Prop Firms for Options Trading

Few prop firms allow options trading. The large forex, CFD and futures firms list currencies, indices, commodities and futures contracts, so the choice comes down to three firms that sell simulated options evaluations (Options Funding, Strix Options and Vanquish Trader) and a few desks, such as Maverick Trading and T3 Trading Group, that train or license traders before giving them firm capital. Each of them limits strategies, holding times or symbols in ways that matter more for options than for other instruments.

Prop firms that allow options trading

The firms below state on their own websites that listed options can be traded. Prices are list prices; Options Funding and Strix Options both advertised discount codes on 1 October 2026.

Options on futures are not on offer at the main futures firms. The permitted product list at Topstep covers CME futures only, and Elite Trader Funding states on its own site that it does not offer options. Options Funding also blocks futures options at its live stage.

How options prop programmes work

Simulated evaluations

Options Funding, Strix Options and Vanquish Trader use the familiar challenge model: pay a fee, reach a profit target on a simulated account without touching a trailing drawdown, then trade a funded account for a share of profits. The funded stage is simulated too. Vanquish states that no orders reach live markets, and Options Funding’s terms treat funded payouts as discretionary rewards. Options Funding and Strix Options run on RixTrade, which prices option chains from real time OPRA data and fills orders against the live bid and ask with modelled slippage.

Both RixTrade firms describe a live stage with real firm capital. At Options Funding it is by invitation, starts at half the plan size in buying power at Interactive Brokers, and allows only positions whose maximum loss is known at entry. The difference is covered in simulated versus live capital.

Training and capital programmes

Maverick Trading, a Salt Lake City firm active since 1997, calls itself an options prop firm. Instead of a timed challenge it uses online quizzes, a written trading plan and a demo track record, then a $199 desk fee and a trading bond before the trader handles firm capital as an independent contractor. Capital starts at $25,000 and rises with results, and the profit split of 65% to 90% is paid monthly.

Licensed desks and hiring firms

T3 Trading Group, an SEC registered broker dealer in New York, requires its proprietary equities and options traders to pass the SIE and Series 57 exams, and new traders either contribute first loss capital or, with a profitable record, may be considered for full funding. SMB Capital in Manhattan says its desk trades equities, options and futures with traders funded by the firm. Options market makers also hire traders, but as salaried staff rather than through paid evaluations.

How options differ from forex, CFDs and futures

Leverage and margin

One US equity option contract usually covers 100 shares, so a call priced at $4.00 costs $400 yet moves with a holding worth many times that. The buyer can lose only the premium. The seller keeps the premium but can lose far more, so brokers set margin by strategy, and the cheaper plan at each evaluation firm allows buying only. Forex, CFD and futures positions have linear risk, where each point costs the same amount.

Defined risk

A put credit spread $5 wide that collects $1.50 can lose at most $3.50 per share, or $350 per contract. Long calls and puts are also defined risk. A naked short call has no fixed maximum, and Options Funding allows undefined risk only on its Growth plan, never at its live stage.

Time decay and volatility

An option loses value as expiry approaches, and its price also moves with implied volatility. A long option can lose money while the stock stands still, and close to expiry small moves in the stock cause large swings in the option.

Why most evaluation models do not suit options

Evaluation rules were built for linear instruments. A drawdown that trails open equity treats every rise in an option’s price as a new peak, so giving back a paper gain can end the account. Rules that force traders flat each session exclude trades that need days or weeks. Simulated fills are weakest in thin option chains, which is why Vanquish treats trading far out of the money options with little open interest as an exploit. Options also need option market data and extra risk checks, which adds cost for firms built around forex or futures.

