Prop Firm Challenge Fee Refunds Explained

A prop firm challenge fee is not refunded when you fail, but many firms refund it once you pass and receive a payout, most often with the first, third or fourth payout. A separate and much narrower refund lets some firms return the fee within 14 to 30 days of purchase, provided you have not placed a trade. Whether a refundable challenge is better value depends on how much more it costs and how likely you are to reach the payout that triggers the refund.

The three refund positions

Every challenge fee falls into one of three groups, and some firms use different groups for different products.

• Refund with a payout. The fee comes back after you pass, trade the funded account and get paid. The firm decides which payout triggers it, and the claim is usually lost if the account is breached first.
• Cooling off refund. The fee comes back only if you ask within a set period after buying and have not traded. Once a position is opened, and at some firms once you log in, the right ends.
• No refund. The fee is kept whatever happens. Firms in this group often state that all sales are final.

A refund with a payout is a reward for success, not insurance against failure. A trader who fails the evaluation, or passes and then loses the funded account before the trigger payout, gets nothing back at any firm in the first group.

How a refund with a payout works

The same five questions decide whether the money arrives and when.

• Which payout. The first, third and fourth are all common. A later trigger means the funded account has to survive longer.
• Which products. Many firms refund only some models. Instant funding accounts are the ones most often excluded.
• Minimum profit. Some firms pay the refund only when the payout is larger than the fee, or once there is enough profit to make a withdrawal at all.
• Where it goes. The refund may go back to the card you paid with, be added to the account and withdrawn with the payout, or be paid partly as credit to spend with the firm.
• What cancels it. A hard breach before the trigger payout usually ends the claim. Some firms also remove it when the trader uses a free retry.

Worked example

The figures below are made up. Three imaginary firms sell a $100,000 two step challenge with identical rules and an 80% split. They differ only in price and refund terms: Firm A charges $500 and refunds it with the first payout, Firm B charges $400 and refunds it with the fourth payout, and Firm C charges $350 and never refunds. The table shows what the trader is out of pocket on the fee after each outcome.

Firm A costs $150 more than Firm C at the start and comes out ahead only if the trader reaches a first payout. Across many attempts, Firm A is the cheaper choice when the chance of reaching that payout is above 30%, because 70% of $500 is $350. Firm B needs only a 12.5% chance of reaching the fourth payout to beat Firm C, since 87.5% of $400 is $350, but on a 14 day payout cycle the fourth payout comes at least eight weeks after the account is funded, and every rule has to be kept for all of that time.

The comparison rests on your own estimate of passing and then reaching a payout. The pass probability simulator shows how often a set of trading statistics reaches the target before a loss limit, the payout calculator shows what a payout is worth after the split, including a fee refunded with it, and the timing of a first payout at different firms is covered in how long the first payout takes.

How firms differ

The terms below were published by each firm in September 2026. Refund terms change with new models and promotions, so confirm them at checkout.

The5ers returns the High Stakes fee in stages: 10% as hub credit after step 1, 20% as hub credit after step 2, and the remaining 70% in cash, added to the funded account and withdrawn with the first payout once the account has made at least $150 and has been active for 14 days. The cash portion applies only to fees paid with external funds, not with hub credit.

Some firms sell the refund as an extra. BEM Funding refunds the evaluation fee with the first reward only if the refund add on was chosen at purchase; without it the fee is non refundable. An add on raises the upfront price, so the arithmetic in the worked example applies to it directly.

At the other end, Alpha Capital states that all its evaluation plans are non refundable, Funded Trading Plus does not refund fees on its current programs, The Trading Pit does not refund the CFDs Instant fee, and Tradeify states that all sales are final.

Cooling off refunds

Where a firm returns the fee before trading, the window is short and the conditions are strict. BrightFunded refunds a challenge bought within the last 30 days if no trades have been made, on a request through live chat. Fintokei allows two weeks, but only if the trader has neither accessed MyFintokei nor placed a trade, and only on a request by email. Hola Prime Futures refunds within 14 days of registration if no trading has occurred, less a $20 processing charge. Alpha Futures treats all sales as final apart from a 14 day right to withdraw before any trade is placed, and Crypto Fund Trader ends its 14 day refund right as soon as a position is opened.

Disputing the card payment is not a substitute. WSFunded’s terms state that customers who file chargebacks through their bank are suspended permanently from the platform.

Common mistakes

• Treating a refundable fee as free. The money comes back only after a pass and a payout. A failed evaluation costs the full fee.
• Paying extra for a late refund. A refund on the fourth payout needs the funded account to survive several payout cycles, which is a much higher bar than passing.
• Assuming every model at a firm refunds. FTMO’s 1 Step, FundedNext’s Stellar Instant and every Funding Pips model other than 2 Step Standard carry no refund.
• Logging in before deciding. At Fintokei, accessing the dashboard ends the cooling off refund even without a trade.
• Using a free retry without checking the refund. FundedElite removes the fee refund that would come with the third payout once a free retry is used, as explained in resets and free retries.
• Counting on a refund while breaking a rule. A refund paid with a payout depends on that payout being approved. Audacity Capital, for example, requires traders to stay within every rule to receive either, and the usual reasons for a refusal are covered in why prop firm payouts are denied.

Checklist

• Is the fee refunded at all on the exact model and size you are buying?
• Which payout triggers the refund, and how many weeks of funded trading does that imply?
• Does the payout need to exceed the fee or meet a minimum profit?
• Is the refund paid in cash, to your card or as credit with the firm?
• What cancels it: a hard breach, a free retry or another rule in the terms?
• Is there a cooling off window, and does logging in count as using the product?
• How much more does the refundable option cost than the nearest alternative?

Refunds are one line in the full cost of a challenge. Fees across firms are compared in prop firm challenge cost and the cheapest prop firms, and the charges that appear after purchase are set out in prop firm hidden costs. For every stage from purchase to funded account, see how a prop firm challenge works, and more guides sit under payouts and scaling.