Trailing drawdown, intraday versus end of day
The rule that decides most evaluation failures, explained with the firms' own worked examples and the price one of them puts on the difference.
The one rule that decides most failures
Every figure on this page was read from the firm's own site on . Every firm on this site sets a maximum drawdown: a floor your balance may not touch. What separates them is when that floor moves up, and it is the single most consequential rule in the product.
Intraday trailing. The floor follows your highest balance in real time, including unrealised gains on an open position. A trade that goes $800 your way and comes back to flat has moved the floor up $800 and given nothing back. You can fail on a trade that closed green.
End of day trailing. The floor is recalculated once, after the close, from the closing balance. Intraday swings are forgiven entirely. Apex recalculates at 4:59:59 PM ET and states the threshold never moves downward.
Static. The floor never moves. Rare in this industry and not offered by any firm in the table below.
What the rule is worth, in dollars
Most comparison pages describe the difference between the two drawdown types and leave it there. Apex puts a price on it, and that price is the clearest statement in the industry about which rule is harder.
The same $50K account, the same $3,000 profit target, the same $2,000 maximum drawdown, the same 6 mini / 60 micro. The only difference is when the drawdown ratchets:
| Apex $50K variant | List price | Promotional price | Daily loss limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intraday Trail | $249 | $24.90 | none |
| EOD Trail | $550 | $55.00 | $1,000 |
End of day costs 2.2x the intraday version. A firm that sells both, and prices the forgiving one at more than double, is telling you which one fails more accounts.
A worked example, using the firm's own numbers
Apex publishes this progression for a $50K end-of-day account with a $2,000 drawdown. It is worth reading twice, because the last step is the one that catches people.
| Day | Closing balance | New threshold | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start | $50,000 | $48,000 | Balance minus the $2,000 drawdown |
| Day 1 | $50,800 | $48,800 | New highest close, so the floor rises |
| Day 2 | $51,600 | $49,600 | New highest close, floor rises again |
| Day 3 | $50,900 | $49,600 | Below the previous high, so the floor does not move |
The floor ratchets up on good days and never comes back down on bad ones. After two winning days this account can only lose $1,300 from its Day 3 close before failing, despite having started with $2,000 of room and being $900 up overall.
On an intraday version of the same account, the floor would have moved with the highest price touched on Day 1 and Day 2 rather than the closing balance, so the same trading would have left even less room.
Which firm uses which
| Firm | Drawdown types offered | Daily loss limit at $50K | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topstep | trailing | $1,000 | monthly subscription |
| Apex Trader Funding | end-of-day trailing, intraday or end-of-day trailing, intraday trailing | $1,000 | one-time, 30-day access |
| Earn2Trade | end-of-day | $1,100 | monthly subscription |
| Take Profit Trader | end-of-day trailing | none at this size | monthly subscription |
| MyFundedFutures | end-of-day trailing, intraday | none at this size | one-time payment |
Several firms offer both types, sometimes at different prices and sometimes under different plan names. The firm pages list each variant.
How the rule interacts with how you trade
The two rules suit opposite styles, and the mismatch is what fails accounts rather than the rule itself.
An intraday trailing drawdown punishes holding through adverse excursion. If your edge involves letting a position breathe, every dollar of unrealised gain you give back is permanently deducted from your remaining room. Traders who scalp and close flat are barely affected.
An end-of-day drawdown punishes holding overnight into a gap, because the threshold was fixed at the close and is enforced from the open. Firms that use it often pair it with a daily loss limit, which is a second floor that resets each day. Apex's end-of-day evaluations carry one and its intraday evaluations explicitly do not.
FAQ
- What is a trailing drawdown in prop trading?
- A maximum loss floor that moves up as your balance makes new highs and never moves back down. An intraday trailing drawdown follows your highest balance in real time including unrealised gains; an end-of-day version recalculates once after the close.
- Is end-of-day drawdown better than intraday?
- It is more forgiving, and firms price it that way. Apex sells the same $50K account with an end-of-day drawdown for more than twice the price of the intraday version, which is the clearest available evidence of which rule fails more accounts.
- Can you fail an evaluation on a winning trade?
- Under an intraday trailing drawdown, yes. The floor rises with unrealised gains, so a position that moves in your favour and returns to your entry has permanently raised your floor without adding profit.
More prop firm pages
This page compares published terms. It is not advice, not a ranking, and not a recommendation. Prop firm evaluations are a paid product with a low published pass rate. Some links on this page are affiliate links, marked as sponsored. They never change which firms appear, what the tables say, or the order of anything. No firm has paid for placement or reviewed this page. Figures verified September 21, 2026; prop firm pricing is promotional and moves constantly, so treat any price older than a few weeks as stale and check the firm before buying. Methodology.