By Alex Firdaus · Updated July 15, 2026 · Data checked July 15, 2026
QT Funded Review 2026 — Discount Code, Rules and the Payout Truth
Quick verdict: QT Funded offers cheap challenge entry points and three solid trading platforms. The rulebook is manageable for disciplined traders. The problem is what happens after you pass. Payout delays, mandatory risk interviews scheduled weeks out, accounts frozen during the wait, and Discord bans for asking questions have become a documented pattern in 2025 and 2026. The firm was also delisted from PropFirmMatch. If you trade with tight rules and can live with payout uncertainty, the low cost makes it worth a small account test. Scaling up here carries real risk right now.
Use code FTCOM for 50% off all challenge types.
Table of Contents
What is QT Funded?
QT Funded is the retail-facing brand of Quant Tekel Ltd, a UK-registered company (Companies House number 15202495) headquartered at 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London. The firm launched in 2023 under the name AscendX Capital, rebranded to Quant Tekel, then to QT Funded in early 2025. CEO Tanswell Sassman and co-founder James Manto lead the operation. The brokerage arm is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in South Africa (FSCA licence 53227), which covers the execution side of the platform only — not the prop evaluation program itself.
The model is standard prop firm evaluation: traders pay a fee, trade a simulated account against defined profit targets and drawdown limits, and if they pass, they receive funded-style payouts from the firm based on their performance on the demo account. QT Funded claims over $16 million paid out across 110,000+ traders in 180+ countries as of mid-2026. The maximum funded account allocation is $300,000 total across 2-Step and similar accounts, with a separate $100,000 cap on Instant funded accounts.
The price and platform variety are real selling points. The payout reliability is the real problem, and it has gotten worse in 2025 and 2026. Before committing any capital, read our guide on how to verify a prop firm before buying — the red flags it covers apply directly here.
Challenge Types and Pricing
QT Funded currently runs five evaluation paths: QT 2 Step, QT 2 Step Elite, QT Instant, QT 1 Step (pay when funded), and QT Power. Account sizes range from $2,500 to $200,000. The maximum funded account allocation is $300,000 total across all 2-Step and similar accounts. Instant funded accounts have a separate cap of $100,000 total, and this counts toward your overall allocation limit.
QT 2 Step
The standard evaluation. Phase 1 profit target is 7%, phase 2 is 5%. Daily drawdown limit is 3%, maximum drawdown is 6%. There is a profit cap of 5% in funded phase. Profit split starts at 80%. Payout cycle is bi-weekly. Available on MT5 and TradeLocker. No minimum trading day requirement is stated on the page — verify current rules at checkout.
| Account Size | QT 2 Step Price | QT Power Price | QT Instant Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,500 | $40 | From $10.40 | $26 |
| $5,000 | $55 | ~$20 | $42 |
| $10,000 | $65 | ~$35 | $66 |
| $25,000 | $80 (reg $100) | ~$80 | ~$120 |
| $50,000 | ~$150 | ~$140 | ~$220 |
| $100,000 | ~$280 | ~$260 | ~$400 |
| $200,000 | ~$530 | Not available | Not available |
QT Power
A lower-cost path. Phase 1 and phase 2 each target 6% profit. Daily drawdown is 4% (end-of-day, for accounts issued after April 9, 2025). Maximum drawdown is 8%. No news trading restriction on funded accounts. Leverage up to 1:100 on forex, 1:35 on indices and metals. Payout on demand at 80% split with a 35% consistency rule applied. QT Power entry prices start from $10.40 at the smallest account size, making it one of the cheapest prop firm entry points available.
QT Instant
No evaluation phase. Traders start on a funded-style account immediately. If you want to compare this against alternatives, see our best instant funding prop firms roundup. Daily drawdown is 3%, fixed from initial balance. Maximum drawdown is 6%, trailing from the highest recorded balance or equity. Minimum 5 trading days before the first withdrawal. A 5% minimum profit balance is required before the first payout request. Consistency rule is 25%: no single day’s profit can exceed 25% of total profits at withdrawal time. Funded accounts have a 5-minute news blackout applied.
