How We Score
Prop Firms
Every firm on PropDNA receives a Trust Score from 0 to 100. It is calculated automatically from six independently-weighted signals. No firm can pay to improve its score — commercial relationships are disclosed separately and have zero influence on rankings.
Trust scores are driven by what real funded traders report and by objective firm data — not by editorial opinion, advertising spend, or affiliate revenue.
The Seven Score Components
The seven components sum to a maximum of 100 points. Each is capped independently so that no single signal can dominate the total.
Component Details
1 · Trader Rating (0–25 pts)
Each review is given a verified weight based on what the reviewer submitted:
- Base review — 1.0×
- Payout proof uploaded (screenshot verified) — +1.0× (total 2.0×)
- Active or former funded member — +0.5× (total 1.5× or 2.5×)
The weighted star average is then blended with a Bayesian prior of 3.0 stars (equivalent to five neutral reviews). This prevents a firm with two five-star reviews from outscoring one with 500 balanced reviews. As review volume increases, the prior has diminishing influence and the true average takes over.
2 · Payout Reliability (0–22 pts)
Payout speed is sourced from the firm's stated processing time, cross-checked against reviewer-reported actual payout days. The step function intentionally rewards firms that pay within a week and penalises those that take three weeks or more. Slow payouts are one of the most common trader complaints in the prop industry.
3 · Rule Stability (0–10 pts)
We track every material rule change a firm makes — drawdown adjustments, new restrictions, changed profit targets. Each documented change deducts 3 points from the stability component. A firm with no rule changes scores the full 10 points. A firm with four changes scores 0.
Rule changes are not removed over time. This ensures that firms with a history of changing conditions carry that history in their score, because past behaviour predicts future behaviour for retail traders.
4 · Review Volume (0–15 pts)
Score = min(15, round(ln(n + 1) × 3.5)) where n is the number of approved reviews. The log scale means each additional review is worth slightly less than the previous one. At ~1,000 reviews, the volume component is fully maxed and additional reviews only influence the rating component.
5 · PropDNA Verified (0 or 10 pts)
The verified badge is awarded after PropDNA completes a structured assessment of the firm:
- Public company information and registration checked
- Challenge terms reviewed for consistency with advertised conditions
- At least one payout attempt tested or confirmed via trader-submitted proof
- Firm has been operational for a minimum period without major unresolved complaints
Verification is a manual process and is re-evaluated if a firm accumulates unresolved problem reports or makes significant rule changes.
6 · Rules Quality Index (0–18 pts)
Each firm's trading rules are individually assessed by the PropDNA team and assigned a positive or negative point value. Trader-friendly rules (e.g. no daily loss limit, weekend holding allowed, fee refund on pass) contribute positive points. Restrictive rules (e.g. tight consistency requirements, no news trading) contribute negative points.
The sum is clamped to the range −50 to +50, then mapped linearly to 0–18 points. A firm with a neutral rules set (index = 0) scores 9 points — exactly halfway.
7 · Verified Buyers (0–5 pts)
When a PropDNA member purchases a challenge through the site and submits proof of purchase, it is manually verified and recorded as a verified claim. The count of approved claims for each firm contributes an additive bonus to its trust score.
This component is designed to grow over time as more traders use PropDNA to research and buy challenges. No existing firm loses points from this component — scores can only increase as verified purchase data accumulates. Members who submit verified claims earn PropPoints in return.
Review Moderation
All reviews pass through a moderation queue before they are approved and counted in the trust score. We reject reviews that:
- Contain personally identifiable information
- Are clearly spam or coordinated manipulation
- Make claims that are factually verifiable as false
- Are submitted by the firm itself or its employees
We do not reject negative reviews based on their content. A one-star review from a funded trader who experienced a payout denial is exactly the kind of signal the trust score is designed to capture.
Commercial Relationships & Independence
PropDNA earns affiliate commission when a trader starts a challenge through a tracked link on this site. The presence or size of an affiliate relationship has no effect on a firm's trust score or ranking position.
Firms that do not have an affiliate relationship with PropDNA are listed and scored on exactly the same basis as those that do. Rankings are determined entirely by the algorithm above.
Partner and advertising arrangements are disclosed separately. PropDNA does not offer paid placement in rankings, paid review removal, or paid score adjustment.
When Scores Update
Trust scores recalculate automatically in real time whenever a review is approved or rejected. Firm-level data (payout days, rule changes, rules index) is updated manually by the PropDNA team as we verify changes, typically within 48 hours of a material announcement from the firm.