3 Best Prop Firms for Stock Trading in 2026: Ranked and Reviewed

I believe stock trading in the prop firm industry is still largely untapped and it is really difficult to choose a prop firm that allows stocks trading with good conditions and structure. Choosing a prop firm for stocks is more nuanced than it appears, especially when it comes to understanding whether you are trading real stocks or stock CFDs. In my experience only a small number of firms offer real equities, while most operate using CFDs, a distinction that is easy to miss but important in practice.

To make this decision easier, we did the heavy lifting for you and tested over 20 prop firms offering stock trading and spent over 120 hours evaluating them under real trading conditions. Many firms look similar at first glance, but meaningful differences emerge once you start trading, particularly around payout reliability, drawdown rules, and execution quality.

While evaluating, I mainly focused on how these firms perform in practice, assessing payout speed, rule enforcement during live trades, platform stability during active market hours, and the quality of support when real issues arise, rather than relying on marketing claims. Since every trader has different goals and styles, there is no single best option for everyone. Instead, we grouped and ranked firms based on their strengths, helping traders choose what truly fits their trading approach.

List of Best Prop Firms for Stock Trading in 2026

How Did FXEmpire Choose the Best Prop Firms for Stocks?

When I first started in prop trading, the hardest part was figuring out which firms were actually trustworthy. Many firms looked solid on paper and had big marketing claims, but it was difficult to know how they performed once real trading and payouts were involved.

To make that decision easier, we purchased challenges ourselves and tested each firm under real trading conditions, from onboarding and platform performance to how payouts are handled. We then benchmarked them against industry standards, rating each firm based on trust, payout reliability, trading rules, costs, platform stability, and long term viability.

• Prop Firm Reputation & Trust: I’ve seen traders over the years run into serious issues when firms delay payouts, change rules, or disappear once accounts become profitable, which is why trust and reputation are non-negotiable for me. To assess this, I looked beyond marketing and examined each firm’s operating history alongside real trader experiences. I reviewed verified feedback and complaints on platforms like Trustpilot, Prop Firm Match, and other independent sources to understand how these firms behave in practice, not just how they present themselves.
• Stock Trading Access: Not all prop firms offer stock trading, and among those that do, some provide access to real stocks while others use stock CFDs. That is why I tested the exact stock offering at each firm, reviewed the range of available stocks and leverage, and examined key trading rules such as news trading, overnight holding, short selling and other restrictions that can affect how you trade.
• Stock Trading Rules & Restrictions: When it comes to stock trading with prop firms, my experience has shown that trading rules, margin requirements, and volatility matter far more than other asset classes. While standard challenge criteria like profit targets and daily or maximum drawdowns are fairly consistent across firms, stock specific restrictions vary widely. Leverage is often reduced, overnight and weekend holding may be limited, short selling can be restricted, and some firms prohibit news trading, high volatility stocks, or automated strategies altogether.
  Because of this, I reviewed each of these rules individually to understand how firms actually apply them in practice. We also paid close attention to how trading is handled during news events and periods of heightened volatility, particularly around market opens, closes, and earnings releases. From experience, this is where unclear rules tend to cause the most issues, which is why understanding these conditions upfront is critical for stock traders.
  To verify how these rules work in practice, we went through FAQs, fine print, detailed rule documents, and even spoke directly with chat support. From our experience, stock volatility can increase quickly, and margin rules are often stricter than in forex or index CFDs.
• Risk Model for Stock Volatility: I have seen stocks going crazy and moving sharply in a short period of time, which makes risk management a critical part of stock trading with prop firms. To assess whether a firm is truly stable, I looked closely at how it manages volatility through its risk model. This included reviewing daily loss limits, maximum drawdowns, margin requirements, leverage restrictions, and rules around overnight exposure. From our experience, firms with clear and well-enforced risk controls are better equipped to handle sudden market moves, as we often see in stocks.
• Trading Costs on Stocks: Trading costs generally fall into two clear categories. The first is the upfront challenge fee, which varies depending on the account size and the structure of the challenge. The second is the ongoing cost of trading, which directly impacts profitability once you are actively trading.
  To get a realistic picture, I looked beyond advertised pricing and focused on the actual costs traders face in practice. This included spreads, commissions, HTB fees, and overnight holding fees on CFD accounts, as well as how challenge fees change based on account size and the number of stages required to get funded. From my experience, some firms are more beginner friendly, while others charge more but offer stronger long term scaling potential.
• Earnings & News Trading Policy: Trading stocks around company announcements or major news events can be challenging due to the sharp increase in volatility. To account for this, we assessed which prop firms allow news trading and which impose restrictions, and we tested how these rules are enforced in real trading conditions. From our experience, clear and consistently applied rules are essential during high volatility periods, as they help traders manage risk more effectively and avoid unexpected losses or rule violations.
• Short-Selling & Stock-Specific Limitations: From my experience, short selling is one of those tools you truly appreciate once you start trading stocks seriously. We have seen how powerful it can be in real markets, with cases like GameStop showing how aggressive short positions can reshape price action and volatility. Being able to trade downside moves is essential for many stock strategies.
  In the prop firm space, most stock trading happens in a simulated environment or CFD stocks that track real market prices, which generally makes short selling much easier since it is not limited by share availability or borrowing constraints.
• Trading Platforms for Stocks: As a trader, I know how critical platforms are to execution, since this is where trades actually happen. Lag or crashes during active market hours can be both frustrating and costly. Platform choice also depends on whether you are trading real stocks or stock CFDs. CFD stocks are typically traded on simpler platforms like MetaTrader, while real stock trading usually requires more advanced platforms such as Trader Evolution.
  We tested all the available platforms in the prop industry including cTrader, DXTrade, and Match Trader, focusing on execution speed, stability during busy U.S. market hours, and performance in fast moving conditions. From our experience, a stable and responsive platform often makes the difference between missing a trade and executing it cleanly, especially during a volatile market.
• Payout History & Reliability: We assessed the payout history and reliability by reviewing records from sources such as Prop Firm Match and Payout Junction, along with discussions across Discord, social media, and trader communities. When payouts were reported as rejected, we checked for valid reasons like KYC issues or prohibited trading behavior and contacted firms when clarification was needed. Unresolved complaints counted against a firm’s reliability.
• Scaling Plans for Stock Traders: As stock traders, we value uncapped growth potential, so we focused on whether firms offer a clear and realistic path to scaling for stock accounts. This included reviewing maximum funding limits, how scaling applies to stock trading specifically, and the performance requirements needed to grow an account over time while trading equities.

