Vest Markets Review: Simulated Prop Program on Vest's Own Perps Venue

Simulated capital

Based on the firm's published rules, terms and public evidence, checked on 2026-11-04.

PerpsOnly score: 5.85 / 10

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US access: Unclear: prop and exchange terms differ; confirm with Vest. Confirm eligibility with Vest Markets before buying.

1. Overview

Vest Markets sells simulated prop accounts (1-Step and 2-Step evaluations, plus Instant accounts) tied to Vest's own perpetual-futures exchange. The exchange uses USDC collateral and lists equities, indices, crypto, commodities and FX with cross margin (Vest docs overview, checked 2026-11-03). Vest Labs is based in New York, and a $13M seed round led by Portal Ventures was reported on October 7, 2026 (Crypto Briefing, secondary).

Vest's rules are simple on paper: static drawdown, no consistency rule, no time limits and on-demand profit claims. Our score is held down by unresolved US eligibility, conflicting capital statements and a thin public track record (Trustpilot 2.8 from 12 reviews, and no independent payout proof that we found).

The fee buys an evaluation or an Instant account. It is not an investment or a trading deposit. Vest's Prop ToS says "You may receive no compensation and lose the entire amount of your fees." Vest's refund policy covers a refund within 3 days if no trades have been placed (Vest refund policy); we found no refund of the fee after a failed attempt.

Quick Scorecard

Category	Score (0–10)	Key Takeaway
Cost & Fees	`7.0/10`	Low entry fees ($15–$450 for evaluations, $10–$2,000 for Instant); no refund after a failed attempt.
Trading Rules & Drawdown	`7.0/10`	Static 6% max drawdown, no consistency rule, no time limits; Instant breach closes the account immediately.
Payout Reliability	`6.0/10`	80–95% split, on-demand Claim Profit within 24 hours; no independent payout proof found.
Platform & Execution	`5.0/10`	Vest's own venue sets prices; terms say Vest's trading or hedging may affect prices; no API trading on funded accounts.
Trust & Reputation	`3.0/10`	Trustpilot 2.8 from 12 reviews; conflicting capital statements; US eligibility unresolved.
Overall PerpsOnly Score	`5.85/10`	Caution

Best For: Traders comfortable with a small, low-fee simulated test who have already confirmed eligibility with Vest in writing.
Not Recommended For: US-based traders who have not confirmed eligibility, and anyone who needs independent payout history before paying a fee.

2. Key Specs

Specification	Details	Sourced Reference
Capital Type	Simulated per the Prop ToS (Vest's docs say "real capital"; the two conflict, and the Prop ToS governs)	Vest Prop ToS; Vest docs overview
Account Sizes	Evaluation: $5K, $10K, $25K (plus a new "Emerald" tier on the live page, fee not captured). Instant: $500, $5K, $10K, $25K, plus a $2,000 card whose size did not render	Vest account tiers; Vest Capital page
Execution Venue	Vest's own perpetual-futures exchange (USDC collateral); no API trading on funded accounts; XRP and HYPE unavailable on funded accounts	Vest docs overview
Leverage	Not consistent: docs say 75x, FAQ says 50x on funded accounts, site says 100x on primary	Vest docs overview; Vest Capital page
Profit Split	80% or 90% on evaluations (2-Step fixed at 80%); 95% on Instant	Vest account tiers; Claiming profit
US Traders Accepted?	The prop terms no longer list the US as restricted, but Vest's exchange terms still do; confirm eligibility with Vest before buying.	Vest Prop ToS (Oct 28, 2026); Vest exchange ToS (Oct 6, 2026) at vestmarkets.com/terms-of-service
Fee Refundable?	Refund within 3 days if no trades were placed; no refund after a failed attempt found	Vest refund policy
Legal Entity	Vest Exchange Inc., a Panama corporation (Prop ToS); site footer reads "© 2026 Vest Labs Inc."	Vest Prop ToS

3. Pricing & Account Sizes

1-Step Evaluation

Silver ($5K), Gold ($10K) and Platinum ($25K), each with 36 configurations of profit target, daily loss limit (DLL) and split. Fees run from $25 / $50 / $130 (20% target, 3% DLL, 80/20 split) to $90 / $180 / $450 (10% target, no DLL, 90/10 split).

