Quick Answer — Apex Performance Account — Key Facts (as of April 2026)
- • PA activation fee: $99 EOD / $79 Intraday — due within 7 calendar days of passing eval, NOT discounted by promo codes
- • Profit split: 100% to trader on all PA accounts (changed post-4.0 from 80%)
- • Consistency rule: 50% — no single day can exceed 50% of total cycle profits (PA only)
- • Payout cycle: 5 qualifying days required; min payout $500; min daily profit $100–$350 by account size
- • Half-contract phase: until balance exceeds drawdown threshold + $100, you trade at 50% of max PA contracts
- • Payouts via Plane (international) + ACH (US), processed 24–48h
Direct experience: 2–3 years on Apex's $50K accounts, ~$16,000 paid via Wise, bought on heavy promo cycles. Post-4.0 the structure is: Evaluation ($197 EOD / $131 Intraday on $50K retail, often 90% off) → Performance Account (100% profit split, $99 EOD / $79 Intraday activation fee, not discounted) → up to 20 funded PAs running simultaneously. I tested $50K; $25K, $100K, $150K accounts are third-person in my writing. Account-by-account breakdown in Apex accounts overview, full assessment in the Apex review. Current pricing at Apex Trader Funding.
The Apex Performance Account (PA) is the funded phase you unlock after passing the evaluation. Post-4.0, the PA operates under a simpler and more trader-favorable structure than the legacy model: 100% profit split, a single consistency rule, a 6-step payout ladder, and automated payouts via Plane or ACH. The evaluation sim is gone — the term "sim funded" no longer applies under 4.0. What you trade in the PA is a funded account with real P&L tracking and a real payout structure.
This is the complete PA phase reference. For the evaluation phase rules, see Apex Evaluation Account Rules. For the broader accounts overview including all four sizes and both drawdown types, see the Apex Account Types pillar.
PA activation fee — $99 EOD / $79 Intraday
The first PA-specific fact new traders miss: passing the evaluation does not automatically activate your PA. You have to pay a separate, one-time activation fee.
| Account type | PA activation fee | Payment deadline |
|---|---|---|
| EOD Performance Account | $99 | Within 7 calendar days of passing |
| Intraday Performance Account | $79 | Within 7 calendar days of passing |
Critical detail: Promo codes do not apply to the PA activation fee. Apex's 80–90% off promo cycles (like SAVENOW) discount the evaluation purchase only. If you bought a $100K EOD evaluation at 90% off and paid roughly $30, your total cost before you can withdraw is approximately $129 — the ~$30 eval plus the $99 PA fee. Budget for both numbers.
If you don't pay the activation fee within 7 calendar days, the PA offer lapses. You'd need to restart an evaluation to get another PA pass. There's no grace period extension; the 7-day window is hard.
For a dedicated breakdown of the activation fee across account types and common scenarios, see Apex PA Activation Fee.
Profit split — 100%
All Apex PA accounts post-4.0 pay a 100% profit split. Every dollar of profit you generate in the PA goes to you.
The legacy 80% split that appeared in older PTV content and across many third-party review sites is no longer accurate for accounts purchased or passed after March 1, 2026. If you're reading reviews mentioning "80% split," those predate the 4.0 rebuild. The split is now 100%, confirmed across Apex's current help center and the Sanity propFirm record.
The 50% consistency rule — PA only
The consistency rule is the primary behavioral constraint on the PA phase. The evaluation has no consistency rule; the PA does.
The rule: No single trading day's profit can exceed 50% of your total profits since your last payout (or since PA start for the first cycle).
How it triggers:
- Your total PA profits since last payout: $4,000
- Your single biggest day: $2,200
- Concentration: $2,200 / $4,000 = 55% — above the 50% cap
- Payout request held until ratio drops below 50%
How to fix it: Trade more days. Each additional profitable day increases the total, which dilutes the big day's share. If you add another $600 in profits, your total becomes $4,600 and the big day's share drops to 47.8% — below the cap.
Who gets caught: Traders who bank one large event-driven day (FOMC, CPI, NFP) then try to pull a payout immediately. If that single day produced more than half the cycle's profits, the payout stalls.
Who doesn't get caught: Traders with distributed winning patterns — many $300–$800 days rather than one $3,000 day. The consistency rule structurally favors volume over episodic big wins.
The Apex Consistency Rule article covers edge cases, calculation examples, and what "profits since last payout" means in practice.
Qualifying days and minimum daily profit
You need 5 qualifying days before requesting a PA payout. A qualifying day means you traded and hit the minimum daily profit threshold for your account size.
