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- Trust4.0
- Price4.8
- Payouts4.7
- Challenges4.3
- Conditions3.9
- Support4.4
Expert Verdict on AquaFunded
I’ve been in the Prop industry for quite a few years and spent lots of my time learning the ins and outs and passing the challenges they offer, including an AquaFunded challenge. For this review, I traded on a 2-step standard 50k challenge and used MT5 as these are the most popular choices according to their site. I was active during the London and New York sessions. I found them to have a good reputation for paying out and helping to resolve issues, however also a lot of issues that need resolving because the rules are not explicit on the main page.
While evaluating them, I found they’re a pretty average prop. They offer a nice profit split of up to 100% if you get an add-on, and their rules are nice and flexible. They also have 1,2 and 3 step challenges all of which have different versions as well as two instant accounts to choose from. That being said, there are some frustrating things like a 2% floating loss limit for the instant account, that will put you in breach plus a consistency rule on some of the funded accounts. Also check below because there are quite a few things that change from challenge to funded accounts like news trading rules and minimum trading rules. Basically, if you’re not careful you can breach pretty easily on something you missed.
Main Features
| 🏢Headquarters | UAE, Dubai |
| 📅Foundation Year | 2023 |
| 📅Payout Frequency | - |
| 🏆Challenge Types | Instant, 1-Step, 2-Step, 3-Step |
| 💲Challenge Price | $29 - $2,699 |
| 💼Account Size | $2.5K - $400K |
| 💰Maximum Capital | 4M |
| 📈Scaling Plan | Yes |
| 💸Profit Split | up to 100% |
| 🎯Profit Target Range | 5% - 10% |
| ⚠️Maximum Daily Loss | 3% - 5% |
| 💻Trading Platforms | MetaTrader 5, Match-Trader, Trade Locker, cTrader |
| 📊Tradable Instruments | Forex, Indices, Cryptocurrencies, Commodities |
| 📏Maximum Leverage | 1:100 |
| 🎮Demo Account | No |
| 🧑💻Customer Support | Chatbot, Email, Live Chat |
| ⭐Trustpilot Rating | 3.8 |
Is AquaFunded For You?
Best For:
- Swing traders: Overnight and weekend holdings are fully allowed for every instrument, including crypto; there is no time limit for traders.
- EA traders: Self-made EAs are allowed, as no pre-approval or any add-ons are needed for EAs.
- Copy Traders: Copy trading is allowed from another AquaFunded account, but traders are not allowed to copy trade from third-party signals.
Possible Dealbreakers:
- Day Traders: Day traders find things a little hard due to the consistency rule and the trailing drawdown rules. The 1% to 2% floating loss limit also does not give traders much room to work with.
- Scalping: The trades closed within 2 minutes will likely be marked as tick scalping, profits earned may also be forfeited. Also, there are slightly higher spreads compared to industry standards, which would affect scalping.
AquaFunded Strategy Compatibility Breakdown
| Trading Style/Profile | Advantages | Drawbacks | Verdict |
| Day Trading | 1:100 leverage on forex during evaluation, indices and commodities at 1:20; crypto at 1:2 | Leverage on forex drops to 1:50 on the funded stage across all programs | ⚠️ Partially Acceptable Choice |
| Scalping | – |
Your trade needs to be open for more than 2 minutes(tick scalping). High Spreads on Instruments |
❌ Not Acceptable |
| Swing Trading | Overnight and weekend holding fully allowed at every stage, including crypto | No swap-free account option available |
✅ Acceptable Choice |
| News Trading | Completely unrestricted during the evaluation phase however, the Funded stage has a 0.5% Cap | Profits generated during high-impact news events are capped at 0.5% of the account’s starting balance per payout cycle | ⚠️ Partially Acceptable Choice |
| Automated Trading | Custom-built EAs fully allowed, just make sure they follow the other rules | Third-party EA tools are not permitted |
✅ Acceptable Choice |
| Beginner Traders | Instant funding available with no profit target on the standard model, multiple challenge types, 225,000+ trader community, free AquaTV live trading shows | No free demo accounts are available for practice purposes. Trading Fees are pretty high |
✅ Acceptable Choice |
| Consistent/Professional Traders | 100% profit split, scaling plan up to $4M. Multiple challenge types available | – | ⭐ Perfect Match |
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
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Trust
Can I Trust AquaFunded?
AquaFunded is trustworthy overall. They got a 3.9 for us mainly due to their low TrustPilot score that came with quite a few complaints about the consistency rule and payout profit-target requirements, which just means that they need to be more transparent in their homepage setup. I did see that they are pretty consistent about paying out if you’ve stuck to all the rules, there are just a lot of rules to keep track of. Screenshot below from TrustPilot depicts both sides pretty clearly.
On Prop Firm Match, it holds a good rating of 4.4 out of 5 based on 267 reviews which is actually pretty decent and the best point to convince anyone for AquaFunded.
Company Stability
AquaFunded launched at IFZA Business Park, DDP, Premises No. 35882-001 in Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2023. The business consists of a team of 37 individuals headed by CEO Jason Blax. It has a holding structure, the Aqua Funds, under which its commercial and technical infrastructure functions.
From what I experienced, their process appeared very efficient and transparent, which mostly stems from having good 24/7 support. Currently, the firm has distributed more than $6 Million to traders, so clearly they’re ready and willing enough to pay out.
Trustpilot Rating
AquaFunded has kind of a low score of 3.8 on trust pilot so for better understanding, I reviewed the latest feedback of a few traders and found mixed sentiments. Some are sharing withdrawals without any issues, and other traders shared issues with account rulings and payout rejections. So pretty mixed with only 57% being 5 star reviews.
