Prop Firm Fee Refunds Compared: 4 Firms, Their Own Terms

Adrian Caldwell Founder & Head Trader, ITAfx

The claim you keep reading, and what the firms actually publish

Where the blanket claim comes from

Refunded fees are a real feature at some firms, and it is an easy sentence to generalise. A page compares six firms, finds that two of them refund on the first payout, and writes a summary line that quietly turns two into all. The next page copies the summary instead of the terms. Two years later the sentence is everywhere and nobody has re-read the source.

Three ways the answer actually varies

First, by firm. Some firms return the fee after funding; some never do, and only offer a short cooling-off window before you start trading. If you are still choosing a firm at all, how to choose the right prop firm for forex trading walks through the criteria that matter beyond the refund line.

Second, by product tier inside the same firm. FTMO's own FAQ answers the same question two different ways depending on whether you bought the 1-Step or the 2-Step Challenge (FTMO.com, retrieved 2026-07-30). For a broader look at how these tiers and rules are structured in general, see prop firm challenge rules and requirements: complete 2026.

Third, by purchase date.

How this page was sourced: firm terms only

Every row below comes from the firm's own published FAQ, help center article, or Terms and Conditions. No aggregator, no affiliate table, no screenshot of somebody else's screenshot. Each claim was retrieved on 30 July 2026 and carries a re-check date of 30 October 2026, because these documents get edited without announcement.

Firm-by-firm: does the fee come back, and when?

FTMO's FAQ states that for the FTMO Challenge: 1-Step, the entry fee is not refunded at all (FTMO.com, retrieved 2026-07-30). FTMO's FAQ separately states that for the FTMO Challenge: 2-Step, the entry fee may be refunded with the first Reward withdrawal, paid back via the trader's original payment method (FTMO.com, retrieved 2026-07-30). FundedNext's help center states that in the Stellar 2-Step model, once a trader completes both Challenge Phases and receives a FundedNext Account, they can request the Refundable Fee with their first payout, in an amount equal to the original purchase or reset fee (FundedNext Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30). Topstep's refund-policy article states that fees paid are considered used in full once a trader passes the Trading Combine, with no first-payout refund mechanism (Topstep Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30). The5ers' Terms and Conditions state the evaluation fee is non-refundable once a trader commences evaluation trading activity (The5ers Terms and Conditions, retrieved 2026-07-30).

Reading the table without getting burned

Two columns in that table answer different questions, and conflating them is how traders get surprised. "Fee returned after funding" is about money coming back once you are trading a funded account. "Pre-funding refund window" is about cancelling before you really start. A firm can be generous on one and silent on the other.

Also note the blank cells. Where a firm's cited document does not address a pre-funding window, this page says so rather than filling the gap. A missing answer is not a "no", it is a question you have to take to the firm's own Terms.

Why "refundable" and "refunded on first payout" are not the same word

FundedNext's Stellar products carry a fee the company itself calls a Refundable Fee (FundedNext Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30). That word tells you the fee can come back. It does not tell you when. On Stellar 2-Step, it is requested with the first payout (FundedNext Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30). Same adjective, very different waiting period. When you compare firms, compare trigger events, not adjectives. And once a payout is approved, how it actually pays out matters too, which is a separate question from whether the fee comes back; see how profit split works in forex prop firms for that mechanic.

Same firm, two answers: FTMO's 1-Step vs 2-Step

What FTMO's FAQ says for each product

FTMO publishes one FAQ page for this question and gives two answers on it. For the FTMO Challenge: 1-Step, the entry fee is not refunded (FTMO.com, retrieved 2026-07-30). For the FTMO Challenge: 2-Step, the entry fee may be refunded with the first Reward withdrawal, and the refund goes back through the payment method used to buy it (FTMO.com, retrieved 2026-07-30).

Note the verb. "May be refunded" is conditional wording chosen by the firm, so treat it as a condition to confirm in your account terms, not a guarantee you have already earned.

The buying mistake this creates

A trader reads "FTMO refunds your fee on the first payout", picks the 1-Step because it looks like less work, passes, withdraws, and gets no fee back. Nothing went wrong with the payout. The trader bought the product where that term does not exist (FTMO.com, retrieved 2026-07-30).

