Apex Trader Funding is a futures firm, so you size in contracts rather than lots, and the limit that ends evaluations is a trailing threshold that follows your peak balance. This calculator works for futures with one substitution — enter your stop in ticks and the tick value as the pip value — and returns the number of contracts that keeps a single loss inside the plan for your Apex evaluation.
How to use this calculator for Apex
- Account balance — your evaluation size: $25K, $50K, $100K or $150K.
- Risk percentage — the share of the account you accept losing on one trade. Because the trailing threshold is a small fraction of the account (see below), 0.5–1% is the practical ceiling.
- Stop loss — your stop in ticks. On ES, 1 point = 4 ticks.
- Pip value — the tick value of the product: $12.50 for ES, $5.00 for NQ, $10.00 for CL, $1.25 for MES, $0.50 for MNQ, $1.00 for MCL.
Round the result down to a whole number of contracts.
Apex evaluation rules that decide your size
Figures below are for the current evaluations (the "Apex 4.0" lineup sold since 1 March 2026), which come in end-of-day (EOD) and intraday trailing variants; accounts bought before that date keep their legacy rules. Apex changes details from time to time; confirm the figures for the account you buy.
Rules verified against Apex Trader Funding's official help center on 26 Sept 2026 — check the firm's site before buying. Sources: EOD Evaluations, EOD Drawdown Explained, 50% Consistency Requirement.
| Account | Profit target | Trailing threshold | Daily loss limit (EOD only) | Max contracts (minis) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $25K | $1,500 | $1,000 | $500 | 4 |
| $50K | $3,000 | $2,000 | $1,000 | 6 |
| $100K | $6,000 | $3,000 | $1,500 | 8 |
| $150K | $9,000 | $4,000 | $2,000 | 12 |
The trailing threshold only moves up, with your peak balance. On a Performance Account (PA) it stops trailing once it reaches the starting balance plus $100; during the evaluation it stops at the profit-target balance on Rithmic and WealthCharts and keeps trailing on Tradovate. On end-of-day accounts it updates from the closing balance; on intraday accounts it trails unrealized peaks during the session, which is stricter. The EOD daily loss limit pauses trading for the rest of the session instead of failing the account, and intraday evaluations have none. There is no consistency rule and no minimum number of days during the evaluation, and it can be passed in a single day, but on PA payouts your largest profitable day must be under 50% of the net profit since the last approved payout. Evaluation contract limits are fixed; Performance Accounts scale size by tier.
Contract sizing with Apex numbers
Contracts = (Account balance × Risk %) ÷ (Stop in ticks × Tick value)Example 1 — ES on the $50K evaluation: 1% risk ($500), 20-tick stop (5 points), tick value $12.50.
- Loss per contract: 20 × $12.50 = $250
- Contracts: $500 ÷ $250 = 2 ES
Example 2 — MNQ on the $50K evaluation: 1% risk ($500), 80-tick stop (20 points), tick value $0.50.
- Loss per contract: 80 × $0.50 = $40
- Contracts: $500 ÷ $40 = 12 MNQ
Example 3 — CL on the $100K evaluation: 0.5% risk ($500), 25-tick stop, tick value $10.
- Loss per contract: 25 × $10 = $250
- Contracts: 2 CL
Why the trailing threshold makes percentage risk misleading
On a $50K Apex account the threshold is $2,000 — only 4% of the nominal balance. "1% risk" therefore means four full stop-outs from a fresh account end the evaluation, and because the threshold trails your peak, a strong morning followed by a weak afternoon can hit it with fewer:
| Risk per trade | Full losses to breach ($50K, $2,000 threshold) | Full losses to breach ($100K, $3,000 threshold) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0% | 4 | 3 |
| 0.5% | 8 | 6 |
| 0.25% | 16 | 12 |
Note the $100K account: the threshold is $3,000, just 3% of the balance, so 1% per trade is more dangerous there than on the $50K account. Size from the threshold, not from the account size.
Micros while the threshold trails
Most traders who pass an Apex evaluation build the early profit in micros (MES, MNQ, MCL) and step up to full-size contracts only after the threshold has stopped trailing. A micro carries one-tenth of the risk for the same stop, which turns a four-loss buffer into a forty-loss buffer. Run the calculator once with the ES tick value and once with the MES tick value to see the difference in contracts.
Journal your Apex evaluation in Fips
The trailing threshold punishes traders who do not know where their floor is. Fips's free trading journal records each trade with its R-multiple and running P&L so you can see how far the threshold has moved before you place the next order. The backtesting tools let you check a setup's worst losing streak on historical data before paying for an evaluation, and the account analysis view flags when your best day is drifting toward the 50% payout consistency line.
Frequently asked questions
How many contracts should I trade on a $50K Apex account?
Size from the formula, not from the contract cap. At a 20-tick stop on ES and 1% risk, 2 contracts; the evaluation cap of 6 is a maximum, not a recommendation.
Does Apex's trailing threshold count open trades?
On intraday accounts, yes — it trails unrealized peaks and is enforced against open P&L. On end-of-day accounts the threshold updates from the closing balance, but a large open loss can still hit the current floor.
Should I enter ticks or points?
Ticks, paired with the tick value. If you prefer points, enter the stop in points and use the point value ($50 ES, $20 NQ, $1,000 CL, $5 MES, $2 MNQ, $100 MCL).
Is there a daily loss limit on Apex?
On end-of-day evaluations, yes: $500 on $25K, $1,000 on $50K, $1,500 on $100K and $2,000 on $150K. Hitting it pauses trading for the rest of the session rather than failing the account, and it is separate from the trailing threshold. Intraday evaluations have no daily loss limit. Check the account you hold.
Fips is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Apex Trader Funding. The rule figures on this page were checked against the firm's official sources on 26 September 2026 and can change without notice; verify them on the firm's own website before trading.