Earn2Trade Review 2026: Two Paths to Funded Trading (And Why That Actually Matters)

Bottom Line Up Front: Earn2Trade isn’t just another prop firm evaluation, it’s essentially two completely different programs packaged under one brand. The Trader Career Path gives you a structured growth ladder with free monthly resets and the chance to scale up to $400K. The Gauntlet Mini gets you funded faster with larger starting capital but no formal scaling plan. Both use the same rules and 80/20 profit split, but your choice between them reveals whether you’re playing the long game or going for immediate capital access. With a 4.7 Trustpilot score from over 4,500 reviews and a 10.42% pass rate, Earn2Trade sits comfortably in the “legitimate but challenging” category of futures prop firms.

What Is Earn2Trade, Really?

Here’s the thing most people miss about Earn2Trade: it’s not trying to be everything to everyone. This is a futures-only prop firm that’s been around since 2016, and they’ve doubled down on that specialization instead of diluting their offering with forex, crypto, or stock CFDs.

The company was originally founded by two Commodity Trading Advisors and a university professor, so you’re getting proper institutional DNA here, not some overnight operation launched by affiliate marketers who’ve never traded a contract in their lives. Osvaldo Guimarães runs the show now, and they’re based in the United States, which matters more than you’d think when it comes to funding partner relationships and regulatory oversight.

Earn2Trade partners with Helios Trading Partners for the actual funded accounts. This means you’re not trading Earn2Trade’s money directly, you’re passing their evaluation to prove you can trade, then getting an offer from Helios. It’s a minor distinction, but it explains why the firm can offer evaluation programs without being a registered broker-dealer.

The Two Programs: Career Path vs Gauntlet Mini

Most prop firms give you one evaluation structure and call it a day. Earn2Trade split their offering into two distinct paths, and understanding the difference is critical to making the right choice.

Trader Career Path: The Growth Plan

Think of this as the “career progression” approach. You start with a $25K, $50K, or $100K evaluation, and here’s where it gets interesting: every time you hit your profit target and withdraw, you get upgraded to a larger account with more drawdown to work with.

The progression looks like this:

• TCP25: Start at $25K → Scale to $200K
• TCP50: Start at $50K → Scale to $400K
• TCP100: Start at $100K → Scale to $400K

But wait, there’s more. If you’re an absolute monster and hit $200K with consistent performance, Earn2Trade offers custom deals that can go up to $400K. I’ve seen the screenshots from traders who made it that far, it’s not marketing hype, though obviously only a tiny percentage get there.

Pricing: $150-$350/month depending on starting account size (minus discounts of up to 60% off during promotions).

The killer feature here? You get a free reset with every monthly subscription renewal. Most prop firms charge $100+ for resets. With Career Path, if you blow an account in week three, you automatically get a fresh start when your subscription rebills the next month. That’s huge for anyone still refining their strategy.

Gauntlet Mini: The Direct Route

This is for traders who know they’re ready and don’t want to mess around with a progression ladder. You pick your account size, $50K, $100K, $150K, or $200K, and that’s what you’re shooting for. Pass the 10-day evaluation, and you’re funded at that level immediately.

Pricing: $170-$550/month depending on account size (minus up to 60% off, depending on the current promotion).

The catch? No free resets. You’ll pay $60-$155 (depending on your challenge account size) if you fail and want to try again. And there’s no formal scaling plan, though you can certainly grow your account through trading performance, there’s no automatic “you withdrew $X, here’s a $Y account” structure like Career Path offers.

So which one should you choose?

Choose Career Path if:

• You value free resets (smart for most traders)
• You like the idea of a structured growth plan
• You’re okay starting smaller and working your way up
• You want to minimize your monthly cost

Choose Gauntlet Mini if:

• You’re confident in your ability to pass on the first try
• You want immediate access to larger capital ($150K-$200K)
• You don’t care about formal account scaling
• You prefer a simpler “one and done” evaluation

The Rules: What You’re Actually Up Against

Both programs use identical trading rules, which is refreshing, you’re not learning two different systems. Here’s what you need to navigate:

Profit Targets

Each account size has a specific goal. For the popular $50K account, you need to hit $3,000 in profit. The $100K requires $6,000. These targets scale proportionally and are honestly pretty reasonable compared to some firms asking for 10%+ returns.

