Earn2Trade Accounts: TCP Ladder vs Gauntlet Mini (2026)

Earn2Trade runs two evaluation programs as of May 2026: the Trader Career Path (TCP), a 5-stage ladder that starts at a $25,000 evaluation and progresses to a $200,000 live account, and the Gauntlet Mini, a single-phase evaluation that funds traders at the size they evaluated on, available in $50K, $100K, $150K, and $200K tiers. Both programs share the same 80% profit split, the same "Anytime" trader-initiated payout structure, and the same futures-only asset scope across CME, COMEX, NYMEX, and CBOT. What differs is the shape of the path, and that single decision frames every other choice a trader makes inside the Earn2Trade ecosystem.

This article walks through both programs in the order a trader actually evaluates them: structure, sizes, pricing, profit split, payouts, and fit. The goal is not to recommend one over the other in the abstract, it is to surface the specific places where TCP and Gauntlet Mini diverge, so that the program selected matches the trader's experience level, capital comfort, and goal horizon.

What account programs does Earn2Trade offer?

Earn2Trade is positioned as an education-prop hybrid. That framing matters because it explains why the firm runs two structurally different evaluation programs side-by-side rather than one streamlined product. The Trader Career Path is built around a development arc, incremental size increases, capped contract counts at each stage, and a free video library bundled into every subscription. The Gauntlet Mini is built around speed, pass once at the size you want, get funded at that size, no ladder.

The two programs are not promotional variants of each other. They differ on:

• Number of phases (5 in TCP, 1 in Gauntlet Mini)
• Starting account size ($25K minimum in TCP, $50K minimum in Gauntlet Mini)
• Maximum live size reached on the published path ($200K on both, but TCP requires four upward transitions to get there)
• Drawdown progression mechanics (TCP shifts from EOD to trailing to fixed across stages; Gauntlet Mini stays trailing on the live account)
• Fee structure (TCP25 starts at $150/mo on the published pricing page; Gauntlet Mini starts from $69/mo at the $50K size)

A third product, the Beginner Crash Course, sits outside the evaluation funnel entirely. It is an education product and not a route to a funded account. Earn2Trade also bundles a free video library, study guides, and webinar access into TCP subscriptions, which reinforces the education-first framing the firm leans on in its homepage messaging.

There is one more piece of context worth surfacing before getting into the mechanics: Earn2Trade publishes its pass rate. The 2025 figure was 8.89%. Across the futures-prop landscape that level of disclosure is rare. Most firms keep pass-rate data internal because it cuts both ways, it tells confident traders that difficulty is honest, and it tells anyone hoping for a generous threshold that the bar is real. The transparency anchors the firm's "education first, evaluation second" positioning and is worth keeping in mind when weighing TCP's longer ladder against Gauntlet Mini's faster path.

For a deeper structural look at the firm's positioning, see the main Earn2Trade review and the Earn2Trade rules overview for the rulebook in detail.

How does the Trader Career Path (TCP) work?

The Trader Career Path is Earn2Trade's flagship. It is structured as a five-stage progression that walks a trader from an initial evaluation through to a $200,000 live account. Each stage has its own profit target, its own drawdown mechanics, and its own contract cap, and progression is gated on hitting the target without breaching the drawdown.

The five stages, per the live product page in May 2026, run as follows.

Stage one is the Evaluation at $25K. The trader runs on a simulated $25,000 account, with a $1,750 profit target, end-of-day (EOD) drawdown of $1,500, a $550 daily loss limit, and a maximum of three contracts. Minimum trading days is 10. A consistency rule applies, the specific percentage threshold is not published inline on product pages, so traders should consult the help center for the current detail.

Stage two is LiveSim at $25K. Once the evaluation is passed, the trader rolls onto a LiveSim account at the same $25K size. Drawdown is still EOD at $1,500. Profit target is the same $1,750. Profits earned on LiveSim are paid out by Earn2Trade from its own capital, this is the key mechanic that makes Earn2Trade's "live trading" claim work for the majority of its passers, since the 2025 data showed 94.77% of passers stayed on LiveSim rather than moving to a Live cleared account.

Stage three is Live at $25K. Drawdown converts from EOD to trailing at the same $1,500 magnitude. Daily loss limit stays at $550. The contract cap is still three. The trader is now routing real exchange-cleared positions and earning the 80% profit split on those positions.

