Every challenge on this site follows one of two routes, Classic or Direct. Both end in the same place, the reward stage. What differs is the way there: how many targets you meet, how much room the loss limits give you, and what you pay.
The short version
- Classic is a two-step evaluation. You meet an 8% target, then a 5% target. The daily loss limit is 5% and the maximum loss is 10%. Fees start at $99.
- Direct is a one-step evaluation. You meet a single 10% target. The daily loss limit is 4% and the maximum loss is 6%. Fees start at $149.
Everything else is the same on both routes. There is no time limit. Each phase needs at least three trading days. The reward split is 80%, or 90% with the Reward Split Boost, an add-on offered at checkout. You choose your leverage when you buy, from 1:10 to 1:500, and the price is the same at every leverage. Trading costs apply on both routes, as they would on a live account: a commission when a trade opens and when it closes, a price markup on some symbols, and holding costs on positions kept overnight.
One account size, side by side
Every target and limit is a share of the starting balance. Here is a $50,000 account on each route.
Classic, $50,000
- Targets: $4,000 in phase one, then $2,500 in phase two
- Daily loss limit: $2,500
- Maximum loss: $5,000
- Fee: $299
Direct, $50,000
- Target: $5,000, in one phase
- Daily loss limit: $2,000
- Maximum loss: $3,000
- Fee: $349
What the difference means
Classic gives you more room and asks for two steps. With a 5% daily limit and a 10% maximum loss, a losing day or a losing week has more space before the challenge fails. The trade-off is a second phase: you meet one target, then start the next phase and meet another.
Direct is one step with less room. A single target takes you to the reward stage, but the limits are tighter: 4% in a day and 6% overall. A run of losses reaches the floor sooner than it would on Classic.
On both routes the loss limits are measured on equity, so open positions count, not only closed trades. Reaching either limit fails the challenge. How the daily loss limit works on equity explains this with an example.
Three questions to settle first
- How do your losses tend to arrive? If they come in clusters, the wider limits on Classic leave more room between a bad run and the floor.
- One objective or two? Direct reaches the reward stage in one phase. Classic asks for two.
- What do you want to pay up front? Classic's fee is lower than Direct's at every account size.
The full rules for every route and every account size are on the rules page. To compare prices and choose a size, go to Challenges.
All trading is simulated. Rewards are based on performance and are not guaranteed.