2-Step Evaluation

Account Size	Fee	Targets	DLL	Split
$5,000	$15	10% then 5%	3%	80/20
$10,000	$35	10% then 5%	3%	80/20
$25,000	$90	10% then 5%	3%	80/20

Instant Accounts (95% split, no DLL)

Account Size	Fee
$500	$10
$5,000	$200
$10,000	$400
$25,000	$1,000
Fifth card on the live page	$2,000 (capital size did not render in the page text)

Source: Vest account tiers and Vest Capital page, checked 2026-11-04. The live page also shows an "EMERALD" evaluation tier (max drawdown $3,000, which implies $50K at 6%). Its fee was not captured and it is not in the docs yet. Vest's docs call the live pages the source of record.

4. Trading Rules & Drawdown Mechanics

Evaluation drawdown: Static maximum drawdown of 6% of capital, fixed at creation, never trailing (Vest docs overview).
Daily loss limit: Optional 3%, 4% or none on 1-Step. It resets at 20:00 ET from a balance that excludes unrealized PnL, with equity checked live.
Instant drawdown: Maximum drawdown equals the fee (2% on $500, 4% on the others), with no DLL.
Breach: Closes the account "immediately and permanently", with no grace period (Vest Capital page).
Consistency and time: Vest says "There is no minimum number of trading days, no cap on how much of your profit can come from a single day." There are no time limits. No news-trading restriction is stated; scalping is allowed.
Account caps: 10 live funded accounts and 100 evaluation accounts per user. Non-crypto markets follow the weekend schedule.

Operational Caveats

1. Trade ideas and discretion. The site footer says "We or our affiliates may use, modify, or disregard any trade idea in our sole discretion" and that the program "collect[s] nonbinding trade ideas" (Vest Capital page).

2. Prices and hedging. The Prop ToS says Vest may hedge and that "Our trading or hedging may affect prices" (Vest Prop ToS).

3. Target on the cheapest configurations. The lowest-fee 1-Step configurations carry a 20% profit target.

5. Payout Terms & Reliability

Profit Split: 80% or 90% on evaluations (chosen at purchase), 95% on Instant (Vest account tiers).
Payout Frequency: On-demand "Claim Profit" at any time, with no frequency or amount cap and "No minimum to claim" (Claiming profit). Claims are credited to your Primary Account "in 24 hours" and are irrevocable. You may need to close positions first.
Withdrawal: USDC to an external wallet on a supported chain, minimum 1 USDC and a $50,000 rolling 24-hour limit (per Vest's FAQ; the limit does not apply to Claim Profit).
What compensation depends on: The Prop ToS says compensation depends on "simulated activity" and the program rules.
Payout evidence: We found no independent payout proof. Vest's own payout statistics: Not stated in the sources we checked.

6. Trading Platform, Liquidity & Execution

Vest's own venue: Prices come from Vest's perpetual-futures exchange. Equities, indices, crypto, commodities and FX are listed, with cross margin (Vest docs overview).
API: No API trading on funded accounts.
Leverage: Vest's own pages disagree (50x, 75x and 100x appear). Confirm the figure that applies to your account before you buy.
Execution quality: We have not measured fills or latency. Vest's published execution statistics: Not stated in the sources we checked.
Docs vs live pages: The docs pages are undated; Vest says the live pages are the source of record.