Stage four is Live at $50K. After clearing the $25K live tier, which gates on hitting profit targets and accumulating the required scaling threshold without breach, the trader graduates to a $50K live account. Drawdown is trailing at $2,000, daily loss limit is $1,100, and the contract cap doubles to six.

Stage five is Live at $100K. Trailing drawdown at $3,500, daily loss limit at $2,200, contract cap of 12.

A sixth tier, Live at $200K, sits at the top of the ladder. Here the drawdown mechanic shifts again, from trailing to fixed (static), with the firm's published figure suggesting the drawdown locks at roughly $194,000 of account balance once the high-water mark is reached. The exact lock mechanic at this tier should be verified on earn2trade.com before relying on it for a sizing decision. Daily loss limit is $4,400 and the contract cap is 16.

The ladder framing is the point. TCP is not a single evaluation, it is a development path. A trader starts conservative, proves consistency, and unlocks more size and more contracts at each rung. The TCP subscription includes the free video library and study guides, which signals that Earn2Trade expects the early stages to function partly as paid education. For a tier-by-tier read on the rule mechanics at each stage, see the Earn2Trade Trader Career Path explainer, and for the detail on contract caps see the Earn2Trade contract limits guide.

What sizes does TCP cover?

TCP covers four account sizes across its progression: $25K, $50K, $100K, and $200K. The $75K size that sometimes appears in third-party summaries does not appear on the live product page in May 2026, recent versions of the program use $25K → $50K → $100K → $200K as the canonical ladder. If you see a $75K reference on aggregator sites, treat it as legacy and verify on earn2trade.com.

A few features of the size structure are worth noting.

First, the starting size is small by design. A $25K evaluation is unusual at the top end of the futures-prop space, many competing programs start at $50K. Starting smaller keeps fees lower at entry ($150/mo for TCP25 versus $190/mo for TCP50) and gives a less-experienced trader fewer dollars of risk per tick to absorb during the learning phase.

Second, the scaling is multiplicative, not arithmetic. From $25K to $200K is an 8x progression. From $25K to $50K is a 2x jump, then $50K to $100K another 2x, then $100K to $200K a final 2x. The contract caps roughly track this, three at $25K, six at $50K, twelve at $100K, sixteen at $200K, so the tools available at each stage scale with the capital base.

Third, the drawdown type changes across the ladder. EOD on evaluation and LiveSim, trailing on Live $25K, $50K, and $100K, then fixed on Live $200K. Each transition is its own meaningful change to how a trader manages risk intraday, and any plan for moving up the ladder needs to account for the rule shift, not just the size shift. The Earn2Trade drawdown mechanics article walks through the transitions in detail.

How does the Gauntlet Mini work?

The Gauntlet Mini is Earn2Trade's single-phase evaluation. The structure is straightforward: pick a size, pay the monthly fee, run a single evaluation, pass it, get funded at the size you evaluated on. There is no ladder. There are no upward transitions to negotiate.

The mechanics for the $50K Gauntlet Mini, per the May 2026 product page, are: $3,000 profit target, EOD drawdown of $2,000, daily loss limit of $1,100, minimum 10 trading days, six-contract cap. After passing, the account moves to LiveSim at the same $50K size with the same drawdown and limit, then to a Live cleared account where the drawdown converts to trailing at $2,000.

That last point, the drawdown conversion, is the key structural quirk of Gauntlet Mini. During evaluation and LiveSim, drawdown is end-of-day, meaning unrealized losses inside the trading day do not breach as long as the close lands above the threshold. Once on Live, drawdown becomes trailing, meaning every move higher in account equity raises the drawdown floor. A trader who is comfortable with EOD pacing during the evaluation needs to retool for a different risk regime once funded.

The Gauntlet Mini is positioned for traders who do not need a ladder. They have either traded futures elsewhere, traded other instruments and want to translate their skills, or simply do not want to pay for four months of incremental scaling. The trade-off: the entry tier is $50K rather than $25K, and the monthly fee structure differs.

The drawdown values for the $100K, $150K, and $200K Gauntlet Mini accounts were not fully recoverable from public sources during recon; verify on earn2trade.com before sizing into those tiers. For the rule-by-rule breakdown of the program, see the Gauntlet Mini explainer and the Earn2Trade evaluation rules article.

What sizes does Gauntlet Mini cover?

