Prop firm EA, copy trading and VPS rules
Whether you can run an expert advisor, copy trades from another account or trade from a VPS. Many firms allow EAs in principle but ban third-party or high-frequency ones, and that detail sits in the terms. Every rule below is quoted from the firm’s own pages, with a link to where we read it.
What can this rule do to you?
Kind of rule
Automation
EAs, copy trading, VPS and latency.
Tick scalping is banned, manual or automated
Tick scalping is prohibited whether performed by hand or through an EA, bot or script. This is separate from the EA rule, using an allowed EA to run a disallowed strategy still breaches.
ThinkCapital
Closes the accountCopy trading closes the account the moment it is detected
Their stated procedure for copy trading on simulated funded accounts is immediate: the account is terminated and all open positions are closed on detection. There is no warning step and no appeal window described.
Copy trading is allowed only between your own accounts
BrightFunded permits copy trading only between accounts owned by the same individual. Copying another person, or being copied, falls outside that permission. So a shared strategy between two traders is not covered even where both are paying customers.
Grid trading and tick scalping are named as exploitative
Their terms list Grid Trading, High-Frequency Trading, Tick Scalping and Arbitrage, along with any strategy that does not adhere to live market conditions, as exploitative and not to be used. Grid trading in particular is a strategy plenty of traders run without thinking of it as an exploit.
A personal EA needs proof you wrote it
Full automation is allowed only with an EA the trader developed, and ownership must be evidenced with source code, version history or development records. A compiled file on its own is not accepted. Third-party EAs are permitted only as trade or risk managers; any other use means the evaluation or reward is denied and the account is closed.
Copy trading in, or by anyone else, terminates the account
You may copy between your own accounts, and a FundingPips account may act as master to an external slave. Copying between accounts owned by different people, coordinated trading across accounts, copying inbound from an external source or signal provider, and any third-party account management are all prohibited. The last of these brings immediate termination.
Copy trading is yours only, across any firm
You may copy between accounts you personally own, including at other prop firms and retail brokers. Copying between accounts with different owners is strictly prohibited. BrightFunded partners with Prop Firm One so cross-firm copying can be run from one platform without breaching this.
Only an EA you wrote yourself is allowed
Their prohibited-practices page bans "Running an EA, bot, or algorithm that you did not personally build", and spells out what that covers: "Commercially sold EAs, EAs coded by someone else, or EAs downloaded/shared from external sources". A bought robot is not a grey area here, and neither is one a friend wrote for you.
Copy trading only between accounts you own
Their wording: "Copy trading is allowed between your own accounts within Audacity Capital, copying from an external account is allowed only if the account belongs to you. Third-party copying is not permitted." Mirroring a signal provider, or letting anyone manage the account for you, is out.
Running an EA without pre-approval can void profits
EAs need support approval before use on phase accounts. Using one without approval can get the account suspended with no right to the profits.
Futures: HFT, latency arbitrage and simulation edges are banned
Automated trading is allowed on FTMO Futures, but high-frequency strategies, latency arbitrage and anything that exploits price delays or simulation-only features are forbidden, at FTMO's judgement.
You must trade the funded account the way you traded the challenge
The same strategy and the same method, manual or EA, must be used in both stages; switching either way is prohibited. So is passing on one asset class or symbol group and then moving to another, or materially raising margin or risk usage, once funded.
EAs are an add-on, and capped at $300,000 per strategy
Expert Advisors are not included: they are bought as an add-on, work only on MetaTrader 4 and 5, and must be customised to your own style. Identical trades across accounts are not allowed, and any single EA or bot strategy is capped at $300,000 of total allocation.
An EA sending over 2,000 server requests a day is forbidden
EAs are allowed but one that opens, modifies or closes orders more than 2,000 times a day overloads the server. That is listed as a forbidden trading practice.
Same EA as other traders shares one capital limit
Accounts running identical or very similar strategies are grouped and capped by one combined allocation. Hola Prime can refuse the funded account, rebalance it or terminate related accounts.
No ProjectX API bots on the Live Funded Account
Automation is allowed on the Live Funded Account but not through the ProjectX API. A bot that worked on your XFA through the API has to be switched off after the call-up.
Bot users may have to prove sole ownership on a live video
Tradeify scans for matching orders on other accounts and can ask for a live video of you starting the code on your own PC. A bot shared with others or also run at other firms breaks the policy.
The terms ban automated tools and bots
FunderBlu's terms say you will not use automated tools or bots, and it publishes no separate EA policy, while its home page says the platform supports expert advisors. Ask FunderBlu in writing before running an EA.
This list is only as complete as our reading. 33 of the 83 firms we track have been through a rulebook pass; the rest are still to do, and a firm missing from here has not been cleared. It has not been checked. See which firms are next.