Quick Answer — Apex Trader Funding — Rules Quick Facts
- • Apex 4.0 (March 1, 2026) removed six legacy rules: MAE, 5:1 risk-reward, one-direction, 7-day minimum, monthly billing, and manual payout review.
- • EOD trailing drawdown is the new default. The drawdown trails your closing balance. Intraday trailing is still available as a separate product but tracks tick-by-tick.
- • The 50% consistency rule applies only on Performance Accounts at payout time. The evaluation has zero consistency requirement.
- • PA activation fee is $99 on EOD accounts and $79 on Intraday, due within 7 calendar days of passing. Promo codes do not discount it.
- • All metals (GC, SI, QI, QO, MGC, HG, PL, PA) are halted since March 14, 2026. No return date announced.
- • Up to 20 Performance Accounts can run in parallel via Apex's copy-trade setup, the largest scaling cap in the industry.
Tested firsthand: 2–3 years on Apex's $50K accounts with ~$16,000 paid via Wise. The rules landscape changed massively with 4.0 (March 2026): MAE, 5:1 RR, one-direction, 7-day minimum, monthly billing, and manual payout review were all removed. What stays: EOD trailing drawdown by default, 50% consistency rule on the Performance Account, $1,000 DLL on $50K, 5 qualifying days per payout, and the $99 PA activation fee (often missed, not discounted by promo codes). Full breakdown in my Apex rules guide and main review. Verify current wording at the Apex Help Center.
Apex Trader Funding's ruleset got rewritten on March 1, 2026 with the 4.0 launch. Six legacy rules were removed, monthly billing was killed, EOD trailing drawdown became the default product, payouts switched off Deel onto Plane and ACH, and a $99 PA activation fee was quietly added on top of the eval price. Two weeks later, on March 14, all metals contracts were halted and have not come back. If you are coming from old Apex or assuming the rules work like every other futures prop firm, this guide is the level set.
I have traded Apex for 2-3 years across diverse $50K accounts, with up to 10 running in parallel via Apex's copy-trade setup. I bought my Combines on Apex's 90% promo cycles and activated them via lifetime activation under the legacy structure. I have pulled around $16K in cumulative Apex payouts, all via Wise, and Tradovate has been my go-to platform throughout. Apex was one of my earliest futures props, alongside Topstep. I do not have active accounts at Apex right now — my last cycle ended without a clean handoff into 4.0 — but I tested 4.0 after launch to write this, and it resolved many of the pain points that kept Apex in critical discussions for years.
The 4.0 rules are the simplest version of Apex that has ever existed. They are also the version most aggressively misunderstood, because legacy Apex content still dominates search and YouTube. Below, every rule that applies in April 2026, what changed, and what catches traders off guard.
What actually changed in 4.0
Apex 4.0 launched March 1, 2026 and removed six rules in one update:
| Rule | Pre-4.0 | Post-4.0 |
|---|---|---|
| MAE (Maximum Adverse Excursion) | Flagged trades with high unrealized loss vs realized profit | Removed |
| 5:1 Risk-Reward Ratio cap | Trades had to stay within 5:1 stop:target | Removed |
| One-Direction Rule | Could not be long and short the same contract simultaneously | Removed |
| 7-Day Minimum Trading Days | Eval required 7 days minimum | Removed (now zero minimum) |
| Monthly Billing | Eval billed monthly until cancelled | Removed (one-time fees only) |
| Manual Payout Review | Humans reviewed payouts, subjective denials | Removed (automated via Plane/ACH) |
| 30% Consistency Rule | Applied at payout, biggest day capped at 30% of total | Replaced with 50% (PA only) |
Plus the structural changes that did not show up on the marketing page:
- EOD trailing drawdown became the default product. Old Apex was Intraday-trailing only; EOD existed as a workaround at best. 4.0 sells EOD as the headline.
- PA activation fee added. $99 on EOD, $79 on Intraday, paid within 7 days of passing eval. This is on top of the eval price and is not discounted by promo codes.
- Payout rail switched. Deel out, Plane and ACH in. Most international traders now get paid through Plane, US-based traders through ACH. Both are 24-48 hour rails.
- $700M+ total payouts. Apex's self-reported running total is north of $700M as of April 2026, with some sources putting it past $1B. The conservative floor cited at the 4.0 launch was $600M+.
