Apex Trader Funding scaling plan explained: how tier levels work on your Performance Account.

What the Apex scaling plan actually controls

When you activate a Performance Account, you do not start with the maximum number of contracts available on that account size. Position sizing follows a tier system that scales your exposure in proportion to your account's growth. This is not a restriction on how you trade. It is a risk control structure that matches your available leverage to your demonstrated profit level.

Two things change as you move through the tiers: your maximum contract size and your Daily Loss Limit. The contract limit determines how many open positions you can hold at one time across all instruments. The DLL determines how much you can lose in a single session before trading automatically pauses for the day. Both are set at market close and applied to the next full trading session.

The scaling plan applies to Performance Accounts on both EOD and Intraday trail types. The tier tables, contract limits, and DLL amounts are identical regardless of which drawdown model your account uses. Understanding how the tiers work before you start trading your PA avoids two of the most common post-activation surprises: hitting a position limit you did not know existed, and having your DLL shift overnight after a particularly good or bad day.

How and when tier levels update

Tier levels update once per trading day. At 4:59:59 PM ET, Apex reviews your closing account balance and assigns the tier that matches your current profit level. That tier then applies to every trade you place during the next full trading session. Once a tier is set, it does not change until the next market close review.

Your profit level for tier purposes is calculated as your current account balance minus your starting balance. It is not your all-time peak. It is where you are right now relative to where you started. A $50K PA that has grown to $53,200 is sitting at $3,200 profit, which places it at Level 3 under the $50K tier structure.

One practical implication worth noting: a strong trading day that pushes you into a new tier does not give you larger position sizing during that same session. The new tier only activates for the following session. Conversely, a losing day that drops you below a tier threshold does not reduce your position limits mid-session either. Both directions of tier movement take effect at the next open, not immediately.

Full tier tables: all four Performance Account sizes

The tables below are taken directly from the official Apex help center page for scaling levels, verified June 2026. Profit range refers to your account balance above starting balance. Max contracts refers to total open exposure across all instruments combined.

$25K Performance Account

$50K Performance Account

$100K Performance Account

$150K Performance Account

How the scaling progression works in practice

The example below follows a $50K PA through four trading days to show exactly how tier levels assign and reassign based on closing balance.

Starting balance:      $50,000  (Tier: Level 1, max 2 contracts, DLL $1,000)

Day 1 closes at $51,600:
  Profit above start:  $1,600   (qualifies for Level 2)
  New tier for Day 2:  Level 2 -- max 3 contracts, DLL $1,000

Day 2 closes at $53,200:
  Profit above start:  $3,200   (qualifies for Level 3)
  New tier for Day 3:  Level 3 -- max 4 contracts, DLL $2,000

Day 3 closes at $52,400 (losing day):
  Profit above start:  $2,400   (drops back to Level 2 range)
  New tier for Day 4:  Level 2 -- max 3 contracts, DLL $1,000

Day 4 closes at $56,200:
  Profit above start:  $6,200   (qualifies for Level 4 -- max tier)
  New tier for Day 5:  Level 4 -- max 4 contracts, DLL $3,000

Three things are worth noting in this example. First, the losing Day 3 caused a tier drop, not an account failure. The account remained active. Second, the Day 2 session opened at Level 2 even though Level 2 was earned by the Day 1 close. The tier applied to the session after it was earned, not the session during which it was earned. Third, Day 4 jumped directly to Level 4 because the closing balance crossed the $6,000 profit threshold in one session. Tiers do not have to be reached consecutively.

Micro contracts, position limits, and how sizing is enforced

The contract limits in the tier tables apply to total open exposure across all instruments combined. You cannot hold 4 contracts on ES and 4 contracts on NQ simultaneously if your tier maximum is 4. The limit covers your entire open book, not each instrument individually.

Micro contracts are counted using an equivalency ratio of 10 micros to 1 standard contract. A position of 10 MES contracts is treated identically to 1 ES contract for position sizing purposes. If your tier allows 3 contracts, you could hold 30 micro contracts, or 2 standard contracts and 10 micros, or any combination that does not exceed the equivalent of 3 standard contracts total.

