Guide
How prop firm affiliate and promo codes work (and why we disclose)
In short: Most prop firms run affiliate programs: the firm issues a creator a link or code, the trader may get a discount, and the firm pays the creator a commission. Full answer ↓
At a glance
Topstep Affiliate Code
20% off
first-time Prop Program purchase
FTMO CFD affiliate pay
8%–20%
one-time, on a first purchase
FTMO Futures affiliate pay
10%–18%
recurring, up to 12 months
Topstep publishes its affiliate rate?
No
the Affiliate 'may be compensated'
All figures from FTMO, FundedNext and Topstep official pages, checked 2026-10-18. Sources and full rules below.
Paid links: some links on this page may be affiliate links; we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How we make money.
Visit AquaFunded ↗ (paid link)
Get 50% off with code TDHQ at Top One Futures ↗ (paid link)
Read the details
The short answer
A promo code is the firm's own public discount. An affiliate code is issued by the firm to a creator, who may be paid when you use it. A third-party rewards code such as SMART is issued by another website, which earns the commission. Under the FTC Endorsement Guides anyone paid for a link must say so clearly and close to the link, and 'paid link' is adequate wording. TradeDesk HQ has live paid links for AquaFunded and Top One Futures (partner code TDHQ, 50% off); they are labelled next to the link. We list only firm-published or partner-issued codes with check dates.
Key facts:
- Topstep: an Affiliate Code gives a new trader 20% off a first-time Prop Program purchase; the Affiliate 'may be compensated' and no affiliate rate is published.
- FTMO CFD: a one-time commission of 8% (Bronze) to 20% (Platinum) on a referred trader's first Challenge or Instant Account purchase.
- FTMO Futures: a recurring 10% to 18% on monthly Evaluation subscriptions, capped at 12 months, plus half the level rate on Resets.
- FundedNext: CFD first-purchase 10%, 12% and 15%, and Futures lifetime 8%, 10% and 12%, across Silver, Gold and Platinum.
- FTC: 'paid link' right next to an affiliate link is adequate; 'affiliate link' or 'commissionable link' alone is not, and a home-page-only disclosure is not enough.
Watch out:
- A creator's code can match the firm's public discount exactly and still pay the creator; FundedNext says a partner code 'matches every official FN discount'.
- SMART is SmartPropFirm's own rewards code, not a firm promo; we do not list it.
- Topstep Affiliate Codes are first-purchase only, once in a lifetime, and do not stack with other promo codes or Referral Codes.
Full summary
Most prop firms run affiliate programs: the firm issues a creator a link or code, the trader may get a discount, and the firm pays the creator a commission. Official examples: Topstep Affiliate Codes give a new trader 20% off a first-time Prop Program purchase and the affiliate 'may be compensated'; FTMO pays affiliates a one-time 8–20% on a referred trader's first CFD Challenge or Instant Account purchase and a recurring 10–18% on FTMO Futures monthly Evaluation subscriptions, capped at 12 months; FundedNext pays 10%, 12% or 15% on CFD first purchases and 8%, 10% or 12% 'Futures lifetime' by partner tier (Silver, Gold, Platinum). A third-party rewards code such as SMART is issued by SmartPropFirm, which earns the commission; it is not a firm promo and we do not list it. Under the FTC Endorsement Guides, paid links must be disclosed clearly and close to the link, and 'paid link' is adequate wording. TradeDesk HQ has live paid/affiliate links for AquaFunded (afmc=zxp) and Top One Futures (our partner code TDHQ, 50% off at checkout); those links are labelled 'paid link' and marked rel=sponsored. Full disclosure: /affiliate-disclosure/. We still list only firm-published or partner-issued codes with check dates — we do not invent codes.
