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With the advancements in technology, Forex trading is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. There are fewer and fewer barriers to entry. Many brokers even open accounts without initial deposit requirements and offer high leverage to their clients. In addition, registration and account opening is fully digital and typically takes a couple of days.
There are many prop firms hunting for talented traders. Therefore, even when you don’t have capital to invest your own money, you can win a trading challenge and get funded from proprietary (prop) trading firms.
Most prop firms offer various platforms that are grouped into 3 main categories, such as mobile apps, desktop software, and web trading terminals. All three groups are highly important and they complement each other. Traders can manage their live accounts from different platforms. In this article, we will discover top prop trading firms that offer Web trading terminals to their clients.
Understanding prop firms
Forex proprietary firms, or prop firms for short, are financial companies that participate in the financial markets using their own capital with the main goal to make as much profit as possible while managing their risks. Prop firms provide trading capital to individual traders who have demonstrated that they can trade professionally. In return for providing capital, both parties agree on profit-split. Traders receive a percentage from the profits they generate, and the ratio varies from prop firm to prop firm. Typically, the profit sharing ratio is between 60% (trader) / 40% (prop firm) to 90% (trader) and 10% (prop firms).
In order to make sure that their capital is in safe hands, prop firms have strict evaluation criteria. In addition, they put daily and trailing loss limits. The limitations ensure that traders do not lose more money than what’s allowed. Once the loss level is reached, trading platforms automatically get locked for the entire day. The daily loss limits are highly beneficial for traders too. This helps in emotional, as often the desire to revenge trade can ruin account balance.
There are prop firms that only accept online traders, and there are firms that provide training and support. Some prop firms even hire students with very little experience in trading and teach them the firm’s trading strategies. These firms are well managed and offer many benefits, such as trading as a group, professional trading environment in the office, and a team of professionals such as risk managers, analysts, and even psychologists that are prepared to work for the benefit of the trading team. Another benefit in trading as a team and using a single strategy is that traders have access to an increased number of trading opportunities. Typically, when trading as a group, traders share information once a good trading opportunity is spotted.
Trading platforms and Web trading terminals
Trading platforms play a crucial role in financial trading. They help traders analyze the markets, place various order types, and social trade. Forex prop firms typically offer access to desktop trading platforms, mobile apps, and web trading terminals. All three groups have their own strengths and weaknesses.
- Desktop trading software: desktop software is installed on computers and are primary platforms for traders to conduct market analysis and place orders. Desktop platforms have high reliability and come with enhanced capabilities that enable traders to use trading algorithms.
- Mobile trading apps: mobile apps are great in emergency situations. These platforms help traders to access markets from anywhere in the world. However, as a downside, mobile apps are not ideal for analyzing the markets due to small screen size.
- Web trading terminals: Web trading terminals are easy to access and there are no downloads and installations required. This is highly convenient as you can access your account even with other people’s computers. Web based platforms offer user-friendly interfaces that are automatically updated. However, as a downside, desktop trading platforms are more reliable than web trading ones.
Traders can use mobile, web terminals, and desktop apps simultaneously to access their trading accounts. In addition, all three platform groups support live and demo accounts.
Top Forex prop firms with Web trading terminals
Most Forex brokers offer web trading platforms. It should be mentioned that some brokers offer custom-made, while others give traders access to third party platforms such as MetaTrader and cTrader. MetaTrader and cTrader platforms come with mobile, web, and desktop software options. Let’s discuss details about top prop firms with web trading platforms.
FTMO
Based in Prague, Czech Republic, FTMO stands out as a prop firm with exceptional offerings. The company has a large customer base. The prop firm provides traders with two funded account types: “Normal risk”, with funding ranging from 10,000 USD to 200,000 USD, and “Aggressive risk”, securing funding between 10,000 USD and 100,000 USD. Most deposits and withdrawals are free of any charge. However, the only exception is withdrawals using bank wire transfer that not only costs money, but also takes a couple of days longer to transfer funds.
Clients of FTMO can enjoy access to popular trading platforms such as MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). The audition fee for traders is set at 164 USD, and traders can select from various accounts to open their live accounts in, including: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, CZK, CHF, and AUD. Keep in mind that by picking the currency type that you use the most in your daily transactions, you can save currency conversion fees when making deposits and withdrawals.
It is worth noting that FTMO offers an impressive profit-sharing ratio, allocating 90% to traders and keeping only 10%. This benchmark exceeds industry standards, which is typically 80/20. Maximum available leverage for trading Forex pairs is 100:1. And trading fees are reasonable. Spreads on Euro against US Dollar start from as little as 0.5 pips. And there is 3 USD commission per traded lot per side.
E8 FUNDING
E8 Funding was established in 2021. The prop trading firm is based in Dallas, Illinois. There are three account types available for traders, and there’s a comprehensive three-phase challenge program for evaluating traders. Upon successful completion of all three phases, traders can assess funding up to 300,000 USD accounts, with the potential to scale it up to an impressive 1 million US Dollars.
