- Independent evaluation — not ordered by affiliate payouts
- Top three: The5%ers, FTMO, Topstep
- Best Japanese-language support: FinTokei
- Cheapest entry: FundingPips ($19)
A 2026 ranking only matters if it ignores affiliate payouts and weights the boring stuff: operating history, payout transparency, and regulatory environment. The list below leans on those three criteria, in that order. In practice, the top three positions are stable across most independent evaluations — the disagreements happen in the middle of the table, where younger firms with attractive pricing compete against older firms with steadier records.
Top 8
| # | Firm | Founded | Trust | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The5%ers | 2016 | Highest | 4.6 |
| 2 | FTMO | 2014 | Highest | 4.4 |
| 3 | Topstep | 2012 | Highest | 4.2 |
| 4 | FinTokei | 2022 | High | 4.0 |
| 5 | FundingPips | 2022 | Medium | 4.0 |
| 6 | FundedNext | 2022 | Medium | 4.0 |
| 7 | Apex Trader Funding | 2021 | High | 4.0 |
| 8 | Earn2Trade | 2016 | High | 3.9 |
How the ratings are weighted
The rating is a composite of four factors: operating history (40%), payout transparency (25%), regulatory environment (20%), and trader-facing economics like profit split and rule clarity (15%). Specifically, this weighting punishes firms that look attractive on price but have not yet survived a full economic cycle.