There's no single number—each prop firm sets its own cap, and they do it two different ways. Some limit the count of active funded accounts: certain firms allow around three active funded (sim) accounts, while others permit up to five. Others cap total capital instead—some firms allow unlimited accounts but cap your combined allocation (for example, around $400,000 across everything). Always check your firm's rulebook before opening a second account.
This guide is for traders who've passed one challenge—or are planning to—and want to know how far they can scale. Below, you'll see the typical limits at major firms, the two ways they're enforced, the rules that trip people up, and how to manage several accounts without multiplying your losses.
What Counts as a Funded Account
A funded account is one you trade with a prop firm's capital after passing its evaluation. Most are simulated ("sim-funded") accounts that mirror live market data, and the firm pays you a share of the profits you generate.
It's worth separating two stages, because firms often set different limits for each. Evaluation accounts are the challenges you're still trying to pass. Funded accounts are the ones you've already earned. Some firms, for example, let you hold up to around 10 active evaluation accounts at once, but far fewer funded ones. When people ask "how many can I have," they usually mean funded—so that's the focus here.
How Many Funded Accounts Can You Have?
The honest answer is that it depends entirely on the firm. Here's how the two main approaches play out across common cap models:
| Cap model | Typical funded accounts allowed at once | How the cap works |
|---|---|---|
| Account-count cap | Often 3–5 active funded (sim) accounts; extras may be queued | By account count |
| Count-plus-size cap | E.g., 5 smaller accounts, or fewer (around 3) if you hold larger ones | By count and account size |
| Funding-stage cap | Several "express" or sim-funded accounts, but only 1 live-funded | By count and funding stage |
| Total-capital cap | No limit on account count | By total capital (e.g., around $400,000) |
A couple of details behind the table. Under an account-count cap, if you pass more evaluations than your active slots allow, the extras are often queued and activate when a slot frees up. Under a funding-stage model, receiving a live-funded account can close all your earlier-stage (express or sim-funded) accounts, and you may be able to hold only one live account at a time.
The Two Ways Firms Limit You
Once you see the pattern, the whole topic gets simpler. Firms cap you either by the number of accounts or by the total capital you control—and the difference changes your scaling math.
Count-based caps treat each account as its own allocation. If a firm lets you run three funded accounts, three passed evaluations give you three separate pools of capital, each with its own profit potential and its own rules. Many futures-focused firms work this way.
Capital-based caps limit the total, no matter how many accounts you open. Some firms place no limit on account count, but the combined allocation across all your accounts is capped (around $400,000, in one common example). Opening more accounts under a capital cap just slices the same pie thinner—it doesn't give you more total buying power.
The practical takeaway: under a count cap, more accounts mean more capital; under a capital cap, they don't. Know which model your firm uses before you buy another challenge.
Rules and Restrictions to Watch
Holding several accounts comes with fine print that catches traders off guard:
- No duplicate registrations. You can't open extra accounts under different identities to dodge a firm's limits. Many firms explicitly state that holding multiple accounts through different registrations is not permitted.
- Same-strategy limits. Running identical trades across accounts can trigger the capital cap. Some firms reserve the right to suspend accounts if identical strategies exceed their combined allocation limit.
- Copy trading isn't a free pass. Mirroring one strategy across many accounts is popular, but each firm sets its own copy-trading rules—and some treat coordinated identical trading as a violation. Confirm the policy before you automate it.
- Each account keeps its own risk rules. Your maximum drawdown and daily loss limit apply per account. Breaching them on one account ends that account, regardless of how the others are doing.
Benefits and Risks of Multiple Accounts
More accounts can help—but only if you're already consistent. Weigh both sides honestly.
Benefits:
- More total payout potential, since each funded account earns independently under a count-based firm.
- Strategy diversification—you can run different setups or markets on different accounts.
- A buffer against a single failure; losing one account doesn't wipe out your whole operation.
- A faster path to scaling the total capital you actively trade.
Risks:
- Fees multiply. Every account (and every reset) is another cost, whether you're profitable or not.
- Attention gets thin. More screens and rulebooks mean more chances to miss a limit.
- Correlated blowups. If you trade the same position across accounts, a single bad move can breach all of them at once.
- Over-trading. Managing many accounts tempts traders into more activity than their edge supports.
How to Manage Multiple Accounts
Treat scaling as a promotion you earn, not a shortcut. A few practices keep it sane:
- Start with one and add slowly. Only open a second funded account after you've been consistently profitable and paid out on the first.
- Trade one plan, sized per account. Use the same setups, but size each position to that account's specific drawdown and daily loss limit.
- Watch correlation. Identical trades across accounts multiply both gains and losses—decide deliberately whether you want that concentration.
- Track each account separately. A simple spreadsheet showing each account's balance, drawdown headroom, and daily loss used prevents nasty surprises.
- Respect each rulebook. Limits and consistency rules can differ by firm and even by account size.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have funded accounts with more than one prop firm at once? Yes. Each firm's account limit applies only to its own accounts, so nothing stops you from holding funded accounts across several firms. Just track each firm's separate rulebook and manage your total risk across all of them.
Does copy trading the same trades across accounts break the rules? It can. Some firms restrict identical strategies that exceed their capital limit and ban duplicate registrations. Other firms set their own copy-trading policies, so verify each one before mirroring trades.
What happens if I breach the rules on one account? That account is typically closed or lost. At firms that queue extra accounts, one activates when an active account is lost. Your other accounts generally continue, but duplicate-registration or coordinated abuse can put all of them at risk.
How many evaluation accounts can I run at the same time? Often more than funded ones. Some firms allow up to around 10 active evaluation accounts at once, while capping funded accounts lower.
The Bottom Line
How many funded accounts you can hold comes down to one question: does your firm cap the number of accounts or the total capital? Count-based firms let each account add real buying power. Capital-based firms let you open as many as you want but cap the total.
Before adding an account, confirm your firm's model, prove you're consistent on the account you already have, and make sure you can manage the extra risk. If you're deciding where to scale, Pivex is one funded-account provider to weigh against the firms above—check its current account limits on the official site before you commit.