- **Trustpilot 4.4 across 18,000+ reviews.** Volume jumped post-4.0 because of the rule rewrite and the new automated payout flow.
If you read PTV content from before March 2026, or third-party reviews that have not been refreshed, you will see "$378M payouts," "Trustpilot 4.6," and "payouts via Deel." Those are wrong as of April 2026. The numbers in this article are the current ones.
For the news angle on what six weeks of 4.0 actually delivered, see the Apex 4.0 retrospective.
What rules apply during the evaluation
The eval phase is the simplest it has ever been at Apex. Five rules, that is it.
Profit target. The amount you need to clear before breaching anything else.
| Account size | Profit target | Trailing drawdown | DLL (EOD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25K | $1,500 | $1,000 | $500 |
| $50K | $3,000 | $2,000 | $1,000 |
| $100K | $6,000 | $3,000 | $1,500 |
| $150K | $9,000 | $4,000 | $2,000 |
Trailing drawdown (MLL). Your account balance cannot fall below the maximum loss limit. The MLL trails your peak (closing balance on EOD, real-time peak on Intraday). It only moves up. Once it reaches the starting balance plus the buffer, it freezes there.
Daily loss limit (EOD only). A session-level circuit breaker. Hitting it pauses you for the day but does not fail the account. Intraday eval accounts do not have a DLL.
30-day time limit. 30 calendar days from purchase, no extensions, no resets. About 21-22 trading sessions depending on holidays.
Position close by 4:59 PM ET. No overnight holds. The system flattens anything still open at the cutoff. If the auto-flat puts you below the MLL, the account is done.
What is not a rule during eval:
- No minimum trading days
- No consistency rule
- No MAE, no 5:1 RR, no one-direction
- No restrictions on lot sizing within the contract limit
- No requirement to use stops
Hit the target without breaching, and you pass. The eval was deliberately rebuilt to be faster and dumber, and the design pays off — eval pass rates went up materially in the first six weeks of 4.0, and the ForexFactory threads on it have shifted from "this is unfair" to "the catch is the PA fee, not the eval."
For a full eval-phase deep dive including pacing strategy, see the Apex evaluation account rules sub-article.
How the trailing drawdown works (EOD vs Intraday)
Trailing drawdown is the single most important rule at Apex. It is the #1 account killer and the only mechanic that ends accounts on contact. Understand this or do not trade Apex.
The basic mechanic. Your account starts with an MLL set below the starting balance. As the account grows, the MLL trails up with your peak. It never moves down. Once it ratchets up, that is your new floor. The size of the buffer between peak and MLL stays constant until the MLL reaches starting balance plus the original buffer, at which point it freezes.
On a $100K account the buffer is $3,000. So:
- Account starts at $100,000, MLL at $97,000.
- Account peaks at $104,000, MLL trails to $101,000.
- Account peaks at $108,000, MLL trails to $105,000.
- Account peaks at $103,001, MLL freezes at $103,000 — the threshold (starting + $3K). From here on, MLL never moves. You trade against a fixed $103,000 floor.
The EOD vs Intraday split. The mechanic is the same; the trigger for "peak" is what differs.
| Trigger | EOD | Intraday |
|---|---|---|
| When MLL recalculates | At market close, based on closing balance | Real-time, based on tick-by-tick equity peak |
| Counts unrealized PnL? | No — only closed-day balance | Yes — peak includes open-trade equity |
| Best for | Swing/multi-day setups, traders who give back | Scalpers who lock gains immediately |
| Default product post-4.0 | Yes | Available as separate product |
Concrete example. $100K starts at $100K balance, MLL at $97,000. Mid-session your trade is up $5,000 unrealized — equity at $105,000. You close it at $103,000. End of day balance: $103,000.
- EOD trailing: MLL stays at $97,000 during the session. At 4:59 PM ET the system sees $103,000 closing balance and trails MLL to $100,000.
- Intraday trailing: MLL trails the moment equity hits $105,000. Even though you closed at $103,000, MLL is now $102,000.
EOD is more forgiving for traders who hold winners and let unrealized PnL fluctuate. Intraday punishes giving back. Most traders pass eval faster on EOD; most traders also blow PA accounts on EOD because the wider room makes them sloppy. Pick based on style, not based on which one looks easier on paper.
For the full math comparison including specific scenarios, see Apex EOD vs Intraday.