Plain-language terms
Promo code vs affiliate code vs third-party rewards code
| Rule | Page says | Caveat | Tag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm promo code | Published by the firm itself on its site, help center or official X account; the firm's own promotion | Expiry and scope are often unstated; we list a code only while the firm still publishes it | Official |
| ⓘ Our always-current list at /promo-codes/ carries firm-published codes plus partner-issued codes labelled 'Our partner code'. | |||
| Affiliate code or link | Issued by the firm to an approved creator; the trader may get a discount and the firm may pay the creator | May be limited to a first purchase and may not stack with other codes; Topstep's terms say both | Official |
| Third-party rewards code (SMART) | Issued by SmartPropFirm, not the firm: 'Apply code SMART at checkout to earn rewards'; SmartPropFirm LLC may earn a commission | Credits the site that issued it, not the firm's public promotion; not listed here as a firm promo | Official |
| ⓘ See Third-party rewards codes and SMART. | |||
| Referral Code | Named in Topstep's terms as separate from an Affiliate Code; the two cannot be combined | Topstep's affiliate page does not define referral terms; the FTMO and FundedNext pages we read do not define a separate referral code | Not stated |
| Who gets paid | Firm promo code: nobody outside the firm. Affiliate code: the creator, by the firm. SMART: SmartPropFirm | A creator's code can match the firm's public discount and still pay the creator; FundedNext says a partner code 'matches every official FN discount' | Official |
| Which code to use | Not a question the firm pages answer | If the discount is identical, the difference is who gets paid; check the firm's own site for its published code first | Ask |
Official commission and discount examples by firm
| Rule | Page says | Caveat | Tag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topstep: what the trader gets | 20% off a first-time Prop Program purchase (Trading Combines, Topstep Labs, Evaluation Challenges) with an Affiliate Code | First-time purchase only; one code, once in a lifetime; not for Resets, Back2Funded or market data; no combining with other promo codes, discounts or Referral Codes; not for Topstep Brokerage | Official |
| Topstep: what the affiliate gets | 'The Affiliate may be compensated by Topstep' | No rate or amount is published on the terms page | Not stated |
| FTMO CFD: Challenge and Instant Account | One-time commission on the referred trader's first purchase of each product: 8% at Bronze up to 20% at Platinum | First 1-Step Challenge, first 2-Step Challenge and first Instant Account each pay once; the FAQ answer states the affiliate's commission, not a trader discount | Official |
| FTMO Futures Evaluations | Recurring 10% at Bronze up to 18% at Platinum on each monthly Evaluation subscription payment, capped at 12 months; Account Resets at 50% of the level rate (5%, 6%, 7.5%, 9%) | A different model from CFD: recurring and capped, not one-time; the affiliate code can currently be entered at FTMO Futures checkout only | Differs |
| ⓘ See Where the pages differ (a). | |||
| FundedNext CFD first-purchase | 10% Silver, 12% Gold, 15% Platinum | Three tiers only; the top CFD rate on the live page is 15% | Official |
| ⓘ Tier is recalculated monthly on the previous 30 days; rates apply at the time of purchase, never retroactively. | |||
| FundedNext Futures lifetime | 8% Silver, 10% Gold, 12% Platinum | 'Lifetime' is the page's word; no cap or duration is defined | Official |
| ⓘ See Where the pages differ (b). | |||
| FundedNext: what the trader gets | A partner's personal promo code 'matches every official FN discount', unlimited redemptions | No discount beyond the firm's own public offers is stated | Official |
| FTMO vs FTMO US | Identical commission rates in both programmes | Each programme has its own level; FTMO and FTMO US commissions do not combine | Official |
FTC disclosure rules and what this site does
| Rule | Page says | Caveat | Tag |
|---|---|---|---|
| When disclosure is required | When there is a material connection a significant minority of consumers would not expect, such as being paid for an endorsement | Links placed as a convenience with no payment need no disclosure | Official |
| 'Paid link' | 'Paid link' right next to an affiliate link should be an adequate disclosure | It must sit next to the link, not elsewhere on the page | Official |
| 'Affiliate link' or 'commissionable link' | Not adequate on their own: consumers might not understand that the poster is paid | A 'buy now' button is not adequate either | Official |
| Placement | Clear and conspicuous; the closer to the recommendation the better | A single disclosure on a home page is not enough; disclosures in comments or behind a hyperlink are easily missed | Official |
| Social posts | 'Ad' or '#ad' is given as an acceptable short disclosure where space is tight | The same guidance applies to links in posts on someone else's site or on social media | Official |
| Topstep's rule for its affiliates | Look for '#TopstepPartner' or 'Topstep Partner'; affiliates must follow required disclosures and may not promise profit, payouts or funded status | Affiliates are independent third parties; their views are not Topstep's | Official |
| TradeDesk HQ today | Live paid links for AquaFunded and Top One Futures (partner code TDHQ); labelled 'paid link', rel=sponsored | Compensation never changes facts: codes and terms still from firm sources or partner-issued codes | Ours |
| ⓘ Policy: /affiliate-disclosure/. Code list: /promo-codes/. | |||
| rel=sponsored | An HTML link attribute marking a paid link for search engines | A web practice, not an FTC requirement; the FTC guidance is about wording readers can see | Ours |
Promo code vs affiliate code vs rewards code
Three different things get called a 'promo code'. A firm promo code is a discount the firm itself publishes on its website, help center or official X account; nobody outside the firm is paid when you use it, and it is the only kind we list at /promo-codes/. An affiliate code or link is issued by the firm to an approved creator or marketer: the trader may get a discount, and the firm may pay the creator a commission. Topstep's terms call the creator an Affiliate and the trader a Code User; FTMO calls them affiliates with Bronze to Platinum levels; FundedNext calls them partners on a Silver, Gold and Platinum ladder. A third-party rewards code is issued by another website rather than by the firm, and the commission goes to that website. A creator's code can carry exactly the same discount as the firm's public code and still pay the creator: FundedNext's partners page says a partner's personal promo code 'matches every official FN discount' with unlimited redemptions. Topstep's terms also name Referral Codes as a separate category that cannot be combined with an Affiliate Code; the other pages we read mention referred traders but do not define a separate referral code.