QT Funded Trading Rules
The rules are the most important thing to read before buying any QT Funded challenge. Most payout denials documented in public complaints trace back to rule enforcement, not trading performance. Some of these enforcement decisions have been contested by traders with evidence.
| Rule | QT 2 Step (Funded) | QT Power (Funded) | QT Instant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily drawdown | 3% (fixed from initial balance) | 4% EOD from balance | 3% (fixed from initial balance) |
| Max drawdown | 6% (trailing EOD) | 8% (trailing EOD) | 6% (trailing from highest equity) |
| News trading | 5-min blackout before/after red-folder events | No restriction | 5-min blackout before/after red-folder events |
| Consistency rule | None stated (verify) | 35% max single-day profit | 25% max single-day profit |
| Weekend holding | Allowed (no crypto) | Allowed (no crypto) | Allowed (no crypto) |
| EA / algo | Allowed with approval | Allowed with approval | Allowed with approval |
| Copy trading | Not allowed | Not allowed | Not allowed |
| Inactivity | Max 30 calendar days inactive | Max 30 calendar days inactive | Max 30 calendar days inactive |
| Profit split | 80% (upgradeable) | 80% | 80% |
Rules that have caused documented disputes
The news rule on funded QT 2 Step and QT Instant accounts applies as follows per the official help centre: trading is prohibited within a 5-minute window before and after specific named events (CPI, FOMC Statement, FOMC Meeting, Non-Farm Employment Report, and USD PMI listed on the Forex Factory calendar). For broader red-folder news affecting a specific currency, trading is restricted on all pairs involving that currency and any indices priced in that currency. For “all-day red” events, the restriction covers all pairs in that currency for the entire day.
The written rule does not explicitly list gold (XAU/USD) as restricted for, say, a GBP event. However, the official rules also include a catch-all stating that “presidential announcements, geopolitical conflicts, war outbreaks, sudden economic releases, or central bank decisions/speeches can cause extreme volatility across all instruments” and that such events “will affect all currency instruments.” Multiple traders have reported breaches for gold during events the written rules do not obviously cover. One trader documented a Discord exchange where a QT representative confirmed gold is a metal, then upheld the breach anyway. The rules give the firm enough discretion to enforce broadly. Trade with caution around any red-folder event regardless of instrument.
The reverse trading rule is defined in the official help centre as: opposing positions on the same asset across different accounts held for more than 2 minutes, OR the same behaviour occurring more than 3 individual times regardless of duration. The reported disputes stemmed from QT applying this rule more broadly than traders expected, including cases where staff gave different definitions verbally.
The inactivity rule cuts funded accounts after 30 calendar days without a trade. If your account is frozen during a payout interview delay and that delay runs past 30 days, you can be breached for inactivity. Traders have documented this happening.
The Floating Loss Rule — a rule most reviews miss
QT Funded applies a Floating Loss Rule that limits your total unrealised (open) loss to 2% of your account balance at any time across all open positions combined. This is separate from the daily drawdown limit. Stop-loss placement is not considered — the rule looks at live market PnL only. A position showing a $2,001 floating loss on a $100,000 account triggers a breach even if the trade recovers seconds later. This rule is monitored in real time. Most reviews of QT Funded do not mention it.
Platforms, Instruments and Execution
QT Funded supports MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader, and TradeLocker across its CFD evaluation accounts. Not every account type is available on every platform. QT 2 Step is available on MT5 and TradeLocker. Check the evaluation page for current platform availability per account type before purchasing.
Three platforms is more choice than most prop firms offer. If you prefer cTrader’s native order management or TradeLocker‘s interface, both are available. MT5 covers the widest range of EAs and third-party tools. There is no proprietary platform to learn.
Payout Structure
QT Funded advertises bi-weekly payouts on QT 2 Step and QT Instant, with on-demand withdrawals available on QT Power and QT Prime On-Demand. The standard profit split is 80%, upgradeable to 90% through their scale-up program. QT Prime On-Demand pays 100% profit split to traders who meet a 35% consistency score and a 3% minimum profit threshold.
| Account Type | Payout Frequency | Profit Split | Consistency Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| QT 2 Step | Bi-weekly (14 days) | 80% | None stated |
| QT Power | On demand | 80% | 35% max single-day profit |
| QT Instant | Bi-weekly (14 days) | 80% | 25% max single-day profit |
| QT Prime On-Demand | On demand (min 3% profit) | 100% | 35% max single-day profit |
Payouts are processed via crypto, bank wire, or QT Card. The firm’s official policy states all associated transfer fees are the recipient’s responsibility. Processing is within 24 business hours for compliant accounts once approved. In 2024 and early 2025, many traders reported this held true. In late 2025 and into 2026, the pattern changed.
The Payout Problems You Need to Know About
This section is the reason you are reading this review instead of the firm’s own website. The problems below are drawn from verified public complaints on Trustpilot, PropFirmMatch, Forex Peace Army, and trader Discord communities. The same issues appear across dozens of accounts spanning six months. These are not one-off edge cases.
