Options funding is the smallest corner of the prop industry, and the lists that rank it are mostly wrong. They mix firms that fund exchange-traded contracts with firms that fund a broker-written lookalike, and several name firms that prohibit options outright. Five firms in our directory fund options in some form. Here is what each actually gives you.

The five firms, side by side

Score measures the firm overall on rules, payouts, cost, platform, support and transparency. The product column tells you whether it is the right tool for your strategy. Those are different questions and the highest score is not automatically your answer.

Options Funding, best for spreads and overnight holds

Options Funding funds listed equity and ETF options across a published whitelist of 261 tickers, and it is the only firm here that gives a retail trader multi-leg access without a training programme or a capital bond. That single fact makes it the default pick for most options traders.

The access sits behind the plan tier rather than the firm. The Express plan is buy-only single leg, so long calls and long puts and nothing else. The Growth plan carries Level 5 options access, covering verticals, iron condors, butterflies, calendars, diagonals and undefined risk positions. Growth also allows overnight holds in every phase, which almost nothing else in this category does. The gap between the two is 18 dollars a month at 25K and 30 dollars at the larger sizes, so buying Express to save money and then discovering you cannot place a spread is the expensive mistake here.

The drawback is the billing model. Options Funding charges a monthly subscription that recurs until you pass, starting at 62.70 dollars on the 25K Express plan with a partner code. There is no time limit and no minimum trading days, which is generous, but the meter keeps running. Pass in three weeks and you pay 62.70 dollars. Take five months and you pay 313.50 dollars. There is also a flat 129 dollar activation fee on a funded account, refunded on your first payout.

Vanquish Trader, best for SPX day traders

Vanquish Trader is the most focused firm in this category and the most restrictive. It funds three tickers: SPX, XSP and VIX. All three can be traded long only, as single-leg calls or puts, with no spreads and no selling to open.

Every position is auto-liquidated as a market order at 3:59pm EST. That is not a rule you work around, it is the product. Vanquish Trader is a same-day index options account with no overnight exposure by design, and if that matches how you trade it removes a whole class of risk. If you were planning to hold anything past the close, this firm cannot do it at any price.

The Trading Pit, strongest firm, wrong product for some

The Trading Pit scores 7.7, the highest of the five, and deserves it on rules, payout record and platform range. It also does not fund listed options. What it funds is CFD options, a contract for difference written by the broker that tracks an option price.

The distinction decides whether a strategy is possible at all. On a CFD option you never hold the contract, you cannot be assigned, and exercise does not exist. Directional bets on option price movement work fine. Covered calls, calendars run into expiry, and anything where assignment is part of the plan do not. If your edge lives in the expiry cycle, the strongest firm on this page is the wrong one for you.

Funder Trading, stocks and options on one platform

Funder Trading funds listed stock options alongside NASDAQ and NYSE equities on its own TrueEdge Pro platform, with real-time level I and II market data. Traders keep 80 percent, and the challenge fee is refunded once funded. It ships a dedicated stocks and options layout, so the options product is real rather than an afterthought.

It scores 5.7 mainly on what is missing from public view. Account sizes and challenge pricing sit behind registration, and the options ruleset is not published at all. The public challenge page documents the stocks programme, which carries a minimum of 12 trading days, at least 80 round-turn trades and a biggest-win-must-exceed-biggest-loss condition that functions as a consistency rule. Whether those carry across to the options account is not stated. Get it in writing before you pay.

Maverick Trading, the training route

Maverick Trading has funded equity and index options since 1997, which makes it older than the entire challenge industry. Spreads are permitted, and the firm reaches funding through a training programme rather than a one-step evaluation.

That route suits a specific person: someone who wants structured teaching and a longer relationship, and who is not in a hurry. It scores 5.2 because the entry process is slower and heavier than a challenge, not because the firm is weak. If you want to place a trade this week, look elsewhere. If you want to be taught, this is the only option here that offers it.

Which one fits your strategy

• Spreads, condors or calendars: Options Funding on the Growth plan, or Maverick Trading if you want training with it.
• SPX or VIX day trading, long only: Vanquish Trader, and nothing else comes close on focus.
• Directional CFD exposure across many markets: The Trading Pit.
• Stocks and options in one account: Funder Trading, once you have the rules in writing.
• Holding overnight: Options Funding Growth is the only firm here that allows it in every phase.

One firm that keeps getting listed wrongly

Options on futures is a legitimate route and the reasoning behind recommending it is sound, but the contract list is the thing to check and it takes a minute. Futures firms publish theirs. Our futures prop firms directory carries platform and instrument data per firm.

What to check before you pay

Get the product named in writing

Ask the firm to say listed, exchange-traded or CFD. Marketing copy uses the word options for all three, and support will usually answer straight when asked directly.

Check the plan, not the firm

Spread access, overnight holds and drawdown limits differ between tiers at the same firm. Options Funding allows spreads on Growth and blocks them on Express for 18 dollars a month less.

Read the ticker list

Options firms restrict instruments far more than forex firms. Options Funding publishes 261 tickers. Vanquish Trader funds three. A firm that will not publish its list is telling you something.

Ask about expiry day

Find out when positions are force-closed and what happens if you do nothing. Cutoffs run from 3:55pm to 4:10pm EST depending on the ticker, and getting it wrong costs the account rather than the trade.

Work out the total cost to funding

A monthly subscription with no time limit and a one-time fee with no time limit are different products wearing the same description. Model four months and compare then.

Options prop firm FAQ

What is the best prop firm for options trading?

It depends on what you trade. Options Funding is the best all-round pick for a trader who wants real equity and ETF options with spread access, because its Growth plan carries Level 5 access and allows overnight holds. Vanquish Trader is better for an SPX day trader who only buys single-leg calls and puts. The Trading Pit scores highest of the five on rules and payouts, but it funds CFD options rather than listed contracts, so it suits directional traders rather than anyone who needs expiry or assignment.

How many prop firms actually fund options?

Five in our directory, and only four of those fund listed exchange contracts. Vanquish Trader, Options Funding, Funder Trading and Maverick Trading fund listed options. The Trading Pit funds CFD options, which track an option price without giving you the contract. The field is small because clearing, exchange data and the risk of undefined-risk positions on a simulated book are all expensive problems for a firm to solve.

Can you trade options on a funded account with no licence?

Yes. Every firm ranked here uses a simulated evaluation or a training route with no securities licence required. Licensing applies to desk and broker-dealer firms that place traders on real order flow, which is a job rather than a funded-account product. If a firm asks for a Series 57 you are applying for employment, not buying an evaluation.

Which options prop firm is cheapest?

Options Funding starts at 62.70 dollars a month on the 25K Express plan with a partner code, but it bills monthly until you pass, so the total depends on how long you take. A trader who passes in three weeks pays 62.70 dollars. A trader who takes five months pays 313.50 dollars. Funder Trading refunds the challenge fee on your first payout but does not publish its prices. Compare total cost to funding rather than the headline figure.

Does Topstep fund options trading?

No. Topstep states on its own site that traders are prohibited from trading stocks, options, forex, spot cryptocurrency and CFDs, and that these products are not available on its platform. Topstep funds CME, COMEX, NYMEX and CBOT futures. Several current options prop firm guides list Topstep as an options-on-futures route, which is incorrect as of August 2026.