Transparency
As per my experience, the overall transparency of a firm depends on several factors such as trading rules, payouts, and customer support. I observed that AquaFunded has built a good reputation around paying out traders, as records show they have paid $6 Million+. Also, the trading rules were pretty clear, except for one where I had to contact support for clarification. Its website is clean, and the UI/UX is pretty good and easy to navigate.
Trading Rules Transparency
In my opinion, AquaFunded does a reasonable job, as they publish the majority of their trading rules, i.e., payout frequency, profit split, leverage & minimum trading days, on their top challenge page itself. I feel beginners may struggle to scroll through FAQs and understand the exact wording and rules set for them. I have created a quick summary for you below:
Restricted Strategies: All prop firms have to preserve their funds, and AquaFunded follows this suit. It bans some strategies that include hedging tricks, using platform exploits, trading on delayed data feeds, high-frequency trading (HFT), password changing, and arbitrage. From my personal experience, setting clear restrictions makes a trader stick with quality setups instead of trying to maximize on all possible workarounds.
News Trading Rules: I think this is a great advantage for traders that the firm allows news trading during both the evaluation and funded phases. There is one important thing to know that once funded, you can open or close trades within high-impact news releases, but profits generated during high-impact news events are capped at a percentage of 0.5%.
Consistency Rule: What I really liked about AquaFunded is that it offers most of the programs with no consistency rule at all, which is a big plus for traders. Their 1-step, 2-step standard, 2-step elite, and 3-step accounts come with no consistency rule that allows traders to operate freely without imposed limits on how profits are generated.
Pro and Instant programs do have consistency rules, which might feel a little restrictive. Instant standard has a 20% rule, the Instant PRO has a 15% rule, and the 1-step PRO & 2-step PRO have a consistency rule of 25%, meaning no single day’s profit can exceed that percentage of the total profits at the time of withdrawal.
Minimum Profitable Days: All Instant Standard accounts as well as Instant Pro & 2-step Pro accounts have a minimum of 5 trading days where each day has 0.5% profit of the original balance. 1-step models, 2-step standard, and 2-step Elite accounts require a minimum of 3 trading days and need a minimum of 0.5% profit per day. These days do not need to be consecutive.
Payout Transparency
Based on what I’ve seen, AquaFunded has paid out in total more than $6 million over time, with the largest single payout made of $61K in Payout Junction. During research, I found out that 2,000 distinct payout requests were made to the platform. This is a pretty comforting indicator for anyone who wants to know if a company is making consistent and substantial payments in real-time.
General Transparency
Website: AquaFunded website has a very clean user interface and experience(UI/UX). What I really liked is that its FAQs are very well organized and easy to navigate but it is a pity that the rules aren’t just made clear on the home page where you look through the challenges.
Social Media: AquaFunded has a strong communication strategy with its active presence on social media platforms. They have more than 9K YouTube subscribers, more than 300 videos on policies and issues, and more than 64K followers on Twitter. On top of this, the firm has several other small communities, including Facebook and Discord. Verified payout messages and ongoing conversations on all these channels strengthen the transparency of the firm. The Instagram page is not working.
Risk Management: The Max limits of the account differ according to the model. It is important to know them before selecting the desired account. In instant accounts, if the floating PnL falls below 2% of the initial balance, the account is permanently closed. For 300K and 400K instant accounts, this value is lower by 1%. The Instant Standard account doesn’t have a daily loss limit; it only has a 3% trailing maximum drawdown. The Instant PRO accounts, as well as 1-step models, share the same limits of 3% daily loss and 6% maximum trailing drawdown being in use for the entire account’s period of activity.
In the 2-step zone, the Standard has a 5% daily and 8% static trailing max loss. The PRO follows the 5% daily but bumps it up to a 10% trailing drawdown, while the Elite goes 4% daily with a static maximum loss of 10%. The 3-step goes for a 4% daily and 8% static maximum drawdown. The overall setup clearly encourages traders toward steady and repeated execution rather than irregular and risky trading behaviours.
Wave Stop: One rule that really caught my attention is a wave stop across all of your funded accounts (excluding the instant funding accounts). Wave stop functions pretty uniquely as it will automatically close all open trades if your floating losses reach 2% of the overall balance. This is a soft breach. On the first breach, the profit split drops to 50%. On the second breach, the account is permanently closed.
Please note that you cannot change your password at any time and you must use the exact one you used to open the account.
What I experienced is that AquaFunded’s challenge offers great flexibility to traders. To analyze each challenge (Rules, Do’s / Don’ts), I went directly through their main site (Home Page) and help center. I searched about their program offerings, drawdown structures, and trading rules and conditions in detail. The firm offers a flexible range of challenges that include instant, 1-step, 2-step, and 3-step accounts. All of these challenges support swing trading, day trading, and scalping. Overnight and weekend holding is fully open, with 24/7 crypto trading available on weekends as well.
As we expect the drawdown structure varies program to program but overall it is at par with industry standards. Instant PRO Funded accounts and 1-step models have a 3% daily drawdown and a 6% trailing maximum drawdown. The 2-step standard moves to a 5% daily drawdown and an 8% static maximum, the 2-step PRO keeps the same 5% daily but has a 10% trailing maximum drawdown, while the 3-step uses a 4% balance-based daily with an 8% static maximum drawdown. The big plus for traders is that it allows news trading, copy trading, and EAs, all of which are allowed during both evaluation and funded stages.