The mandatory payout interview
QT Funded requires a “risk interview” via Zoom before processing a funded trader’s first payout. The interview itself is not the problem. The scheduling delay is. Multiple traders who passed their funded accounts in early 2026 had their interviews scheduled 30 to 60 days after passing. One trader who passed on March 31, 2026 was not given an interview date until May 11, 2026. When the interview date arrived, the Zoom link showed an “Invalid Meeting ID” error. The trader then submitted multiple support tickets and Discord messages. No interview was ever rescheduled, and the account was eventually breached under a different reason entirely.
During the wait between passing and the interview, funded accounts are frozen. Traders cannot withdraw and cannot trade. The inactivity rule still applies. If the delay runs past 30 days, the account can be breached for inactivity during a process the firm itself created. Traders have documented this happening.
The “risk tool down” explanation
Since January 2026, QT Funded has cited a “risk tool outage” as the explanation for payout delays and backlog. As of July 2026, this explanation has been active for over six months. Traders in the PropFirmMatch community flagged this directly: no other prop firm in recent memory has sustained a single technical issue for this long without a resolution or a public timeline for fixing it. The firm has not provided a public update on the risk tool status or an estimated restoration date.
Discord bans for asking about payouts
Multiple traders across Trustpilot and PropFirmMatch have reported being banned from QT Funded’s Discord server for asking about their pending payouts or posting screenshots of their withdrawal requests. One trader posted a screenshot of their own payout request in Discord and was banned. Another was told by support to raise a ticket via email, then received no email response for over a week. The firm lists Discord, email, live chat, and a ticketing system as support channels. Traders report that while general queries get responses via Discord, account-specific payout issues get redirected to the risk team by email — and those emails frequently go unanswered for days.
Disputed breach calculations
Several traders have submitted detailed disputes showing their dashboard data, trade logs, and stop-loss settings contradict the breach calculation QT applied. The firm’s stated position is that “dashboard figures may differ from real-time equity due to API synchronization delays.” The consequence: a trader can believe they are within drawdown limits based on what the dashboard shows, get breached anyway, and have no recourse because the firm treats its own internal calculation as final even when it conflicts with the dashboard the trader relies on.
Payout confirmation emails followed by non-payment
At least one detailed public report describes a trader receiving an official payout confirmation email with their withdrawal amount listed, having the payout appear in QT’s Discord payout feed, and then waiting 11 business days with nothing arriving. When the trader followed up, QT cited an “unexpected system error” that incorrectly marked the transaction as processed. The trader was then offered a complimentary account and a call with a co-founder. Two days later, the account was breached for news trading on a day the trader reports not having traded news.
Why QT Funded Was Delisted from PropFirmMatch
PropFirmMatch removed QT Funded from its verified listings in 2026. The platform’s delisted page advises traders to exercise extra caution before funding an account. PropFirmMatch states it receives over 100 firm applications annually and approves fewer than 10, and that it removes firms when its standards are no longer met.
This is worth flagging clearly because some reviews treat PropFirmMatch listing status as irrelevant. It is not irrelevant here. QT Funded was previously listed and removed — that is a different situation from never having been listed. The removal happened alongside the same period in which public payout complaints increased significantly. The two are related.
Note: we do not cite PropFirmMatch “unlisted” status as a red flag for firms that have simply never applied. Being delisted after having been listed is a different signal entirely and warrants disclosure.
QT Funded Pros and Cons
Pros
- QT Power starts from $10.40 — among the cheapest challenge entry points in the industry
- MT5, cTrader, and TradeLocker all available — more platform choice than most firms
- EOD trailing drawdown — intraday spikes do not trigger the maximum drawdown floor
- No time limit on evaluation phases — take as long as your strategy requires
- QT Power funded accounts have no news trading restriction
- FSCA-regulated brokerage infrastructure (licence 53227) — execution is backed by a regulated entity
- Payout Guarantee on 2-Step accounts: if you breach after requesting a payout, you still receive 10% of profits or a full refund (whichever is greater), valid for up to 3 purchases
- Scale-up path to $300K total funded allocation exists
- FTCOM code gives 50% off all challenge types
Cons
- Mandatory payout interview with 30 to 60-day scheduling delays documented in 2026
- Accounts frozen during the payout interview wait — cannot trade or withdraw
- Risk tool outage cited since January 2026, no public resolution timeline
- Traders banned from Discord for asking about pending payouts
- PropFirmMatch delisted QT Funded in 2026 after trader complaints
- Floating Loss Rule: 2% unrealised loss limit across all open positions in real time — can breach even if trades recover
- News rule enforced on instruments beyond what written rules clearly specify
- Dashboard equity figures may not match risk system calculations — breach disputes unresolved
- Only 2.5 years of operating history (founded 2023) — no track record through a market stress event
QT Funded Discount Code
50% Off All QT Funded Challenges
Use code FTCOM at checkout on any QT 2 Step, QT 2 Step Elite, QT Instant, QT 1 Step, or QT Power account.
