Prop firm evals with no activation fee
These evaluations charge $0 to start the funded account once you pass, so the eval price is the whole cost of a first pass. Firms that charge activation usually ask $89 to $159 on top. Some firms, Topstep among them, also sell a no-fee path at a higher monthly price. The list is built from our firm data.
The list
| Firm | Account | Sizes | Drawdown | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Futures | Zero | 25K, 50K, 100K | end of day | from $89 /month |
| Lucid Trading | LucidFlex | 25K, 50K, 100K, 150K | end of day | not verified |
| MyFundedFutures | Builder | 50K, 150K | end of day | from $153 one-time |
| MyFundedFutures | Rapid | 50K | end of day, intraday once funded | not verified |
| Tradeify | Select | 25K, 50K, 100K, 150K | end of day | not verified |
| Tradeify | Growth | 25K, 50K, 100K, 150K | end of day | not verified |
Every account here costs $0 to activate after you pass. Prices are list prices; "not verified" means we haven't confirmed a fixed price from the firm.
How to compare it fairly
An activation fee is only paid if you pass, so it matters less than the eval price on the attempts you fail. The fair number is:
Total cost = eval price × attempts + monthly fees for the months you're in it + activation once.
The evaluation cost calculator does this with every firm preset, and the cheapest prop firm by size page lines up the first-pass cost at list price and with coupons.
The catch to look for
Some firms build the activation into the eval price, others into the funded account's rules. Check what the funded account asks before your first payout: a buffer, a minimum number of days, a cap per request. Those decide when you see money, not the $0 activation. The payout rules guide puts them side by side.
Related lists: no consistency rule, no daily loss limit, end-of-day drawdown.
Questions people actually ask
Which prop firms have no activation fee?
The accounts in the table above. Topstep's standard Combine charges $149, but its no activation fee path skips it for a higher monthly price, so it shows up in the cheapest-firm tables instead.
Is no activation fee always cheaper?
No. Add the eval price and the activation together. A cheap eval with a $129 activation can still beat an expensive eval with none, especially when the cheap one runs a coupon.
Blow it here, not on a paid eval
Run the same rules on your own trades in the simulator. Free, no card, and a blown account costs you nothing but pride.
Start practicing