Perps and futures prop firms differ most on the drawdown rule. The three perps firms whose rulebooks we checked all use a static maximum drawdown that never moves, while 33 of the 35 futures prop firms in our database with a published rule use a trailing one. Perps accounts also pay or receive funding while a position is open and trade crypto around the clock. Most of the firms offering them are young, with little independent payout history.
Firm rules read from each firm's own documentation on 31 October 2026 and linked below. Futures figures come from the PropFirmReviews firm database on 21 October 2026, and perps directory figures on 31 October 2026. If a figure here disagrees with the firm's current rules, the firm's rules win.
If you already know what perps are and want a firm list, go to our perpetuals prop firm directory. This guide is for futures traders deciding whether to buy a perps account.
What is a perps prop firm?
A perps prop firm sells evaluations where you trade perpetual contracts, usually called perps. A perp tracks the price of an asset like Bitcoin, the way a futures contract does, but it never expires. You can hold a position for an hour or a month without rolling into a new contract month.
To stop the perp price from drifting away from the asset's spot price, the venue charges a funding payment between longs and shorts at set intervals. When the perp trades above spot, longs pay shorts. When it trades below, shorts pay longs. That payment is the one cost a futures trader has never had to think about.
The prop part works like any other evaluation. You pay a fee, hit a profit target without breaking the loss limits, and then trade a funded account for a share of the profits. Most perps firms take their prices from venues like Hyperliquid, GMX or Bybit, and a few now list stocks, forex and commodities as perps too.
Perps vs futures prop firms at a glance
| Perps prop firms | Futures prop firms | |
|---|---|---|
| Contract | Perpetual contract, no expiry | Exchange futures with set expiry months |
| Max drawdown | Static at the three firms we checked | Trailing at 33 of 35 firms in our database |
| Holding cost | Funding payments, hourly on Hyperliquid | No funding; per-contract commissions |
| Trading hours | 24/7 for crypto perps | Close to 24 hours, Sunday evening to Friday, with a daily break |
| Main markets | Crypto, with some firms adding stocks, FX and commodities | Index, energy, metals, rates and currency futures |
| Account type | 11 of 13 firms in our directory say accounts are simulated | Mostly simulated, with live stages at some firms |
| Firm age | Mostly new; Propr launched in 2026 | Half were founded in 2022 or earlier |
Drawdown: the reason traders are switching
Futures prop firms almost all use a trailing drawdown. In our database, 33 of the 35 futures firms with a published drawdown rule use an end-of-day or intraday trailing limit on their main plans, and only two use a static one. With a trailing drawdown, your loss floor rises as your account makes new highs, so a good week can leave you with less room than you started with. Our guide to trailing vs static drawdown shows how this plays out trade by trade.
The perps firms we checked go the other way. Vest Markets sets a 6% maximum drawdown on evaluation accounts and says it "is static and never moves." ZoneX calculates its floor once from the starting balance, and it does not rise as the account grows. MyFundedPerps uses a static 3% to 6% drawdown depending on the plan, with a 3% daily loss limit on most plans.
Static is not universal, and it does not mean the rules never change. FFN Perps uses a 3% end-of-day trailing drawdown on its Core plan and static limits only on its Pro and Max plans. MyFundedPerps locks the floor at your starting balance after your first withdrawal from a Select, Prime or Signature funded account. From then on, any loss that takes you below the starting balance ends the account. Read the payout section of a rulebook as closely as the drawdown section.
Futures firms have noticed. Topstep added a $50K Static Drawdown Trading Combine to its Labs program in October 2026, with a $2,000 maximum loss limit that does not trail. The catch is the same one MyFundedPerps has: Topstep's own table says that after the first payout the limit "sets to $0," so from then on you trade with no buffer below your balance. Prop industry channel The Prop Journalist also reported a static plan at Tradeify, which we have not checked on Tradeify's site. If static drawdown is the only reason you are looking at perps, check whether your current futures firm now offers it before you learn a new market.
Funding rates: the cost futures traders don't pay
Funding is the biggest new cost for a futures trader moving to perps. On Hyperliquid, which many perps firms use for pricing, funding is paid every hour. Its baseline interest component is 0.01% every 8 hours, and a premium is added or subtracted depending on how far the perp trades from spot.
Here is what the baseline alone costs. A $50,000 long position at 0.01% per 8 hours pays about $5 every 8 hours, or roughly $15 a day. Hold it for a week and that is around $105, before any premium. The premium can push the rate well above that when most traders are on one side, and a short position can collect funding instead of paying it.
This matters more in a prop account than on a personal exchange account, because firms count funding against your loss limits. ZoneX states that its risk limits include "trading fees, funding fees" along with open losses. MyFundedPerps charges an hourly swap fee and counts the fee taken at midnight toward the trading day that just ended. A swing trader who holds through several funding windows can breach a daily limit without a single bad trade.
