Prop firm challenge cost calculator
The average amount spent on challenge fees before one pass, from the fee and a pass rate you choose — and the payout it would take to break even.
Your assumption. We have no verified figure, so try a few values.
Passing is not being paid. Also your assumption.
Your share after the firm's split, in total.
Average fees before one pass
$3,000
At a 5.0% pass rate it takes 20 attempts on average, at $150 each.
- Passed within 10 tries
- 40.1%
- Tries for an even chance
- 14
- Break-even payout
- $6,000
- Average result per try
- -$100
What each extra try buys
Fees add up in a straight line. The chance of having passed by then does not.
| Tries | Fees paid | Passed | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150 | 5.0% | 95.0% |
| 5 | $750 | 22.6% | 77.4% |
| 10 | $1,500 | 40.1% | 59.9% |
| 20 | $3,000 | 64.2% | 35.8% |
| 50 | $7,500 | 92.3% | 7.7% |
| 100 | $15,000 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
This is arithmetic on the pass rate you entered — we do not know any firm’s real figure, or yours. It treats every attempt as an independent try with the same chance, which a real trader is not. It leaves out reset fees, activation fees, data fees and payout rules, all of which vary by firm. An estimate, not advice.
Questions
- What pass rate should I enter?
- We do not know — we have no verified figure for any firm. Enter the rate you believe, then try a lower one. The point of the calculator is to show how sharply the cost moves when that single number changes.
- Why is the average number of tries higher than the tries for an even chance?
- Most people who pass do so earlier than the average, but a small number take a very long time, and those long runs pull the average up. At a 5% pass rate, half of traders would pass within 14 tries; the average is 20.
- Does passing mean being paid?
- No. A passed account still has to reach a payout under the firm's rules, which is a separate hurdle. That is why the calculator asks separately how many passed accounts pay out and how much.