Options vs Futures Prop Firm: Which Should You Choose?
Compare options and futures prop firm accounts on leverage, rules, trading hours and costs to pick the right evaluation for your style.
What you trade
Futures firms give you index, energy and metals contracts like ES, NQ, CL and GC, traded nearly 24 hours on weekdays. Options firms give you calls and puts on stocks and ETFs, mostly during regular U.S. market hours. If you already chart SPY or individual stocks, options may feel more natural.
How risk behaves
A futures contract moves a fixed dollar amount per tick, so risk is easy to calculate. Options add time decay and volatility, so the same stock move can pay more or less depending on the strike and expiration. Options also let you define max risk by buying, since a long option can't lose more than its premium.
Rules and payouts
Both styles use profit targets, loss limits and sometimes consistency rules. For example, Vanquish Trader's 50K options plans keep 100% of profits with a $250 minimum payout and daily payouts on most plans, while futures partners like Apex and TradeDay have their own splits and payout schedules. Compare the details on each card instead of assuming.
Can you do both?
Yes. Some traders run a futures evaluation for overnight index moves and an options account for stock setups. Just budget the fees for both and keep separate risk plans so one account's bad day doesn't spill into the other.
Free: 2026 Futures Prop Firm Cheat Sheet
Every partner's rules, fees, payouts and codes on 4 pages.
Ready to pick a firm?
Copy a code, then visit the partner site and paste it at checkout.