Should a challenge have a time limit?
Quick answer
Time limits are less common than they were, because traders dislike them and they encourage over-risking near the deadline. Many firms now offer unlimited time or sell no time limit as an add-on. If you use one, make it generous and decide what happens to accounts that reach it in profit.
Detailed answer
Pros and cons:
- With a limit: forces activity and clears inactive accounts, but pushes traders to gamble near the end.
- Without: better trader experience, but accounts can sit idle.
Alternatives to a hard time limit:
- Inactivity rule: close accounts with no trading for a set number of days.
- Minimum trading days: ensure activity without a deadline.
PropExecutor supports an inactivity breach rule (accounts that have not traded for a set number of days are breached), checked by an hourly sweep. It does not offer a fixed calendar deadline as a rule, because clock-driven rules are kept to that single sanctioned case.
If you keep a time limit
Make it generous, for example 30 or 60 days for a first phase, and say clearly what happens when it expires: whether the account ends, or whether a trader in profit gets a free retry.
Measuring the effect
If you remove a time limit, track how pass rates and account lifetimes change.
PropExecutor team · Updated
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