EOD account thresholds
| Account size | Min daily profit (qualifying day) |
|---|---|
| $25K | $100 |
| $50K | $250 |
| $100K | $300 |
| $150K | $350 |
Intraday account thresholds
| Account size | Min daily profit (qualifying day) |
|---|---|
| $25K | $100 |
| $50K | $200 |
| $100K | $250 |
| $150K | $300 |
Note on EOD vs Intraday thresholds: The thresholds are different by account type. PTV's legacy content used Intraday thresholds for both, that's incorrect for EOD accounts. If you're on a $50K EOD, your qualifying day requires $250 in profit, not $200.
The 5 days do not need to be consecutive. You can take a qualifying day Monday, skip Tuesday and Wednesday, take Thursday, and continue until you've accumulated 5. Once you hit 5 qualifying days and meet the consistency rule, the payout is available.
Minimum payout and safety net
| Account size | Drawdown | Safety net (DD + $100) | Min balance to withdraw |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25K EOD | $1,000 | $26,100 | $26,600 |
| $50K EOD | $2,000 | $52,100 | $52,600 |
| $100K EOD | $3,000 | $103,100 | $103,600 |
| $150K EOD | $4,000 | $154,100 | $154,600 |
Minimum payout amount: $500.
Safety net is the balance threshold at which the drawdown floor sits, plus a $100 buffer. Until your balance exceeds the safety net, you cannot request a payout, regardless of how many qualifying days you have. On a $50K EOD account, your balance needs to be above $52,100 before a payout is even possible, and the payout itself has a $500 floor.
In practice, for most $50K accounts: you're hitting your first qualifying days while your balance is building from $50K toward the $52,100 threshold. The two requirements (5 qualifying days + balance above safety net) often resolve around the same time for steady traders.
Half-contract restriction, early PA phase
New PA accounts start with a restriction: you can only trade at 50% of your maximum PA contract count until the balance clears the safety net.
PA contract limits (full vs half-contract phase)
| Account size | Eval contracts | Max PA contracts | Half-contract phase (restricted) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25K | 4 | 2 | 1 contract |
| $50K | 6 | 4 | 2 contracts |
| $100K | 8 | 6 | 3 contracts |
| $150K | 12 | 9 | 4–5 contracts |
The switch: Once your balance clears the safety net (drawdown + $100), full PA contracts unlock at the next session open. The system checks at session start; you don't need to contact support.
Why the restriction exists: In the early PA days, your account has no cushion above the drawdown floor. If you traded at full PA size from day one and hit a bad session, the drawdown could wipe the account before you've had time to build any buffer. The half-contract phase is a structural brake, not a judgment on your trading.
What changes at the eval-to-PA transition: Contract limits drop when you move from eval to PA. This is intentional, it reflects the shift from a defined-risk evaluation environment to actual funded trading. The drawdown type and floor don't change, but the position-size ceiling does.
I've traded Apex for 2–3 years across diverse $50K accounts, with up to 10 running in parallel. The half-contract phase on $50K is manageable, 2 contracts on ES or NQ is still meaningful size. The real issue isn't the restriction; it's making sure you clear the safety net before the consistency rule requirement compounds. Keep position sizing controlled in the first 5–10 trading sessions.
Payout ladder, 6 steps by account size
Each completed payout cycle advances you one step on the ladder, increasing your per-cycle payout cap.
EOD payout ladder
| Step | $25K cap | $50K cap | $100K cap | $150K cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| 2 | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,500 | $3,000 |
| 3 | $1,000 | $2,000 | $2,500 | $3,000 |
| 4 | $1,000 | $2,500 | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| 5 | $1,000 | $2,500 | $4,000 | $4,000 |
| 6 | $1,000 | $3,000 | $4,000 | $5,000 |
Note on $100K steps 3 and 5: The multi-source online figures ($2,500 at step 3, $4,000 at step 5) differ from some older PTV content that showed $3,000 and $3,500. The table above reflects the multi-source verified figures. Manual verification against `apextraderfunding.com/help-center/eod-trailing-drawdown-accounts/eod-payouts/` is recommended before assuming either figure.
$25K ladder: The $25K cap is fixed at $1,000 per cycle across all 6 steps. There's no payout growth on the $25K account, it's a flat structure regardless of how many cycles you complete. For traders whose goal is scaling payout volume, the $50K or $100K is the more efficient size.
How the cap works: The cap is the maximum you can withdraw in a single payout cycle, not a daily or weekly limit. If you've accumulated $3,500 in profit on a step-3 $50K account (cap $2,000), you can withdraw $2,000 and leave $1,500 in the account. The residual rolls into the next cycle.
For strategy around maximizing payout cycle efficiency, see Apex First Payout Strategy and Apex Payout Rules.
Payout processing, Plane and ACH
Apex processes PA payouts via two rails:
| Trader location | Payout method | Processing time |
|---|---|---|
| International (non-US) | Plane | 24–48 hours |
| United States | ACH | 24–48 hours |
Deel is no longer the payout processor. Apex switched payment rails post-4.0. If you've read older PTV content or third-party reviews referencing Deel, that was the legacy processor on pre-4.0 accounts. All new PA accounts (and legacy account payouts going forward) use Plane or ACH.
