Prop trading is the practice where traders use the firm’s capital rather than their own to trade in financial markets. This allows traders to keep a portion of the profits without risking their own funds, creating a great opportunity for both beginners and experienced traders. This model reduces personal financial risk, making prop trading a desirable option for traders.
With so many firms competing for new traders, finding the right prop firm isn’t always straightforward. Each company has its own mix of profit splits, trading costs, and platform features.
That’s why it’s important to look closely at what’s on offer, especially when it comes to spreads, which can make a real difference to your bottom line. In this article, we’ll break down why spreads matter and point you to the top prop firms offering the most competitive rates.
Why Spreads Matter When You Choose a Prop Firm for Trading
When selecting a prop firm, it’s essential to consider multiple factors. Reputation, affordable fees, and the availability of essential tools and platforms should be at the top of your list.
Moreover, educational materials and mentorship are key for new traders, as they can significantly improve their trading skills and knowledge. High-profit splits and a variety of trading instruments are also important, as they directly affect your ability to grow your capital and make money.
However, one of the most important aspects that traders tend to forget are the spreads and commissions. To put it simply, spread refers to the difference in prices between the bid (where you can sell) and the ask (where you can buy) of an asset.
The prop firm or broker charges a commission for executing a trade. These two things affect your profitability directly. Generally, low spreads and commissions are hugely beneficial to traders, especially those using expert advisors (EAs), high-frequency trading (HFT), scalping strategies, or even day trading.
Prop firms and brokers get paid through their commission structure, which includes spreads, commissions, and swaps. A swap is the interest charged on positions that are held overnight. While the commission is generally a fixed fee for each lot traded. On the other hand, spreads have a variable range that is dependent on the asset being traded and the market’s liquidity.
Low spreads and commissions are very important, especially for algorithmic trading or scalping strategies, because these strategies rely on executing numerous trades quickly and efficiently with small profit targets and precise entries. A high spread or high commission can eat into profits when a trader continually opens and closes positions.
For example, if you’re trading multiple times per day, even a small spread of 1 or 2 pips can add up to substantial losses over time. This is why tight spreads and low commissions are important, especially for traders who rely on quick price movements.
Top prop firms with the best spreads 2025
In this section, we’ll highlight the best prop firms of 2025, focusing on criteria such as competitive spreads, low commissions, and other essential features that set them apart.
- Top One Trader
Top One Trader is a prop trading firm known for its exceptional trading conditions. This firm offers traders the opportunity to develop their skills and capital while enjoying some of the best features in the industry.
Tight Spreads and Advanced Trading Platforms.
Top One Trader offers tight raw spreads, especially when the market is highly liquid. Their spreads usually range from 0 to 2 pips, and commissions are between $0 and $2.50 per lot. These values can change depending on the asset or platform, but overall, they are on the lower side compared to many competitors in the industry.
Top One Trader’s low commissions and tight spreads are ideal for traders who engage in expert advisors (EA), scalping, or news trading, where small price movements can significantly impact profits.
They also provide access to advanced platforms like TradeLocker, which integrates seamlessly with TradingView. This integration offers traders powerful tools to analyze markets and execute trades.
Quick Payouts and Generous Profit Splits
Top One Trader also distinguishes itself with its prompt payouts, ensuring that traders can access their profits within less than two hours. This provides more freedom and faster access to funds, especially when many prop firms can take days or even weeks to handle withdrawals.
Aside from its quick payouts, they offer significant profit splits, allowing them to keep up to 90% of the profits generated from trading. Given that most companies offer splits between 70% and 80%, this high percentage is well above the industry average.
Scalable Opportunities and Comprehensive Educational Resources
Top One Trader also provides a scaling plan for traders. As they gain expertise and improve their trading techniques and profitability, they can scale their accounts from $200,000 to $5 million, offering plenty of room for development. For traders wishing to maximize their profits over time, this scalability can be a great deal.
They provide extensive educational resources for individuals just starting out, including mentoring, video coaching programs, and weekly coaching sessions led by business leaders. This ensures that beginner traders have all the resources they need to start trading the right way and develop their skills, while skilled traders can benefit from advanced strategies and market analysis.
Transparent Evaluation Process and Flexibility in Trading Styles
With clear trading rules and several program options like the 1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge, and express funded accounts, Top One Trader is both open and equitable, making it easier for traders to reach their profit targets more quickly and efficiently.
Top One Trader is also known for its adaptability in trading techniques, allows traders to use any of the trading styles they prefer, use Expert Advisors (EAs), hold positions overnight, or trade over weekends, and have no time limit on passing challenges; making it a perfect fit for all types of traders who want to improve their stratégies.
