A scaling plan lets a funded account grow larger over time based on trading performance, rather than staying fixed at whatever size you were originally funded for. Hit a set profit target over a set period, and the account grows by an agreed amount, sometimes repeatedly, up to a cap. Not every firm's "scaling plan" grows the same thing, though, and that distinction matters more than the marketing copy usually lets on.
In short:
- A scaling plan increases a funded account's size based on ongoing performance, not just the initial evaluation.
- "Scaling" means two different things depending on the firm: growing the account's dollar balance, or unlocking a larger maximum position size within a balance that doesn't itself change.
- Growth is usually tied to hitting a profit target over a set period, like a percentage gain per month or quarter.
- Not every firm offers one, and the ones that do vary widely in how much an account can eventually grow.
- A scaling plan is conceptually separate from the profit split, though a few firms raise both at the same milestone.
What is a scaling plan?
Where a standard funded account stays at the size you were funded for, a scaling plan adds a path to more capital without buying a new, bigger evaluation. See: How Prop Firm Challenges Work.
The account grows in increments tied to performance, based on rules set out before you start, rather than a single upgrade decision made case by case.
Two different things get called "scaling"
Most scaling plans fall into one of two categories, and they're easy to conflate because firms use the same word for both. Account-size scaling grows the funded balance itself, a $100,000 account becoming a $125,000 account, which is what FTMO's Scaling Plan does. Position-size scaling instead unlocks a larger maximum position within a balance that stays where it started, Topstep's Express Funded Account works this way: the dollar size never changes, but the number of contracts you're allowed to hold at once increases as your balance climbs through tiers. Both get marketed as "scaling," but only one actually grows the capital allocation.
How scaling plans compare across firms
FTMO and Topstep show the two models side by side; Breakout and xato both show the alternative of not offering one at all. Terms like these change without much notice, so the table is a snapshot rather than a permanent reference.
| Firm | What scales | Trigger | Trigger / Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO | Account balance (2-Step Challenge) | At least 10% profit over a 4-month cycle, at least 2 processed payouts, no rule breaches | +25% per cycle, up to $2,000,000; profit split also rises to 90% at the same milestone |
| Topstep | Maximum position size within the Express Funded Account, not the account's dollar balance | End-of-day balance crossing a tier threshold | More contracts unlocked per tier; the funded balance itself doesn't grow |
| Breakout | Not offered | N/A | Funded size is fixed at what you bought, up to $200,000 |
| xato | Not offered | N/A | Funded size stays fixed at what you were originally funded for |
Why do prop firms offer scaling plans?
A scaling plan gives an already-funded, consistently profitable trader a path to more capital without going through another paid evaluation from scratch. For the firm, it's a way to allocate more capital to traders who have already demonstrated it's warranted, based on real funded-account performance rather than a single evaluation result.
What scaling plans don't usually change
A scaling plan increases account size or position size, not automatically the profit split. The percentage you keep on profit is typically set when you first get funded and stays the same as the account grows, unless a firm's terms say otherwise, FTMO is the exception worth naming here: its Scaling Plan bundles a split upgrade to 90% into the same milestone as the balance increase, so the two move together at that firm even though they're conceptually separate elsewhere. See: What is a prop firm? How prop trading firms work
A scaling plan is also generally independent of payout eligibility: growing the account and requesting a payout run on their own separate rules.
How xato does this
xato doesn't currently offer a scaling plan. A funded account stays at the size you were originally funded for; growing your capital allocation currently means funding a separate account rather than an existing one increasing automatically. See: What is a funded trading account?
Frequently asked questions
No. Some do, some don't, and among those that do, the growth rate, the maximum account size, and even what actually scales (account balance versus position size) vary significantly.