7. Trust, Ownership & Track Record

Corporate Structure: Vest Exchange Inc., a Panama corporation, per the Prop ToS; site footer "© 2026 Vest Labs Inc." (Vest Prop ToS). Vest's docs about page lists backers including Coinbase, Jane Street, Amber and QCP (Vest docs about page). Named founders or leadership: Not stated in the sources we checked.
Community Consensus: Trustpilot shows 2.8 from 12 reviews, 67% 1-star and 33% 5-star, checked 2026-11-04 (Trustpilot). The latest review was November 3, 2026 (1-star) and we saw no company replies. Trustpilot notes the company has not recently invited reviews, so the sample is small.
What reviewers say: Some reviewers say prices "priced by its own engine" don't track real futures (for example NQ), and report stop-loss fills at odd prices, frozen charts, slippage and 2-day support replies (Trustpilot). The only praise we saw was for payouts and simple rules.
Reviewer complaints about pricing: Some Trustpilot reviewers report fills and prices they believe were unfair (Trustpilot, 12 reviews, checked 2026-11-04). We have not verified these reports and make no finding on them.
Regulatory Standing: Regulator search, run 2026-11-04: web searches covering FINMA, FCA, CFTC and IOSCO I-SCAN found no alert or enforcement action naming Vest Markets, Vest Exchange Inc. or Vest Labs. They returned only similarly named firms. The regulator databases themselves could not be queried (FINMA's list needs an interactive search that was not run, the FCA and I-SCAN pages returned 403, the CFTC page returned 404, and NFA BASIC was not checked), so this is not a database result.
Geographic Availability: The prop terms no longer list the US as restricted, but Vest's exchange terms still do; confirm eligibility with Vest before buying. The Prop ToS (October 28, 2026) lists Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Syria and the Philippines as prohibited. The exchange ToS (October 6, 2026) adds the United Kingdom and the United States, including American territories. A secondary list (funded.now) cited prop terms dated October 14, 2026 that barred the US; the current Prop ToS does not. We have not tested signup, KYC or geo-blocking, and we have not confirmed whether the exchange terms apply to prop users.

8. Pros & Cons

Pros

Low entry fees: Evaluations start at $15 (2-Step $5K) and Instant at $10.
Static Drawdown: 6% maximum drawdown on evaluations, fixed at creation, per Vest's docs.
Few restrictions stated: No consistency rule, no minimum trading days and no time limits.
On-demand claims: Claim Profit with no stated cap or minimum, credited within 24 hours per Vest.
High split available: Up to 95% on Instant accounts.

Cons

US eligibility unresolved: Prop terms and exchange terms differ.
Conflicting documents: Docs say "real capital"; the governing Prop ToS says simulated. Leverage figures also differ across pages.
Own-venue pricing: Prices come from Vest's own venue, and the Prop ToS says Vest's hedging may affect prices.
Thin public record: Trustpilot 2.8 from 12 reviews, and no independent payout proof found.
Instant breach is immediate: Drawdown equals the fee, and a breach closes the account permanently.
Many Traders Don't Pass: Many traders don't pass, and the fee is lost if you fail.

9. Verdict & PerpsOnly Rating

Vest Markets has low fees and a short, clear rule set. At 5.85/10 it sits in our Caution tier because US eligibility is unresolved, the program's own documents conflict on whether capital is real, prices come from the firm's own venue, and public payout and reputation evidence is thin. If you are in the US, get written confirmation of eligibility from Vest before paying. This is not a finding of wrongdoing; it is where the sources we checked leave the score.

Trading carries risk of loss and the challenge fee is not refunded if you fail, unless the page says otherwise. Not financial advice.

Scoring Rubric Breakdown

Metric	Weight	Raw Score (0–10)	Weighted Score	Evaluation Notes
Cost & Fees	20%	`7.0`	`1.40`	Low fees across tiers; no refund after a failed attempt (only within 3 days if no trades).
Trading Rules	25%	`7.0`	`1.75`	Static 6% drawdown, no consistency rule or time limit; 20% target on cheapest 1-Step, immediate Instant breach, leverage figures conflict.
Payout Reliability	25%	`6.0`	`1.50`	80–95% split, on-demand claims within 24 hours; no independent payout proof, compensation from general funds.
Platform & Liquidity	15%	`5.0`	`0.75`	Own venue with multi-asset markets; no API on funded accounts, hedging may affect prices, no published execution statistics.
Trust & Track Record	15%	`3.0`	`0.45`	Trustpilot 2.8 (12 reviews), conflicting capital statements, US eligibility unresolved; named backers and a stated entity.
Total	100%	—	`5.85/10`	Final PerpsOnly Verdict: Caution (5.85/10)

Arithmetic: (7.0 × 0.20) + (7.0 × 0.25) + (6.0 × 0.25) + (5.0 × 0.15) + (3.0 × 0.15) = 1.40 + 1.75 + 1.50 + 0.75 + 0.45 = 5.85. Tier: 4.0–5.9 = Caution.

Editorial & Affiliate Disclosure

Based on Vest's published rules, terms and public evidence, checked on 2026-11-04. We earn a commission if you buy through our Vest link or code. It does not change our score. Read our methodology at /methodology.