How a Prop Firm Challenge Service Works
How a Prop Firm Challenge Service Works
Proprietary trading firms (prop firms) provide traders with capital to trade and take a share of the profits—usually around 10–20%. However, they do not give out funding freely. Before allocating real capital, prop firms require traders to prove their skills through an evaluation phase known as a Prop Firm Challenge.
During this challenge, traders trade on a monitored demo account. To pass, they must meet specific performance and risk-management criteria. While each firm has its own rules, the three most important requirements are:
1. Account Growth
The trader must grow the account by a minimum percentage within the challenge period. This profit target is the core requirement of the evaluation.
2. Number of Trading Days
Most prop firms set both minimum and maximum trading days.
- If a trader hits the profit target too quickly, the firm may assume it was due to luck.
- If it takes too long, the firm may decide the trader is not efficient enough.
3. Maximum Drawdown
This is the most critical risk rule. If the account balance or equity drops below a certain percentage of the initial balance—usually 8–10%—the challenge is failed immediately.
What Is a Prop Firm Pass Service?
A prop firm pass service claims to pass the prop firm challenge on your behalf—for a fee.
In simple terms, you sign up for the challenge, but someone else trades the account for you. This is similar to having another person take a driving test in your name so you can receive the license without doing the test yourself.
How Much Do Prop Firm Pass Services Cost?
Fees vary widely depending on the account size:
- Smaller challenges (e.g., $15,000 funded accounts) may cost around $150–$200.
- Large challenges (e.g., $400,000 funded accounts) can cost $3,000–$3,500 or more.
The larger the potential funded account, the higher the fee.
How Do Passing Services Trade?
Some passing services use automated trading bots, while others trade manually. There is usually no reliable way to verify how the trading is done or how risky their strategy is.
Are There Legitimate Prop Firm Pass Services?
Passing services are unregulated, which makes them very difficult to verify. While some may be legitimate, there is no reliable way to confirm this in advance.
Testimonials are also unreliable. Many services create fake reviews on their websites or post fabricated success stories on forums and social media. Negative reviews are often more telling—especially when multiple customers report similar problems, such as promised refunds that were never issued.
Is It Ever a Good Idea to Use a Passing Service?
It’s understandable why traders are tempted. Around 80% of traders fail prop firm challenges, so the idea of outsourcing the challenge can seem appealing.
However, using a pass service is generally a bad idea.
There’s nothing wrong with tools that help traders—such as educational resources, signal services, or automated strategies. But using someone else to pass a challenge defeats the purpose of the evaluation.
Most reputable prop firms expect the person who registered for the challenge to be the one trading it. If they suspect third-party involvement, they may ban the account permanently. Ethically, it’s also questionable—similar to having someone else take your college exams.
Even if the service passes the challenge:
- You will still need to trade the funded account yourself, or
- You’ll remain dependent on the service
If losses occur on a live account, your name—not the service provider’s—will be attached to the failure. And importantly, a passing service does not teach you how to trade.
Prop Firm Passing Services: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Can fast-track access to a funded prop firm account if successful
- Some services offer low entry fees (e.g., $150), allowing traders to test the idea
- Many prop firms allow multiple challenge attempts, so traders can retry if needed
Cons
- High risk of account bans from reputable prop firms
- Continued dependence on the service even after passing
- No improvement in personal trading skills
- Extremely difficult to verify performance before paying
- Refund promises are often not honored
Bottom Line
Prop firm pass services promise to pass a prop firm challenge on your behalf so you can access a funded account. While this sounds attractive, these services are difficult to verify, often unregulated, and have a poor reputation—especially regarding refunds.
The biggest concern is ethics and long-term sustainability. Prop firms want the named individual to prove their own trading ability, not a third party. And even if a service passes the challenge, you still face the same problem: if you cannot trade profitably yourself, the funded account will not last.
If you already had the skills to trade successfully, you likely wouldn’t need a passing service in the first place.