Daily loss limit (EOD-only rule)
The DLL only exists on EOD accounts. It is a session-level circuit breaker, not an account killer.
| Account size | EOD DLL |
|---|---|
| $25K | $500 |
| $50K | $1,000 |
| $100K | $1,500 |
| $150K | $2,000 |
If your net realized PnL for the session drops by the DLL amount, the platform pauses you for the rest of that session. Open positions get flattened. You come back the next session with a clean DLL.
Intraday accounts have no DLL. The only protection on Intraday is the trailing drawdown itself, which is exactly why Intraday traders blow up faster — there is nothing forcing them to stop after a bad day.
The DLL is actually helpful, not punitive. It prevents revenge trading. Traders on $100K EOD accounts routinely survive months longer than peers on Intraday because the DLL forces a stop at -$1,500 instead of letting them chase to -$3,000 and breach. If you are new to Apex, EOD with the DLL is the safer rail.
The 50% consistency rule (PA only)
The 50% consistency rule is a payout-time check, not an evaluation rule and not a continuous rule. It only matters when you click "request payout."
The rule. No single profitable day can account for 50% or more of total net profit since your last approved payout.
Example. You have made $4,000 net since your last payout. You request a payout. The system looks at your biggest single day:
- Biggest day = $1,800. Ratio = $1,800 / $4,000 = 45%. Pass.
- Biggest day = $2,000. Ratio = 50%. Fail.
- Biggest day = $2,500. Ratio = 62.5%. Fail.
If you fail, the request is blocked but the account is fine. You keep trading and dilute the ratio with smaller days. Five days of $300 added to the $2,000-on-$4,000 case gives you $5,500 total with $2,000 max, 36.4%, pass.
This replaced the legacy 30% rule, and despite the higher percentage it is more forgiving. Old 30% on the $1,800-on-$4,000 case would block you. New 50% lets it through. The legacy headlines complaining about Apex's consistency rule mostly do not apply to 4.0.
My approach when I had a big day: trade the next several sessions small. Even $200-$300 per day pulls the ratio down fast. Patience is cheaper than waiting for support to manually approve a "windfall", which under 4.0 they do not do anyway because payout review is automated.
For the full strategy including how to schedule big-day weeks around the ladder, see Apex consistency rule.
The safety net and minimum balance to withdraw
The safety net is the minimum balance required to request a payout. It equals the drawdown limit plus $100. Adding the $500 minimum payout gets you the actual minimum balance to withdraw anything.
| Account size | Drawdown limit | Safety net (DD + $100) | Min balance to withdraw |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25K | $1,000 | $26,100 | $26,600 |
| $50K | $2,000 | $52,100 | $52,600 |
| $100K | $3,000 | $103,100 | $103,600 |
| $150K | $4,000 | $154,100 | $154,600 |
The safety net stays in place for the lifetime of the Performance Account. It does not go away after one payout, ten payouts, or six successful ladder cycles.
What this means in practice. You build a buffer above the safety net before withdrawing, then take only what keeps you above it. On a $100K, if your balance is $107,000 you have $3,900 above the safety net. The first payout caps at $2,000, so after withdrawing you sit at $105,000, still above $103,100. Safe.
If you ever drop below the safety net (because the trailing drawdown ratcheted up but your balance has come back down), the payout button greys out until you trade back above it.
The PA activation fee, the cost nobody mentions
This is the rule that catches new Apex traders the hardest, because it is the one that almost nobody talks about until you have already passed eval.
The fee.
| Account type | PA activation fee | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| EOD Performance Account | $99 one-time | 7 calendar days from passing eval |
| Intraday Performance Account | $79 one-time | 7 calendar days from passing eval |
The fee is on top of the eval price. A $100K EOD bought at full retail is $297. Bought at 90% off through SAVENOW or another rotating Apex code, the eval is roughly $30. PA activation adds $99, total cost from purchase to first qualified payout is about $129.
Promo codes do not discount the PA fee. Even at 90% off SAVENOW, the $99 EOD activation is the same $99. This trips up traders who saw "$30 to fund a $100K" advertised on social media, that math is missing the PA fee.
Miss the 7-day window and you forfeit the funded account. You would have to buy a new eval. The deadline is calendar days, not trading days, so a holiday weekend does not extend it.
This single rule explains a lot of the negative ForexFactory and Reddit threads about Apex post-4.0. Traders pass eval, see the PA fee, feel ambushed, and write angry posts. The fee is disclosed in the Apex help center, but the marketing focuses on the discounted eval price. PTV's PA activation fee deep-dive and Apex pricing breakdown cover the full math.
