Founder · Funded Trader · Reviewer-in-Chief
I'm Paul — funded trader since 2022, prop-firm cycler since the industry was still niche. Proptradingvibes exists because the dominant review-sites on this topic are affiliate-deal farms. Mine isn't. Every firm on this site I've either traded with my own money or labeled research-based on the firm hub.
Below is the documented payout record that backs everything I write — which firms paid me, over what period, and how. I publish payouts as dated, receipt-backed events rather than dollar figures; the full withdrawal history is available on request. Click into the firm hub for the per-firm log.
| Firm | Documented record | Review |
|---|---|---|
| Lucid Trading | 30 payout cycles | Open → |
| TakeProfitTrader | Recurring payouts | Open → |
| MyFundedFutures | Recurring payouts | Open → |
| Apex Trader Funding | Recurring payouts via Wise | Open → |
| FTMO | Payouts across multiple accounts | Open → |
| TradeDay | Recurring payouts | Open → |
| FundedNext | Recurring payouts | Open → |
| The 5%ers | Multiple payouts | Open → |
| Alpha Futures | Recurring payouts | Open → |
| YRM Prop | Multiple payout cycles via Rise | Open → |
| E8 Markets | Payouts on serial accounts | Open → |
These eleven firms account for the bulk of my career payout cycles. Further cycles ran at firms like Bulenox, Tradeify, Topstep, Top One Futures and FundingPips, and I've tested plenty more without reaching (or requesting) a payout — Hyrotrader and Breakout among them. Most of it is documented either on the firm hub or in the blog archive.
Engineering background, then digital marketing, then online business. The "scalable + free" itch took me through dropshipping and consulting before I found trading in my late twenties. Like most people, I started on small retail accounts and lost money for two solid years.
The unlock was prop trading. Suddenly the constraint wasn't my savings account, it was my edge. Risk discipline, position sizing, and price-action execution became the entire game. Within ~6 months of focusing on prop evaluations exclusively I was funded across multiple firms — and within 12 months the withdrawals had become a routine, not an event.
By 2024 I'd traded with 30+ firms and seen every flavor of the dark side: hidden EOD-trailing-up-only mechanics, the consistency-rule denial trap, payout-frequency bait-and-switches, restricted-country gotchas, and the slow shift toward "scaling plans" that quietly clawed back the headline profit-split numbers. That was the moment PTV started.
The site now tracks 60+ firms with at least 30 personally tested. The flagship review is Lucid Trading where I've cycled the most capital — followed by MyFundedFutures, TakeProfitTrader, Apex, and FTMO — the latter being the one I started on as a European trader years before PTV existed.
Every payout record on this site comes from my own withdrawal history, not the firm's marketing page. Where I haven't personally cycled an account, the firm hub is labeled accordingly and sources are cited (Trustpilot review distribution, parent broker disclosures, trader-community reports).
I do work with affiliate links — same as every honest review site does. But the firm rankings and "best for X" lists are built off mechanic + payout-speed + restricted-country data, never the affiliate %. A few of my favorite firms pay me zero commission and they're still on the front page.
The drawdown explainer covers every mechanic (EOD-lock, EOD-trail, intraday, static) and what each means for your buffer. The firm finder filters by what matters (asset, region, mechanic) instead of revenue tier.
I publish a quarterly State of Prop Trading report covering firm count, shutdown rate, regulatory shifts, and platform consolidation. Q2 2026 is live; Q1 archive is preserved for citation.
/prop-firms/[firm-slug] with a named-competitor section.
Editorial questions, firm-owner outreach, partnership inquiries, or just a hello — hi@proptradingvibes.com.
Firm owners can also submit for listing. Public posts + analysis go to LinkedIn.