End-of-Day Drawdown (The Big One)

This is where Earn2Trade separates itself from the pack. They use end-of-day trailing drawdown, not intraday hard stops.

What does this mean in practice? If you’re trading the $50K account with a $2,000 max loss limit, you can be down $1,800 intraday and fight your way back to positive, as long as you’re above the drawdown threshold when the market closes at 4 PM CT. This gives you breathing room that intraday max loss rules simply don’t allow.

The drawdown trails your account balance. So if you’re up $500 for the day, your max loss threshold moves up $500 too. This rewards winning days by giving you more room to operate.

One important thing to consider: Once you passed your challenge, you can chose to trade in a simulated funded account or real funded account. In both cases, you’ll get payouts from the profits you make. But for the trailing drawdown method, it has a huge impact. If you continue with a simulated funded account (trading simulated funds under real market conditions), then you continue having the EOD trailing drawdown method.

If you decide to trade a real-money funded account, your trailstop method switches to the intraday trailing drawdown method.

Daily Loss Limit

There’s still a hard stop on how much you can lose in a single session. For the $50K account, it’s $1,100. This is measured from your starting balance each day, not from your peak intraday balance. Blow through this number and your evaluation is done.

The Consistency Rule (30% Rule)

No single trading day can account for more than 30% of your total profit and loss. This is designed to prevent “lottery ticket” trading where you’re basically gambling on one massive winner.

Here’s an example: If your total profit is $3,000, no single day can contribute more than $900. If you have a $1,200 day early in your evaluation, you’ll need to generate at least $4,000 total profit to stay under the 30% threshold for that day.

Some traders hate this rule. I actually think it’s reasonable, it forces you to prove consistency rather than getting lucky once.

Position Sizing: The Progression Ladder

You can’t just load up with 50 ES contracts on day one. Earn2Trade uses a progression ladder that limits your maximum position size based on your current profit level.

Starting out, you might be limited to 2-3 contracts. As you hit profit milestones, you unlock larger position sizes. This gradually increases your buying power while ensuring you don’t over-leverage before you’ve proven you can handle smaller size.

Trading Hours & Overnight Holds

All positions and orders must be closed between 3:10 PM and 5:00 PM CT. You cannot hold overnight positions. Period. This is a day trading evaluation, and they’re serious about it.

If you accidentally leave an order working or forget to flatten a position, you fail. I’ve seen Trustpilot reviews from traders who swear they closed everything but had a resting order they forgot about, Rithmic kept it live, and they failed the challenge. NinjaTrader’s interface can sometimes mask working orders, so triple-check before you walk away.

Minimum Trading Days

You need at least 10 trading days before you’re eligible to pass. This prevents traders from making one huge winning trade and immediately cashing out. Earn2Trade wants to see at least two weeks of activity.

The Platforms: NinjaTrader Is King Here

Earn2Trade supports about 20 different platforms, but let’s be real, most people use NinjaTrader, and for good reason: it’s free during your evaluation.

NinjaTrader (Free)

This is the flagship platform for Earn2Trade users. If you’re serious about futures trading, you’re probably already familiar with NinjaTrader’s charting capabilities, DOM (depth of market), and order flow tools. The platform is incredibly deep, automated strategy trading, backtesting, custom indicators, the works.

The integration with Rithmic data feeds is solid, though some users report occasional connection hiccups (more on that in a minute). But once you’re connected, you’re working with professional-grade market data and execution.

One gotcha: After you pass and get funded, you’ll need your own NinjaTrader license if you want to keep using it on the live account. Earn2Trade gives you a discount ($100 off single-broker, $300 off multi-broker), but it’s still an additional cost to factor in.

Finamark (Free)

This is the alternative free option. It’s less well-known than NinjaTrader but offers multi-asset capabilities and decent analytical tools. If you’re coming from a stock trading background and NinjaTrader’s futures-centric interface feels foreign, Finamark might be more intuitive.

