Activation fee
An activation fee is a one-off amount a prop firm charges after an evaluation is passed, before the funded account is opened. It is distinct from the evaluation price and from any monthly subscription, and it is paid before any payout can be requested.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
Where it sits in the lifecycle
The evaluation is bought first. When the profit target is reached under the rules, the firm offers the funded account, and at many firms that offer comes with an activation fee. Some programs charge it once, others charge a monthly fee for the funded stage instead, and some charge nothing at this step. Until it is paid the funded account does not exist, so the clock on the first payout has not started.
Because it comes after a pass, an activation fee is often underestimated when a trader decides whether an evaluation is worth buying. It is part of the price of reaching a payout, alongside the evaluation, the resets and the subscription months.
How to account for it
| Evaluation purchase | At the start | Once per evaluation bought |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly subscription | Each billing cycle | As long as the evaluation runs |
| Reset | After a failed evaluation | Each reset |
| Activation | After the pass, before the funded stage | Once per funded account |
| Withdrawal fee | At each payout | Each payout, if the firm charges one |
In Senzoukria
The "What you pay" section of the "Prop firm rules" form contains the field "Activation ($)", next to "Evaluation purchase ($)", "Monthly subscription ($)", "Reset ($)" and "Withdrawal fee ($)". When the prop simulation converts a passed evaluation into a funded account, this amount is added to "Total spend" and therefore to "Cost per funded account". The "Should I buy this evaluation?" card on the Backtest page uses the same saved rules.
Like the other fees in that section, the activation amount is entered by hand from your own contract; the software does not carry a firm's price list.
Frequent confusions
- Mixing the activation fee with the first monthly fee of the funded stage: some firms charge both.
- Reading a "free activation" promotion as a free funded account; the evaluation and any reset were still paid.
- Leaving it out of the bankroll estimate, then being unable to activate an account that was passed.
Related
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- Is the activation fee refundable?
- An activation fee is rarely refundable, and only under conditions written in the contract. Some firms refund it with the first payout, others never do. The refund policy belongs to the program terms, not to the general description of the firm.
- Can I pass an evaluation and decline to activate?
- Passing an evaluation gives the right to activate, not an obligation, so you can decline. Most firms give a deadline after which the offer lapses; a trader who cannot pay the activation fee before that date loses the pass.