AquaFunded Challenges Comparison
| Feature | Instant (Standard) | Instant (PRO) | 1-Step (Standard) | 1-Step (PRO) | 2-Step (Standard) | 2-Step (PRO) | 2-Step (Elite) | 3-Step |
| Profit Split | 90% – 100% | 90% – 100% | 90% – 100% | 90% – 100% | 90% – 100% | 90% – 100% | 90% – 100% | 90% – 100% |
| Minimum trading Days | 5 days (0.5% profit of initial balance) | 5 days (0.5% profit of initial balance) | 3 days (0.5% profit of initial balance) | 5 days (0.5% profit of initial balance) | 3 days (0.5% profit of initial balance) | None | 3 days (0.5% profit of initial balance) | None |
| Maximum Drawdown | 3% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 8% | 10% | 10% | 8% |
| Maximum Drawdown Type | Trailing | Trailing | Trailing | Trailing | Static | Trailing | Static | Static |
| Daily Drawdown | – | 3% | 3% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 4% |
| Daily Drawdown Type | – | Balance/Equity – Highest at EOD | Balance/Equity – Highest at EOD | Balance/Equity – Highest at EOD | Balanced/Equity- Highest EOD | Balanced/ Equity- Highest EOD | Balanced/ Equity- Highest EOD | Balanced/ Equity- Highest EOD |
| News Trading | Allowed 0.5% profit cap | Allowed 0.5% profit cap | Allowed 0.5% profit cap | Allowed 0.5% profit cap | Allowed 0.5% profit cap | Allowed 0.5% profit cap | Allowed 0.5% profit cap | Allowed 0.5% profit cap |
| Expert Advisor (EA) | Fully allowed without pre-approval | Fully allowed without pre-approval | Fully allowed without pre-approval | Fully allowed without pre-approval | Fully allowed without pre-approval | Fully allowed without pre-approval | Fully allowed without pre-approval | Fully allowed without pre-approval |
| Copy Trading | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) | Allowed (Third parties not allowed) |
| Consistency Rule | 20% | 15% | None | 25% | None | 25% | None | None |
| Weekend Holding | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed |
How Hard Is the AquaFunded Challenge? (Difficulty vs. Industry Standards)
At FXEmpire, we have built a challenge difficulty metric to end all the confusion of traders by giving an accurate perspective on what they’re signing up for. We’re not just considering the profit target but the complete ruleset, including drawdown limits and type, leverage, number of trading days, consistency rules, including the conditions around EA and overnight, and weekend holding. Everything is broken down into a single score of difficulty, allowing traders to judge their odds prior to committing a penny.
| Very Low Difficulty | Low Difficulty | Moderate Difficulty | High Difficulty | Extreme Difficulty |
|---|
1-Step Standard Challenge: As per our analysis, the 1-step standard challenge falls into the category of high difficulty. The tight 3% maximum daily drawdown leaves absolutely nothing in the middle of the sessions. The 9% profit target clearly requires at least 3 minimum trading days with 0.5% profit each, and they do not need to be consecutive. One good thing about this challenge is the absence of a consistency rule. Still, all the rules make it one of the harder challenges at this level, especially for traders who depend on the 1 large high-conviction setup.
1-Step PRO Challenge: Based on our research, the 1-step Pro challenge also goes under the high difficulty category. What with a trailing max drawdown that raises the floor with profits, you don’t have much breathing room to take losses back without crossing it. Combined with a 3% daily drawdown limit and 25% consistency rule and a minimum of 5 trading days, you definitely require discipline and patience with those rules in play from beginning to end.
2-Step Standard Challenge: Looking at our difficulty rating for the challenges, the 2-Step Standard Challenge falls into the moderate-difficulty category. It has a daily loss limit of 5% and a static maximum drawdown of 8% and with no consistency rule, traders can earn what they like each day with no limit to how much one day’s profit could account for. The combination of a minimum of 3 trading days along with the 0.5% profit required per day set a manageable pace. I consider the 2-Step Standard to be one of the easiest pathways to getting funded with AquaFunded.
2-Step PRO Challenge: The 2-Step Pro Challenge fits in the high-difficulty category according to our challenge rating system. The trailing maximum drawdown at 10% allows for some more leeway than other moderate challenges, but with a 5% daily loss limit, a 25% consistency rule, and 5 minimum trading days this requires a disciplined focus on profitability across both steps. Overall, this is a well-structured, yet realistic, path to funding for traders.
2-Step Elite Challenge: In our rating system, I found that the 2-step elite challenge is of the moderate-difficulty category. The 10% static maximum drawdown provides more room than most models at this level, though there is no consistency rule, while 3 minimum trading days in the funded phase may be something to consider. Overall, this challenge offers a manageable path to funding while following the required conditions.
3-Step Challenge: According to our difficulty rating system, the 3-step challenge is of low difficulty. This challenge contains an 8% maximum drawdown and a 4% daily loss limit. There is no consistency rule and no minimum trading days to engage in trading, which makes it an easy challenge to pass for traders. The profit target of 6% is standard across all 3 phases, which I think is manageable even for beginners.
AquaFunded Challenge Phases Overview
Instant Standard:
💵 Accounts: $2.5K ($64) → $300K ($1,810)
🎯 Target: None
📉 Drawdown: Daily loss (none) | Maximum 3% (Trailing)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡Trading: ✅ News trading | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
📅 Funded Stage: ✅️ News trading | 🔴 5 Minimum profitable Days (0.5% profit per day) | ❌️ Consistency rule: 20% | 🟢 Scaling Plan (up to $4M)
⚠️ Floating Loss Limit Rule: For the Instant Standard account, a floating loss of 2% per trade results in a hard breach, permanently closing the account immediately. It becomes 1% per trade if your account is 300/400K.
