# What to check before buying an evaluation

> Six answers decide whether an evaluation fits you. One rule fails the account and it is the trailing drawdown. That drawdown is measured at end of day on most accounts and intraday on funded Stream. Flat time is 4:15 pm ET on Rithmic and 4:45 pm ET on Tradovate. A reset costs around 70% of the price. There is no deadline.

By StarTrading Team · Published 2026-10-12 · Updated 2026-10-12 · Source: https://startrading.io/blog/what-to-check-before-you-buy

Six answers decide whether an evaluation fits you. One rule fails the account and it is the trailing drawdown. That drawdown is measured at end of day on most accounts and intraday on funded Stream. Flat time is 4:15 pm ET on Rithmic and 4:45 pm ET on Tradovate. A reset costs around 70% of the price. There is no deadline.

## Which single rule can fail the account?

The [Max Loss Limit](https://startrading.io/rules/max-loss-limit), and nothing else. It is the trailing drawdown: on a 50K it begins $2,000 below the starting balance, follows your end-of-day profit upward, and locks once it reaches the starting balance plus $100. Touch it and the evaluation is over.

That single-point answer is the most useful thing to know before paying, because it reorders every other rule into a lower tier. The [Daily Loss Limit](https://startrading.io/rules/daily-loss-limit) stops your trading day and leaves the account open. The [consistency rule](https://startrading.io/rules/consistency-rule) delays a payout request. [Flat time](https://startrading.io/rules/flat-time) closes your positions. The position limit rejects the part of an order above the cap. None of those ends anything.

Before you buy, read your own worst week against one number: the drawdown of the size you are considering. A 25K carries $1,000 and a 150K carries $4,500. If a normal losing day in your records is more than a third of that figure, the size is too small for your method and no amount of discipline changes the arithmetic.

## Which drawdown applies while you are evaluating, and once funded?

End of day on most accounts, which means the limit moves once per session from your closed balance and ignores what happened to open equity during the day. A trade that ran $900 against you and closed at breakeven leaves the limit untouched.

Funded [Stream](https://startrading.io/accounts/stream) accounts are the exception: their limit trails intraday, following open equity tick by tick, so the same session can end them. A Stream evaluation lets you choose which version you sit under, which is the one place where the purchase decision includes a drawdown setting.

| Account type | During the evaluation | Once funded |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cycle | End of day | End of day |
| Clear | End of day | End of day |
| Stream | Your choice at purchase | Intraday |
| Direct | No evaluation | End of day |

The practical test is whether your method holds trades through drawdown. A trader who scales into a position and lets it come back needs end of day. A trader who exits at a fixed stop every time is indifferent, and can take the intraday version for the daily payouts that come with it. The [comparison of intraday and end-of-day drawdown](https://startrading.io/blog/intraday-vs-end-of-day-drawdown) works the same session through both.

## What does the flat time of your platform change?

It sets the moment your positions are closed for you: 4:15 pm ET if you trade through Rithmic, 4:45 pm ET on Tradovate, with no entries accepted after it. Being flattened is not a breach and does not fail the account; it simply decides your exit on anything still open.

Thirty minutes sounds trivial until you map it onto a session. A trader working the 4:00 pm ET settlement on index futures has a usable window on Tradovate and almost none on Rithmic. A trader who is flat by 2:00 pm ET will never notice the difference, and should choose on front-end instead: Rithmic reaches NinjaTrader, Quantower, ATAS, Sierra Chart and Bookmap, while Tradovate runs in a browser, on Mac and mobile, and connects to TradingView.

The platform is chosen at purchase, so it belongs on the checklist rather than in the dashboard afterwards. The [full session clock, including the Sunday open](https://startrading.io/blog/futures-trading-hours-and-flat-time), sets out where each flat time falls in the CME week.

Put it into practice on a Clear account

$136One-time fee, no subscription, no time limit.

Profit target

$3,000

Max Loss Limit

$2,000

[Start the 50K Clear evaluation](https://startrading.io/pricing?f=clear&s=50k&p=rithmic)[About Clear accounts](https://startrading.io/accounts/clear)

## What is the profit target you are buying?

$3,000 on a 50K and $6,000 on a 100K, against $2,000 and $3,000 of room respectively. Both ratios ask you to make more than you can afford to lose, which is the structure of every evaluation and the figure most buyers never compute.

| Size | Profit target | Drawdown room | Target ÷ room |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 25K | $1,250 | $1,000 | 1.25 |
| 50K | $3,000 | $2,000 | 1.50 |
| 100K | $6,000 | $3,000 | 2.00 |
| 150K | $9,000 | $4,500 | 2.00 |

The 25K is the gentlest ratio and the tightest absolute room, so it suits a trader sizing in micros. The 100K and 150K double the ratio in exchange for room that absorbs a normal loser. Read the table as a question about your win rate and average trade, not about the balance printed on the account.

