Trailing Drawdown vs End-of-Day Drawdown: Which Is Better?
By PropFirmLeaders Team ·
Drawdown rules decide whether you blow up your account or not. Get this wrong and the rest doesn't matter.
Trailing drawdown
The drawdown line follows your highest unrealized equity peak. If your account peaks at $52,000 with a $2,000 trailing drawdown, your floor moves to $50,000 — even if you give that back to $51,500.
Best for: scalpers who close positions quickly.
Worst for: anyone who lets winners run.
End-of-day drawdown
The drawdown line only updates at the close of each trading day, based on realized closed equity.
Best for: swing traders, position traders.
Which firms use which?
- Trailing: Topstep, Apex (most account types)
- End-of-day: MyFundedFutures, Take Profit Trader (some plans)
Always confirm the exact mechanism on the firm's rules page.