Instant PRO:
💵 Accounts: $2.5k ($60) → $400K ($2,699)
🎯 Target: None
📉 Drawdown: Daily loss 3% (Trailing) | Maximum 6% (Trailing)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡Trading: ✅ News trading | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
📅 Funded Stage: ✅️ News trading | 🔴 5 Minimum Profitable Days (0.5% profit per day) | ❌️ Consistency rule: 15% | 🟢 Scaling Plan (up to $4M)
⚠️ Floating Loss Limit Rule: For the Instant Pro account, a floating loss of 2% per trade results in a hard breach, permanently closing the account immediately. It becomes 1% per trade if your account is 300/400K.
1-Step Challenge Standard:
💵 Accounts: $5K ($67) → $200K ($1,017)
🎯 Target: Phase 1 = 9%
📉 Drawdown: 3% Daily Loss (Balance-based) | 6% Max Loss (Trailing)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡Trading: ✅ News trading | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
⚙️ Challenge Parameters: 🔴 3 Minimum trading Days (0.5% profit per day)
📅 Funded Stage: ✅️ News trading | ✅ No Consistency rule | 🔴 3 Minimum Profitable Days (0.5% profit per day) | 🟢 Scaling Plan (up to $4M)
1-Step Challenge PRO:
💵 Accounts: $5K ($59) → $200K ($899)
🎯 Target: Phase 1 = 6%
📉 Drawdown: 3% Daily Loss (Balance-based ) | 6% Max Loss (Trailing)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡Trading: ✅ News trading | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
⚙️ Challenge Parameters: 🔴 5 minimum trading Days (0.5% profit per day)
📅 Funded Stage: ✅ News trading | ❌️ Consistency rule: 25% | 🔴 5 Minimum Profitable Days (0.5% profit per day) | 🟢 Scaling plan (up to $4M)
2-Step Challenge Standard:
💵 Accounts: $5K ($36) → $200K ($947)
🎯 Target: Phase 1 = 8% | Phase 2 = 5%
📉 Drawdown: 5% Daily Loss (Balanced/Equity-Highest EOD) | 8% Max Loss (Static)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡ Trading: ✅ News trading | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
⚙️ Challenge Parameters: 🔴 3 Minimum Trading Days (0.5% profit per day)
📅 Funded Stage: ✅️ News trading | ✅ No Consistency rule | 🟢 Scaling Plan (up to $4M) | 🔴 3 Minimum Trading Days (0.5% profit per day)
2-Step Challenge PRO:
💵 Accounts: $5K ($29) → $200K ($822)
🎯 Target: Phase 1 = 10% | Phase 2 = 5%
📉 Drawdown: 5% Daily Loss (Balanced/Equity-Highest EOD) | 10% Max Loss (Trailing)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡Trading: ✅ News trading | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
⚙️ Challenge Parameters: 🟢 No Minimum Profitable Days
📅 Funded Stage: ✅️ News trading allowed | ❌️ 25% Consistency rule | 🟢 Scaling plan (up to $4M) | 🔴 5 Minimum Profitable Days (0.5% profit per day)
2-Step Challenge Elite:
💵 Accounts: $5K ($33) → $100K ($457)
🎯 Target: Phase 1 = 8% | Phase 2 = 5%
📉 Drawdown: 4% Daily Loss (Balanced/Equity-Highest EOD) | 10% Max Loss (Static)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡Trading: ✅ News trading | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
⚙️ Challenge Parameters: 🔴 3 Minimum Trading Days (0.5% profit per day)
📅 Funded Stage: ✅️ News trading allowed | 🟢No Consistency rule | 🟢 Scaling plan (up to $4M) | 🔴 3 Minimum Profitable Days (0.5% profit per day)
3-Step Challenge: 💵 Accounts: $10K ($77) → $200K ($677)
🎯 Target: Phase 1 = 6% | Phase 2 = 6% | phase 3 = 6%
📉 Drawdown: 4% Daily Loss (Balanced/Equity-Highest EOD) | 8% Max Loss (Static)
💰 Profit Split: 90% (100% with add-ons)
⚡Trading: ✅ News allowed | ✅ Copy Trading | ✅ EAs | ✅ Weekend Holding
⚙️ Challenge Parameters: 🟢 No Minimum Trading Days
📅 Funded Stage: ✅️ News trading allowed | 🟢 No Consistency rule | 🟢 Scaling plan (up to $4M)
Flexibility: AquaFunded offers all flexible trading styles that cover different traders with different strategies. Day trading and swing trading are available with each model; overnight and weekend holding is available at all stages, including crypto. The forex leverage will be 1:100 for evaluation and reduced to 1:50 on the funded stage. You can use custom EAs for both evaluation and funded stages, no prior approval needed. News trading is permitted but you may only earn 0.5% of the total profit per payout cycle. Copy Trading is permitted from other AquaFunded accounts only.
Trading Rule by Strategy
The firm allows news trading, copy trading, and automated strategies in their evaluation and funded stages. The trades must be longer than 2 minutes, as anything below that will be considered tick scalping. The consistency rule in some accounts may be a limiting factor for some traders. Like other prop firms, AquaFunded also prohibits some strategies that include the use of a platform or data freezing due to a demo server error, the use of a delayed data feed, trading on delayed charts, tick scalping, high-frequency trading, arbitrage bots, reverse arbitrage, latency arbitrage, and Hedge arbitrage.
The news trading is allowed in evaluation and funded stages, which I think is great for the traders who want to make profits during high-impact news. However, once you’ve passed the challenge and moved to funded you’ll have a cap on your profits of 0.5% of your account size . It’s also applied to trades opened or closed within the 5-minute window before and after red folder (high-impact) news. This rule is also applied to FOMC speeches, statements, and related events.