R|Trader & R|Trader Pro (Free)

These are Rithmic’s proprietary platforms. They’re fast, lightweight, and built specifically for futures trading. The interface is more utilitarian than NinjaTrader, think execution speed over charting sophistication.

Some professional scalpers swear by R|Trader because of the low latency. If you’re trading based on order flow and milliseconds matter, this is worth exploring.

Other Platforms (License Required)

Earn2Trade technically supports platforms like:

• Sierra Chart
• MultiCharts
• MotiveWave
• Bookmap
• Jigsaw Trading
• Investor RT
• And about a dozen others

But you’ll need to bring your own license for these. Most traders don’t bother, if you’re paying for NinjaTrader or Sierra Chart already, great. But most people starting out just use the free NinjaTrader license and call it a day.

What Trading This Actually Feels Like

Let me paint you a picture of a typical evaluation day, because the rules on paper don’t capture the psychology of this challenge.

You wake up, fire up NinjaTrader, connect to your Rithmic data feed (hopefully on the first try, we’ll get to that). You check your P&L from yesterday. You’re up $1,200 total after five trading days. That means you need at least $4,000 in total profit to stay under the 30% consistency rule for your best day.

Today you’re trading ES. The market opens and you take two contracts long at 4,520. It moves against you 5 points, you’re down $500. But it’s only 9:45 AM, and you’ve got your $1,100 daily loss limit as a hard stop. You’re fine, you’ve got room.

The position turns around and you close at 4,528 for +$800. Good trade. But now you’re thinking about position sizing, you’re at $2,000 total profit, which might unlock another contract on the progression ladder. You check the rules. You can now trade 3 contracts instead of 2.

It’s 3:00 PM. You’ve had a solid day, up $600. But you notice you left a stop order working on one of your earlier trades. You cancel it. Or did you? You close NinjaTrader to be safe and double-check. Shows no working orders. You’re good.

Except Rithmic still had the order live on the server side, and it triggered after hours. You failed the challenge not because you traded poorly, but because of a platform synchronization issue.

This is the reality of prop firm evaluations. You’re not just trading the market, you’re trading the rules, the platform quirks, and the psychological pressure of knowing one mistake ends the whole thing.

The Pass Rate: Let’s Talk Numbers

Earn2Trade publishes their statistics, and I respect the transparency: 10.42% of candidates passed either the Trader Career Path or Gauntli Mini in 2024.

That’s roughly 1 in 10. Now before you panic, understand what this number actually represents. It includes:

• Brand new traders who had no business taking a prop firm evaluation
• People who gave it one shot, failed, and never came back
• Traders who violated rules they didn’t fully understand
• Actual skilled traders who just had bad luck or tough market conditions

Of those who passed, 10% chose Live accounts and 90% chose LiveSim accounts (simulated accounts that mirror live trading). This split tells you most people opt for the safer LiveSim route initially.

The 10.42% pass rate isn’t meant to discourage you, it’s meant to set realistic expectations. This challenge is difficult by design. Earn2Trade is trying to find traders who can consistently execute a strategy under pressure while managing risk properly. If it were easy, everyone would do it.

After You Pass: The Funded Account Experience

Let’s say you beat the odds and pass your evaluation. Here’s what happens next.

Live vs LiveSim Choice

Helios Trading Partners will reach out and ask: Do you want a Live account or a LiveSim account?

Live Account: You’re trading real money in the real market. Your orders hit the actual exchange. This is the “real deal” and what most traders assume they’re getting.

LiveSim Account: You’re trading a simulated account that mirrors live market data and conditions. Your orders execute against real-time prices, but you’re not actually in the market. This is still a legitimate funded account, you can withdraw real money based on your performance, but it’s not live execution.

Most traders (90%) start with LiveSim because:

1. Faster account setup (no lengthy broker onboarding)
2. Lower psychological pressure
3. Same profit split and payout structure
4. Better trailing drawdown method (EOD instead of intraday)

You can always switch to a Live account later once you’ve proven yourself on LiveSim.