What this means for you: Before you type a code, ask who issued it: the firm, a creator the firm pays, or a third-party site that earns the commission.
Official examples by firm
Topstep: when a new trader (a Code User) uses an Affiliate Code to complete their first simulated evaluation purchase (Trading Combines, Topstep Labs or Evaluation Challenges, which the terms call the Prop Programs), the Code User receives 20% off that purchase and the Affiliate may be compensated by Topstep; no affiliate rate is published. The code applies only to a first-time Prop Program purchase, may be redeemed once in a lifetime, does not apply to account Resets, Back2Funded or market data add-ons, cannot be combined with other promo codes, discounts or Referral Codes, and does not apply to Topstep Brokerage. FTMO CFD: the affiliate earns a one-time commission on the referred trader's first purchase of each product, so a first 1-Step FTMO Challenge, first 2-Step FTMO Challenge and first FTMO Instant Account each pay once, from 8% at Bronze up to 20% at Platinum. FTMO Futures: a recurring commission on every monthly Evaluation subscription payment the referred trader makes, from 10% at Bronze up to 18% at Platinum, capped at 12 months, plus 50% of the affiliate's current level rate on every Futures Account Reset (5% Bronze, 6% Silver, 7.5% Gold, 9% Platinum, same cap); the affiliate link covers all FTMO products, while the affiliate code can currently be entered at FTMO Futures checkout only. FundedNext: three partner tiers pay 10% (Silver), 12% (Gold) and 15% (Platinum) on CFD first purchases and 8%, 10% and 12% 'Futures lifetime'; the tier is recalculated monthly on the previous 30 days, and rates apply at the time of purchase, never retroactively. The partners page gives the trader no discount beyond the firm's own official offers: a partner's code 'matches every official FN discount'.
What this means for you: The trader-facing figure is Topstep's 20% off; the FTMO and FundedNext figures are what the creator earns, not what you save.
Third-party rewards codes and SMART
SmartPropFirm's homepage says 'Apply code SMART at checkout to earn rewards', and its footer says SmartPropFirm LLC may earn a commission when you use links or discount codes on its site. SMART is therefore SmartPropFirm's own partner and rewards code: the commission credits SmartPropFirm, and any points or free accounts come from SmartPropFirm's own programme, not from the firm's public promotion. We do not list SMART, or any other third-party rewards code, as a firm promo code; we keep a record of it in our firm data only so we can explain why it is absent. If a code does not appear on the firm's own site, help center or official social account, treat it as a third-party or affiliate code until the firm itself publishes it.
What this means for you: If a code is not on the firm's own site, help center or official account, assume someone other than the firm is paid when you use it.
What the FTC requires
The FTC's Endorsement Guides say a connection between an endorser and a marketer that a significant minority of consumers would not expect, such as being paid, must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. For affiliate links the FTC's FAQ is specific: 'paid link' right next to an affiliate link should be an adequate disclosure; 'affiliate link' by itself might not be understood, a 'buy now' button is not adequate, and 'commissionable link' is probably not clear. The closer the disclosure is to the recommendation the better; a single disclosure on a home page is not enough because readers may land on an individual page without seeing it, and a disclosure in comments or behind a hyperlink is easily missed. Where space is tight, 'Ad' or '#ad' is given as an acceptable short form. Links placed as a convenience with no payment need no disclosure. The same guidance applies to links in posts on someone else's site or on social media. Topstep's terms add their own requirement: affiliates must follow required disclosures, readers should look for '#TopstepPartner' or 'Topstep Partner', and affiliates may not promise profit, payouts or funded status.