Prop Firms Comparison Table

How to Choose the Best Prop Firm for Stock Trading

Real Stocks vs Stock CFDs

Most prop firms offer stock trading through CFDs, while Trade The Pool is one of the few that focus on real stock trading. The key point is that one is not inherently better than the other. The right choice depends on context, trading style, and individual needs.

Trading real stocks means you are dealing with actual equities, whereas stock CFDs simply track the price of the underlying stock without ownership. In prop firms, both models allow leverage and short selling, which adds flexibility but also introduces higher risk, margin requirements, overnight fees, and potential slippage. From experience, these differences matter more in practice than on paper, and understanding how each structure works helps traders choose what aligns best with their strategy rather than assuming one approach is superior.

Do you need real equity exposure, or does your strategy work with stock CFDs?

Choosing between real stocks and stock CFDs really depends on how you trade. From what i know, testing different prop firms, this decision can affect everything from costs and risk to access and growth potential. Here’s what matters most:

Trading Strategy: As we noticed in the prop firm industry, especially in stocks, long-term holding works best with real stocks, as there are no overnight charges. CFDs normally are just tracking the stock prices and might charge the overnight holding fees.

Rules Complexity: Real stock trading comes with a slightly different set of rules that traders need to understand upfront. These often include minimum holding times, minimum profit requirements, and different buying power for intraday, overnight, and weekend positions. None of these are inherently negative, but they do add an extra layer of structure that can take time to get used to.

Stock CFDs, on the other hand, tend to feel more familiar, especially for traders coming from forex. The mechanics are simpler, leverage is usually lower, and position management follows a more straightforward model. The key is not which approach is better, but understanding these differences early so you can choose the structure that best fits how you trade.

Market Access: What’s interesting is that most prop firms offering stocks provide only limited access to a small selection of symbols. In contrast, stock focused firms like Trade The Pool offer a much broader universe of stocks. I know that this wider access makes a meaningful difference for traders who rely on stock selection, sector rotation, or specific equity setups.

Does the firm offer the specific stocks you trade (US equities, ETFs, large caps, high-volatility names)?

In most cases, prop firms that offer stock CFDs limit traders to just a handful of major names like AAPL, MSFT, or TSLA. In contrast, stock dedicated firms such as Trade The Pool provide access to a much broader universe, with more than 12,000 stocks and ETFs.

There is nothing more frustrating to me than buying a challenge and then realizing you cannot trade the instruments your strategy is built around. Missing a key U.S. equity, ETF, or large cap stock can throw off your plan, slow your progress, and impact performance. That is why I would recommend checking instrument availability first. Making sure a firm supports the exact stocks your strategy depends on, so you can freely trade.

Can your strategy survive the firm’s drawdown rules during earnings and overnight gaps?

