Questions algo and HFT traders ask.
Prop firm rules for bots, HFT, VPS and colocation, checked against each firm’s own pages, and how ROMER does it differently.
- 01 Which prop firms actually allow HFT? None of the 12 prop firms we checked allows high-frequency trading (HFT): ten ban or restrict it by name, Take Profit Trader bans all bots, and Kraken Prop takes manual orders only. Eight allow bots or EAs in some form, but within limits such as FTMO's 2,000 server requests a day.
- 02 Why do prop firms ban HFT? Most funded accounts are simulated, and a simulator can't fully model queue position, slippage or price delays. Very fast orders can win in the sim where they wouldn't in a real market. The firm still pays those profits in real money, out of its own revenue, which comes from traders' fees.
- 03 Which prop firms allow VPS? Four of the 12 prop firms we checked allow a VPS, each with conditions: FTMO, Alpha Futures, Tradeify and FundedNext, whose CFD accounts may use one only below $50,000, for a fee. Topstep and FundingPips ban it. Five firms don't say, and we couldn't check Apex.
- 04 Is there a prop firm with colocated servers? Not at retail prop firms today, according to guides published by two prop firms. Their traders connect over the internet through a platform or API, and some firms ban VPS and remote servers. ROMER, still in development, is being built to run traders' algos on its own hardware inside the exchange's data centre.
- 05 Sim funded vs live funded: are my payouts from real trades? Usually not. At most prop firms the funded account is simulated, so your trades never reach a real market, and the payout is real money the firm pays based on simulated results. By the firms' own figures, few traders move to live capital: 0.71% at Topstep, 3.0% at Tradeify and 4.2% at MyFundedFutures.