What is a custom prop firm challenge?
Most prop firms sell challenges like phone plans: a handful of fixed boxes, each with its own target, drawdown and price. If your strategy needs a bit more room on the daily limit, or you'd never use the room you're paying for, that's just how it is.
A custom challenge works the other way round. You choose the limits that match how you trade, and the fee is worked out from your choices. It's still a real evaluation, with rules that are enforced the same way for everyone. You just get a say in what those rules are.
Few firms offer this. Every combination needs its own price and its own rule set, which is harder to run than three fixed packages. It also means it's worth knowing exactly what you can change and what stays fixed.
What you can customize
| Setting | Your options | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Path | Rapid (1-step), Prime (2-step) or Instant | How many evaluation phases you go through, if any |
| Account size | $2K to $100K (Instant: $2K or $6K) | The simulated capital you trade |
| Daily drawdown | 4–6% (Instant: none) | How much the account can lose in a single day |
| Overall drawdown | 8–12% | The most the account can lose in total |
| Max Open-Trade Loss | 3–5% | Maximum combined floating loss on currently open positions. |
| Add-ons | 90% Profit Split, Fee Refund on First Payout and End-of-Day (EOD) Drawdown | Extras you add at checkout |
What you can't change: the profit target and the minimum number of trading days. Those come with the path. Rapid has one 8% target and at least 3 trading days and Prime has an 8% target and then 5%, with at least 5 trading days in each phase. Instant has no evaluation at all.
1-step vs 2-step vs Instant: which path?
| Rapid (1-step) | Prime (2-step) | Instant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluation phases | 1 | 2 | None |
| Profit target | 8% | 8%, then 5% | None |
| Minimum trading days | 3 | 5 per phase | None |
| Daily drawdown | 4–6% | 4–6% | None |
| Overall drawdown | 8–12%, static | 8–12%, static | 8–12%, trailing |
| Account sizes | $2K to $100K | $2K to $100K | $2K or $6K |
| Fee from | $35 | $26 | $61 |
In short: if you're confident and want to get funded sooner, Rapid has a single phase to pass. Prime starts at the lowest fee and gives you two phases to show you're consistent. Instant skips the evaluation entirely. You get a funded account after identity verification (KYC), and accept a trailing overall drawdown in return.
Want to see the standard packages next to each other first? The challenge comparison puts them side by side.
How the price works
Every account size has a base fee. Each risk setting then moves the price up or down: a stricter limit takes money off, a looser one adds to it. The three settings are priced separately, so you can loosen the one you actually need and tighten the ones you don't.
A real example with a $10K Prime challenge: the base fee is $89. With a 4% daily drawdown, 8% overall drawdown and 3% Max Open-Trade Loss it comes to $81. Loosen all three to 6%, 12% and 5% and it's $125.
How to keep the fee down
Start from your own history. Look at your worst trading day and your largest combined floating loss, add a sensible margin, and pick the limits that cover that. Paying for room you never use is the most common way traders overpay.
- Choose the smallest account size you can trade properly. Fees grow with size.
- Tighten what you don't need. If you rarely lose more than 3% in a day, the 4% daily drawdown costs less and still leaves you a buffer.
- Skip add-ons you won't use. Each one adds to the total.
Need more drawdown room?
It works the other way too. If your strategy rides out swings or you trade volatile markets, you can take up to 6% daily drawdown and 12% overall, compared with the 5% and 10% many firms set as standard.
You can also raise Max Open-Trade Loss to 5%. That's worth it if you often hold several positions at once and their combined floating loss tends to go past 3%.
More room isn't automatically better. A wider limit lets a bad day get bigger before anything stops it. Take the extra room because your position sizing needs it, not as a safety net.
Instant: no daily drawdown limit
Instant accounts skip the evaluation, and they have no daily drawdown limit at all. The overall drawdown is trailing instead: it follows your highest balance upward, so your room is measured from your peak rather than from your starting balance.
If a trailing limit makes you nervous, the End-of-Day (EOD) Drawdown add-on changes how it moves: the floor is updated once a day instead of continuously. It's only available on Instant.
Instant needs identity verification (KYC) before the account is issued, and it comes in smaller sizes: $2K or $6K.
Add-ons
On top of the rules, you can add extras at checkout. These are available right now:
- 90% Profit Split: a bigger share of the profit once you're funded.
- Fee Refund on First Payout: your challenge fee back with your first payout.
- End-of-Day (EOD) Drawdown: Instant only. The overall drawdown floor moves once a day instead of continuously.
The builder only offers add-ons that work with the path you picked, so you can't pay for something that doesn't apply.
Is a custom challenge right for you?
Why traders choose it
- You pay for the rules you need, not for a package designed around someone else.
- You can match the daily limit to your strategy instead of bending your strategy to fit the limit.
- The limits you pick carry over to your funded account, so nothing changes when you pass.
Things to keep in mind
- More choice means more ways to choose badly. Loose limits can let a bad day run.
- The profit target and the minimum trading days aren't adjustable.
- If you don't know your numbers yet, start with the free prop firm challenge and find out.
Build yours in four steps
Choose your path
Rapid (1-step), Prime (2-step) or Instant. The builder only shows the sizes and limits that fit that path.
Pick the account size
The base fee is shown for every size.
Set your three risk limits
Move the daily drawdown, overall drawdown and Max Open-Trade Loss sliders and watch the fee change.
Add extras and check out
Choose your broker, platform and any add-ons, then continue to checkout. Your rules are locked to the challenge you buy.
Custom prop firm challenge FAQ
Can I change the profit target in a custom challenge?
No. The target comes with the path: 8% for Rapid, 8% and then 5% for Prime. What you choose is the account size and the risk limits.
Do my custom limits stay the same after I'm funded?
Yes. The daily drawdown, overall drawdown and Max Open-Trade Loss you choose also apply to your funded account.
What is Max Open-Trade Loss?
Maximum combined floating loss on currently open positions. Example: on a $10,000 account with a 3% limit, once all open positions together are at a $300 floating loss, every open position that is itself in loss gets a yellow flag.
What's the cheapest custom challenge?
Right now the lowest fee is $26: a $2K Prime challenge with the strictest limits.
Is the challenge fee a one-time payment?
Yes. You pay it once at checkout. There's no subscription.
Does Instant have a daily loss limit?
No. Instant accounts have no daily drawdown limit. The overall drawdown is trailing, or end-of-day if you add End-of-Day (EOD) Drawdown.
Is a custom challenge harder to pass?
Not by design. Stricter limits make it cheaper but less forgiving; looser limits cost more but give you room. Pick limits that fit how you actually trade and it's no harder than a standard package.
