Prop Firms That Allow EAs: What to Check Before You Run a Bot
An EA trades under the same limits as you. Check risk per trade against the daily loss limit, spreads and prohibited practices before you run one.
OctoFunded Trading DeskUpdated ยท 8 min read
A prop firm that allows EAs lets an Expert Advisor, a trading robot that opens and closes trades from coded rules, run on your simulated account. Permission is only the first check. The bot has to live inside the same daily loss limit, max drawdown and prohibited practices as any manual trader, and it will not know those rules unless you code them in.
This guide covers what "EAs allowed" usually means, how to size a bot on a $100K simulated account and a checklist to run before you switch it on.
Key takeaways
- Same rules, no exceptions: an EA is measured against the same daily loss limit, max drawdown and best day rule as a manual trader.
- Size from the daily limit: your bot's worst losing streak, multiplied by its risk per trade, has to fit inside the daily loss limit with room to spare.
- Spreads move: news releases and the daily rollover can widen spreads, so a stop can cost more than the backtest showed.
- Read the prohibited practices: copy trading, high frequency and latency strategies are where bots most often run into trouble.
- OctoFunded allows EAs on every program: the 2-Step, 1-Step and Instant Funded, with the same limits and no time limit.
What does it mean when a prop firm allows EAs?
When a prop firm allows EAs, you can let an automated strategy place and manage trades on your account, as long as it respects the program rules and the firm's list of prohibited practices.
"Allowed" covers a wide range. The table below shows common policy wording and what to check for each. These are general descriptions, not a quote from any one firm.
| What the firm says | What it usually means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| EAs allowed | Bots can trade the account | The prohibited practices list |
| Own EAs only | Shared or bought bots are restricted | Whether a bought EA counts as shared |
| No high frequency or latency trading | Speed-based strategies are banned | Trade count, holding times, order rate |
| No copy trading between people | Identical trades across customers are flagged | Signal services and popular public EAs |
| EAs in evaluation only | The bot must stop once you are funded | Whether the funded account allows it |
At OctoFunded, EAs are allowed on every program, the 2-Step, 1-Step and Instant Funded, under the same limits as manual traders. Accounts trade in OctoFunded Web, with TradingView charts. An EA written for one platform does not run on another, so confirm how your bot connects before you build or buy anything. If you are unsure, ask [email protected].
Does an EA follow the same rules as a manual trader?
Yes. The risk engine checks the account, not who placed the trade, so every limit applies to the bot exactly as it applies to you.
On a $100K simulated account, the OctoFunded limits look like this:
| Program | Daily loss limit ($) | Max drawdown ($) | Drawdown type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Step | $5,000 (5%) | $10,000 (10%) | Static |
| 1-Step | $4,000 (4%) | $8,000 (8%) | Trailing |
| Instant Funded | $3,000 (3%) | $6,000 (6%) | Trailing |
The 1-Step also has a best day rule that caps any single day at 50% of total profit, and Instant Funded caps it at 20%. A bot that has one great day can break that cap as easily as a manual trader.
The difference is that you can stop yourself and a bot cannot, unless you tell it to. A bot only respects the limits you code into it.
How do you size an EA's risk against the daily loss limit?
Multiply your bot's worst losing streak by its risk per trade, and make sure the result fits inside the daily loss limit with a buffer.
Take a 1-Step challenge on a $100K simulated account. The daily loss limit is 4%, or $4,000. The trailing max drawdown is 8%, so the floor starts at $92,000 and moves up with new highs (see how a trailing floor moves).
Say your backtest shows a worst run of 6 losing trades in a row, and those losses can land in a single day. The figures below are illustrative.
| EA setting | Risk per trade ($) | Loss after 6 straight losses ($) | Share of the $4,000 daily limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1% per trade | $1,000 | $6,000 | 150%, a breach |
| 0.5% per trade | $500 | $3,000 | 75% |
| 0.4% per trade | $400 | $2,400 | 60% |
At 1% per trade, one bad streak breaks the daily limit, and $6,000 is also three quarters of the $8,000 max drawdown. At 0.4% per trade, the same streak uses 60% of the daily limit and leaves $1,600 for spread, slippage and the next losing trade the backtest never showed.