## What does a second attempt cost?

Between $55 and $255 depending on family and size, against evaluation prices of $79 to $365. A [reset](https://startrading.io/blog/the-price-of-a-reset) restores the starting balance and a fresh limit on the same account.

| Size | Cycle evaluation | Cycle reset | Clear evaluation | Clear reset |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 25K | $108 | $75 | $79 | $55 |
| 50K | $172 | $120 | $136 | $95 |
| 100K | $272 | $190 | $258 | $180 |
| 150K | $365 | $255 | $347 | $240 |

Why this belongs on a pre-purchase list: the honest budget for a first account is the evaluation plus one reset, not the evaluation alone. On a 50K Cycle that is $172 plus $120. A trader who budgets only the first figure tends to buy a size too large, then has nothing left for the attempt that would have worked. [Direct](https://startrading.io/accounts/direct) accounts have no reset line at all, because there is no evaluation to restart.

## Is there a deadline you need to plan around?

No. An evaluation carries no time limit, no minimum number of trading days and no monthly fee while it is open. It runs until it reaches the target or touches the limit.

That absence changes how you should plan the purchase. A fixed 30-day window would force position sizes large enough to hit the target in time, which is the mechanism behind most failures. With no clock, a repeated one-hour session that produces a small weekly gain reaches $3,000 eventually, and the account survives the weeks it does not.

It also means there is no reason to buy before you are ready to trade it. An account bought today and started in three weeks has lost nothing but the interest on the fee.

## What is worth checking in the account before the first trade?

Five things, in the first session, before any size is at risk.

-   **The distance to your limit.** Find the figure in the dashboard and write it down each morning. It is the only number that can end the account.
-   **The platform connection.** Place one micro trade and close it, to confirm credentials, routing and data before a trade you care about.
-   **Your daily stop.** Set it below the [Daily Loss Limit](https://startrading.io/rules/daily-loss-limit) of your size, $1,200 on a 50K Cycle, so your own rule triggers first.
-   **The flat-time alarm.** Fifteen minutes before your platform’s flat time, so the exit is yours.
-   **The consistency ratio if your family has one.** Clear checks 50% on the evaluation; Cycle and Direct check funded days instead.

Accounts are simulated until the Live stage and futures trading carries a substantial risk of loss; an evaluation fee buys a defined cost and a set of rules, not an outcome. The payout terms that make a pass worth pursuing are on the [payouts page](https://startrading.io/payouts), the four families are compared on the [account comparison table](https://startrading.io/accounts/compare), and every price sits on the [pricing page](https://startrading.io/pricing).

## Sources

-   CME Group, [Globex trading hours and product calendars](https://www.cmegroup.com/trading-hours.html): session times behind the flat-time windows.
-   CME Group, [E-mini and Micro E-mini equity index contract specifications](https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/equities.html): contract sizes referenced in the sizing figures.
-   Commodity Futures Trading Commission, [customer advisories on leverage and the risk of loss in futures trading](https://www.cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/AdvisoriesAndArticles/index.htm).
-   National Futures Association, [investor information on the US futures markets and their participants](https://www.nfa.futures.org/investors/index.html).

## Questions on this topic

### Which rule can fail an evaluation?

Only the Max Loss Limit, the trailing drawdown. It starts $1,000 to $4,500 below the starting balance depending on size, trails your end-of-day profit, then locks at the starting balance plus $100. Every other rule blocks something: the Daily Loss Limit stops your day, the consistency rule delays a payout, flat time closes positions.

### Is there a time limit on an evaluation?

No. There is no deadline, no minimum number of trading days and no monthly fee while an evaluation is open. It stays live until it reaches the profit target or touches the Max Loss Limit. That makes a slow, repeatable schedule viable where a 30-day clock would force larger positions.

### What does the flat time change for me?

It sets when your positions close automatically each day: 4:15 pm ET on Rithmic, 4:45 pm ET on Tradovate. Being flattened does not fail the account, but it decides the trade on your exit. Pick the platform whose clock matches the session you actually trade rather than on price.

### How much does a second attempt cost?

A reset runs near 70% of the evaluation price: $120 on a 50K Cycle against a $172 evaluation, $190 on a 100K against $272. Direct accounts have no reset because they have no evaluation to restart. Budgeting one reset at purchase is more realistic than assuming a first attempt passes.