Offer: 50% off the challenge fee. Stacking with other promotions may vary — check the checkout page.
The SUMMER code (55% off) was active on the firm’s evaluation page at time of writing. If it appears at checkout when you visit, it may give a higher discount than FTCOM. Check both and use whichever applies.
QT Funded vs FTMO — which is better value?
FTMO charges around $155 for a $25K 2-step challenge versus QT Funded’s $80 (or $40 with FTCOM). FTMO has a decade-plus operating track record, no mandatory payout interview delays documented at scale, and sits on our most reputable prop firms list. The price gap is real. The reliability gap is also real. If the $75 difference matters to you, test QT Funded at a small account size first.
QT Funded vs FundedNext
FundedNext sits in a similar price bracket and has a cleaner payout track record in 2025 and 2026 based on public complaint volume. FundedNext uses TradeLocker and MT5 as well. If you want a low-cost evaluation with fewer payout question marks, FundedNext is the closer comparison to consider alongside QT Funded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is QT Funded legit?
QT Funded operates under Quant Tekel Ltd, registered in the UK (Companies House number 15202495). The brokerage arm holds FSCA licence 53227 in South Africa. The firm has distributed over $16 million to traders since launching in 2023, and many traders do get paid without problems. The concern is payout reliability in 2025 and 2026. Documented complaints about delayed interviews, broken Zoom links, and account freezes have increased significantly. The firm was delisted from PropFirmMatch in 2026. It is not an obvious scam. It is a firm with real operational problems at the payout stage that you need to factor into your decision.
How long does QT Funded payout take?
The official policy states payouts are processed within 24 business hours once approved. Risk interviews are issued at the firm’s discretion and are not required for every payout. When they are required, multiple traders in 2026 had theirs scheduled 30 to 60 days after passing. During that wait, accounts are frozen and cannot be traded. Subsequent payouts on the same account are faster once the first interview clears.
What is the QT Funded coupon code?
Use FTCOM for 50% off all QT Funded challenge types. Apply it at checkout on any QT 2 Step, QT 2 Step Elite, QT Instant, QT 1 Step, or QT Power account. The SUMMER code (55% off) was also active on the evaluation page at time of writing. Check both at checkout and use whichever gives the higher discount.
Does QT Funded allow news trading?
News trading is allowed during the evaluation phase. On funded QT 2 Step and QT Instant accounts, a 5-minute blackout applies before and after specific events: CPI, FOMC Statement, FOMC Meeting, NFP, and USD PMI. For broader red-folder events affecting a specific currency, all pairs involving that currency and any indices priced in it are restricted. QT Power funded accounts have no news restriction. Enforcement has been applied to instruments beyond what the written rules clearly specify, so trade cautiously around any major event regardless of account type.
Why was QT Funded removed from PropFirmMatch?
PropFirmMatch delisted QT Funded in 2026 after a significant increase in verified trader complaints about payout delays, breach disputes, and poor communication. PropFirmMatch removes firms when it can no longer confirm trader safety. QT Funded was previously listed, which makes the removal more significant than simply never having been listed.
What is QT Funded’s drawdown rule?
QT Funded uses an end-of-day trailing drawdown model. Intraday equity swings do not affect your drawdown floor. For QT 2 Step and QT Instant, the daily drawdown limit is 3% fixed from initial balance and the maximum is 6% trailing. For QT Power accounts issued after April 9, 2025, the daily limit is 4% and the maximum is 8%. There is also a Floating Loss Rule: your total unrealised loss across all open positions must not exceed 2% of your account balance at any time. Stop-loss placement is not considered by this rule. The firm’s internal risk system determines breach decisions, which may differ from dashboard figures.
What is the QT Funded consistency rule?
QT Power requires that no single trading day’s profit exceeds 35% of total profits at payout. QT Instant uses a 25% threshold. QT Prime On-Demand requires a 35% score plus a minimum 3% profit balance before payout. QT 2 Step funded accounts require a minimum of 4 trading days per cycle, with at least 2 of those days showing a profit of +0.5% or more. The rule applies at withdrawal time.
What happens if the payout interview Zoom link does not work?
QT Funded’s official help centre states the interview schedule is fixed, but if earlier slots open up, their team will reach out proactively. Rescheduling requires advance notice. Based on documented 2026 cases, broken links have not been resolved reliably through Discord or email support. Document everything the moment a problem occurs: screenshot the error, timestamp it, and email the risk team directly at [email protected] with your account number in the subject line.
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