What Is a Sim Funded Account?

A $100,000 balance on your prop firm dashboard does not mean $100,000 is sitting in a live brokerage account.

Your trading capital is simulated, and your orders never reach a real exchange. Yet, you can still receive real cash payouts when you make eligible profits and follow the firm's rules.

This raises an important question: what is a sim funded account, and where does the payout money come from? Simply put, you trade with virtual capital using real market price data, while the prop firm pays you for eligible trading profits.

In this guide, we explain how a sim funded account works, the difference from live accounts, and what each Goat Funded Futures plan offers, including prices, account sizes, and trading limits.

How a Sim Funded Account Works

With a sim funded account, you trade futures using virtual capital and real market prices on platforms such as NinjaTrader or Tradovate. Your orders are filled in a simulated environment, so no trades reach a live exchange. 

Any profits appear in your account balance, and you can receive real cash payouts when you meet the firm's payout requirements.

Getting started depends on the plan you choose. You select an account size, such as $50K or $100K, and pay a one-time fee. Evaluation plans require you to reach a profit target, often 6% of your starting balance, without breaking the drawdown rules. 

Instant funding plans let you skip the evaluation and begin trading at the simulated funded stage. After reaching the funded stage, you follow your account's trading rules and request payouts when you qualify. 

• Drawdown is one of the most important rules on a sim funded account. It sets the lowest level your balance or equity can reach before you breach the account's loss limit.

• With end-of-day trailing drawdown, the loss limit moves up based on your balance at the end of each trading session. Intraday trailing drawdown works differently. The limit can rise during the session as your equity reaches new highs, including unrealized profits from open positions. 

Both methods stop trailing when the loss limit reaches the plan's set lock point.

Sim Funded vs Live Funded Accounts

A live funded account sends your trades into real market positions backed by real capital. A sim funded account keeps every order inside the firm's environment. On screen, the two look identical: same charts, order tickets, and contracts.

So, when traders ask what a sim funded account is next to a live one, the difference is simply where orders go and whose capital is exposed. 

• Live accounts put the firm's money in the market. 

• Simulated accounts do not, and the firm pays you from its own funds once you qualify. 

Our breakdown of a live funded account in futures prop trading covers the other side in detail.

Why Traders Choose Simulated Funded Accounts

Simulated funded accounts allow you to trade futures without putting a large amount of your own money into the market. You use virtual capital, follow the firm's trading rules, and may qualify for real cash payouts.

Here are four reasons traders choose these accounts:

1. Lower Financial Risk

When you trade with your own money, every loss reduces your savings. A simulated funded account works differently. You pay a fee to access virtual capital, and your trading losses do not come out of your bank account. Your main financial risk is the fee you pay. Buying resets or additional accounts will increase that cost.

2. Access to Larger Account Sizes

Opening a $100,000 live trading account requires substantial personal capital. With simulated funding, you can trade on a $100,000 virtual account for a much lower upfront cost. The balance is not money you own or can withdraw. You must also trade within the firm's loss limits and contract limits.

3. Clear Rules for Managing Risk

Simulated funded accounts come with rules that help you control how much you risk. These may include daily loss limits, maximum drawdown, and limits on the number of contracts you can trade. Following these rules can help you develop better habits, such as using sensible position sizes, limiting losses, and avoiding unnecessary trades.

4. Opportunity to Earn Real Cash Payouts

Although you trade with virtual money, you may receive real cash payouts when you make eligible profits. The firm pays you according to its payout rules. You must meet those conditions and avoid breaking the account's trading limits. Profits and payouts are never guaranteed.

Goat Funded Futures Plans, Sizes, and Prices

Goat Funded Futures offers 6 routes to a sim funded account: 4 evaluation plans and 2 instant plans. None require an activation fee, and every evaluation plan includes two resets. 

Prices below reflect current offers:

EOD Challenge

The EOD Challenge is a one-phase evaluation with no time limit. Its drawdown trails at the end of each day and locks once it reaches your starting balance. You face no daily loss limit while you evaluate, though a 2.5% limit applies once you are funded. 

A consistency rule limits how much of your total profit a single day can supply: 50% in the evaluation and 30% when funded. The split is 80/20 by default with an optional 90/10 add-on, and payouts unlock every 7 winning days.

1-Day-Pass-Plan

The 1-Day-Pass-Plan has no consistency rule during the evaluation, which is its defining feature. A 35% rule starts once you are funded. A daily loss limit applies in both phases as a soft pause: trading stops for the day and resumes next session. 

Drawdown trails at the end of the day and locks once the balance reaches your starting balance. The split is 80/20 by default with an optional 90/10 add-on, and payouts unlock every 5 winning days.

Flex Challenge

Flex has no daily loss limit in either phase. It applies a 50% consistency rule in the evaluation and none once you are funded. In place of the microscalping rule, a 1-minute holding rule applies at each payout request: at least 50% of your closed trades, and of your net profit, must come from trades held for over one minute. The split is 80/20 by default with an optional 90/10 add-on, and payouts unlock every 5 winning days.