Overnight and weekend holding is fully allowed in all funded and evaluation stages, including crypto which operates 24/7. I think this is a massive pro for swing traders, or those who want to maintain a multi-day position. Do bear in mind, you’ll pay swap fees for holding positions overnight across every model, and it will accumulate over many nights/weekends.
Day Trading is supported on all the program types, as the trader should keep their margin at 80% or less per single trade. The 2% floating loss rule also applies for account protection, while for the $300K and $400K, the rule is 1%. The consistency rule on some accounts may feel restrictive for some traders who rely on making large profits through a single trade or in a single day.
Automated trading (EAs) is allowed across all programs, though this is limited to self-built EAs only, which I suspect could be restrictive for some traders who buy automated tools or rely on other traders’ strategies.
If you are a scalper, this is not the ideal prop firm. Trades within 2 minutes will likely be marked as tick scalping in both the evaluation and funded phases. Furthermore, in the funded account, the profit made from these trades will be deducted. Anyone considering 1-min or 2-min strategies needs to be aware of this prior to taking a challenge.
Copy trading is allowed on all programs, which is a great benefit for traders who trade on more than one account. However, the traders are only allowed to copy trades from their own AquaFunded accounts.
It is important for any trader to be able to diversify their trading strategies across multiple asset classes, and AquaFunded holds up well here. They provide 43 tradable instruments across forex, indices, commodities, and crypto.
Capital Efficiency = Sum of All Account Balances / Sum of All Challenge Fee
AquaFunded has a pretty decent selection of challenges that all go for a very good price for the flexibility they’re offering. The lowest you can expect to pay to enter is 59 dollars but they do have lots of promotions and discounts that can get you in for less. That being said you can find cheaper offers elsewhere it just depends what sort of challenge you want.
The point where AquaFunded really stands out is in comparing the challenge price to actual capital per dollar. Here, the 1-step standard shows up as 10.27 against a market average of 7.9, the 2-step standard comes up as 15.76 in comparison to 14.39, and the instant standard comes at 4.33, which is very close to the industry average of 4.98. The 3-step goes even further at 20.2 against a market average of 13.74.
AquaFunded Account Prices and Cost Efficiency
| Acc Sizes | Instant (Standard 3% Max DD) | Instant (PRO 6% Max DD) | 1-Step (Standard 6% Max DD) | 1-Step (PRO 6% Max DD) | 2-Step (Standard 8% Max DD) | 2-Step (PRO 10% Max DD) | 2-Step (Elite 10% Max DD) | 3-Step (8% Max DD) |
| $2.5k | $64 (1.17 per $1) | $60 (2.5 per $1) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| $5k | $117 (1.28 per $1) | $106 (2.83 per $1) | $67 (4.47 per $1) | $59 (5.08 per $1) | $36 (11.11 per $1) | $29 (17.24 per $1) | $33 (15.15 per $1) | – |
| $10k | $158 (1.89 per $1) | $155 (3.87 per $1) | $113 (5.30 per $1) | $99 (6.06 per $1) | $89 (8.99 per $1) | $63 (15.90 per $1) | $63 (15.87 per $1) | $77 (10.39 per $1) |
| $25k | $317 (2.36 per $1) | $310 (4.83 per $1) | $227 (6.60 per $1) | $199 (7.53 per $1) | $139 (14.39 per $1) | $104 (24 per $1) | $146 (17.12 per $1) | $157 (12.74 per $1) |
| $50k | $475 ($3.15 per $1) | $465 (6.45 per $1) | $327 (9.17 per $1) | $289 (10.38 per $1) | $299 (13.38 per $1) | $215 (23.26 per $1) | $277 (18.05 per $1) | $237 (16.88 per $1) |
| $100k | $767 (3.91 per $1) | $750 (8 per $1) | $527 (11.38 per $1) | $459 (13.07 per $1) | $469 (17.06 per $1) | $429 (23.31 per $1) | $457 (21.88 per $1) | $377 (21.22 per $1) |
| $150k | – | $980 (9.18 per $1) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| $200k | $1265 (4.74 per $1) | $1250 (9.6 per $1) | $1017 (11.79 per $1) | $899 (13.34 per $1) | $947 (16.9 per $1) | $822 (24.33 per $1) | – | $677 (23.63 per $1) |
| $250k | $1560 (4.80 per $1) | $1540 (9.74 per $1) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| $300k | $1810 (4.97 per $1) | $2099 (8.57 per $1) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| $400k | – | $2699 (8.89 per $1) | – | – | – | – | – | – |
This table shows per-account capital efficiency. The overall TCPD weighted average across all account sizes is discussed below.
How Do We Assess the Competitiveness of the Firm’s Costs?
True Capital per Dollar (TCPD)
The account sizes of Aquafunded may seem larger than they actually are. If you opt for a $100K account with a 10% maximum drawdown limit, that means you actually have $10K to use on the account before your account gets stopped out. The remaining $90K is purely on the screen and not in reality. What ultimately regulates how much risk you’re allowed to take isn’t your account balance, it’s your maximum drawdown percentage.
TCPD cuts through that and shows how much real, usable capital you’re getting for every dollar spent.
Formula: TCPD = (Account Size × Max Drawdown %) / Challenge Price
| Account | Max DD | Price | TCPD |
| $100K | 10% | USD 429 | $23.31 per $1 |
| $50K | 10% | USD 259 | $19.31 per $1 |
A cheaper trading challenge might not actually be a cheaper value. The TCPD cuts through all the ‘marketing’ and lets you know what is really being offered as working capital for every dollar that you invest in it. A greater figure than this means more space to play with the dollars in the trading challenge, and that is the one thing that needs to be measured when deciding on any trading firm.