The payout ladder
The payout ladder is a 6-step structure that caps how much you can withdraw per cycle. The cap increases with each successful payout, then plateaus.
$100K EOD ladder (multi-source online, recommended manual verification against the official Apex EOD payouts help page):
| Step | Max payout |
|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 |
| 2 | $2,500 |
| 3 | $2,500 |
| 4 | $3,000 |
| 5 | $4,000 |
| 6+ | $4,000 |
Other account sizes follow the same shape, scaled.
| Step | $25K | $50K | $100K | $150K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| 2 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,500 | $3,000 |
| 3 | $1,000 | $2,000 | $2,500 | $3,000 |
| 4 | $1,000 | $2,500 | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| 5 | $1,000 | $2,500 | $4,000 | $4,000 |
| 6+ | $1,000 | $3,000 | $4,000 | $5,000 |
(Steps 3 and 5 on the $100K have shown some source variation; PTV recommends checking the official Apex `/help-center/eod-trailing-drawdown-accounts/eod-payouts/` page for the canonical figures.)
To unlock a step, each payout cycle requires:
- 5 qualifying days (not necessarily consecutive)
- 50% consistency check passed at request time
- Balance above the safety net post-payout
- $500 minimum withdrawal
A qualifying day is a session that hits the minimum daily profit threshold for your account size and drawdown type.
| Size | EOD min daily profit | Intraday min daily profit |
|---|---|---|
| $25K | $100 | $100 |
| $50K | $250 | $200 |
| $100K | $300 | $250 |
| $150K | $350 | $300 |
EOD thresholds run higher than Intraday, older PTV content often listed Intraday figures for both, which is wrong for EOD context. As of April 2026 the EOD minimums above are the correct ones.
After step 6 the cap stays at $4,000 on the $100K. To withdraw more per cycle, traders typically spread payouts across multiple PAs running in parallel. For the full strategy on first-cycle payouts, see Apex first payout strategy.
Contract limits, eval vs PA (the trap)
Contract limits drop when you move from eval to PA. This is one of the most common Apex mistakes, strategies that work during eval at max contracts break the moment the PA halves the limit.
| Size | Eval contracts | PA contracts | PA half-size phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25K | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| $50K | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| $100K | 8 | 6 | 3 |
| $150K | 12 | 9 | 4-5 |
The half-size phase. On the EOD PA, until your closing balance exceeds the drawdown threshold + $100 (the safety net), you can only trade half the max PA contracts. Once your balance clears the threshold, full size unlocks the next session. So a $100K EOD PA starts at 3 contracts max until balance > $103,100, then jumps to 6.
Plan around PA limits, not eval limits. If your strategy needs 8 contracts on a $100K to hit profit targets, the PA at 6 will not work. Either size up your account or rebuild the strategy. I see this trip up new Apex traders weekly, they pass eval at 8 contracts, get funded, hit a 3-contract cap on day 1 of the PA, and immediately feel the air come out.
For full sizing strategy and the contract math by tier, see Apex contract limits.
Restricted instruments, the metals halt
As of March 14, 2026, all metals contracts are suspended at Apex Trader Funding. The halt was announced two weeks after the 4.0 launch and applies across all account types and phases.
Halted contracts:
- GC (Gold)
- SI (Silver)
- QI (e-mini Silver)
- QO (e-mini Gold)
- MGC (Micro Gold)
- HG (Copper)
- PL (Platinum)
- PA (Palladium)
Older PTV content listed only GC/SI/MGC/HG/PL/PA, the QI and QO e-minis were missed. The full halted list is the eight contracts above.
No return date has been announced. Apex's official X post and the support article both say the halt is open-ended.
Trading a halted instrument can result in account termination. Do not test it. The platform should block orders, but a manual override or older Rithmic configuration can sometimes punch one through, and the account dies on review.
What is still tradable. Indices (ES, NQ, YM, RTY and micros), currencies (6E, 6B, 6J, 6A, 6C, 6S), energy (CL, NG, MCL), agriculture (ZC, ZS, ZW, ZL, LE, HE), crypto (MBT, MET), and EUREX (FDAX, FESX, FGBL). The non-metals universe is broad enough that most strategies have substitutes.
For the country-side restrictions and the full instrument list, see Apex restricted countries.