The 80/20 Profit Split

You keep 80% of your profits. Helios takes 20%. This is competitive with most prop firms, though a few boutique firms offer 90/10 or even 100% of first-month profits.

Here’s the math: You have a $50K account and make $5,000 in profit. You can withdraw $4,000 (80%). The firm keeps $1,000.

Withdrawal Process

Payouts are processed weekly, every Wednesday. You need to submit your withdrawal request by 2 PM CT on the Friday before. So there’s a bit of a delay, but weekly payouts are better than many firms offering monthly.

Withdrawals go through Rise, a third-party payment platform. There’s a $50 fee per withdrawal for non-US customers and 1.5% for US customers. Via Deel, you pay $50, via Bayzat $5-$40 and 0.735% for crypto withdrawals.

First withdrawal has a twist: You need to cover the original activation fee ($139) of the funded account. Actually, that’s a benefit, because with E2T you only pay the activation fee if you succeed. Other prop firms require to pay the activation fee upfront. The minimum payout amount is $100. Considering the activation fee which has to be deducted from the first payout, and the 80/20 profit split, you should be at least $264 in profit to withdraw your net $100: $264 – $139 account activation fee = $125 * 80% (your profit split) = $100 withdrawal amount.

Account Scaling (Career Path Only)

Here’s where Career Path gets interesting. Let’s say you passed the $25K evaluation and got funded with a $25K Junior LiveSim account. You hit the $1,750 profit goal and withdraw $1,400 (80% of $1,750).

What happens next? You get upgraded to a $50K Live account with a fresh $50K balance and more drawdown to work with. You don’t go back to starting balance minus withdrawals, you get a clean slate with more capital.

Keep hitting your goals and withdrawing, and you’ll scale to $75K, $100K, $150K, and finally $200K. This is the “career path” part of the name, you’re actually building a trading business, not just churning through evaluations.

If you start with the 50K challenge or 100K challenge, you can even scale the account up to $400K.

The Trustpilot Reality Check: 4.7 Stars from 4,545 Reviews

Let’s dig into what actual users are saying, because a 4.7 rating from thousands of reviews tells a more complete story than any marketing page.

What People Love

Fast and fair evaluations: The most common positive feedback is that the rules are clear, the evaluation process is straightforward, and if you follow the rules and trade well, you’ll pass. No hidden gotchas or arbitrary disqualifications.

Customer support responsiveness: Multiple reviews praise specific support reps (Ikbal, Ayush, Ysmarlin get mentioned by name) for being helpful and actually solving problems. That’s rare in the prop firm space.

Weekly payouts: Traders appreciate the consistent Wednesday withdrawal schedule. No games, no “processing delays,” just predictable access to your earnings.

Educational resources: The Beginner Crash Course (60 videos covering futures trading fundamentals) gets positive mentions. It’s included free with evaluation subscriptions, and apparently it’s actually useful, not just generic “buy low sell high” content.

What People Complain About

Platform synchronization issues: This is the biggest recurring complaint. Traders report that NinjaTrader shows one thing while Rithmic’s server shows another, specifically around open orders and positions. You close everything in NinjaTrader, but Rithmic still has an order live, and you violate the “no positions after 3:10 PM” rule.

Earn2Trade’s response is always the same: “NinjaTrader and Rithmic are third-party platforms, technical issues aren’t our responsibility.” Which is technically true but frustrating when it costs you an evaluation.

Connection reliability: Some users report having to reconnect to Rithmic data feeds multiple times each morning before NinjaTrader will establish a stable connection. This seems to be a Rithmic-side issue, not Earn2Trade, but it impacts the user experience nonetheless.

The consistency rule: A vocal minority hates the 30% rule. They feel it punishes good trading if you happen to have one exceptional day early in your evaluation. Fair criticism, though I’d argue it’s working as intended, proving you can repeat your performance.

Subscription billing continues after failure: If you fail your evaluation, your subscription doesn’t automatically cancel. You have to manually cancel or you keep getting billed monthly. This catches people off guard, though it’s stated in the terms.

The Scam Allegations (And Why They’re Mostly Noise)

Every prop firm has reviews accusing them of being a scam. Earn2Trade is no exception. The pattern is always the same: “I followed all the rules but they failed me anyway, it’s rigged!”