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DNA Funded
DNA Funded is an excellent choice for forex traders seeking low spreads and commission . It offers forex spreads starting from 0.0 pips on major pairs like EUR/USD and up to 0.2 pips on other pairs, allowing traders to fully capitalize on market movements without high trading costs cutting into their profits.
The commission structure is straightforward, with traders paying a $5 commission per lot on forex pairs. This is notably lower than many other prop firms, making it ideal for algorithms strategies or scalping strategies where every pip and fee matters.
With competitive spreads and low commissions, DNA Funded also provides progressive trading platform with over 800 tradable markets, making it a good option for those seeking to diversify their portfolios across forex, commodities, indices, and more.
BrightFunded
For traders who wish to maximize profits while under flexible trading conditions, BrightFunded presents a good mix of low costs and competitive profit splits. Profit splits range from 80% to 100%, depending on performance and the selected program, which is among the highest in the business, allowing traders to keep a large portion of their gains. Like Top One Trader, BrightFunded imposes no time limits on its challenges, giving traders the flexibility to apply their trading styles and meet profit targets without feeling rushed.
BrightFunded also provides low spreads averaging 0.1 pips with commission-free trading on all assets—including forex, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the firm’s Trade2Earn loyalty program offers scalable opportunities, allowing advanced traders to grow their accounts.
Think Capital
ThinkCapital is another leading proprietary trading firm that combines low spreads, flexible leverage, and low commissions to provide an attractive trading environment for both new and experienced traders.
On Think Capital, traders can get low commissions during trading, with raw spreads applied to all assets. For those who prefer MT5, Think Capital offers raw spreads with a commission of $4 per lot for forex and commodities, which is highly competitive in the industry.
ThinkCapital offers high profit splits for traders who consistently generate profits. With up to 90% profit splits, it provides significant incentives for traders to improve their performance. The firm also supports different trading styles allowing scalping, news trading, and the use of EAs, making it highly flexible for traders with various styles. With leverage options that range from 1:30 to 1:100 depending on the asset, traders have the flexibility to apply their strategies and risk management plans while maximizing their potential returns.
IC Funded
IC Funded, powered by the reputable forex broker IC Markets, is a strong competitor in the trading industry, offering low spreads and low commissions and real time market data.
IC Funded offers extremely tight spreads, averaging 0.02 pips on major forex pairs. This, combined with a commission fee of $3.50 per lot, ensures that traders can keep their costs low, especially when executing a lot of trades.
Also, IC Funded’s high leverage options (up to 1:500) and flexible trading conditions make it ideal for prop traders who want to scale their trading strategies quickly. The firm also supports MT4, MT5, and cTrader, providing traders with multiple platform options to suit their needs.
City Traders Imperium
City Traders Imperium (CTI) offers funded accounts to traders, providing access to various instruments like forex, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. Trading platforms CTI supports include MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and Match Trader, offering advanced charting tools and flexible conditions like no minimum trading days requirement and no restrictions during high impact news events, which make it easier to reach profit targets and become funded.
These platforms are available on desktop, web, and mobile, allowing traders to manage their accounts from anywhere.
CTI’s commission structure is competitive: $5 per lot per side for forex and commodities, and $0.50 per lot per side for indices. Cryptocurrencies have no commission. Spreads are variable and depend on market conditions, the average spread is approximately 0.3 pips.
Conclusion
In conclusion, choosing the right prop trading firm is essential for success in the competitive world of financial markets. The firms highlighted in this article—Top One Trader, DNA Funded, BrightFunded, Think Capital, and IC Funded—offer traders a range of attractive features, including low spreads, competitive commissions, good trading platforms and flexible trading conditions. These elements let traders focused on their trading strategies and maximize their profits while minimizing their costs, especially when using strategies like using expert advisors (EA) , scalping, or day trading.
However, to succeed in prop trading, traders must also focus on developing a well-defined strategy, a robust risk management plan, and learn about trading psychology. While a good prop firm provides the necessary tools, platforms, and support, a trader’s ability to execute their strategy efficiently is just as important. By partnering with a reputable prop trading firm, like those discussed here, traders can access the resources needed to grow their skills, scale their capital, and ultimately achieve their goals.
Take your trading to the next level with Top One Trader. The platform supports various strategies, provides low spreads and commissions, and offers educational resources to help you build and refine your own strategy. Start trading today and gain access to the tools and support needed for success!
