TL;DR — what actually works for US residents
The United States is the largest search market for prop firms in the world — roughly 9,900 monthly searches for the head keyword alone — and yet it is also the market where eligibility is most frequently misreported. Plenty of affiliate sites will tell you that “every major firm accepts US traders.” That is not how it works in practice.
Here is the verified picture as of June 2026, based on each firm’s official pages.
| Firm | Market | US residents | Pricing | Profit split |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topstep | CME futures | Eligible — no citizenship required, age 18+ | $49–$149/mo subscription | 100% on first $5,000, then 90% |
| Apex Trader Funding | CME futures | Eligible — payouts via ACH direct deposit | From $137/mo subscription | 100% on first $25,000, then 90% |
| FTMO | FX/CFD | Via ftmo.oanda.com only — not ftmo.com | $89–$1,080 one-time fee | 80%, up to 90% with conditions |
| The5%ers | FX/metals | Eligible per the official accepted-countries list | From $95 | 50–100% depending on program |
If you only remember one thing: futures firms like Topstep and Apex serve US traders natively, while FTMO — the biggest name in FX/CFD funding — serves US residents only through a separate OANDA-affiliated entity at ftmo.oanda.com. Getting that one detail wrong means buying a challenge you may not be able to use.
MyFundedFutures and Earn2Trade are also US-based futures specialists worth a look; they are covered in depth in our futures prop firm guide.
Why the US market is structurally different
To understand which firms work for US traders, you need one piece of industry structure. Futures prop firms — Topstep, Apex, MyFundedFutures, Earn2Trade — sit on top of US-regulated brokers and US exchange data. Their entire stack, from the Tradovate or Rithmic connection to the CME data feed, already operates inside the US regulatory perimeter. Serving American customers is their home game.
CFD prop firms are the mirror image. Their product is built on offshore CFD pricing and, historically, on the MetaTrader platforms — neither of which was designed for US retail customers. For years the practical result was that the largest FX/CFD firms either quietly excluded US residents or served them in a way that could be shut off overnight.
That fragility stopped being theoretical in January 2024, when the MetaQuotes crackdown rippled through the industry and FTMO halted US onboarding entirely. The episode is worth remembering whenever you evaluate a CFD firm’s US offering: access that depends on offshore infrastructure can disappear without notice. The 2023 collapse of MyForexFunds after regulatory action is the other standing reminder that this industry’s legal footing varies enormously from firm to firm.
The legal and regulatory picture: ftmo.com vs ftmo.oanda.com
This is the section to read twice, because it is where most US-facing prop content is wrong or out of date.
FTMO stopped onboarding US residents in January 2024 amid the MetaQuotes crackdown. For about nineteen months, the honest answer to “can Americans join FTMO?” was simply no. That changed on August 26, 2025, when FTMO resumed US service through a partnership with OANDA — a brokerage with US regulatory standing — and the relationship was cemented when the acquisition closed on December 1–2, 2025 with approvals from five regulators.
The practical consequence is a hard routing rule. US residents cannot purchase a challenge on ftmo.com; FTMO’s official FAQ directs them to ftmo.oanda.com, the OANDA-affiliated entity built for US clients. If you are a US resident, that is the only correct entry point, and you should verify pricing, platforms, and account terms there rather than assuming they mirror the global ftmo.com offering.
One note of transparency about this site: the standard FTMO links you will find across our reviews and comparisons point to the regular FTMO checkout, which serves our non-US readers. If you are reading this from the United States, go directly to ftmo.oanda.com instead.
The futures firms need no such workaround. Topstep and Apex were built for US customers from day one, which is a large part of why they are the two most popular firms among American traders.
The honest numbers before you pay anyone
Most articles in this niche skip straight from “top firms” to an affiliate button. We would rather you see the base rates first.
An FPFX Technologies analysis of 300,000+ accounts found that only about 14% of traders pass their evaluation, only about 7% ever reach a payout, and the average payout is roughly 4% of the nominal plan size. Those figures come from the technology provider that processes accounts for a large slice of the industry, which makes them about as close to ground truth as this market offers.
None of that means prop challenges are a scam — it means they are a hard skills test with a subscription or fee attached. Budget accordingly, and read our notes on pass rates and risk management for evaluations before you start.
The firms, one by one
Topstep — the default choice for US futures traders
Topstep was founded in Chicago in 2012, making it the longest-running futures evaluation in the industry — 14 years of continuous operation as of 2026. For US residents the eligibility terms are straightforward: you do not need US citizenship, and the minimum age is 18.
