Alpha Futures Account Overview: Standard, Advanced & Zero — Which One Fits Your Trading?

Alpha Futures runs three account types — Standard, Advanced, and Zero — and picking the wrong one costs you more than just the monthly fee. I've traded Standard and Advanced accounts over the past several months, passed multiple evaluations, and pulled payouts from both paths. The difference between these plans isn't just pricing — it's how the rules shape your daily trading behavior, what you can withdraw, and how fast your profits actually hit your bank account.

Here's what nobody tells you upfront: the "cheapest" plan isn't always the cheapest path to funded. And the most expensive plan isn't automatically the best one for your strategy. It depends on three things — how consistent your P&L is day-to-day, whether you trade around news events, and how much you realistically expect to withdraw per cycle.

This guide breaks down every account type at Alpha Futures so you can match the right plan to your actual trading — not the one that looks best on a marketing page.

Quick heads-up: This article is based on my real experience with Alpha Futures and the info available when I published/updated this. Things change in prop trading — rules, payouts, promos, all of it.

For the absolute latest, check Alpha Futures's website or their help center.

The Three Alpha Futures Account Types at a Glance

Before we go deep on each plan, here's the side-by-side that actually matters. I've stripped out the marketing language and focused on what impacts your trading and income.

That's a lot of data. Let me break each one down with what actually matters in practice.

Standard: The Budget-Friendly Path (With a Catch)

Standard is where most traders start, and honestly? That makes sense for a lot of people. At $79/month for a 50K account, it's one of the more affordable subscription-based evals in the futures space right now.

The profit target is reasonable — $3,000 on a 50K account, which is 6%. That's achievable in 5-8 trading days if you're sizing at 2-3 contracts on NQ and targeting $400-$600 daily. The drawdown is $2,000 (4%), daily-balance-based trailing. Not tight, not generous — about average for futures props.

Where Standard Gets Tricky

The 50% eval consistency rule means no single day can exceed half your total profits. So if you make $1,800 on Monday, you need at least $1,800 more spread across other days before passing. That's not hard if you're naturally consistent, but it forces patience on traders who have one strong setup per week and smaller days otherwise.

Once funded, it drops to 40% consistency — which is actually tighter in practice because the denominator resets after each payout. I've seen traders breeze through eval and then get stuck on their first funded withdrawal because one NFP Friday was 45% of their cycle profits.

The other thing — the tiered profit split. You start at 70% and don't hit 90% until your fifth payout. That's roughly 10 weeks minimum of funded trading before you're keeping the same percentage that Advanced gives from day one. On a $2,000 payout at 70%, you're getting $1,400. At 90%, that's $1,800. Over five payouts, the difference adds up to real money.

Who Should Pick Standard

Traders still dialing in their edge. If you're not sure you'll pass on the first attempt, the $79/month burn rate is way easier to stomach than $139. Traders who don't trade news — the 2-minute buffer only matters if news events are part of your strategy. And traders who plan to stay funded long-term — because the 90% split does eventually kick in, and at that point Standard becomes the cheapest plan to maintain.

Advanced: Pay More, Earn More (If You're Already Consistent)

Advanced is the plan for traders who already know they can pass and want maximum payout speed and flexibility. Everything costs more — the subscription, the higher 8% profit target during eval — but the funded benefits are substantial.

90% profit split from day one. No consistency rule on funded accounts. Weekly payouts after hitting 5 winning days (each $200+). No Daily Loss Guard after funding. News trading allowed everywhere.

I ran an Advanced account alongside my Standard accounts, and the difference in funded trading is night and day. Not having to worry about consistency percentages changes how you trade. You can have a $2,400 Monday and $150 rest of the week — still eligible for your payout. On Standard, that same week might flag a consistency violation.

The Math That Matters

Here's where traders mess up: they compare monthly subscription cost without calculating net income after profit split.

At $2,000 monthly profit, Advanced already nets you $340 more even though the subscription is $60 higher. The break-even point is somewhere around $300/month in profit — below that, you're losing money on Advanced's premium. But if you're only making $300/month funded, you've got bigger problems than plan selection.

The 8% profit target during eval is the real gatekeeper. On a 50K, that's $4,000 instead of $3,000. With the same $2,000 drawdown. That's a 2:1 target-to-drawdown ratio, which is tight. I had to adjust my sizing strategy — smaller positions, more patience, more sessions to spread the risk. Passed in 11 days on my Advanced eval versus 6 on Standard. Doable, but it demands discipline.

Who Should Pick Advanced

Traders consistently profitable at $3,000+ monthly, news traders who rely on FOMC/NFP/CPI setups, anyone who hates consistency rules (and I get it — they're annoying), and traders who want weekly cash flow instead of waiting 14 days between withdrawals.