What rules apply on the Performance Account (versus eval)
Once you pass eval, pay the PA activation fee, and start trading the funded PA, the ruleset expands.
All eval rules still apply: trailing drawdown, DLL on EOD, 4:59 PM ET position close, restricted instruments.
New rules on top:
- 50% consistency rule at every payout request
- Payout ladder caps withdrawal amount per cycle
- Safety net must be maintained post-withdrawal
- 5 qualifying days required per payout cycle
- Half-contract phase until safety net cleared
- $500 minimum withdrawal
- 24-48h payout via Plane (international) or ACH (US), not Deel anymore
There is also no minimum or maximum hold time on a funded PA. You can hold it indefinitely as long as you do not breach.
Key first-person caveat: I traded the $50K size during my Apex run. Multiple of my 10 parallel accounts ran the $50K configuration. The $25K, $100K, and $150K sizes I have not personally traded, when I describe their behavior in this article, those numbers come from the verified spec sheet and from how peers in PTV's network report them. Treat first-person details as $50K-specific; treat tier-by-tier specs as the official Apex spec.
For the full PA-side ruleset, see Apex performance account rules.
Position close, news trading, and VPN
Three operational rules that catch traders out beyond the headline drawdown stuff.
Position close at 4:59 PM ET. No overnight holds, no exceptions. The system auto-flattens anything still open at the cutoff. If the auto-flat puts you below the MLL, the account dies. Set a hard alert at 4:55 PM and flatten manually, do not rely on the platform's auto-close to keep you safe.
News trading. Apex's exact rule text on news trading is not consistently published in the help center as of April 2026 and varies between Rithmic, Tradovate, and WealthCharts depending on platform. PTV is treating this as `[UNKNOWN]` and recommends checking the Apex news trading policy sub-article, which surfaces the current help-center wording. The conservative approach: do not trade through major scheduled releases (NFP, FOMC, CPI) until you have read the firm's current statement.
VPN policy. Same situation, Apex's explicit allowed/prohibited statement on VPNs is not clear from public help-center content. The Apex VPN policy sub-article tracks the current stance. Most futures props prohibit obvious geo-spoofing into the US from a restricted country; some tolerate domestic VPN use for security. Until you confirm Apex's current line, treat VPNs as risky.
Multi-account scaling, Apex's USP
The single most distinctive Apex rule, and the one that justifies the rest of the firm's quirks, is the parallel-account ceiling.
Apex allows up to 20 Performance Accounts in parallel, all copy-trade-able.
You can run one leader account and copy to up to 19 follower accounts. Each PA still has to independently meet the consistency rule, the qualifying days, the safety net, and the PA activation fee at funding. If you scale up to 20 PAs of the $150K, that is up to $3,000,000 in copy-traded funded capital, the largest scaling cap in the futures prop industry.
Restrictions:
- Each PA must independently pass consistency checks at payout time
- Copy-trading another person's trades = prohibited
- Acting as a signal provider for non-Apex accounts = prohibited
- Combined limit applies across EOD + Intraday + legacy accounts
My experience: I peaked at 10 parallel funded accounts on Apex during my run, copy-traded from one master, all on the $50K size. The $50K × 10 setup was profitable enough to justify the activation fee math, but it also taught me that scaling from 1 to 10 accounts is not 10x easier, every breach is multiplied, and consistency-rule fails at payout time get really expensive really fast when you have to pass them on 10 PAs. The 20-account ceiling exists; very few traders run all 20 cleanly.
For the multi-account playbook including risk management at scale, see Apex multi-account strategy and Apex copy trading rules.
What happens when you breach a rule
| Breach | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Trailing drawdown (MLL) | Account terminated, no recovery, buy a new eval |
| DLL on EOD | Trading paused for the session, account survives |
| Position open past 4:59 PM ET | Auto-flattened; if it triggers MLL, account ends |
| Restricted instrument (metals) | Possible termination; do not test |
| Consistency rule at payout | Payout blocked, account survives, trade more days |
| Safety net violation at payout | Payout button greys out until balance recovers |
| Missed PA activation deadline | PA forfeited; eval pass wasted |
| 30-day eval expiration | Eval failed, buy a new one |
The bright line is the trailing drawdown. Everything else is a "blocked button" or a "paused day." Only the MLL kills accounts. Knowing this changes how you trade, you can be aggressive on consistency timing, lazy on hitting min daily profit, late on payout requests, and the account is fine. But one stop-loss too late or one auto-flat at the wrong moment, and the MLL ends it.
