What the simulator models, and what it doesn't

FundedSim runs the published Apex Trader Funding and Topstep evaluation rules on your own trades: drawdown, daily loss limit, end-of-day timing, contract limits and, for Apex, PA tiers and payouts. It doesn't model exchange fills, every prohibited-activity rule or firms it doesn't list.

By FundedSim Desk · updated October 20, 2026

The accounts it runs

Each account uses the starting balance, profit target, drawdown and contract limits the firm publishes for it. The numbers live in one rule file that the app, the shared-account pages and our server all read, so a number on a guide page can't quietly disagree with the simulator.

Rules it checks on every trade

• Trailing drawdown and the threshold line. Where the floor sits after each trade and each session close, including Apex's PA lock, where the threshold stops at your starting balance plus $100.
• Daily loss limit. On Apex End of Day evals it's checked in real time and counts open positions at their worst logged price. Hit it and the rest of the day is locked, but the account keeps going, the same way Apex handles it.
• End-of-day timing. Apex settles the day at 4:59 PM ET and the new session starts after the 5 PM CT reset. A trade at 4:58 PM ET and one at 5:05 PM ET land on different days, and that changes the drawdown.
• Contract limits. Minis and micros separately, using the firm's ratio of 10 micros to one mini where it applies.
• Intraday trailing that stops at the target. For Apex Intraday evals on Rithmic and WealthCharts the threshold stops trailing once it reaches the profit target balance. On Tradovate it keeps trailing.
• Commissions by platform. Apex charges different round-turn fees on Rithmic, Tradovate and WealthCharts. Pick your platform and the fees come off every trade.

After you pass: PA accounts and payouts

For Apex the simulator keeps going after the eval. It tracks the PA tier you're on (which sets your contract limit and daily loss limit), checks payout eligibility (trading days, minimum daily profit, the 50% consistency rule, minimum and maximum payout per request) and closes the PA after the sixth payout, as Apex does. PAs started on or after October 20, 2026 also follow Apex's inactivity rule: at least two days of $50 or more net profit in every 30 days.

Where it differs from a real account

• Fills. You log the price you got, or trade on the live chart at the current price. There's no exchange order book, so slippage on a fast market is whatever you enter, not what the market would have given you.
• Intraday peaks. Apex Intraday counts unrealized profit in the peak. The simulator builds the peak from your logged trades, so on a live account the threshold can rise a little sooner than it does here.
• Prohibited activities. We don't model every conduct rule (news restrictions on specific products, hedging across accounts, and so on). Read the firm's own list.
• Topstep consistency target. Topstep asks that your best day stays below 55% of the profit target, or the target you need grows. The simulator ends a Trading Combine on the Maximum Loss Limit and passes it at the profit target, but doesn't raise the target for a big day yet.
• Other firms and legacy products. Only the accounts in the table above are simulated. Apex's older legacy accounts use different rules and aren't covered.

If you think a rule is modeled wrong, tell us at support@fundedsim.com with the firm's page. We fix rules against the firm's own wording, and the firm's current page always wins.