After reading hundreds of these reviews, here’s what I’ve noticed:

1. Platform issues are real: The NinjaTrader/Rithmic order synchronization problem is documented across multiple independent reviews. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s a technical limitation of working with third-party platforms.
2. Rule violations are usually legitimate: When Earn2Trade provides specifics (they often do in their responses), they show logs of trades placed during restricted hours, positions held beyond 3:10 PM, or daily loss limits breached. Most “I did nothing wrong!” complaints fall apart under scrutiny.
3. Emotional trading leads to blame: A lot of angry reviews come from traders who violated rules they didn’t fully understand or ignored risk management in the heat of the moment. It’s easier to blame the firm than accept personal responsibility.

That said, the platform synchronization issue is a genuine problem that Earn2Trade should work harder to solve or at least provide better warnings about.

The Hidden Costs: What You’re Actually Paying

The monthly subscription isn’t the only expense. Let’s break down the real cost of getting funded with Earn2Trade.

Evaluation Costs

• Career Path: $150-$350/month depending on starting size
• Gauntlet Mini: $170-$550/month depending on account size

Most traders need 1-3 months to pass (if they pass at all). So budget $300-$1,000 in evaluation fees realistically.

Platform Fees

• During evaluation: NinjaTrader, Finamark, R|Trader are free
• After funding (if using NinjaTrader): $600-$1,200 for lifetime license (with Earn2Trade discount)
• Alternative: Use free platforms (Finamark, R|Trader) on funded account

Data Fees (After Funding)

This is where it stings. The prop firm funding partner (Helios) charges $105/month per exchange for CME data.

If you’re trading:

• Just ES or NQ (CME): $105/month
• ES/NQ + Oil (CME + NYMEX): $210/month
• ES/NQ + Oil + Gold (CME + NYMEX + COMEX): $315/month

This is standard for futures trading, but it’s an ongoing cost that eats into your monthly profits. If you’re making $1,000/month on a funded account but paying $210 in data fees, you’re really only netting $790.

Reset Fees

• Career Path: Free reset every month with renewal (huge value)
• Gauntlet Mini: $100 per reset

Total Cost to Get Funded

Let’s say you’re doing the $50K Career Path:

• Month 1: $190 (evaluation)
• Month 2: $190 (evaluation)
• Pass at end of Month 2
• Month 3: $105 (CME data) + $600 (NinjaTrader license if needed)

All-in cost to get funded and trading: $1,085

Now compare that to risking $50K of your own capital in the market. The prop firm model makes sense if you don’t have that kind of money sitting around or if you want to trade larger size than your personal account allows.

Who Should Actually Use Earn2Trade?

Let’s cut through the marketing and be honest about who this is for.

This Is Perfect For:

• Futures traders with a proven strategy who need more capital to scale
• Disciplined day traders who can follow rules consistently
• Career-focused traders who want the structured growth of Career Path
• Scalpers and order flow traders who appreciate EOD drawdown instead of hard intraday stops
• Anyone who values free monthly resets (Career Path specifically)

This Is NOT For:

• Complete beginners with less than 6 months of live trading experience (despite the “Beginner Crash Course,” you need basics down first)
• Swing traders who want to hold positions overnight (not allowed)
• Multi-asset traders who want to trade forex, stocks, crypto (futures only here)
• People who can’t follow detailed rules (the consistency rule, position limits, and trading hours are non-negotiable)
• Traders who want maximum capital immediately (unless you do Gauntlet Mini with $150K-$200K and pass first try)

How Earn2Trade Compares to Other Futures Prop Firms

Let’s put this in context against the main competitors.