Gauntlet Mini is offered at four sizes per the May 2026 product page: $50K, $100K, $150K, and $200K. The $150K tier is a structural difference from TCP, TCP does not have a $150K rung, and it gives Gauntlet Mini a slightly different sizing curve.

The $50K is the entry. From there, sizes step at $100K (a 2x jump), $150K (a 1.5x jump), and $200K (a further 1.33x jump). The progression is finer-grained at the upper tiers than TCP's, which goes $100K straight to $200K with no intermediate.

Because Gauntlet Mini is single-phase, the size selected at sign-up is the size the trader will be funded at, there is no progression. A trader who wants to be funded at $150K signs up for the $150K Gauntlet Mini. A trader who wants $200K signs up for the $200K Gauntlet Mini. There is no path to combine smaller passes into a larger funded size within Gauntlet Mini itself.

This is a meaningful contrast with TCP, where a trader can start at $25K and graduate up. With Gauntlet Mini, the choice of evaluation size is also the choice of funded size. That makes the sizing decision more consequential up-front, since there is no fallback to a smaller funded tier if the larger one feels too risky in live conditions.

Pricing: TCP vs Gauntlet Mini side-by-side

The published monthly pricing, to the extent it is recoverable from public-facing pages as of May 2026, looks like this.

A few notes on this table.

The TCP25 entry tier was also seen advertised at "from $69/mo" on the homepage during recon, which is in tension with the pricing page's $150/mo. This is most likely a discounted promotional rate at sign-up, not a permanent base. Verify the current standard rate on earn2trade.com before subscribing.

The Gauntlet Mini $50K is confirmed at "from $69/mo" floor pricing on the live product page. The tier 2 through tier 4 prices ($100K, $150K, $200K) were not fully confirmed from public-facing pricing during recon, these should be verified directly on earn2trade.com before sizing in.

The TCP path is subscription-cumulative: a trader pays the monthly fee through the evaluation phase, the LiveSim phase, and the Live phase at each stage of the ladder until they exit the program or reach the top tier. Gauntlet Mini is also subscription-monthly, with the trader paying through evaluation and LiveSim until the funded Live phase begins.

Reset pricing on TCP is a flat $65, per the public pricing page. Gauntlet Mini reset pricing was not confirmed at recon. Neither program charges an upfront activation or setup fee, both are pure monthly subscriptions. For more detail on the cost structure see the Earn2Trade fees and pricing breakdown and the Earn2Trade reset rules article.

What does the 80% profit split mean across both programs?

Both TCP and Gauntlet Mini pay 80% of profits to the trader on funded accounts. This is the public split listed on the product pages and matches the figure carried in the firm's internal directory. There is no advertised scaling profit split, that is, no public tier where the split moves to 85% or 90% at a higher account level, as of May 2026 recon.

The 80% applies across both LiveSim and Live phases. A trader on LiveSim earns 80% of the simulated profit, paid by Earn2Trade from its own capital. A trader on Live earns 80% of the real cleared P&L on the funded account. The split itself is uniform, what differs is whether the source of the payout is Earn2Trade's balance sheet (LiveSim) or the cleared exchange position (Live).

There is no additional profit-target gate on funded accounts to unlock withdrawals. Once funded, whether via TCP or Gauntlet Mini, a trader does not need to hit a further performance bar before requesting a payout. The constraint is the compliance documentation, not a fresh profit hurdle. For the full payout mechanics see the Earn2Trade payouts guide.

The 80% number itself sits in line with the broader futures-prop range. Many large competitors pay 90% on top tiers, while a smaller cohort pays 80% throughout. Earn2Trade lands in the latter group. What the firm trades off in headline split, it nominally returns in transparency (the published pass rate) and in education depth (the bundled video library and study guides).

For comparative context across the futures-prop space see the TopstepX vs Earn2Trade comparison and the Apex Trader Funding vs Earn2Trade comparison.

What does "Anytime" payouts mean at Earn2Trade?

The Earn2Trade product directory lists the payout frequency as "Anytime." That phrase is more specific than it sounds. It means that withdrawals are trader-initiated and not bound to a fixed weekly or bi-weekly schedule, but it does not mean instant. A few constraints define what "Anytime" actually delivers in practice as of May 2026.

First, the minimum withdrawal is $100. A trader cannot request a payout of an arbitrarily small amount; the request needs to clear the floor.