The fix is small and boring: ask the refund question about a product, never about a brand. Same logo, same checkout, different clause. This is one of the most common and least dramatic ways traders lose money on a purchase decision rather than on a trade. It sits alongside the other terms worth reading closely before you fund an account, like the ones covered in prop firm weekend holding rules.

Terms move: FundedNext's Stellar 1-Step refund schedule

Old purchases vs new purchases

FundedNext's help center article for the Stellar 1-Step model states that traders become eligible for the Refundable Fee after passing the Challenge Phase and receiving their FundedNext Account, and that the Refundable Fee is paid when the Performance Reward is disbursed for the third time (FundedNext Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30). That is the rule the live article publishes today.

If your receipt predates the current schedule, do not assume the third-payout timing applies to you, and do not assume the older first-payout timing does either. Ask FundedNext in writing which version governs your account, because the answer is decided by a date on your receipt, not by the product name.

Why third-payout timing changes the real cost

Waiting for a third Performance Reward is a longer survival test than waiting for a first one. You have to keep the account inside its rules across three payout cycles instead of one. That does not make the term unfair, and FundedNext publishes it openly.

The general lesson is bigger than one firm: refund terms are versioned by purchase date. A comparison table published last year is not evidence about the account you can buy today. Read the live document, and note the date you read it.

The firms on the list that never had a first-payout refund

Topstep: "used in full" on pass, plus the reset carve-out

Topstep's own refund-policy article is direct. Pass the Trading Combine and all fees paid are considered used in full, even if you passed two days into a 30-day billing cycle: "if you pass shortly after a monthly payment, we cannot refund or prorate that payment" (Topstep Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30).

There is one narrow mechanism, and it runs the opposite direction from a payout refund. First-time purchasers who decide within their first 14 calendar days that Topstep is not for them can get up to one monthly renewal payment for the Trading Combine refunded, and only while they have not yet passed the evaluation (Topstep Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30). Passing closes the window rather than opening it.

Reset purchases are a hard no at Topstep: the same refund-policy article states there are no refunds on Reset purchases, including accidentally resetting the wrong account or resetting the same account twice (Topstep Help Center, retrieved 2026-07-30).

The5ers: the 14-day pre-trade window

The5ers' Terms and Conditions say the evaluation fee is non-refundable once you commence evaluation trading activity, and that for as long as no trading activity has occurred and the Terms were not breached, a refund can be requested within 14 days of purchase (The5ers Terms and Conditions, retrieved 2026-07-30).

Read the trigger carefully: it is your first trade, not the end of the 14 days, that usually closes this door. Place one position on day two and the window is shut for the remaining twelve days.

Neither Topstep's satisfaction guarantee nor The5ers' pre-trade window is a refund-on-payout model.

Before you pay: a five-minute check on any firm's refund terms

The five questions to ask, in order

Where firms publish these terms

Three places, in this order of usefulness: the help center or FAQ article that answers this specific question, the Terms and Conditions page, and the product page's fine print. FTMO uses a dedicated FAQ entry, FundedNext uses per-model help center articles, Topstep uses a single refund-policies article, and The5ers puts it in the Terms. Save the URL and the date you read it. A screenshot with a visible date is the only version of this evidence that survives a policy edit.

What to do if the terms and the sales page disagree

Ask support in writing which document governs, and keep the reply. Sales copy is marketing; the Terms are the contract. If the firm will not answer plainly in writing before you pay, you have learned something useful about how it will answer after you pay.

How ITAfx handles this, and where fee questions get answered

Where to read the current terms

ITAfx sells access to simulated evaluation and instant-funding accounts. On the published terms, ITAfx offers a 150% fee refund on eligible challenges, and eligibility, timing, and account conditions are defined on itafx.com rather than duplicated here (config/brand-facts.md, retrieved 2026-07-30). Apply the same five questions above to it: read the current page, note the tier, note the trigger, note the date you read it.

Adrian Caldwell

Adrian Caldwell is the founder and head trader at ITAfx (Institutional Trading Academy). He writes on prop-firm trading, funded-account strategy, technical analysis and trading psychology.