I pulled around $16K in cumulative Apex payouts over 2–3 years, all via Wise transfers in the pre-4.0 era. The rail structure post-4.0 is different, Plane is the designated international processor now. The 24–48 hour processing window matches what I experienced historically; same speed, different intermediary.
ACH notes for US traders: ACH requires a verified US bank account on file. Transfers are generally next-business-day depending on your bank's processing schedule.
For the full payout rules including timing edge cases and the $500 minimum, see Apex Payout Rules.
Drawdown mechanics on the PA
The PA uses the same drawdown type as the evaluation, based on which account type you purchased:
- EOD Performance Account: EOD-trailing drawdown. Drawdown floor moves only at session close, not intraday.
- Intraday Performance Account: Intraday-trailing drawdown. Floor moves with each new high in account value, including unrealized profits during the session.
Drawdown thresholds by PA size (EOD):
| Account size | Drawdown threshold |
|---|---|
| $25K | $1,000 |
| $50K | $2,000 |
| $100K | $3,000 |
| $150K | $4,000 |
The EOD-trailing structure is more forgiving for traders who hold positions through intraday volatility, a drawdown during the session doesn't move the floor, only the end-of-day closing balance does. For a full breakdown of the EOD vs Intraday drawdown mechanics, see Apex EOD vs Intraday Accounts.
Position rules, the PA phase
The PA inherits all standard position rules from the evaluation:
- Close by 4:59 PM ET daily. No overnight holdings permitted.
- No weekend positions. Friday 4:59 PM ET cutoff applies.
- No metals (as of March 14, 2026). GC, SI, QI, QO, MGC, HG, PL, and PA futures are all suspended. This includes the e-mini QI and QO contracts that many traders aren't aware of.
- Platform locked. The platform you selected at evaluation purchase (Rithmic, Tradovate, or WealthCharts) stays fixed for that account. You cannot switch mid-account.
For the complete rules framework that applies across both eval and PA phases, see Apex Rules Overview. For contract limits per instrument, see Apex Contract Limits.
Multiple PA accounts
Apex allows up to 20 Performance Accounts simultaneously (combined across EOD, Intraday, and any legacy accounts). This is the highest parallel-account cap in funded futures and Apex's primary USP for scaling.
Each PA is independent for rule-tracking purposes:
- Each PA has its own 5-qualifying-day counter
- Each PA has its own consistency rule tracked from last payout
- Each PA has its own payout ladder step
- Each PA has its own half-contract phase until its balance clears its own safety net
Copy trading across your own PAs: Permitted. One leader PA can copy into up to 19 follower PAs. Each follower PA still independently needs to meet its 5 qualifying days and 50% consistency before requesting a payout. See Apex Copy Trading Rules for the full framework.
Strategy note: Running 10 PAs in parallel via copy trade is how the per-cycle payout caps compound meaningfully. If step-1 on a $50K PA caps at $1,500, running 10 simultaneously makes the effective monthly ceiling $15,000 before moving to step 2 on any individual account. I ran up to 10 parallel $50K accounts at peak, that copy-trade structure is the reason Apex was part of my funded account stack for years.
For the multi-account strategy framework, see Apex Multi-Account Strategy.
PA vs evaluation, what changes at the transition
| Parameter | Evaluation | Performance Account |
|---|---|---|
| Profit split | N/A (no payout) | 100% |
| Consistency rule | None | 50% (single day cap) |
| Qualifying days | N/A | 5 per payout cycle |
| Contract limit | Full eval contracts | Half until safety net cleared, then full PA contracts |
| Drawdown trail | Same type (EOD/Intraday) | Same type, no structural change |
| Payout cap | N/A | 6-step ladder |
| Activation fee | Eval purchase price | $99 (EOD) / $79 (Intraday), separate payment |
The critical changes: profit now exists (100% of it), but position limits drop and a consistency constraint appears. Traders who dominated the evaluation with a few big days need to adjust their rhythm in the PA, the consistency rule will hold payouts if the pattern continues. Traders with steady, distributed profit patterns make the transition cleanly.
The bottom line
The Apex PA post-4.0 is a meaningfully better funded phase than the legacy model. 100% profit split, automated payouts via Plane or ACH, and a 6-step payout ladder that scales with demonstrated performance. The main friction points: the $99/$79 activation fee that new traders miss, the 50% consistency rule that catches event-trading patterns, and the half-contract restriction in the early sessions before the safety net clears. Plan for all three before you request your first payout. The $50K EOD account hits the best balance of activation cost, contract headroom, and payout ladder trajectory for most traders building toward the 10–20 parallel-account setup that defines Apex's real scaling story.