What this means for you: Look for 'paid link', 'Ad', '#ad' or a partner tag next to a link or code; 'affiliate link' alone tells you less than it should.
What TradeDesk HQ does today
As of this check we have affiliate relationships with AquaFunded (personal link afmc=zxp) and Top One Futures (partner code TDHQ, 50% off at checkout, excluding activation and reset fees). Those outbound links are labelled 'paid link' next to the link and marked rel=sponsored; we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure is at /affiliate-disclosure/. Compensation never changes the facts we report: codes and terms are still copied from each firm's own published sources or from a partner code the firm issued to us. The always-current list is at /promo-codes/; expired codes are removed and third-party rewards codes are excluded. This page shows only our live partner deals as buttons, not sign-up buttons for firms we do not partner with.
What this means for you: We have live paid links for AquaFunded and Top One Futures (code TDHQ); look for 'paid link' beside them, and the full list at /affiliate-disclosure/.
Where the pages differ and caveats
(a) FTMO CFD vs FTMO Futures: the CFD commission is one-time on a first purchase (8% to 20%), while the Futures commission is recurring on monthly subscriptions (10% to 18%), capped at 12 months, with Resets paid at half the level rate; the two ranges are not interchangeable, and the affiliate code itself works at FTMO Futures checkout only. (b) FundedNext CFD vs Futures: CFD first-purchase rates are 10%, 12% and 15%; 'Futures lifetime' rates are 8%, 10% and 12%; the page does not define how long 'lifetime' runs or what counts as an active customer for tier moves. (c) Topstep publishes the trader's 20% discount but not the affiliate's rate; FTMO and FundedNext publish the affiliate's rate, and neither page we read states a trader discount beyond the firm's own public offers. (d) Topstep's Affiliate Code is first-time only and cannot stack with other promo or Referral Codes; FundedNext says a partner code matches every official discount with unlimited redemptions; FTMO's FAQ does not say whether a code adds a discount. (e) FTMO and FTMO US run separate affiliate levels at identical rates, and the levels do not combine. Rates and terms change: FundedNext says rates apply at the time of purchase, and Topstep may modify or end its Program at any time. We re-read all five pages on the check date shown.
What this means for you: Do not carry a CFD rate over to Futures or one firm's terms over to another; read the page for the exact product and check its date.
FAQ
Does the person who shares a prop firm promo code get paid?
If it is an affiliate code or link, usually yes: the firm issues the code to an approved creator, the trader may get a discount, and the firm pays the creator a commission. FTMO, for example, pays affiliates a one-time 8–20% on a referred trader's first CFD Challenge or Instant Account purchase, by partner level. A code the firm itself publishes on its own site pays nobody outside the firm.
What discount does a Topstep affiliate code give?
Per Topstep's Affiliate Terms, a new trader (a Code User) who uses an Affiliate Code on a first-time Prop Program purchase (Trading Combines, Topstep Labs or Evaluation Challenges) receives 20% off that purchase, and the Affiliate may be compensated by Topstep. It applies to a first-time purchase only, once in a lifetime, not to Resets, Back2Funded or market data, and cannot be combined with other promo codes, discounts or Referral Codes.
How much does FundedNext pay its affiliates?
FundedNext's partners page lists three tiers: Silver, Gold and Platinum. CFD first-purchase commission is 10%, 12% and 15% respectively, and 'Futures lifetime' commission is 8%, 10% and 12%. The tier is recalculated monthly on the previous 30 days, and rates apply at the time of purchase, never retroactively.
Is the SMART code an official prop firm promo code?
No. SmartPropFirm's homepage says 'Apply code SMART at checkout to earn rewards', and its footer says SmartPropFirm LLC may earn a commission when you use its links or discount codes. SMART is SmartPropFirm's own partner and rewards code, not a code the firm publishes, so we do not list it as a firm promo code.
Do prop firm affiliate links have to be disclosed?
Yes. Under the FTC Endorsement Guides a paid connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, close to the link; the FTC says 'paid link' right next to an affiliate link should be adequate, while 'affiliate link' or 'commissionable link' alone is not. TradeDesk HQ has live paid links for AquaFunded and Top One Futures (partner code TDHQ); they are labelled 'paid link' and marked rel=sponsored. Full disclosure: /affiliate-disclosure/.
Sources: 5 official firm, FTC and third-party pages
Not financial advice. Educational content only. Trading futures, options and crypto involves substantial risk of loss. Full disclaimer.