Enter what the evaluation costs, what a reset or retry costs and how often you pass. You get the number of attempts to expect, the expected cost to pass, and the budget that passes 9 times out of 10.
How it works
Expected attempts. With a pass rate p, the average number of attempts until you pass is 1 divided by p. Pass 25% of the time and you should expect 4 attempts: the first at full price and the rest at the reset price.
Expected cost. The first fee, plus the resets you expect, plus any activation fee paid when you pass. It is an average: many traders pay less, and some pay much more.
Budget for 90% odds. The number of attempts that gives a 90% chance of passing at least once, and what they cost. At 20% a try that is 11 attempts, because long losing runs happen.
Example
A $150 evaluation with $100 resets, passed 18.4% of the time (what a coin flip trader managed on $50,000 NQ evaluations with a real time trailing drawdown in our research): you should expect 5.4 attempts and $593 to pass. A 90% chance of passing takes 12 attempts, a budget of $1,250. Raise the pass rate to 40% and the expected cost falls to $300.
Questions
How much does it cost to pass a prop firm evaluation?
It depends on the fee, the reset price and your pass rate. Divide 1 by your pass rate to get the attempts to expect: at 20% that is 5 attempts, so a $150 evaluation with $100 resets costs $550 on average, before any activation fee.
What is a typical prop firm pass rate?
Firms rarely publish it. In our research a coin flip trader passed 18.4% of $50,000 NQ evaluations with a real time trailing drawdown, 21.6% with an end of day drawdown and 31.2% with a static one. A strategy worth paying for should beat those numbers on the same rules.
Is a reset cheaper than a new evaluation?
Often, but not always. Enter the price you would really pay for each new try: the reset fee if your firm has one, or the full fee again if it doesn't.
What if my firm bills every month?
Enter the monthly price as both the fee and the reset fee. If one attempt takes about a month, the attempts become months.
How can I raise my pass rate before paying?
Practice under the same rules first. A free ChartTrainer evaluation account checks the profit target, drawdown, daily loss limit and consistency rule on replayed sessions, so failing there costs nothing.