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Most firms allow EAs — but the specific tactics that get accounts voided are almost always automated ones.
Automated trading on prop firms is a grey area that trips up algo traders constantly. The headline answer — "yes, EAs are allowed" — hides a list of prohibited techniques that are mostly automated, and breaching them voids accounts and payouts.
Here's what's generally permitted, what's banned, and how to stay on the right side of the line.
Most firms permit personal Expert Advisors / algos that implement YOUR strategy on your own account — trend systems, breakout bots, risk managers, partial-close tools. The key is that the logic is your own and runs on a single account at human-plausible frequencies.
If a firm allows EAs at all, a well-behaved custom EA trading like a disciplined human is normally fine.
The recurring banned list: high-frequency trading (HFT), latency/arbitrage and tick-scalping exploits, copy-trading or mirroring the same trades across multiple accounts, news-straddling bots, grid/martingale systems that abuse the simulated fill model, and any third-party 'guaranteed pass' EA designed to exploit the platform rather than trade.
These target the firm's pricing/fill mechanics rather than the market — which is exactly why they're prohibited.
Check the firm's specific automation clause before running anything. Avoid copying trades across accounts, avoid sub-second/exploit-style entries, and don't use off-the-shelf 'challenge-passing' bots — they're the fastest way to a voided account and forfeited fee.
When in doubt, ask the firm in writing; a saved confirmation beats a denied payout.
Most firms allow personal Expert Advisors that run your own strategy on a single account at reasonable frequencies. What's banned is the exploit category — HFT, latency/tick-scalping, cross-account copy-trading, and 'guaranteed-pass' bots. Always check the firm's automation clause.
Usually no. Mirroring the same trades across multiple funded accounts (yours or others') is a common prohibited practice that can void all the linked accounts and payouts. If you run several accounts, keep their trading genuinely independent or confirm the firm's policy in writing.
It's high-risk: most such bots rely on tactics (tick scalping, latency, fill-model abuse) that firms explicitly ban, so they tend to void the account and forfeit the fee. Firms actively monitor for them. Trade your own edge instead.
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Educational content only — not financial advice and not affiliated with the firms mentioned. Rules change often; verify against a firm's official terms before relying on any detail.