The short answer
A challenge funds you after you reach a profit target across one or two phases. Instant funding skips that gate entirely and starts you trading for rewards from day one. The trade-off is risk room: instant accounts run tighter drawdowns, while challenges give you more space to develop your strategy before there is anything to keep.
On the challenge products, One Step and Two Step, we refund 100% of your evaluation fee with your third reward; instant accounts do not include this refund. Your trader split is 90% on every product, at every account size and phase, one of the most generous shares available anywhere. Identity verification is completed in your own name before your account goes live.
Route 1: pass a challenge first
A challenge is an evaluation. You buy it at a smaller fee, reach a profit target inside the rules, and only then move to a funded stage where your rewards are real. There is no time limit on either of our challenge products, so you trade at your own pace.
One Step is a single phase with a 6% profit target and no minimum trading days. It starts from $5K, with the current price shown at checkout.
Two Step runs two phases, 6% then 4%, for a 10% target in total. It holds an 8% static maximum drawdown, has no minimum trading days, and starts from $10K, with the current price shown at checkout. A static drawdown means the line that ends the account sits at a fixed level and does not move as your balance grows.
Daily drawdown figures for the challenge products are shown on your dashboard for the exact account you choose. The point of a challenge is simple: more room to operate, in exchange for reaching a target before the rewards turn real.
Route 2: instant funding from day one
Instant funding removes the target gate. There is no phase to clear and, on the standard instant products, no profit target at all. You trade for real rewards immediately. The discipline lives in tighter drawdowns instead of a target you must reach.
Instant and Instant Pro scale up to $1M and allow weekend trading with no time limit. Instant carries a 3% daily drawdown and a 5% trailing maximum drawdown. Instant Pro gives you more room: a 4% daily drawdown and a 6% trailing maximum drawdown. Both share a 2% single-trade loss cap, and both ask for a short run of trading days before your first reward (5 on Instant, 6 on Instant Pro).
Instant 24h is the one exception to the no-target rule. It asks for a 3% gain inside a 24-hour window, over a minimum of 7 trades, and runs tighter still: 2% daily drawdown, 3% trailing maximum drawdown, and a 1% single-trade loss cap.
Trailing vs static drawdown
A trailing maximum drawdown follows your equity upward as you profit, then locks at your starting balance once you cross the profit threshold. That locking behaviour applies to One Step, Instant and Instant Pro; on Instant 24h the trailing drawdown never locks and keeps trailing throughout the window. A static drawdown stays at one fixed level, which is how Two Step works. Knowing which one applies tells you exactly how much room you have at any moment.
Side by side
Factor | Challenge (One / Two Step) | Instant funding |
Profit target to start earning | Yes: 6% (One Step) or 10% total (Two Step) | None, except Instant 24h (3% in 24h) |
Phases | One or two | None |
Maximum drawdown | Two Step: 8% static. One Step: 6% trailing | 5% trailing (Instant), 6% trailing (Pro), 3% trailing (24h) |
Daily drawdown | 3% (One Step), 4% (Two Step) | 3% (Instant), 4% (Pro), 2% (24h) |
Trader profit split | 90% | 90% |
Time limit | None | None, except Instant 24h (24-hour sprint) |
Account size | From $5K (One Step), from $10K (Two Step) | Up to $1M |
Starting cost | Shown at checkout for the size you choose | Shown at checkout for the size you choose |
Pricing depends on the account size you choose, so check the price shown at checkout for the exact number. Daily drawdown is measured on your equity, including open and floating profit and loss, and resets at 00:00 UTC on every route.
Who each route suits
Pick a challenge if you want more room to trade, are comfortable proving a target first, and prefer a lower entry fee. The wider drawdown space suits strategies that need time to develop, and there is no clock pushing you.
Pick instant funding if you would rather skip the evaluation and start trading for rewards now, and you are confident managing tighter daily and trailing limits. Choose Instant Pro for more risk room, or Instant 24h if you want a fast, defined 24-hour sprint with the tightest risk rules.
The rules on both routes are published in full and are the same for everyone. Targets are achievable and the limits are generous. Both routes reward disciplined trading under real, live prices.
What both routes share
A trader-first profit split of 90%, the same on every product and at every account size, one of the most generous shares available anywhere
1:100 leverage and over 1,300 instruments across forex, metals, crypto, indices, shares and energies, all on real, live prices
The same allowed and banned practices. Expert advisors, copy trading between accounts you personally own, and news trading are welcome, each with unique settings on your own accounts; latency and tick-exploit arbitrage are not permitted
The Best Day Rule (the Best Trade Rule on Instant 24h): to make a withdrawal, no single trading day may account for more than 20% of your total net profit in the current reward segment, the profit since your last reward (on Instant 24h, no single trade may account for more than 15%). Exactly 20% is allowed; only above is held. On One Step, Two Step, Instant and Instant Pro it is a soft gate: it never breaches your account, it only holds the withdrawal until your profit is more evenly distributed. On Instant 24h, exceeding the 15% Best Trade Rule instead means the account runs to the end of its 24-hour window and closes with no reward
Identity verification with our identity-verification partner, completed in your own name before your account goes live (right after you pass on a challenge, right after purchase on instant). You must be the person shown on your own documents throughout, and rewards are paid only to a bank account or crypto wallet held in your own name
95% of rewards approved in 2 to 3 hours and paid in about 12 hours, by bank transfer or crypto
The money line
Whichever route you take, you keep 90% of your simulated profit, the same on every product and at every account size. It is one of the most generous splits you will find. On the challenge products, One Step and Two Step, you also get 100% of your evaluation fee back with your third reward.
Related
Challenge or Instant: which should I pick?
What is the difference between a challenge and instant funding?
The trailing maximum drawdown on instant accounts explained
Two Step