Apteros Trading Review 2026

Apteros Trading describes itself as "a professional futures trading firm offering funded trader programs, prop desk opportunities, and comprehensive training programs". Its homepage says it has "three paths onto the desk"; the prop desk page mentions an evaluation in a live-sim environment, an annual 12-week Fellowship Program and joining via review and interview. Traders who complete the evaluation can graduate to a Live Desk Account, where the trader receives 80% of realized profit.

The evaluation is simulated: the Terms say its accounts "use real-time market data in a simulated environment (not real trading)" and that simulated funds "are fictitious and have no real value". The graduation page lists the Live Desk environment as "Live". The firm offers futures only. A distinctive feature is that evaluation profits are not paid out: after the $115k Milestone, every dollar of profit goes towards the trader's Live Desk starting balance.

This review uses only Apteros Trading's own website. Our copies of its pages are fetch-tool summaries, and we rely only on the page wording they quote. We could not see the evaluation fee itself; we say where information was missing.

Everything in this review comes from Apteros Trading's own web pages, saved on 10 October 2026. Rules and prices change, so check the firm's site before you buy.

The prop desk page says "Candidates demonstrate their edge under defined parameters in a live-sim environment." The evaluation specifications page lists one account size: "$100k". Traders can choose intraday or swing trading, and discretionary or algorithmic strategies.

Evaluation fee. Our captured pages do not show the T.E.P. price. The Terms say "Fees vary based on the T.E.P. option you select." and that fees are charged when you place your order. The evaluation overview says traders enter the programme "only risking their one-time evaluation fee", and the FAQ says "It's a one time fee." According to the FAQ, a reset costs the same as starting a new account. The Terms also say "Some services may require ongoing subscription fees", and the FAQ says users of an older Legacy Tryout may stay in it "as long as they have an active subscription".

Fellowship Program. The Fellowship page describes "A 12-week program that takes you from trading alone to operating within a professional firm structure" and calls it an apprenticeship. Fellows trade a real-time Evaluation Program account from Week 5, with resets included. Fellows who pass Milestone Day in their Evaluation account keep oversight and resources after the programme ends. The prop desk page says half the cohort is scholarship-based and that graduates who show aptitude may be invited directly onto the Desk.

The Fellowship page shows the prices "$0" and "$6,895" and the wording "Full scholarship" and "Single payment, includes evaluation account".

The rules below are from the Trader Evaluation Program help pages.

The maximum drawdown trails the highest end-of-day balance by $5,000 until the balance reaches the $115k PL Milestone. Reaching the Milestone unlocks "full firm support" and what the page calls "100% career building where every dollar of PL goes towards your Live Desk Starting Balance and risk limits." The graduation page says evaluation profit cannot be withdrawn instead of joining the desk: "Could you withdraw the full amount instead of joining the desk? No."

The graduation page gives the trigger to graduate as "Once you've made 20x that DLL in PL, it's time to graduate."; our copy does not show which daily loss limit figure "that DLL" refers to. The Terms say traders must meet specific profit targets and follow all trading rules, without giving a figure on the parts we saw. Under "If you hit your daily loss limit:" the Terms list "Your account will be automatically liquidated". The daily loss limit is measured from the account balance at each CME exchange reset, not including unrealized profit or loss for swing traders. Intraday accounts may not hold unrealized profit or loss through an exchange reset.

The trading rules page says "Positions must be closed prior to 3:05pmCT, unless it is a market that has common illiquidity after certain times"; the page also says "These positions must be closed out prior to 1:15pmCT." and "Live Cattle and Lean Hogs need to be flattened before 1:00pmCT." The Terms say closing times depend on the account type (Intraday vs Swing). The FAQ says swing trading is allowed but needs a designated Swing Account. An account that has not been actively and meaningfully traded for 30 days is suspended.

The prohibited practices page says "Anything other than legit, normal trading that would work in live markets is prohibited." It lists, among others:

• Cross-user copy trading or collusion
• Reverse-copying or offsetting between accounts to manufacture P&L
• Hedging across multiple accounts in the hope that one of them profits
• Exploiting latency, bridges, queues or price feeds
• Wash-like patterns, and any attempt to game fills, performance or payouts

The firm says it has full discretion to restrict or close accounts for abuse, and that abusers are not entitled to refunds or payouts. The Terms' list of trading rules also includes "Trade during gaps or when markets are closed", "High-frequency trading strategies" and "Spoofing (placing orders you intend to cancel)", and says "Use only approved instruments and products".

