows prop traders to manage accounts up to $800,000 with a profit share of 80%. Accounts are traded through Eightcap, ensuring competitive trading conditions with a well-balanced asset selection, deep liquidity, fast order execution, and competitive trading fees. It places Fundedprime highly on my listing, featuring the best prop firms allowing EAs.
Prop traders must trade for at least three days during the challenge per evaluation stage without an upper limit. A maximum daily drawdown of 5%, with a maximum drawdown of 10%, applies.
Pros & Cons
- Cryptocurrency withdrawals
- There is no time limit during the evaluation process.
- Maximum profit share up to 80%
- Trading via the platforms of trusted Australian brokerage Eightcap
- Limited operational history
Hola Prime
In Summary The best prop firm for ultra-fast withdrawalsHola Prime is a transparent retail prop trading firm with four trading platforms and a maximum profit share of up to 95%. Traders can choose a one-step or a two-step evaluation for portfolios between $5,000 and $300,000, with an evaluation fee between $48 and $1,499. Alternatively, the Direct account is without evaluation and a one-time cost between $129 and $2,249. Therefore, I rank Hola Prime among the best prop firms.
Traders must trade for at least two days per challenge. The maximum daily drawdown is between 3% and 5%, with a maximum drawdown between 5% and 8%.
Pros & Cons
- A maximum profit share of 95%
- Four trading platforms
- Scalable accounts up to $4M
- One hour payouts
- Reletively newer firm (around one year old)
Profitex
In Summary A generous 7% daily loss limit with a 10% maximum drawdownPros & Cons
- Offers trusted Australian broker, Eightcap's trading platform
- Cryptocurrency withdrawals
- There is no time limit during the evaluation process
- Maximum profit share up to 80%
- Limited operational history
PipFarm
In Summary Industry-leading scalability up to $1.5M, 95% profit share, and crypto withdrawalsPipFarm offers all its accounts in partnership with TopFX and supports 20+ payment processors, including cryptocurrencies. The five-tier rank promotions slash trading fees and improve trading conditions. Prop traders can scale their profit share from 75% to 95% and the maximum funds under management to $1.5M. So, I rank PipFarm among the best prop firms.
Prop traders can choose a one-phase evaluation with a trailing maximum drawdown of 12% and a profit target of 12% or opt for the two-phase alternative with a static maximum drawdown of 9% and a 6%-6% profit target. The daily loss limit is 3%.
Pros & Cons
- Maximum funded accounts of up to $1.5 million
- Challenges provided on the popular cTrader platform.
- Low minimum evaluation fee starting from $50
- Profit share of up to 95%
- Does not offer stock trading
What Are Expert Advisors (EAs)?
Expert Advisors (EAs) are algorithmic trading solutions executed in the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. They can vary from simple EAs that are long-term unprofitable to sophisticated human-like trading solutions with machine learning and AI-assisted components, high-frequency bots, news trading bots, and scalping bots.
The most advanced EAs can also read fundamental reports, economic news releases, and social media posts. They can also search video or audio content to react and adjust trading strategies. However, they are rare and under tight guard by the companies who develop, maintain, and deploy them. Among the thousands of EAs that retail traders can download for free or via paid-for subscriptions or one-off fees, the challenge remains to obtain one with long-term profitability.
Understanding Prop Firm EA Trading
Genuine prop firms who seek profitable trading strategies will allow them, as 80%+ of trading is algorithmic. The only restriction prop firms allowing EAs place is compliance with their trading rules.
Why Do Some Prop Firms Not Allow EAs?
Many prop firms keep traders in demo accounts and earn from one-time evaluation fees or allow live trading in B-books for a monthly fee. Therefore, they prefer traders to generate minimal to no profits while they continue to earn from recurring costs. They may also lack the infrastructure to support EA trading.
Pros and Cons of Prop Firms That Allow EA Trading
Before paying for funded accounts, prop traders should consider the pros and cons of prop firms allowing EAs.
The Pros of Prop Firms that Allow EA Trading
- Emotionless trading
- Compliance with risk management rules
- 24/5 trading
- Ability to analyze and trade more assets
- Access to capital
The Cons of Prop Firms that Allow EA Trading
- Inadequate trading infrastructure
- Restrictive trading conditions
How to Select a Prop Firm Compatible with EAs
All competitive prop firms allowing EAs share similar core criteria to ensure competitive trading conditions.
Prop firms allowing EAs must offer the following:
1. Reputation - Prop firms are unregulated but duly registered businesses. Therefore, I urge traders to avoid newly established prop firms. Reading reviews can help, but traders should approach them with caution and avoid reviewers without a history.
2. Trading Platforms - Prop traders must ensure that MT4, MT5, or cTrader are available.
3. Trading Costs - Trading fees depend on the broker of prop firms. Additionally, US-based prop firms charge monthly subscription fees, which are recurring costs traders should consider. Non-US prop firms have one-time evaluation fees, making them a significantly more cost-effective option.
4. Profit Share - I recommend traders look for a profit split between 80% and 90%+.
5. Asset Selection - The asset selection depends on the prop firm and their partner broker but should include a balanced mix of liquid trading instruments.
6. Trading Strategies - Traders must verify that their prop firms allow the trading style they wish to execute, as some prop firms have no restrictions, while others restrict or prefer select strategies.
7. Support - Trading with legitimate prop firms involves a contract and receiving payouts. Therefore, I only recommend prop firms with fast, responsive customer support available 24/5.
8. Payouts - Bank wires remain the go-to payment processors, but the best prop firms allowing EAs also allow cryptocurrency transactions with fast internal processing times.
Bottom Line
The best prop firms allowing EAs provide competitive trading conditions for prop traders, including deep liquidity, fast order execution, algorithmic trading platforms, and competitive leverage settings. Prop traders are free to deploy EAs, but they must ensure compliance with strict trading rules and make necessary adjustments to their risk management profiles.