How Apex compares to other prop firms
Apex's rules look different from competitors in three places that matter.
| Rule | Apex 4.0 | Topstep | [Tradeify](/prop-firms/tradeify) | Lucid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drawdown | EOD or Intraday trailing | EOD trailing | EOD trailing (Straight on Advanced) | Static buffer |
| Consistency | 50% (PA only) | 50% | None on standard | None |
| Min trading days (eval) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Activation fee on PA | $99/$79 | None | None on most | None |
| Max parallel accounts | 20 | 5 | 5 | Limited |
| Total payouts (self-reported) | $700M+ | Not published | Not published | Not published |
The differentiators:
- Multi-account scaling. Nothing else in the industry comes close to 20 parallel PAs. Topstep caps at 5, Tradeify at 5, most others under 10.
- PA activation fee. Topstep, Tradeify, and Lucid do not charge one. Apex's fee is the cost of the cheaper eval price + the multi-account scaling cap.
- Drawdown choice. Apex is the rare firm that lets you pick EOD or Intraday at purchase. Most firms force one.
For head-to-head, see Apex vs Topstep, Apex vs Tradeify, Apex vs Lucid, and Apex vs YRM Prop. For the full alternatives map, see Apex alternatives.
The bottom line
Apex Trader Funding's 4.0 rules are the simplest version of the firm that has ever existed. Two phases (eval and PA), one drawdown mechanic in two flavors, a single consistency check at payout time, a 6-step withdrawal ladder, and one structural ambush, the $99 PA activation fee, that the marketing does not lead with. The removed rules (MAE, 5:1, one-direction, 7-day minimum, monthly billing, manual review) make the eval almost frictionless. The PA rules are stricter but clear, with no subjective judgment calls. The metals halt is open-ended. Plane and ACH are the new payout rails. The $700M+ in self-reported total payouts and the 4.4 / 18,000+ Trustpilot scoreline put Apex's trust signals in a different bracket from most futures props, even with the 4.0-era issues. If you are coming from old Apex, this is a different product. If you are new, learn the trailing drawdown and the PA fee math first, and decide on EOD vs Intraday based on your style, not based on which one looks easier on paper. Then check the Apex 4.0 retrospective for what six weeks of the new rules actually looked like in the wild, and the complete Apex Trader Funding review for my full assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main rules at Apex Trader Funding after 4.0?
The core rules under Apex 4.0 are: trailing drawdown (EOD or Intraday), daily loss limit on EOD accounts only, 50% consistency rule on the Performance Account, 5 qualifying days per payout cycle, the safety net minimum balance, and the 6-step payout ladder. Six legacy rules were removed in March 2026, including MAE, 5:1 risk-reward, and the 7-day trading minimum. There is no consistency rule during the evaluation.
Does Apex Trader Funding have a consistency rule during evaluation?
No. Apex does not enforce any consistency rule during evaluation. The 50% rule kicks in only when you request a payout from a Performance Account. During eval you can take 100% of the profit target in a single trade if the trailing drawdown allows it. This is a major change from legacy Apex, which used a 30% rule that some traders incorrectly assumed applied to the eval.
How does the EOD trailing drawdown work at Apex?
EOD trailing drawdown locks the maximum loss limit (MLL) at market close based on your final balance. During the session your MLL stays where it was set the night before. You can run unrealized gains and give some back without your MLL moving. At 4:59 PM ET the system recalculates. If the final balance is a new high, the MLL trails up. If not, nothing changes. Once the MLL hits the starting balance plus the drawdown buffer, it freezes there for the life of the account.
What is the daily loss limit at Apex Trader Funding?
The daily loss limit (DLL) only exists on EOD accounts. The values are $500 on the $25K, $1,000 on the $50K, $1,500 on the $100K, and $2,000 on the $150K. Hitting the DLL pauses trading for the rest of that session, but your account survives. You come back the next day with a fresh DLL. Intraday accounts at Apex do not have a DLL, your only protection is the trailing drawdown threshold itself.
Can I trade gold or metals at Apex right now?
No. Since March 14, 2026, all metals contracts are suspended at Apex: GC, SI, QI, QO, MGC, HG, PL, and PA. The halt was announced two weeks after the 4.0 launch and applies to evaluation and Performance Accounts. No return date has been published. Trading a halted instrument can result in account termination, so do not test it. If you traded gold at Apex pre-March, you have to switch to indices, currencies, energy, ag, or crypto for now.