Second, all compliance documentation must be complete before the first request. The March 2026 Faster LiveSim Access change means traders can begin trading LiveSim immediately after passing the evaluation, without waiting for the full onboarding to complete. But, and this is the carve-out, withdrawals are still gated on KYC, account agreements, and any other compliance steps the firm requires. A trader who has earned LiveSim profit but not completed compliance cannot withdraw until those documents are in.

Third, a fee is deducted from profit on the first withdrawal only. The fee is taken from realized profit, not from the account balance. Specific fee figures were updated in a December 2025 announcement that was not fully recoverable from the live blog at recon (the announcement post returned a 404). For current fee figures, verify on earn2trade.com.

Fourth, crypto payouts are confirmed available on the homepage. Wire and ACH availability was not confirmed from public-facing pages and should be verified.

Fifth, the practical difference between LiveSim and Live for withdrawal purposes is the source of funds, not the right to withdraw. In 2025, Earn2Trade reported that 18.04% of Live accounts and 18.20% of LiveSim accounts made at least one withdrawal, meaning the actual withdrawal frequency is essentially identical between the two account types. The path to a withdrawal is the same; what differs is whether the dollars come from cleared exchange profit or from Earn2Trade's own capital pool. For the breakdown on these mechanics see the Earn2Trade withdrawal rules article and the Earn2Trade compliance and KYC explainer.

Which program fits which trader profile?

The TCP-versus-Gauntlet-Mini decision boils down to four variables: experience level, capital and fee tolerance, time horizon to a target funded size, and appetite for a multi-stage progression.

Trader Career Path fits:

• A newer futures trader who wants to start at a small ($25K) account, learn at a pace that does not blow them out at the first tier, and use the bundled education library
• A trader who values incremental scaling and is willing to pay the monthly subscription through multiple stages
• A trader who wants the optionality of stopping at $50K or $100K live without ever needing to evaluate at $200K directly
• A trader who treats the early stages of the ladder partly as paid education

Gauntlet Mini fits:

• An experienced futures trader who has already traded outside Earn2Trade and does not need a development arc
• A trader who knows the size they want to be funded at and is comfortable evaluating directly at that size
• A trader who wants the lower entry-tier monthly cost (from $69/mo at $50K) without committing to multi-stage progression fees
• A trader who is comfortable with the EOD-to-trailing drawdown switch on the live account

The trader profile that does not fit either program: anyone looking for non-futures asset classes (Forex, stocks, crypto, options, CFDs), Earn2Trade does not offer them at all. For a comparison against firms that allow other asset scopes, see the Earn2Trade vs FundedNext comparison and the Earn2Trade vs FTMO comparison.

What about the Beginner Crash Course education product?

The Beginner Crash Course sits alongside TCP and Gauntlet Mini on the Earn2Trade homepage but is not a path to a funded account. It is a standalone educational product, positioned at traders who want to learn futures-trading mechanics before signing up for an evaluation.

Specific pricing, format, and curriculum for the Beginner Crash Course were not fully recoverable from the live product pages during recon, the homepage references the product but no standalone page surfaced full detail. Verify on earn2trade.com.

What is worth noting is the role the Beginner Crash Course plays in Earn2Trade's overall architecture. The firm's positioning rests on three legs: a published 8.89% pass rate (transparency), a multi-stage TCP ladder (development), and a standalone education product (the Crash Course). Together they distinguish Earn2Trade from pure-evaluation firms that have no education layer and no public performance disclosure. The Crash Course is the most explicit instance of the education-first framing, even though most traders entering Earn2Trade likely come in via TCP or Gauntlet Mini directly.

The Crash Course is not a prerequisite for either TCP or Gauntlet Mini. A trader can sign up for an evaluation without completing any prior course. For traders who have already been through other futures-prop education or have a self-directed learning path, the Crash Course is genuinely optional. For more on the firm's educational architecture see the Earn2Trade education and resources article and the Earn2Trade community and Discord guide.

The bottom line

Earn2Trade structures its account choice around two programs that solve different problems. TCP is the on-ramp, a $25K starting size, a five-stage ladder, education bundled in, and a monthly fee curve that climbs as the account size climbs. Gauntlet Mini is the express lane, single-phase evaluations at $50K, $100K, $150K, or $200K, with a funded size that matches the evaluation size, and lower entry-tier pricing for traders who do not need the ladder.