AquaFunded Cost Competitiveness vs. Industry Benchmark
| Challenge Type | Funded Drawdown | Average Funding per Dollar | Industry Benchmark |
| Instant (Standard) | 3% (Trailing) | 4.33 | $4.98 |
| Instant (PRO) | 6% (Trailing) | 8.59 | $4.98 |
| 1-Step (Standard) | 6% (Trailing) | 10.27 | $7.9 |
| 1-Step (PRO) | 6% (Trailing) | 11.68 | $7.9 |
| 2-Step (Standard) | 8% (Static) | 15.76 | $14.39 |
| 2-Step (PRO) | 10% (Trailing) | 21.57 | $14.39 |
| 2-Step (Elite) | 10% (Static) | 19.46 | $14.39 |
| 3-Step | 8% (Static) | 20.2 | $13.74 |
Refund Policies
From what I can tell, AquaFunded offers an easy-to-understand refund policy to its traders. They offer a complete refund on your evaluation fees upon challenge completion and after your 4th payout. The evaluation fee is forfeited if the account has been hard-breached before getting your 4th payout.
Trading Conditions
Overall: I’d say that the trading costs are pretty high compared to the average firm, but it goes hand in hand with the fact that the rules and programs are pretty flexible.
Key finding: They offer a nice range of trading platforms even though the cTrader platform is an extra $15.
Key positive: The thing I really liked is that news trading is fully open during evaluation, while funded contains a 0.5% cap of the account’s starting balance. Self-built EAs and copy trading are also allowed.
Key limitation: Higher Spreads and Trading fees, which obviously makes trading very tough.
Best for: This firm is good for traders looking to freely implement their strategy, and especially for those relying on news trading and looking to handle more than one funded account
Trading Test
I bought AquaFunded’s 2-step challenge of 50K and traded it in on both the London & New York sessions via MetaTrader 5. I analyzed the clean executions with no noticeable slippage on majors. The 4 platforms they offer (MT5, TradeLocker, cTrader & Match-Trader) cover the 43 instruments of forex, metals, indices & crypto, which is a decent range. The leverage for evaluation trading is 1:100, but is reduced to 1:50 once funded.
I noted that as traders get to the funded stage, there are a few things that change, which are worth knowing. I found that several models cap how much profit can come from a single trade day, so large gains need to be spread across multiple days to avoid payout delays. The spreads are also above the industry average. They do not have any swap-free accounts, so traders holding trades overnight will incur rollover fees, which may put swing traders at a slight disadvantage.
AquaFunded Accounts
It is important to mention that AquaFunded charges a $5 per lot commission on Forex and commodities, while indices and crypto are commission-free. They offer the vast majority of instruments that contain standard commissions, as well as ECN spreads that are a little higher than the industry average.
Leverage
From what I saw when I opened an account, they offer varying levels of leverage depending on asset type and your account level. Your leverage level decreases when going from the evaluation to the funded stage; this is applied to all instruments and is rather unfortunate but not entirely unusual in the prop space. Here is how they shape up in the table below:
| Assets | Leverage (Evaluation) | Leverage (Funded) | Leverage (Instant Standard Funded) |
| FX | 1:100 | 1:50 | 1:50 |
| Crypto | 1:2 | 1:2 | 1:1 |
| Indices | 1:20 | 1:10 | 1:10 |
| Commodities | 1:20 | 1:10 | 1:10 |
Trading Fees
I calculated trading fees by the combination of spreads and commissions, and figured out that at AquaFunded, you’ll be paying a higher price to trade when compared to the industry for most assets. It offers standard commission on forex and commodities ($5 per round lot) while other instruments are commission-free, which is a great benefit for traders. Spreads were high, but overall fees are balanced by a combination of ECN spreads and commissions. Every instrument comes with different swap fees, so that was not included in the calculation.
Spreads
While testing, I noticed that spreads are a bit high compared to the industry standards across the majors. EURUSD at 0.4 pips, BTCUSD at $66.36, WTI at 0.13 points, and XAUUSD at 38 cents are above average, while the US30 at 3 points is slightly below industry standards. It is essential to keep these factors in mind if you want to trade in commodities or crypto.
| Instruments | AquaFunded Spreads | Industry Average |
| EUR/USD | 0.4 pips | 0.2 pips |
| BTCUSD | $66.36 | $35 |
| WTI | 0.13 points | 0.047 points |
| GOLD | 38 cents | 26 cents |
| US30 | 3 points | 3.14 points |
Commissions
AquaFunded charges a commission of $5 per lot for Forex & commodities, with no commissions on indices & crypto. Based on my observation, there are no hidden costs that can quietly eat into the trader’s profits.
| Instruments | Account (Round Turn) | Industry Average (Round Turn) |
| Forex | $5 round trip | $4 round trip |
| Crypto | 0 | Zero commission instrument |
| Indices | 0 | Zero commission instrument |
| Commodities | $5 round trip | $5.8 round trip |
Swap Fees
AquaFunded will take swap fees from any positions you’re holding at the end of the day rollover. They do not offer the option of swap free accounts for any of their models. Over multiple nights, this fee can accumulate and swing traders or Sharia finance seekers should take it into account when choosing a challenge.