Funded accounts start at 25,000 USD with E8 Funding, featuring a maximum trailing drawdown limitation of 8%. E8 Funding offers the most popular MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. These platforms are available for desktop, mobile and web trading use. Traders have 3 options when it comes to account currency. Traders can choose between US Dollar, Euro, and British Pound Sterling. The prop trading firm grants access to various asset classes such as stocks as Contracts for Difference (CFDs), indices, commodities, currency pairs, and cryptocurrencies, with maximum available leverage of 50:1.
The profit-sharing ratio with E8 Funding is considered average, with traders keeping 80% of what they make in the market and the firm retains 20%. The maximum trailing drawdown is 8%. Allowed daily loss is 5%. Profit targets vary in different challenge phases. In phase 1, the profit target is 8%. In phases 2 and 3, the profit target is 5%.
The 5%ers
The 5%ers is an experienced prop trading firm founded in 2016. The prop firm gives traders the opportunity to get funded accounts up to 1 million US Dollars. There are three account funding plans offered by this firm:
- The Bootcamp: Profit sharing ratio with this plan is lowest as traders can keep 75% of the profits while 25% remains in the firm. Maximum available leverage is 10:1. There’s no set minimum challenge completion time or trading volume requirements. It’s required for traders to remain active. If there’s no trading activity in consecutive 2 weeks, the funded account will be closed. Copy trading is prohibited, and traders are required to always use stop loss orders when placing live trade orders.
- Hyper Growth: This plan provides a maximum leverage of 30:1. Daily loss limit for traders is 6% and profit target is 10%.
- High Stakes: there are no maximum trading period limitations and trade volume requirements on High Stakes account plan. Traders are required to maintain profitability for at least 3 days. The maximum allowed daily loss is 5%, and the trailing loss limit is 10%. This plan includes a two-step trader evaluation system with 8% and 5% profit targets. The maximum available leverage for trading currency pairs is 100:1, and profit sharing ratio is 80 (trader) / 20 (prop firm), which is average compared to industry standards.
OspreyFX
OspreyFX is a Forex broker that also provides proprietary trading services around the globe. The company was established in 2019 and is registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Traders can access a diverse range of financial instruments including US and EU stocks as CFDs (Contracts for Difference), commodities, futures, crypto derivatives, indices, and currency pairs.
The prop firm’s funding challenge includes a three-stage evaluation process, providing traders the opportunity to retain 70% of the money they make in the financial markets, while 30% is kept by the company. Available trading platforms are MT4 and MT5, with desktop, mobile, and web trading platforms available.
There is a 220 USD audition fee, and it’s fully refundable. The minimum funded account starts at 25,000 USD. And there is potential for scaling up to 200,000 USD accounts. Traders have a 5% daily stop limit, while maximum trailing drawdown is 12%. Profit target is 8%.
Advantages and drawbacks of trading using Web trading terminals
Access to web trading terminals gives traders convenience as these platforms do not require download and installations. Web trading terminals are cross-device compatible and can be utilized alongside with mobile and desktop applications. All the Forex prop firms we’ve discussed above provide traders access to MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. And these platforms offer mobile, web, and desktop software. Web trading terminals are automatically updated.
As a downside, web trading platforms are not major platforms and lack many functionalities that desktop applications have. Desktop platforms are more reliable and can utilize trading algorithms. In the MetaTrader’s case, traders cannot use Expert Advisors (EAs) on web trading terminals. Furthermore, due to lack of reliability, web trading terminals are not ideal for active trading such as intraday and High Frequency Trading (HFT). In general, web trading terminals have slightly limited functionality compared to their desktop counterparts. Many standard tools and features available in standard platforms are not fully replicated in web versions.
How to use WebTrader platforms to profit sustainably from Forex markets
Prop firms have strict rules when it comes to risk management. Which is understandable from their point of view. It should be mentioned that no matter how good a strategy is, all strategies can experience drawdown periods, and managing those drawdowns is key to retaining the funded account.
To succeed in the markets, it is important to have a profitable strategy, spread risks on multiple trades, utilize advanced risk management strategies, and always keep upgrading your rules. Market conditions often change, and traders need to keep changing to stay competitive. Demo accounts can help enhance trading strategies when drawdown periods start. In addition, many traders use trading journals to learn from their own mistakes and find what needs to be improved in their trading system.
Another important topic every trader needs to work on is emotional management. Discipline turns a profitable strategy on paper into reality. No matter how good a trading strategy is, without great execution, the results will be unsatisfactory. The key advantage of trading with prop firms is that you do not need to focus on high risks and high returns. All you need to do is to trade professionally, and the prop firm will give you access to larger sums of money to manage. When using investor’s money, it’s more important to be consistent and manage risks well than it is to bring high profits while taking huge risks.