Zero: The Overlooked Middle Ground

Zero doesn't get enough attention. No activation fee, 90% profit split from day one, no eval consistency rule, and you can technically pass in a single day. At $99/month for 50K, it sits between Standard and Advanced pricing.

The catch — and it's a meaningful one — is the payout cap. $1,500 per request on 50K accounts. $3,000 on 100K. And the maximum account size is 100K, no 150K option.

I tested a Zero 50K account specifically to see how the DLG (Daily Loss Guard) feels during evaluation. The 2% daily loss cap means your account locks for the day if you drop $1,000 on a 50K. That sounds dramatic, but honestly? It saved me from myself twice — once during a choppy CPI morning where I would've revenge-traded if the account hadn't locked.

The Zero Sweet Spot

If your average payout would be under $1,500 anyway — and for most traders on 50K accounts, that's realistic — the Zero plan is arguably the best value. No $149 activation fee saves you upfront cash. No eval consistency rule means you can pass fast. The 90% split matches Advanced without the Advanced price tag.

The funded 40% consistency rule is the same as Standard, so that's a wash. News trading restrictions match Standard too.

Where Zero falls apart: if you're scaling and making $4,000-$5,000+ monthly. At that point, the payout cap becomes a bottleneck. You're capped at $1,500 per withdrawal, and even with multiple requests per month, you can't access your profits fast enough. That's when upgrading to Standard or Advanced makes sense.

Which Plan Should YOU Pick?

Don't overthink this. Here's my honest take after trading all three:

Pick Standard if you're still finding your edge, you want the lowest monthly burn during what might be a long evaluation phase, and you're comfortable building toward 90% over time. The patience tax is real, but the lower barrier to entry matters when you're running 2-3 failed attempts before your first pass.

Pick Advanced if you're already passing evals at other firms, you trade news events, and your strategy produces uneven daily P&L. The absence of consistency rules and the weekly payouts fundamentally change how it feels to trade funded. Worth the premium if you can handle the 8% eval target.

Pick Zero if you want to test Alpha Futures without committing $149 in activation, your expected payouts are under $1,500, or you want the fastest possible evaluation path. The no-eval-consistency-rule plus one-day-pass option makes it a great first Alpha Futures account.

One thing I'd add — and this took me embarrassingly long to figure out: you can run different plan types simultaneously. Up to 3 funded accounts total, $450K max allocation. So you could have a Standard 150K as your main earner and a Zero 50K for testing aggressive strategies. The plans don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I switch from Standard to Advanced without resetting?

No. Each plan type is a separate subscription. You'd cancel Standard, sign up for Advanced, and start a new evaluation. Your progress doesn't transfer.

Does the subscription stop once I'm funded?

Yes. Once you pass evaluation and activate your qualified account, the monthly subscription cancels automatically. You only pay the one-time activation fee ($149 for Standard/Advanced, $0 for Zero).

What's the maximum I can have across all accounts?

Three funded accounts total with a combined $450K cap. That means three 150K accounts max, or any combination adding up to $450K.

Is the Daily Loss Guard during Zero evaluation a dealbreaker?

Depends on your volatility. The 2% cap ($1,000 on 50K) locks your account for the day if hit. If you normally risk $300-$500 per trade with a tight stop, you'll likely never hit it. If you're sizing up on NQ with 15-point stops, it could trigger on a bad morning.

Do withdrawals reduce my drawdown cushion?

On Standard and Zero qualified accounts, yes — withdrawals reduce your Maximum Loss Limit. On Advanced, the same applies. Plan your withdrawal sizes so you maintain enough cushion to keep trading. I typically leave at least $800-$1,000 buffer above the drawdown line after every withdrawal.

Which plan is best for someone who's never traded a prop firm before?

Standard 50K. Lowest monthly cost, most forgiving eval target, and the cheapest reset if things go sideways. Learn the platform, learn the rules, learn your own psychology under prop firm constraints. Then upgrade once you know what you need.

Can I trade during news events on any plan?

During evaluation, all plans allow news trading. Once funded, Standard and Zero have a 2-minute buffer around major news releases — no new positions 2 minutes before or after. Advanced has zero restrictions. If you're an NFP or FOMC trader, Advanced is the move.

How fast are payouts processed?

All payout requests are processed within 48 business hours. In my experience, most hit within 24 hours if submitted early in the week. Rise payments tend to clear fastest. Bank wires take 1-3 additional business days after Alpha processes their end.

Is the 40% consistency rule hard to manage?

It's manageable with planning. The rule resets after each payout, so you just need to ensure no single day exceeds 40% of your net profits since your last withdrawal. My approach: target roughly equal daily profits ($300-$500 range) and avoid chasing home runs. If you accidentally have a big day, keep trading smaller sessions until the percentage rebalances.

Are there platform differences between plans?

No. All three plans access the same platforms — AlphaTicks, NinjaTrader, Tradovate, and TradingView via Tradovate. Platform choice is independent of account type.

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