GOAT Daily

GOAT Daily is the newest plan, built around payout speed. Once funded, you can request a payout every 24 hours, with no fixed windows and no minimum winning days. The split is 90/10 from the first payout with no add-on. The evaluation uses end-of-day trailing drawdown and a 40% consistency rule. 

Once funded, drawdown becomes intraday trailing, and the consistency rule disappears; drawdown locks at your starting balance plus $100. The daily loss limit is a soft pause, but three hits within any rolling 30-day period close the account. At least 50% of each request must come from profit made after your last payout.

Instant Classic

Instant Classic skips the evaluation, so you trade a funded account from the day you buy it. Drawdown is intraday trailing, and a 3% daily loss limit applies as a soft pause. A 20% consistency rule applies before payouts, not before trading starts. 

Payouts unlock every 7 winning days, with a 10-calendar-day minimum and a 7% balance-growth target before the first one. You keep 100% of your first $10,000 in payouts and 90% after. There are no resets.

Instant Lite

Instant Lite is the entry-level instant plan. There is no profit target to pass, but payout targets apply before you get paid. Drawdown trails at the end of the day and locks at your starting balance plus $100. 

A sliding consistency rule starts at 15% for the first payout, moves to 20% for the second, and settles at 25% from the third payout onward. The split is 90/10 from the first payout with no add-on, and a 5% daily profit cap applies. There are no resets.

Rules Shared Across Every Plan

All six Goat Funded Futures plans have rules covering payouts, trading hours, and how long you can hold a position. Some rules apply to every account, while others depend on the plan you choose.

1. Minimum Payout and Processing Fees

The minimum payout request is $500 across all six plans. You must meet your account's payout requirements before requesting this amount. A 3% processing fee is deducted from every payout. 

Most payout requests are processed within two business days, while GOAT Daily requests are processed within 48 hours. Instant Lite payouts are processed within two business days after approval.

2. When You Can Request a Payout

The payout schedule depends on your plan.

• EOD, 1-Day-Pass-Plan, Flex, and Instant Classic: You can submit payout requests from the 5th to the 8th and from the 20th to the 23rd of each month.

• GOAT Daily: You can make your first request 24 hours after your first funded trade, then submit another request every 24 hours if you qualify.

• Instant Lite: You can request a payout during your payout cycle after meeting the required profit target and consistency rule.

Some plans also require a set number of winning days. On EOD, 1-Day-Pass-Plan, and Instant Classic, a winning day means earning at least 0.2% of your starting balance after trading costs. 

For a $50K account, that means at least $100 in daily profit. Flex has different winning-day targets based on account size, while GOAT Daily has no winning-day requirement.

3. Trading Hours and Overnight Positions

You cannot hold positions overnight or over the weekend on any GFF plan.

Open positions are automatically closed at 3:55 p.m. Central Time on EOD, 1-Day-Pass-Plan, Flex, Instant Classic, and GOAT Daily. Instant Lite has a separate closing time of 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time. You should close your positions before the deadline rather than rely on the automatic closing system.

4. Minimum Trade Holding Time

Some plans have rules about how quickly you can open and close trades.

• EOD, 1-Day-Pass-Plan, Instant Classic, and Instant Lite: Profits from trades closed within two minutes of opening are deducted from your account and payout calculations.

• Flex: At least 50% of your closed trades and 50% of your net profit must come from positions held longer than one minute.

• GOAT Daily: At least 50% of your net profit since your last payout must come from trades held longer than 60 seconds.

Tick scalping is prohibited across all plans. This means you cannot repeatedly open and close positions within seconds to profit from very short price changes.

5. Trading During Major News Events

News trading rules depend on whether you are completing an evaluation or trading a funded account. During the evaluation phase, EOD, 1-Day-Pass-Plan, and Flex allow trading around major news releases without restrictions. GOAT Daily applies a two-minute news restriction during both evaluation and funded trading.

On all funded accounts, you cannot open positions, close positions, or trigger pending orders during the two minutes before or after a scheduled high-impact news release. You may hold a position through the announcement if you opened it before the restricted period began.

Our Reliability and the Clarity Card

Low prices only help when the rules and payouts can be trusted. Every plan has its own specification page in the help center, listing prices, limits, and payout caps, so you can read each condition before you buy. Changes to trading parameters are announced on the website and Discord.

The newly launched Clarity Card adds visibility inside your dashboard. It displays your account rules, so a trader running a sim funded account can see where they stand against each limit before reaching it.

A drawdown trailing in real time, or a daily loss limit, is easier to respect when the figure sits right in front of you.

Picking Your First Sim Funded Account Plan

At Goat Funded Futures, you can trade index futures such as ES and NQ, energy and metals futures such as CL and GC, and currency futures like 6E on platforms such as NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, and ATAS, with a $0 activation fee on every plan. 

Pick the plan matching how you trade and start building your track record:

• EOD Challenge: a low entry price for a 50K account and steady, repeatable days.

• 1-Day-Pass-Plan: a $25K starting size and freedom to run big days during the evaluation.

• Flex Challenge: no daily loss limit and no consistency rule once funded.

• GOAT Daily: payout requests every 24 hours and a 90/10 split from the first payout.

• Instant Classic or Instant Lite: no evaluation, so you trade a funded account from day one.

Get Funded Today

Frequently Asked Questions