Copy trading. The copy trading help page says "Allowed: Copy trading across your own Evaluation Accounts." and that cross-user copy trading is prohibited. The Terms' list of trading rules, however, includes "Copying strategies across accounts (yours or others')". Because the two pages differ, traders should confirm with the firm before copying trades between their own accounts.

Hedging. The prohibited practices page lists "'Hedging' across multiple accounts in hopes of one of them profiting" and the Terms list "Hedging between multiple accounts (yours or others')".

Automated trading. The evaluation overview says "Trade intraday or swing. Discretionary or algorithmic." The FAQ says "On the Live Desk, we may request access for risk review purposes." The Terms prohibit using automated trading bots or AI without permission.

News. The FAQ discusses news releases ("Unless trading big news releases is a designed part of your strategy,"), but our copy does not show a clear rule. We did not see a Live Desk rule on news trading.

The Live Desk starting balance is the sum of all the trader's Evaluation Program profit after Milestone Day, up to $3 million. That starting balance is also the account's maximum drawdown, which is static and does not trail. The daily loss limit is up to 5% of balance; the firm's example is a $3 million starting balance with a $3 million static maximum drawdown and a $150,000 daily loss limit. The graduation page also lists "Use a stop for every open position".

The prop desk page describes "Daily, uncapped withdrawals on realized P&L." The trader pay page says approved withdrawals are processed quickly; we did not see a stated processing time. The prop desk page also mentions K-1 tax treatment and ongoing mentorship, coaching and risk support. The Terms say the firm may withhold or forfeit payouts or profits when it finds violations.

Scaling. The daily loss limit scales with performance because it is 5% of account balance. Beyond that, the firm says it looks at metrics such as ROMAD (profit divided by maximum drawdown over a period), consistent profitability, risk management, professional behaviour and adherence to firm guidelines. The FAQ says "we will naturally scale you up there - you don't have to do more evals to earn more risk if you are trading well." Scaling can also go down: during drawdown, Desk Management and Risk Management may talk to the trader and adjust sizing and risk limits. We did not see a fixed scaling schedule.

The platform guide names Tradovate in the browser, NinjaTrader Desktop and TradingView. Traders can also use Rithmic Trader Pro for free, or the Rithmic connection with a compatible platform. Named compatible platforms include Sierra Chart, Jigsaw, Bookmap, Quantower, EdgeProX, ATAS, MotiveWave and MultiCharts. The guide tells evaluation traders to set the Rithmic system to "Rithmic Paper Trading".

The trading rules page lists these futures products: ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, CL, MCL, GC, MGC, RTY, M2K, YM, MYM, NKD, MBT, SI, SIL, HG, MHG, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6E, 6J, 6S, M6E, M6A, M6B, ZT, ZF, ZN, TN, ZB, UB, HE, LE, RB, HO, PL, NG, MNG, ZC, ZL, ZM, ZS and ZW. The FAQ notes that the major currency pairs can be traded through their futures contracts. Swing Accounts need 100% of exchange margin and Intraday Accounts 60%.

The Terms open with "Welcome to Apteros Trading, LLC", and the contact page gives the address 4235 Hillsboro Pike STE 300, Nashville, TN 37215, United States. The Terms state: "We are not a broker-dealer or registered investment advisor."

Refunds. The refund policy page says "No refunds for any reason.", explaining that the firm incurs hard costs on a trader's behalf the moment they sign up. The Terms say fees "are non-refundable except as described below"; we did not see any exception in our copy, and we follow the more specific refund page.

Restricted countries. The restricted countries page lists the current countries of residence or citizenship the firm says it cannot back as a prop desk, citing sanctions and regulatory constraints: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), Burma/Myanmar, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Chinese Military Companies, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Crimea (Region North of Black Sea – Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia), Croatia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Korea, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan (and Darfur), Syria, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe. The page says the list may change. The Terms also exclude traders in sanctioned countries and refer to jurisdictions where the firm has no active futures commission merchant partnership.

Apteros Trading fits futures traders who want a route to a Live Desk with an 80% profit split and a static drawdown, and who accept that evaluation profit is carried into the Live Desk starting balance rather than paid out. It allows both intraday and swing accounts and supports Tradovate- and Rithmic-connected platforms.

It is not available to residents or citizens of the countries on its restricted list, and it suits less well traders who want to see the evaluation price before visiting checkout (we could not find it on the pages we captured) or who want to withdraw profits during the evaluation.

MyPropGenius Rating: Not yet rated — no Transparency Index score yet

The rating measures how openly Apteros Trading discloses its rules, pricing, payouts and ownership (our Transparency Index methodology). It does not measure how likely you are to pass or be paid.