- Trading Combine subscription: $49–$149 per month depending on account size
- Profit split: 100% of the first $5,000, then 90%
- $50K plan reference figures: $3,000 target, $2,000 trailing max loss, $1,000 daily loss limit
- Platforms: NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView
- Payouts: weekly to monthly
One compliance detail that catches travelers: trading while physically located in an ineligible country can trigger a compliance review, even if your residency is fine. If you trade on the road, check Topstep’s eligibility list before connecting from abroad. The firm’s signature Trailing Maximum Drawdown is the rule most failed accounts hit — read the Topstep rules breakdown before paying, and see how to start with Topstep for the setup walkthrough.
Apex Trader Funding — payout speed and multiple accounts
Apex Trader Funding, founded in 2021, is the other household name among US futures traders, and its mechanics are built for cash flow.
- Subscriptions from $137 per month, with lump-sum plans available
- Profit split: 100% of the first $25,000, then 90%
- 8-day payout cycle, shorter than the 14 days common elsewhere
- Multiple simultaneous accounts allowed
- Platforms: Rithmic, Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView
For US residents, payouts arrive via ACH direct deposit — a clean, domestic rail with none of the friction international traders deal with. Apex’s arrangements for non-US payouts have changed several times, so international readers should confirm the current setup on the official help center rather than relying on any third-party article, including this one. Before running multiple accounts, read the Apex rules breakdown: hedging the same instrument in opposite directions across accounts is prohibited, and the subscription accumulates every month you do not pass.
FTMO via OANDA — the FX/CFD route for US residents
FTMO, operating from Prague since 2015, is the reference firm of the FX/CFD prop world: a two-step Challenge and Verification (10% then 5% profit targets, 10% max loss, 5% daily loss, minimum 4 trading days, no time limit), an 80% split rising to 90%, and one of the longest published payout track records in the industry.
For US residents, everything above comes with the routing caveat from the legal section: sign up at ftmo.oanda.com, and treat the terms published there — not the global ftmo.com figures, and not this summary — as authoritative for the US offering. The global product runs on MT4, MT5, cTrader, and DXtrade with one-time fees from $89 to $1,080; verify what the OANDA entity currently mirrors before you pay.
If you are deciding between FTMO-style FX funding and a futures evaluation, the side-by-side in FTMO vs Topstep covers the trade-offs in detail.
The5%ers — instant funding, US traders accepted
The5%ers, founded in 2016, is one of the oldest firms in the industry and the pioneer of the Instant Funding model — an account that starts immediately, with no evaluation phase. The United States appears on the official accepted list, so US residents can sign up directly.
- Programs: High-Stakes Challenge (one-step evaluation), Bootcamp (step-up), Instant Funding (no evaluation)
- Profit split: 50–100% depending on program and scaling stage
- Entry from $95; scaling up to $4,000,000
- Platforms: MT4, MT5, Match-Trader
The honest trade-off: Instant Funding charges more per dollar of buying power than an evaluation does, in exchange for removing the exam pressure entirely. For a US trader who wants FX exposure without the FTMO/OANDA routing question, this is the simplest path. Our The5%ers Instant Funding review goes deeper on whether the premium is worth it.
How to choose, in three steps
First, let your market decide the shortlist. If you trade ES, NQ, CL, or GC, the futures specialists are your lane and the futures guide is the better comparison. If you trade FX pairs, metals, or want MT5, you are choosing between FTMO-via-OANDA and The5%ers.
Second, model the full cost before the first payment. A $149-per-month subscription that takes six months to pass costs $894; a $540 one-time challenge failed twice costs $1,080. Run the math against the FPFX base rates above — a roughly 14% pass rate means most people pay more than once — and set a hard ceiling.
Third, read the payout terms together with the drawdown rules. Apex’s 100% on the first $25,000 is genuinely generous, but a trailing drawdown ends more accounts than any profit split ever compensates for. Evaluate split, cycle, and risk rules as one package, and check the coupons page before paying list price.
No prop firm, and no article, can guarantee profits. Final decisions are your own; this site does not provide investment advice.
Recommended prop firms
The links below are affiliate (PR) links — using them supports this site at no cost to you, and our reviews are written independently of them.
The5%ers — start without an evaluation
Operating for 10 years (since 2016), with the US on the official accepted list. The Instant Funding model starts immediately, with no evaluation pressure, and the profit split scales up to 100%.
→ See The5%ers official site (coupon code “HZZS4” for a discount)
FTMO — the industry standard
Operating for 11 years (since 2015). The orthodox Challenge-then-funding model, with one of the largest published payout track records in the industry.
→ See FTMO official site — note: this link serves non-US readers. US residents should sign up at ftmo.oanda.com instead, per FTMO’s official FAQ.