FAQ
The questions we get most about the calculator, the data, and the business model.
›How does the EV calculation work?
We model each prop firm's eval as a sequence of trades drawn from your distribution (win rate, average win, average loss). We run a Monte Carlo simulation against the firm's profit target, max drawdown, and daily loss limit to estimate your probability of passing. Multiply that by the firm's profit split and a realistic earnings window to get expected payout, then subtract eval cost. That's your EV per attempt.
›How accurate is the Monte Carlo simulation?
We run thousands of simulated eval attempts per firm using your trading stats (win rate, average win, average loss) and each firm's exact rules (profit target, max drawdown, daily loss limits, consistency rules). The simulation is deterministic — the same input produces the same output. That said, real markets have streaks, fat tails, and emotional factors that no simulation captures perfectly. EV is a probabilistic estimate over many attempts — it's the best statistical answer to "which firm gives me the highest expected payout," but a single eval may still fail despite a positive EV.
›Is this really free?
Yes. The calculator is 100% free, no card required, no paywall. If you click an affiliate link and sign up at a prop firm, we may earn a referral commission — that's how the site stays free.
›Do you save my trades?
We compute your stats and discard the raw trade rows. We only persist the aggregate stats and the report in our database — and only if you submit your email to view the full report.
›Why do you make money from affiliates?
Affiliate commissions are how we keep the calculator free for traders. We rank firms by your EV — not by who pays us most. Click data is logged so we can show you we're not gaming the ranking.
›Can I trust the rankings — are they really independent?
Yes. Our rankings are based purely on your expected value (EV), calculated via Monte Carlo simulation of your trading stats against each firm's actual rules. The order doesn't change based on who pays us higher affiliate commissions. We log every affiliate click in our database for transparency, and the math is documented on our methodology page. You can verify the same firm's EV across multiple competing comparison sites — ours will reflect actual unit economics, not promotional fluff.
›Where do I find my trading stats?
Most platforms show them in a performance / statistics tab. Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TopstepX, Rithmic, and your broker all report total trades, win count, average win, and average loss. If your platform doesn't, take your last 50 trades, count wins/losses, and average the dollar P&L of each bucket — that's it.
›Why are some firms missing?
We launched with the five most commonly traded futures props (TopStep, Tradeify, Apex, Lucid, MyFundedFutures). FundedNext, TheTradingPit, BluFundedTraders, EarnTrade and FundedTrading are on the roadmap.
›Is the EV deterministic?
We seed the Monte Carlo so the same input produces the same output. The number of simulation runs is high enough that re-running with a different seed only changes EV by a few dollars.
›Does this guarantee I'll pass an eval?
No. EV is a probabilistic estimate over many attempts. A positive EV means you're expected to profit across many tries — single attempts can absolutely fail.
›Will you sell my email?
Never. We use it to send you the report, occasional educational emails, and an unsubscribe link in every message.
›How many trades should I upload?
5 is the minimum, 50+ is the sweet spot. We model your stats as the input distribution to a Monte Carlo, so the more representative the sample the more accurate the EV. Don't include simulated/replay trades — only live.
›What if I'm new and don't have 5 trades yet?
You have two options. First, you can use manual entry — just estimate your expected win rate, average win, and average loss based on backtesting or strategy plan. The tool will show you projected EV based on those assumptions. Second, you can paper trade for a week to generate sample data, then upload that. Just keep in mind: paper trades don't perfectly predict real performance (emotions, slippage, execution differences). Our recommendation: get 10–20 real trades first, even on a small account, before relying heavily on EV estimates.
›Why doesn't the EV match my real account?
EV is a probabilistic estimate across many attempts, not a forecast for one. A trader with $400 EV could lose $1,200 on a single attempt and still be in line with the model.
›Can I delete my data?
Yes. Visit the Privacy & data page and submit the deletion form. We delete your user record, clicks, applications, and any pending emails within 30 days.