What is the PA activation fee at Apex Trader Funding?
The PA activation fee is a one-time charge after you pass the evaluation: $99 on EOD Performance Accounts and $79 on Intraday Performance Accounts. It is due within 7 calendar days of passing. Promo codes like SAVENOW do not discount this fee, they only discount the eval. On a $100K EOD bought at 90% off (about $30) the real total before withdrawal is roughly $129. Many traders miss this and feel ambushed when the bill hits.
How does the payout ladder work on a 100K account?
The 6-step ladder on the $100K EOD pays out a maximum of $2,000 on payout 1, $2,500 on payout 2, $2,500 on payout 3, $3,000 on payout 4, $4,000 on payout 5, and $4,000 on payout 6. After payout 6 the cap stays at $4,000. Each payout requires 5 qualifying days, the 50% consistency check, balance above the safety net, and a $500 minimum withdrawal. Other account sizes have their own ladders that follow the same shape.
What happens if I breach the trailing drawdown at Apex?
Breaching the MLL terminates the account immediately. There is no recovery, no second chance, no support ticket that brings it back. You would have to buy a new evaluation. The trailing drawdown is the only Apex rule that hard-kills accounts on contact. Hitting the DLL on EOD just pauses you for the day. Failing the consistency check at payout time blocks the withdrawal but keeps the account alive, you trade more days to dilute the ratio.
Do contract limits change between eval and PA?
Yes, and this is one of the most common Apex mistakes. The $25K drops from 4 contracts in eval to 2 on the PA. The $50K stays at 6 then 4 on the PA. The $100K drops from 8 to 6. The $150K drops from 12 to 9. Plan your sizing around the PA limits, not the eval limits, otherwise your strategy works during eval and breaks the moment you fund. Contract limits are full size only after the EOD balance clears the safety net by $100.
What is the 30-day time limit for Apex evaluations?
Every Apex evaluation has 30 calendar days from purchase to pass. That is roughly 21 to 22 trading sessions depending on holidays. Apex does not offer extensions, pauses, or resets. If you do not hit the profit target inside 30 days you have to buy a new eval. The clock starts when you buy, not when you first log in, so do not sit on an eval for a week before opening the platform.
Are legacy Apex accounts on the same rules as 4.0 accounts?
No. Legacy accounts purchased before March 1, 2026 still run under the old ruleset: MAE, 5:1 risk-reward, 30% consistency, monthly billing, and manual payout review. There is no conversion path. If you want 4.0 mechanics you have to buy a 4.0 evaluation as a separate account. Some legacy accounts also still pay out via Deel; new 4.0 PAs route through Plane (international) and ACH (US).
What is the minimum payout at Apex Trader Funding?
The minimum withdrawal at Apex is $500 per payout request. Your account balance must also stay above the safety net (drawdown limit + $100) after the withdrawal. On the $100K EOD that means $103,600 minimum balance to pull the smallest payout. Payouts run 24 to 48 hours via Plane internationally or ACH for US-based accounts. The old Deel pipeline is no longer the primary rail on 4.0 accounts.
Can I copy trade between my own Apex accounts?
Yes. Apex allows you to run up to 20 Performance Accounts in parallel and copy from one leader account to up to 19 followers. Each PA still has to independently meet the consistency rule, the qualifying days, and the safety net at payout time. Copying another person's trades or selling your trades as a signal provider is prohibited. The copy-trade ceiling of 20 is the largest in the industry and is the main reason Apex remains a multi-account scaling firm.
Does Apex Trader Funding require a minimum number of trading days?
No. Under 4.0 the evaluation has zero minimum trading days. You can pass on day one if the math works. The Performance Account requires 5 qualifying days per payout cycle, but those days do not have to be consecutive. A qualifying day on the $100K EOD means at least $300 in net profit for that session, losing days and small green days under the threshold do not count toward the 5.
Are payouts at Apex still processed through Deel?
No, not for 4.0 accounts. Apex switched the primary payout rail to Plane for international traders and ACH for US-based traders sometime around the 4.0 launch. Deel still processes payouts on some legacy pre-March 2026 accounts but is no longer the default. Apex did not issue a press release about the change, which is why a lot of older PTV content and third-party reviews still mention Deel.