Position size is checked in real time at the point of order entry. If an order would cause your total open exposure to exceed the current tier maximum, the order is automatically rejected before it reaches the market. The account is not penalised and the rejection has no negative consequence. Reduce the order size and resubmit.

This real-time rejection system removes the risk of accidentally oversizing a position. The tier limit is a hard ceiling enforced by the platform, not a manual calculation you are responsible for tracking during a live session.

What traders misunderstand about the scaling plan

Evaluation contract limits: what changes when you activate your PA

The scaling plan only applies on Performance Accounts. During the evaluation phase, contract limits are fixed for the entire 30-day period and do not increase regardless of how much profit you build. There is no scaling in evaluations.

The evaluation contract limits are higher than PA Level 1 limits. This surprises many traders on their first day of funded trading. A $50K evaluation allows up to 6 contracts. A $50K PA Level 1 allows only 2 contracts. You do not lose the ability to trade larger, but you do have to earn it back through the PA scaling structure before those limits are restored.

The practical implication: traders who pass an evaluation using 5 or 6 contracts on a $50K account and immediately try to replicate the same sizing on their PA will find the order rejected on Day 1. The PA opens at Level 1 with a 2-contract maximum regardless of how the evaluation was traded. Building back to a comparable contract size requires growing the PA balance through the tier thresholds, which takes time and consistent performance.

This is one of the most common sources of confusion in the first week of funded trading. Knowing it in advance allows you to plan your PA strategy around the Level 1 limits from the start rather than adjusting after the first rejected order.

How the DLL and trailing drawdown interact at each tier

The scaling plan increases your Daily Loss Limit as you move up tiers. The trailing drawdown threshold stays the same throughout the life of the account. These two risk controls serve entirely different purposes and operate on different timeframes, but understanding how they relate to each other at each tier level is important for sizing decisions.

The DLL ends your trading day. If you hit it, positions liquidate and trading pauses until the next session. Your account is still active. The trailing drawdown ends your account permanently. If your balance touches the threshold at any moment, the PA is closed and cannot be reopened.

The key relationship: as you scale up tiers and your DLL grows, your trailing drawdown remains fixed. On a $50K PA at Level 1, the DLL is $1,000 and the trailing drawdown is $2,000. A maximum DLL event consumes half your total drawdown cushion. At Level 4, the DLL has grown to $3,000 but the trailing drawdown is still $2,000. A maximum DLL event at Level 4 would itself breach the trailing drawdown threshold, which means the DLL and the trailing drawdown cannot both be reached independently at the highest tier.

At Level 3 and above on the $50K PA, the trailing drawdown is the binding risk control, not the DLL. The DLL only becomes the primary constraint at lower tiers where it is a fraction of the total drawdown. Traders who reach higher tiers and take large positions need to account for this. A single session of maximum drawdown at Level 3 or Level 4 can end the account even before the DLL would have paused trading.

This relationship scales differently across account sizes because each size has its own DLL and drawdown amounts. The principle holds across all sizes: the DLL grows with tiers while the drawdown stays fixed, which means the trailing drawdown becomes the dominant constraint at the upper tiers.

Getting started: from evaluation to scaled PA

The path to a fully scaled Performance Account starts with an evaluation. During the evaluation, contract limits are fixed, there is no consistency rule, and no scaling applies. The evaluation is designed to confirm you can manage risk and reach the profit target under the same drawdown model that will carry into your PA.

The activation fee to open a PA is $79 for Intraday accounts and $99 for EOD accounts. This fee is fixed and not discountable by any coupon code. The evaluation fee is separate and is heavily discounted during active sales. The full cost breakdown is in the Apex activation fee article.

If you are still choosing between EOD and Intraday trail types before purchasing an evaluation, the mechanics differ significantly and are covered in the Apex EOD vs Intraday guide. Both trail types use the same scaling tier structure on their respective PAs.