The shared layer underneath both programs is consistent: 80% profit split, "Anytime" trader-initiated payouts after compliance is complete, futures-only across CME, COMEX, NYMEX, and CBOT, and the Faster LiveSim Access change from March 2026 that lets passers start trading immediately. The 8.89% published pass rate sits on top of both products as a transparency anchor.

The right program is a function of where the trader is in their development arc. A newer futures trader benefits from the smaller starting size and bundled education on TCP. An experienced trader who knows their target funded size benefits from skipping the ladder and going direct on Gauntlet Mini. The mistake to avoid is treating the two as interchangeable, they are not. They differ in cost curve, in drawdown mechanics across phases, and in the path from sign-up to a funded live account. For follow-on reading start with the Earn2Trade rules overview and the Earn2Trade platforms guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many account programs does Earn2Trade currently run?

Two evaluation programs as of May 2026: the Trader Career Path (TCP), a 5-stage ladder, and the Gauntlet Mini, a single-phase evaluation. A separate Beginner Crash Course is offered as an education product, not a funded path.

What is the smallest account size at Earn2Trade?

The Trader Career Path starts at a $25K evaluation. Gauntlet Mini's smallest size is $50K. There is no $10K or $15K tier.

What is the largest funded account at Earn2Trade?

The TCP ladder tops out at a $200K live account. Gauntlet Mini also goes up to $200K. The headline "max funding $400,000" figure refers to combined exposure across multiple accounts; verify on earn2trade.com for current scaling rules.

How much does the Trader Career Path cost per month?

Per the live pricing page in May 2026, TCP25 is $150/mo, TCP50 is $190/mo, and TCP100 is $350/mo. The $25K tier is sometimes promoted at a lower entry price; verify the current rate on earn2trade.com.

How much does the Gauntlet Mini cost?

The $50K Gauntlet Mini starts from $69/mo per the live site. Tier 2 to tier 4 prices ($100K, $150K, $200K) were not fully recoverable from the live pricing page during recon and should be verified directly on earn2trade.com before subscribing.

What profit split do Earn2Trade traders earn?

80% to the trader on funded accounts, applied across both TCP and Gauntlet Mini. There is no public scaling profit split (for example, 85% or 90% at higher levels) advertised on the product pages as of May 2026.

What does "Anytime" payouts actually mean at Earn2Trade?

It means trader-initiated withdrawals on the funded account, with no fixed bi-weekly or monthly schedule. The minimum withdrawal is $100, and traders must complete all compliance documentation before the first request. A fee is deducted from profit on the first withdrawal only.

Does Earn2Trade allow Forex, stocks, or crypto trading?

No. Earn2Trade is futures only across CME, COMEX, NYMEX, and CBOT. Forex, stocks, options, crypto, and CFDs are explicitly prohibited under both TCP and Gauntlet Mini.

What is LiveSim and how does it differ from a Live account?

LiveSim is a simulated post-evaluation account where Earn2Trade pays profits from its own capital. Live accounts route to real exchange-cleared positions. Both pay 80%. In 2025 the firm reported 94.77% of passers stayed on LiveSim and 5.23% traded Live.

What is the Faster LiveSim Access change from March 2026?

Per the March 4, 2026 blog post, traders who pass the evaluation can begin trading LiveSim immediately, without waiting for full onboarding. Compliance documents (agreements, KYC) must still be completed before any withdrawal can be processed.

Which program should a new futures trader pick?

The Trader Career Path is generally framed as the on-ramp: smaller starting size ($25K), education library bundled in, gradual scaling. Gauntlet Mini is framed as the more experienced path, where a trader is comfortable evaluating directly at $50K or higher and wants funding faster.

Why does Earn2Trade publish its pass rate?

The firm publicly disclosed an 8.89% pass rate for 2025. Most prop firms in the futures space do not publish this data. Doing so signals an education-first positioning rather than a model that depends on opaque difficulty.

Is the Beginner Crash Course required to access TCP or Gauntlet Mini?

No. The Beginner Crash Course is a standalone education product. TCP and Gauntlet Mini can be purchased without any prior course completion. Both programs include educational resources within the subscription.

Can Earn2Trade accounts be reset?

TCP carries a $65 reset fee per the pricing page. Gauntlet Mini reset pricing was not confirmed at recon, verify on earn2trade.com before assuming the same fee applies.