Overall Trading Fees
| Instruments | Trading Fee | Industry average |
| EUR/USD | $9 | $6 |
| BTC | $66.36 | $35 |
| WTI | $5.13 | $8.80 |
| GOLD | $43 | $30 |
| US30 | $3 | $3.14 |
Prohibited Trading Styles
Here is the simple overview of the rules that AquaFunded has prohibited, which shows what could get a trader’s account flagged or what could cause a breach of the account and which strategy is safe to play. Knowing these rules upfront helps traders to plan their strategy before starting trading.
| Strategy | AquaFunded Interpretation |
| Demo Exploitation / Cheating | A method of making profits from demo account conditions is in direct violation of the Terms of Service and will result in closure of the account no matter whether it is in the evaluation or funded stage. |
| Exploiting Unrealistic Market Conditions | Exploiting issues such as faulty demo servers, delayed data feeds, delayed charts, and pricing conditions that don’t occur in a live environment. This includes latency arbitrage, reverse arbitrage, and hedge arbitrage in any form. |
| High-Frequency & Manipulative Activity | The firm strictly prohibits tick scalping, high-frequency trading, and arbitrage bots. Trades held under 2 minutes may be classified as tick scalping on funded accounts, profits from such activity are subject to removal. |
| All-or-Nothing / Gambling Behaviour | Trading over 80% margin usage in a single trade will be considered gambling. Strategies that depend on this will not be tolerated and may lead to profit reductions, phase resets or a full account breach |
| Password Manipulation | Traders are required to utilize the exact login details provided in their respective emails when logging into their accounts. Any changes to these passwords are not allowed. |
| Floating Loss Limit | For funded accounts, the balance must not drop below 2% of initial capital otherwise, the account will be permanently closed. For the $300K and $400K funded accounts, there are even stricter limits – If the PnL falls below 1% of the balance, it will also be terminated. The Instant accounts are not included. |
Tradable Instruments
Not having many instruments to choose from is fine as long as your favourites are there but also more and more i’m finding it’s nice to be able to trade with the obscure ones and not have to worry it wont be there. Simply put, the competitive edge is having solutions in any condition the market throws at you, from forex and indices to crypto and commodities. The firm offers 43+ instruments available across Match-Trader, TradeLocker, MT5 & cTrader. However, availability may fluctuate across platforms, thus verifying the whole list prior to taking a shot at a multi-asset approach may be helpful.
| Instruments | Number | Examples |
| Forex | 28 | EURUSD | GBPUSD |
| Indices | 7 | US30 | NAS100 |
| Commodities | 4 | XAUUSD | COCOA |
| Cryptocurrencies | 4 | BTCUSD | ETHUSD |
Trading Platforms and Tools
AquaFunded provides four solid platform choices that include Match-Trader, TradeLocker, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader. In total, the firm offers 43+ instruments, and most of them are available across all four platforms. MT5 is ideal for algorithmic trading and custom indicators and cTrader is suited for discretionary traders who appreciate raw and flawless order fills but it’s an extra $15 to use. TradeLocker is an intuitive web based solution that does not require a software install, while Match-Trader is suited for mobile traders and both are platforms available to US traders. Once you’ve chosen your platform, you can only switch to a different one if your trading history is clear.
Islamic (Swap-free) Account
The most notable gap of AquaFunded is that it does not offer swap free or Islamic accounts across any of its models. All trades that are held overnight incur swapping fees with no option of add-ons to avoid these. This is certainly an issue to consider if you have concerns about trading Sharia-compliant positions.
Demo Account
Currently, AquaFunded doesn’t provide a free demo account. Beginner traders, especially those who want to test out the platforms and trading conditions, are out of luck here.
Inactivity
AquaFunded has a 30-day inactivity period which sits pretty well with the industry average. You need to put in at least one trade during a month, otherwise your account will be terminated. That being said, this 30 days starts the moment you place your first trade so think carefully if you have time to commit when you buy your account.
Funded Account
Rules Overview
| Features | Instant Standard | Instant PRO | 1-Step Standard | 1-Step PRO | 2-Step Standard | 2-Step PRO | 2-Step Elite | 3-Step |
| Profit Split | 90% (100% with Add-on) | 90% (100% with Add-on) | 90% (100% with Add-on) | 90% (100% with Add-on) | 90% (100% with Add-on) | 90% (100% with Add-on) | 90% (100% with Add-on) | 90% (100% with Add-on) |
| Maximum Drawdown | 3% Trailing | 6% Trailing | 6% Trailing | 6% Trailing | 8% Static | 10% Trailing | 10% Static | 8% Static |
| Daily Drawdown | – | 3% Balance EOD | 3% Higher of Equity/Balance EOD | 3% Higher of Equity/Balance EOD | 5% Higher of Equity/Balance EOD | 5% Higher of Equity/Balance EOD | 4% Higher of Equity/Balance EOD | 4% Higher of Equity/Balance EOD |
| News Trading | Allowed at all stages | Allowed at all stages | Allowed at all stages | Allowed at all stages | Allowed at all stages | Allowed at all stages | Allowed at all stages | Allowed at all stages |
| EAs | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed |
| Copy Trading | Allowed (own accounts only) | Allowed (own accounts only) | Allowed (own accounts only) | Allowed (own accounts only) | Allowed (own accounts only) | Allowed (own accounts only) | Allowed (own accounts only) | Allowed (own accounts only) |
| Weekend Holding | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed | Allowed |
| Consistency Rule | 20% | 15% | None | 25% | None | 25% | None | None |
| Minimum Trading Days | 5 days | 5 days | 3 days | 3 days | 3 days | 5 days | 3 days | None |
| Payout Cycle | Bi-weekly (default), On-demand (Add-on) | Bi-weekly (default), On-demand (Add-on) | Bi-weekly (default), Weekly (Add-on) | Bi-weekly (default), Weekly (Add-on) | Bi-weekly (default), Weekly (Add-on) | Bi-weekly (default), Weekly (Add-on) | Bi-weekly (default), Weekly (Add-on) | Bi-weekly (default), Weekly (Add-on) |
AquaFunded maintains the rules transparency across both evaluation and funded account stages. Overnight and weekend holding, copy trading, using your own EAs, and maintaining drawdown will be treated in the same manner. You may use hedging, as long as it’s within your own account; cross-account hedging is not permissible. Any trading in such strategies as arbitrage, tick scalping (trades open for under 2 mins) and manipulative trading will result in a hard breach.
