--- title: "Real Account vs. Simulated Account: How to Choose Between the Two Major Prop Trading Models? Are They Reliable?" type: "Topics" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/40131975.md" description: "Are you still using your own capital to trade, bearing all the loss risks alone? In today's trading market, a model of "platform provides capital, traders provide skills, and profits are shared proportionally" has long emerged. This is proprietary trading. Its core value is to completely solve the capital bottleneck for individual traders, allowing excellent trading skills to no longer be limited by the scale of principal. Of course, proprietary trading platforms are not charitable organizations; only traders with stable profitability can receive profit shares. Therefore, almost all proprietary trading platforms set strict assessment rules to filter out truly capable traders. Having clarified the core logic of proprietary trading..." datetime: "2026-04-23T11:05:00.000Z" locales: - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/topics/40131975.md) - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/40131975.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/40131975.md) author: "[EagleTrader老鹰交易员](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/26191375.md)" --- # Real Account vs. Simulated Account: How to Choose Between the Two Major Prop Trading Models? Are They Reliable? ![4.23](https://pub.pbkrs.com/uploads/2026/16bd6febf1ae68d615a53d45151988b3?x-oss-process=style/lg) Are you still using your own capital to gamble and bearing all the loss risks alone in trading? In today's trading market, a model of "**the platform provides capital, the trader provides skills, and profits are shared proportionally**" has long been on the rise. This is proprietary trading. Its core value is to completely solve the capital bottleneck for individual traders, allowing excellent trading skills to no longer be limited by the size of the principal. Of course, proprietary trading firms are not charities; only traders with stable profitability can get a share of the profits. Therefore, almost all proprietary trading firms set strict evaluation rules to filter out truly capable traders. After clarifying the core logic of proprietary trading, let's look at the two mainstream types of proprietary trading models currently on the market and their key differences. # **The Two Mainstream Models of Proprietary Trading** ## **1\. Real Account Evaluation Model** This model is mostly offered by proprietary trading firms under established brokers. Traders need to open a real account and deposit funds to complete the evaluation. After passing, the platform will match capital for copy trading at 10-20 times the account principal, and profits are shared according to the agreed ratio. Example: Deposit $500 to pass the evaluation, the platform matches 20 times, i.e., $10,000 for copy trading; when the trade makes a 10% profit, in addition to the $50 profit from the personal account, the trader can also receive 70% of the platform's copy trading profit ($700); losses within compliance limits are borne only by the trader's personal account. ## **2\. Simulated Account Evaluation Model** This is currently the most mainstream model in the domestic market, represented by the well-known proprietary trading platform EagleTrader. Traders do not need to deposit funds and bear trading losses; they only need to pay a small technical service fee to obtain a simulated evaluation account with a corresponding quota. The account quota used for evaluation is the capital quota that can be operated upon passing. Example: Pay $150 to obtain a $10,000 simulated account. After passing the evaluation, you can operate an equivalent amount of capital, with 80% of the profits belonging to the trader. The platform will copy the simulated account operations 1:1 to the institution's live account, and profits can be cashed out for real. # **Core Advantages of the Two Models** Neither model is absolutely better or worse; the core is matching traders with different needs: - **Real Account Evaluation Model:** Relatively higher fault tolerance. Most platforms will not directly eliminate traders for a single rule violation but will set a cooling-off period, giving the account a second chance. More suitable for traders with some personal capital and a relatively conservative trading style. - **Simulated Account Evaluation Model:** Completely isolates the risk of losing trading principal. Traders do not need to bear the pressure of losses and can focus more on executing trading strategies. Especially for platforms like EagleTrader, a very low registration fee can leverage large trading capital. Particularly suitable for novice traders with limited capital reserves, those who do not want to bear principal losses, or those who wish to refine their trading systems. At the same time, formal simulated account proprietary trading platforms are also equipped with professional risk control teams to help traders review trading issues and provide optimization suggestions, allowing traders to improve their trading skills while earning profits. # **3 Key Points to Avoid Pitfalls When Choosing a Platform** ## **1\. Avoid Platform Bankruptcy/Runaway Risk** Proprietary trading platforms' profits mainly come from evaluation service fees and profit sharing. In recent years, several overseas small and medium-sized platforms like TrueForexFunds have ceased operations due to broken capital chains. Therefore, it is essential to prioritize formal platforms with a long operating history, strong institutional backing, and large scale, and stay away from unqualified niche new platforms. ## **2\. Thoroughly Understand the Evaluation Rules in Advance** Each platform has clear standards for order validity. Focus on two points: First, position holding time limits. Most platforms do not recognize ultra-short orders within 1-3 minutes, which may render profits invalid or even cause evaluation failure. Second, EA usage permissions. The vast majority of platforms prohibit Martingale-type EAs to avoid disputes caused by violations. ## **3\. Verify the Platform's Market Reputation** Don't just look at official promotions. Consult traders with real participation experience, refer to genuine industry reviews, and confirm that the platform has no negative issues such as non-payment of profits or arbitrary rule changes before deciding to sign up. If you are also tired of being nervous every time you place an order and afraid of drawdowns devouring your capital, you might want to seriously learn about the evaluation rules of domestic proprietary trading platforms and let proprietary trading help you shed the burden of capital pressure. If you have any other questions about proprietary trading you'd like to know, you can tell me in the comments section!