How to judge an options prop firm

• Strategy permissions. Spreads need Growth at Options Funding, the Strix plan or Vanquish Advanced Options, which lists level 4 permissions without naming each strategy. The live stage can be stricter than the funded one.
• How the drawdown moves. Intraday floors follow the highest equity during the session, end of day floors move only on the close, and Vanquish’s Options plan trails the highest unrealised balance. See end of day drawdown explained and trailing versus static drawdown.
• Holding and expiry. Vanquish closes every trade at 3:59pm Eastern Time. Options Funding and Strix Options allow overnight holding but close expiring positions, at 3:55pm Eastern Time (4:10pm for SPY, QQQ, IWM and DIA) and 4pm respectively. See holding rules.
• Symbols. Options Funding allows 275 whitelisted symbols and Strix Options 274, and orders outside each list are blocked.
• Payout conditions. Options Funding and Strix Options require 8 qualifying winning days per payout, pay up to 50% of profits each time and cap the first payout at $1,000 on accounts up to $50,000. Vanquish sets a $250 minimum, no cap and a 30% consistency rule.
• Cost model. Options Funding and Vanquish bill monthly until the trader passes, while Strix Options charges once. Activation fees and resets add to the total; see prop firm challenge cost.
• Who runs it. Options Funding LLC and Strix Options LLC state that they are not broker dealers, while T3 Trading Group is registered with the SEC and FINRA. See prop firm regulation and prop firm red flags.

Alternatives: stock, ETF and futures prop firms

Stock and ETF prop firms

Trade The Pool is the nearest match for traders who mainly want US stocks and index ETFs. Its FAQ says it does not offer options. It covers more than 12,000 US listed stocks and ETFs, with index exposure through ETFs such as SPY and QQQ, at list prices from $47 to $1,475, and its Swing accounts can hold overnight and over weekends.

Ment Funding sells an equities programme covering the S&P 100 from $220 for $5,000, Nordic Funder has an equities track from $25 for $2,500, and Darwinex Zero offers unleveraged cash US stocks and ETFs for a $50 monthly membership outside Europe and the UK. None of them lists options. For traders in the United States, prop firms for US traders covers the wider choice.

Futures prop firms

Topstep, Apex Trader Funding, Tradeify and My Funded Futures list CME Group futures, which suit traders whose options activity was mostly directional on indices, oil or gold. Risk is linear, and micro contracts allow finer sizing, as micro futures at prop firms explains. Most futures firms require traders to be flat before the daily close. Compare them on the futures hub, in best futures prop firms and among firms with end of day drawdown. Index and commodity CFD firms offer similar linear exposure.

Worked example: an options position against a loss limit

This example uses a made up $50,000 simulated account with a 5% trailing drawdown of $2,500 that follows the highest equity reached during the session. The trader buys 5 call contracts at $4.00, a premium of $2,000, which is the most the position can lose.

The trade is down $1,500 from entry, less than the $2,000 premium at risk, yet the account fails because the floor rose $1,000 with the paper gain. The loss from the peak, not from entry, is what counts.

With 2 contracts the premium is $800. The same rally lifts equity to $50,400 and the floor to $47,900, and the reversal leaves equity at $49,400, which is $1,500 above the floor. Time decay adds a slower cost: if the stock goes nowhere for ten sessions and each option loses $0.10 a day, the 2 contracts give up $200 without an adverse price move.

On an end of day trailing plan, the floor moves only if the account closes at a new high. If the rally and the reversal happen in the same session, the floor stays at $47,500 and the 5 contract position survives with $1,000 to spare.

Spreads behave differently. Selling 5 put spreads $5 wide for a $1.50 credit brings in $750 and caps the loss at $1,750, inside the $2,500 limit. Before expiry, though, the spread is marked at its current price, so a sharp fall that lifts it to $4.00 shows a $1,250 loss that day. The drawdown calculator and maximum risk per trade rules help with sizing against a limit.

Checklist before buying an options evaluation

1. Confirm which options strategies each plan allows, at the funded and live stages as well as the evaluation.
2. Check whether the drawdown trails intraday or at the close, and whether it follows open or closed equity.
3. Read the overnight, weekend and expiry day rules, including when positions are closed automatically.
4. Search the ticker whitelist for the underlyings you trade.
5. Size positions so the full premium or maximum spread loss fits well inside the loss limit after a trailing move.
6. Check the payout conditions: winning days, withdrawal share, caps and minimums.
7. Add up the total cost: subscription or one time fee, activation fee and resets.
8. Check whether accounts are simulated, what the live stage requires and who runs the firm.