Start with the Apex Account Types guide to choose your size, then read Apex PA Activation Fee for the full cost picture before buying an evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Apex Performance Account activation fee?
The PA activation fee is $99 for EOD accounts and $79 for Intraday accounts. It's a one-time fee due within 7 calendar days of passing the evaluation. Promo codes (including SAVENOW and other 80–90% off codes) do NOT discount the PA activation fee, they only apply to the evaluation purchase. If you don't pay within 7 days, the PA offer lapses and you'd need to restart an evaluation.
What profit split do Apex PA traders receive?
100% profit split. As of the 4.0 rebuild in March 2026, Apex pays traders 100% of PA profits. The legacy 80% split is no longer in effect for accounts purchased or passed post-4.0. This is the full amount, no management fee skimmed, no tiered split structure.
What is the 50% consistency rule on the Apex PA?
The consistency rule caps any single trading day's profit at 50% of total cycle profits since your last payout. If one day accounts for more than half your total, your payout request will be held until you add more trading days to dilute the ratio below 50%. The rule applies only on the PA phase, not during the evaluation. It exists to ensure payouts reflect repeatable trading rather than one large outlier day.
How many qualifying days do I need before requesting a PA payout?
5 qualifying days per payout cycle. A qualifying day requires meeting the minimum daily profit threshold for your account size: $100 for the $25K, $250 for the $50K, $300 for the $100K, and $350 for the $150K (EOD accounts). Intraday thresholds are slightly lower: $100/$200/$250/$300. The 5 days do not need to be consecutive.
What is the minimum payout amount at Apex?
The minimum payout request is $500. Your account balance must also clear the safety net before you can withdraw, that's the drawdown threshold plus $100. For a $50K EOD account (drawdown $2,000), your balance must be at least $52,100 before a payout is possible, and the withdrawal itself has a $500 floor.
What is the half-contract restriction on the Apex PA?
When a PA account starts, you're restricted to half your maximum PA contract count. For a $50K EOD account (max 4 PA contracts), you begin at 2 contracts. Once your account balance exceeds the drawdown threshold plus $100 (the safety net), full contracts unlock at the next session open. This restriction protects both you and Apex from maximum-size losses in the early PA phase before the account has cushion above the drawdown floor.
How does the Apex PA payout ladder work?
Apex uses a 6-step payout ladder where your per-cycle payout cap increases with each successful payout. For the $50K EOD account: steps 1–2 cap at $1,500, step 3 at $2,000, steps 4–5 at $2,500, step 6 at $3,000. The $100K EOD ladder runs $2,000 / $2,500 / $2,500 / $3,000 / $4,000 / $4,000. Each completed payout cycle advances you one step. There is no ladder on $25K accounts, the cap stays at $1,000 per cycle across all steps.
How does Apex process PA payouts?
Apex processes payouts via Plane for international traders and ACH for US-based traders. Processing time is 24–48 hours. Deel is no longer the payout processor, it was used on legacy pre-4.0 accounts only. If you were on a legacy account that processed via Deel, new PA accounts post-4.0 will use Plane or ACH.
What drawdown type applies on the Apex PA?
EOD-trailing drawdown on EOD Performance Accounts, Intraday-trailing on Intraday Performance Accounts. The drawdown does not change structure between the evaluation and PA phase, it's the same mechanism throughout. The drawdown floor is $1,000 for $25K accounts, $2,000 for $50K, $3,000 for $100K, and $4,000 for $150K EOD accounts.
What is the position close time on the Apex PA?
All positions must be closed by 4:59 PM ET daily. No overnight holdings are permitted. The PA phase inherits the same intraday-only trading model as the evaluation. Positions still open at the close cutoff are auto-flattened.
How many PA accounts can I run simultaneously?
Up to 20 Performance Accounts simultaneously (combined EOD + Intraday + Legacy accounts). This is Apex's standout USP in the funded futures space. Each PA must independently meet the consistency rule and qualifying-day requirements before a payout can be requested. Copy trading between your own PAs is permitted.
Can I copy-trade across my Apex PA accounts?
Yes, copy trading between your own accounts is explicitly permitted. You can run one leader PA with up to 19 follower PAs mirroring entries and exits. Each follower PA must independently satisfy the consistency rule and 5-day qualifying requirement before requesting a payout. Copying another trader's signals or acting as a signal provider for others is prohibited.
Are metals available on Apex PA accounts?
No. All metals trading (GC, SI, QI, QO, MGC, HG, PL, PA contracts) has been suspended since March 14, 2026, two weeks after the 4.0 launch. No return date has been announced. If metals were a core part of your strategy, this is a meaningful limitation. Equity index futures (ES, NQ, RTY, YM) and energy/currency futures remain available.