Consistency Rule
The traders face the consistency rule in some accounts including Instant Standard with 20%, and PRO with 15%. The 1-step PRO and 2 step PRO accounts both have the 25% consistency rule which might be a noticeable part for some traders. The accounts including the Standard (1 step & 2 step), 2 step elite, and 3 step, do not carry any consistency rule in any of the evaluation or funded phase.
Scaling Plan
You can scale your account up to $4M by getting 12% return within 3 months and of course abiding by all the other account rules. Each time you do this and are approved your account will scale up 25% of its initial size.
There is also Aqua Elite that goes hand in hand with the standard scaling. Each time you scale you go through tiers, bronze, silver and then gold, and each of these tiers gives you some kind of extra rewards, like, and I quote, “salary, mentoring, priority support, exclusive merch, and direct access to our trading team.” It’s a nice added benefit aiming to make you more integrated in the AquaFunded community.
In addition, you can merge your accounts at Aquafunded, but they can only be at a total of $400,000. Also, you cannot merge instant accounts.
KYC (Know Your Customer)
The KYC includes the passport, driver’s licence or a valid government-issued ID card. The verification takes place through Rise. The process is simple for traders and if there is any problem, the team helps the trader with instructions on how to fix the problem.
Payouts
During my testing in Q2 2026, I requested the payout through Rise and I got it within 24 hrs. The payouts which are made through bank transfer or crypto have no additional fee, and the minimum payout amount is $100. Before the traders apply for the withdrawal, the account balance should sit above the starting balance with no open trades.
The payouts that are below than $1,000 will be sent through crypto while amounts above than $1,000 go through Rise which has a fixed $35 fee. The default payout cycle is bi-weekly for all accounts, while a weekly option is available for challenge accounts and the on-demand option is available for the Instant accounts (only for their first payout). Both are available as add-on options at checkout. All the approved payout are processed within 24 business hours as if there is any delay by the firm, an automatic $1,000 compensatory payment will be added to the trader’s wallet from the firm.
Profit Split
The default profit split for all accounts starts from the 90%, so it’s on par, if not better, compared to industry standards. The traders can push their profit split up to 100% with the add-on. Naturally, it is the best choice for the traders who do not want to give up any of their earnings.
Payout Rules
| Categories | Details |
| Profit Split | 90% (Default)- 100% ( With Add-on) |
| Payment Method | Crypto, Riseworks |
| Processing Fees | $35 (Riseworks) |
| Processing Time | 24 hours |
| Payout Frequency | Bi-weekly (default), Weekly & On-demand (add-on) |
| Minimum Withdrawal | $100 |
Support
-Overall: The support team at AquaFunded is friendly and easy to reach, which helps traders get answers accurately.
-Key finding: The support team helps through Discord chat, email, and live chat. It is available 24/7, which is an edge for the traders to get help at any time.
-Key positive: I really appreciate Aqua’s support, as their responses feel knowledgeable and direct, not generic or copy-pasted.
-Key limitation: There’s no phone support or WhatsApp chat on the site, and responses may take time.
-Best for: Traders who want honest, quick support without digging through long help pages.
The AquaFunded helps the traders day and night through Discord, live chat and Emails. In my experience, the responses were relevant and helpful. The team is easy to reach and their clear, practical guidance makes everything simple to sort out any questions or issues right away.
Customer Support Channels
| Channel | Details |
| support@aquafunded.com | |
| Discord | https://discord.gg/g6NQV5HfJs |
| Live chat | https://www.aquafunded.com/ |
Support Test
During my testing, I asked technical questions to support the team through their Discord and live chat. The replies were accurate and straight to the point. However, the response time was a bit slower compared to other propfirms. I faced confusion because of two outdated articles on the site but the support team was helpful in clearing up the confusion when asked directly.
Education
The AquaFunded offers blogs, educational guides, trading psychology tips, strategy advice, and market reviews which really help traders in learning about trading. Their YouTube channel is loaded with tutorials and strategy breakdowns. AquaFunded puts effort into giving traders the tools they need to grow.
The Bottom Line
Overall, the trading conditions provided by AquaFunded are slightly below average, as we see higher trading costs. However, the platforms and rules flexibility is the real edge. It offers four different trading platforms, up to 1:100 leverage, allowing news trading, copy trading, EAs, overnight and weekend holding, which is a great benefit as a trader.
Once funded, the leverage falls to 1:50, and the consistency rule in some accounts kicks in. In general, there is a 1% – 2% floating loss limit, only 43 instruments, higher spreads, swap fee charge on holding overnight or weekend, all these points might create problems for some traders.
The scaling plan up to $4M, profit split up to 100%, 24 hrs payout processing covers some of the drawbacks. All accounts have the default bi-weekly payout schedule. Instant Accounts have the option to purchase on-demand payouts (for first payouts only), and Challenge Accounts have the option to purchase weekly payouts. This can be purchased as an add-on at checkout which is favorable for the traders who want to withdraw their profit at their will.
In my experience, the support team of this firm was accurate and straightforward as I faced some problems when I found that one article was not updated and I contacted the support team and they helped me out with this situation. The response time was around 15 minutes on average – slightly worse than industry competition.
About the Author
Leveraging years of hands-on experience, Soban provides in-depth reviews of proprietary trading firms, carefully evaluating their models, rules, and impact on traders.
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