Trading hours and contract expiry
Crypto perps trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no expiry. CME equity index futures such as the E-mini S&P 500 trade from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon US Central Time, stop for a daily one-hour break, and expire every quarter, so traders roll to the next contract month.
Weekend trading has a cost. A futures trader who goes flat on Friday cannot be hurt by weekend news. A perps trader holding over the weekend is exposed to it, and funding keeps accruing the whole time. Check each perps firm's rules on overnight and weekend holding before assuming you can keep a trade open.
Simulated or live: read the legal terms
Eleven of the 13 firms in our perpetuals directory say in their own terms that trader accounts are simulated: Propr, HyroTrader, Carrot Funding, DojiFunded, L7 Select, Vest Markets, E8 Markets, MyFundedPerps, ZoneX, 10FOUR Perpetuals and Perpify. The other two, FFN Perps and Breakout, do not say either way in the pages we have read, so we have not classified them.
Vest Markets shows why the legal terms matter. Its Vest Capital docs still describe funded accounts as not simulated, but its prop terms of service, updated on 20 October 2026, say all accounts are simulated and no real capital is credited to the trader. When the two disagree, the terms are what you agreed to.
Simulated accounts are standard across prop trading. Futures prop firms work the same way. DayTraders, for example, states that it moves about 1% of its simulated funded traders into a live account. What matters is that the firm's marketing matches its legal terms. Propr's marketing talks about funding, while its rulebook says all accounts are simulated and any live replicated position belongs to Propr. If you want to understand why firms run simulated accounts, read our explainer on B-booking.
Payouts and track record
This is where futures firms still win. Of the futures firms in our database with a known founding year, half started in 2022 or earlier and four date back to 2016 or before. That gives traders years of payout reports and disputes to judge them by.
Most perps firms do not have that history yet. Propr was founded in 2026 and Carrot Funding in 2025, and several firms in our directory do not publish a founding year at all. None of the 13 has a payout record we could verify independently. On-demand payouts in USDC are a common selling point, but a payout policy only tells you what the firm intends to do. Our guide to payout gating covers the conditions that sit between a passed account and money in your wallet.
Leverage and liquidation
Futures prop accounts cap your size in contracts. A 50K account might allow a set number of minis or micros, and the margin per contract is fixed by the exchange and the firm.
Perps accounts usually cap leverage per pair instead, and the limits change between markets and firms. Liquidation adds a second way to fail. ZoneX ends a challenge if the simulated account is liquidated, "regardless of whether any drawdown limit was breached." A futures trader used to thinking only about the drawdown floor needs to watch liquidation distance as well, especially on higher-leverage pairs.
Which one fits you?
A perps account makes sense if you already trade crypto, hold positions for hours or days, and keep losing futures accounts to a trailing drawdown that rises after winning days. The static floor gives you a fixed amount of room, and you can trade at weekends.
Stay with futures if you scalp index futures during the New York session and are flat by the close anyway, or if a firm with years of payout history matters more to you than the drawdown type. You avoid funding costs, weekend gaps and liquidation rules, and you can still find static drawdown plans at some futures firms.
If you want to try perps, start with the smallest account size, run the numbers on funding for the way you actually hold trades, and read the legal terms for whether the account is simulated. Then compare firms side by side in our perpetuals directory or go back to the futures prop firm rankings.
Compare more perps and futures prop firms
This guide covers the rules. To pick a firm, use our directories:
- Perpetuals prop firms: all 13 perps firms we track, with contract scope and account model
- Futures prop firm rankings: futures firms scored on rules, payouts and cost
- Crypto prop firms: crypto CFD firms, if you want crypto without perps
- Trailing vs static drawdown: how each drawdown model plays out trade by trade
Frequently asked questions
What is a perps prop firm?
A perps prop firm sells evaluations for trading perpetual contracts, which are derivatives with no expiry date. You pass a challenge, then trade a funded account, which is usually simulated, for a share of the profits. Most perps firms focus on crypto, and some also offer stocks, forex and commodities as perps.
What is the difference between perps and futures prop firms?
The perps firms we checked use a static maximum drawdown, charge funding on open positions and let you trade crypto 24/7. Futures prop firms mostly use a trailing drawdown, trade exchange futures that expire and close for a daily break, and have longer payout histories.
Do perps prop firms charge funding fees?
Funding applies to perpetual positions, and firms count it toward your loss limits. ZoneX includes funding fees in its risk limits, and MyFundedPerps charges an hourly swap fee. A long position at Hyperliquid's baseline rate of 0.01% per 8 hours pays about $15 a day on $50,000.
Is static drawdown better than trailing drawdown?
For most traders, yes. A static drawdown is set once from the starting balance and does not rise when you make money, so a winning day never shrinks your room to lose. A trailing drawdown follows your highest balance up. Check for exceptions, such as a floor that locks at the starting balance after the first payout.
Are perps prop firm accounts real money?
Usually not. Eleven of the 13 firms in our perpetuals directory state in their terms that accounts are simulated, and the other two do not say. Futures prop firms also run mostly simulated accounts.