Earn2Trade vs TopStep

• TopStep advantage: More account size options, longer track record
• Earn2Trade advantage: EOD drawdown (TopStep uses trailing max loss), free monthly resets, built-in account scaling

Earn2Trade vs Leeloo Trading

• Leeloo advantage: No evaluation, just pay for instant funding, simpler rules
• Earn2Trade advantage: Better for learning/proving yourself, structured career path, educational resources

Earn2Trade vs Apex Trader Funding

• Apex advantage: Larger max account sizes ($300K), more lenient rules
• Earn2Trade advantage: More transparent, futures-focused (not spread across multiple asset classes), better reputation

Earn2Trade vs Take Profit Trader

• Take Profit advantage: Lower monthly costs, faster evaluation (5 days minimum)
• Earn2Trade advantage: Free resets (Career Path), account scaling structure, more established firm

The truth is, Earn2Trade sits in the “premium but fair” tier. It’s not the cheapest, but you’re getting better features than bare-bones firms, and the pass rates are honest (around 10% instead of firms claiming “30%+ pass rates” that turn out to be nonsense).

My Honest Take: Is Earn2Trade Worth It?

After digging into everything, the programs, the rules, the user feedback, the fine print, here’s my genuine assessment.

Earn2Trade is legitimate. This isn’t some fly-by-night operation running on Trustpilot manipulation and fake screenshots. They’ve been around since 2016, they have institutional backing, and thousands of traders have gotten funded and paid out.

The evaluation is genuinely hard. That 10.42% pass rate isn’t artificially low, it reflects the reality that most traders either don’t have a working strategy, can’t follow rules under pressure, or aren’t yet ready for professional-level trading.

Career Path vs Gauntlet Mini creates actual choice. Most prop firms give you one path. Earn2Trade splits into “growth track” and “immediate capital” routes, and both have legitimate use cases. That’s smart product design.

The platform issue is real but manageable. Yes, NinjaTrader-Rithmic synchronization can cause headaches. But thousands of traders pass anyway by being meticulous about order management. Use platform tools (order notifications, position confirmations) and literally screenshot your platform before closing for the day if you’re paranoid.

The 80/20 split is industry standard, not generous. You’re not getting a sweetheart deal here. But you’re getting fair terms. The weekly payouts and account scaling (Career Path) add real value beyond the basic profit split.

This is not a shortcut to trading success. If you can’t make money consistently in your own account, Earn2Trade won’t magically fix that. The evaluation will expose your weaknesses brutally. Use it as a proving ground, not a lottery ticket.

My Recommendation

If you’re a futures trader with at least 6-12 months of profitable trading experience (not necessarily profitable overall, but you’ve had winning months and you understand why), Earn2Trade’s Trader Career Path is one of the better prop firm options available in 2026.

The free monthly resets alone justify the slightly higher subscription cost compared to bare-bones competitors. And the account scaling structure gives you an actual roadmap to $200K+ accounts instead of just hoping you’ll “get big accounts eventually.”

If you’re newer to trading or still working out your strategy, use your own capital (or a simulator) for another few months before paying for an evaluation. The failure rate is high, and you’ll just burn money on monthly subscriptions if you’re not ready.

If you’re experienced and confident, go for Gauntlet Mini at the $100K or $150K level and get funded fast. The $100 reset fee is worth it to avoid months of progression.

Final Verdict: 4 out of 5 Stars

What Earn2Trade Does Well:

• Clear rules with no hidden gotchas
• Two distinct programs that serve different trader needs
• Free monthly resets (Career Path) are legitimately valuable
• Account scaling structure with static drawdown at $200K
• EOD trailing drawdown instead of hard intraday stops
• Weekly payouts, not monthly
• Transparent pass rate data
• Good educational resources included

What Needs Improvement:

• Platform synchronization issues with NinjaTrader/Rithmic
• Better onboarding documentation about order management
• Connection reliability (Rithmic data feeds)
• Subscription auto-renewal after failure catches people off guard
• Data fees post-funding are expensive (though industry standard)

The Bottom Line: Earn2Trade is a solid, legitimate prop firm for futures traders who have a working strategy and the discipline to follow rules. Career Path’s free resets and scaling structure make it one of the better value propositions in the industry, while Gauntlet Mini offers fast access to large capital for confident traders. Just go in with realistic expectations, the 10% pass rate exists for a reason, and this isn’t going to be easy.

If you can trade profitably and follow rules consistently, Earn2Trade will fund you and pay you out. That’s really all you can ask from a prop firm.