Two more adjustments make the numbers honest:
- Count open positions together. If the EA can hold 3 correlated positions at $400 risk each, the real risk on one move is $1,200, not $400.
- Add a daily equity stop. Code the bot to close everything and stop for the day at, for example, $3,000 of loss. That keeps $1,000 between your stop and the firm's limit.
How do news and rollover spreads affect an EA?
Spreads often widen around major news releases and at the daily rollover, and an EA that ignores this can lose more per trade than its stop suggests.
Here is the arithmetic on an illustrative position. On many major forex pairs quoted in US dollars, 1 pip on 1 standard lot is worth about $10. If the EA holds 5 lots and the spread widens by 3 pips at the moment it exits, the extra cost is 5 x $10 x 3, or $150 on that one trade.
That may not sound like much. Across a losing streak in a volatile session, it can be the difference between staying under the daily limit and breaking it. Stops can also fill past their level in fast markets, which adds slippage on top.
Practical filters to code in:
- A news filter that blocks new trades for a set window around high impact releases.
- A rollover filter that pauses entries around the daily rollover, when spreads are often widest.
- A max spread check that skips any entry when the current spread is above a set value.
Also check the firm's prohibited practices, including any news trading rules for funded accounts.
What practices can get an EA account closed?
Bots most often run into trouble with copy trading, speed-based strategies and anything that exploits the platform instead of the market.
Across the industry, the usual prohibited categories include:
- Copy trading between different people, including shared signals that produce identical trades across customers.
- Latency arbitrage and high frequency exploitation, where the edge comes from speed or feed delays.
- Exploiting price feed errors, such as trading off a quote that was clearly wrong.
- Hedging between accounts, where positions on two accounts offset each other.
The exact wording differs between firms, and a popular third-party EA can trip a copy trading rule without you doing anything unusual. Check the firm's prohibited practices before you run any bot.
What should you check before you run a bot on a prop firm account?
Run this checklist before you switch an EA on, and again after any change to its settings.
- Confirm EAs are allowed on your program. At OctoFunded they are allowed on all three.
- Confirm the platform. Make sure the bot can connect to the account you are buying.
- Size risk from the daily limit. Worst losing streak x risk per trade must fit inside the daily loss limit with a buffer.
- Code a daily equity stop. Stop the bot for the day before it reaches the firm's limit.
- Code a floor guard. On a trailing drawdown, have the bot read the current floor and stop near it.
- Cap open exposure. Limit the number of positions and the combined risk on correlated pairs.
- Add news, rollover and max spread filters.
- Add a daily profit ceiling if your program has a best day rule.
- Read the prohibited practices, especially copy trading and high frequency rules.
- Forward test first. Run the exact settings on a demo before the challenge, and watch the logs.
- Keep the pace normal. With no time limit, there is no reason to turn the risk up to finish sooner.
FAQ
Does OctoFunded allow Expert Advisors?
Yes. EAs are allowed on every program, the 2-Step, 1-Step and Instant Funded, with the same limits as manual traders and no time limit.
Do EAs have to follow the daily loss limit and drawdown?
Yes. An EA trades under the same daily loss limit, max drawdown and best day rule as a manual trader. If the bot breaks a limit, the account fails just as it would for a manual trade.
Can I use an EA I bought from someone else?
It depends on the firm. If many customers run the same bot and it produces identical trades, some firms treat that as copy trading. Check the firm's prohibited practices before you run a third-party EA.
Are high frequency EAs allowed?
Strategies that rely on speed, such as latency arbitrage, are commonly listed as prohibited. Check the firm's prohibited practices for the exact wording before you run any high frequency logic.
Which charts can I use with OctoFunded?
OctoFunded accounts trade in OctoFunded Web, which has TradingView charts built in.
Run your bot inside the rules
A bot that knows the limits can trade a challenge as steadily as a disciplined manual trader. OctoFunded allows EAs on the 2-Step, 1-Step and Instant Funded, all on simulated capital, with the same limits as manual trading and no time limit.
