Live Account
An account whose orders are routed to the real exchange — the tier some firms promote proven traders into, where your fills are the market's fills.
A live account is one where your orders actually reach the exchange. When you buy an ES contract, a real contract changes hands, cleared through a real FCM, and the fill you get is the fill the market gave you. Nothing is simulated.
In the prop world, live accounts are usually the tier above sim-funded. A firm watches a trader perform consistently over time and then routes them live, because the firm now wants that trader’s flow in the real market rather than absorbed on its own book. Getting there is a genuine mark of achievement — it means the firm has looked at your results and decided you’re worth putting real exchange risk behind.
What changes when you go live:
- Fills are real. You’ll feel actual slippage in fast markets, and real liquidity at the top of book. Some traders find their fills are better than sim; some find them worse in thin conditions.
- Commissions and exchange fees are real. They come out of your P&L exactly as quoted.
- Your profit split may improve. Firms often reward the promotion with better terms.
- The rules usually stay. Drawdown and daily loss limits don’t vanish just because the account is live.
The practical takeaway: don’t chase a live account, earn one. The behavior that gets you promoted — steady size, defined risk, no lottery tickets — is the same behavior that keeps you paid on any account type. Master that, and the tier takes care of itself.
Which firms route live, and when, differs by firm and is often tied to a track record or a scaling plan. Compare models in our directory and read Sim-Funded vs Live Accounts.