As a trader, your strategy needs to be robust and capable of avoiding deep drawdowns, especially since prop firms operate under strict rules around risk, earnings volatility, and overnight gaps. A strategy may look profitable in backtests or personal accounts, but it still has to function within prop firm constraints and real market conditions.

As we see, firms handle these risks very differently. Some allow larger drawdowns, others keep them tight. Some use static drawdowns, while others apply trailing models. Certain firms allow holding positions through news and earnings, while others restrict exposure or impose stricter limits. That is why carefully reviewing the detailed rules is essential before choosing a firm, to ensure your strategy can realistically operate without breaching drawdowns or running into unexpected restrictions.

Are overnight, weekend, and multi-day holds permitted without extra restrictions?

If you are a swing trader who holds positions overnight, you need to be especially careful, as not all prop firms support this style easily. Based on our assessment and testing, many firms reduce exposure or restrict overnight holding altogether. In the case of stock CFDs, overnight holding fees are often applied as well. From a trader’s perspective, it is important to understand these costs, restrictions, and exposure limits upfront so your strategy is not negatively affected once you are live.

Does the firm allow short-selling, and are there restrictions that affect bearish setups?

If you are a short seller looking to profit from downside moves, there might be some restrictions, but in prop firms trading is usually done in a simulated environment or through stock CFDs. This generally makes short selling much easier, since it is not limited by share availability or borrowing requirements, and gives traders more flexibility when executing short strategies. That said, it is still important to confirm with the firm that there are no additional restrictions, so you can trade with confidence rather than running into issues later.

Are stock commissions, spreads, and holding fees low enough for your strategy to remain profitable?

Trading costs can feel insignificant at first, but over hundreds of trades, small differences add up quickly and can have a real impact on profitability. As a trader, it is important to understand the full cost structure, including spreads, stock commissions, HTB fees and overnight holding costs (CFDs), and to choose a firm that offers conditions aligned with your strategy.

With real stock trading, overnight holding fees are typically not charged, while stock CFDs often include overnight swaps that can become costly for swing traders. From my review, stock dedicated firms like Trade The Pool avoid overnight fees and do not charge HTB fees either which is a great benefit to traders. Ultimately, understanding which structure a firm uses and how costs are applied helps you choose an environment that fits your trading style.

Is the drawdown model trailing or static, and how does it react to rapid stock moves?

It is very important to understand whether a firm uses a static or trailing drawdown, especially in volatile markets. With a trailing drawdown, your floating P&L can push the drawdown level higher, and if the market reverses, the remaining drawdown allowance can shrink quickly. This often catches traders off guard.

You should always look for and prioritize firms that use a static drawdown, as it offers a clear advantage. This is because it is calculated from the initial balance and remains fixed, rather than tightening as your equity fluctuates.A static drawdown gives you more room to trade with confidence, allowing you to execute your strategy without worrying about a shrinking risk limit as your equity fluctuates.

Does the platform support the stock trading features you need, and is it stable during US session peaks?

As we know, trade execution could be make or break for many traders, and that’s why platforms play an important role in stock prop trading. Stock dedicated firms like Trade The Pool typically use advanced platforms such as Trader Evolution, which are built specifically for stock execution. In contrast, firms offering stock CFDs usually rely on more traditional CFD platforms like MetaTrader, cTrader, or Match Trader.

What I think is, the key is not just the platform type, but how stable its execution is under pressure. During volatile market conditions, especially around opens, news, or earnings, you want your orders to be filled as intended so it’s important to make sure the platform you use can handle fast markets reliably, which is essential for avoiding missed trades and unnecessary slippage.

Are payouts frequent and transparent, and do they apply equally to stock profits?

As we see most prop firms offer a standard profit split in the 70% to 80% range. Stock dedicated firms like Trade The Pool start at a 70% split, which is slightly on the lower side, but this is balanced by access to real stocks and a stock focused trading environment. On the other hand, firms offering stock CFDs typically start around 80% and may increase the split further through scaling plans.

As a prop trader, profit share matters to me just as much as trading conditions. That is why it is important to check the profit split structure upfront and understand how it evolves over time, so you know exactly how much of your performance you get to keep.

Can you scale funded capital as a stock trader without stricter rules or reduced flexibility?

Nothing is more frustrating than building momentum with a strategy only to hit a capital ceiling that forces you to slow down or change your approach. Stock dedicated propfirm Trade The Pool offers a reasonable scaling structure where each time a trader makes 10% on the initial account, buying power increases by 5%, and the daily pause expands by 10%.

Firms offering stock CFDs, like FTMO, usually follow the traditional scaling models, increasing capital and profit splits as performance targets are met. As scaling can vary a lot between firms, it is always worth reviewing the FAQs and scaling terms carefully to make sure the growth potential matches your long term trading goals.