Hantec Trader
Hantec Trader is backed by the Hantec Group, which has been in financial services since 1990 — making it one of the few prop firms with a parent company old enough to have survived a dot-com crash. Whether that translates to a better trading experience is another question. The pass rate is average. The hidden rules score is moderate. The backing is real
(26% of complaints)
Who Is This Firm For?
About Hantec Trader
Conservative by design, built for disciplined traders, not for people who want payouts yesterday. If institutional infrastructure matters to you more than flashy discounts, Hantec is worth a look. If it doesn't — there are 35 other firms on this site.
- Founded
- 2023
- Max Allocation
- $200,000
- Leverage
- 1:100
- Commissions
- $5/lot
Pros
- - Risk Management Group: leverage restriction before termination — second chance mechanism
- - 14-day refund policy clearly stated — no first-trade waiver buried in footnotes
- - Scalping definition precisely defined — sub-3-minute trades only flagged if 30%+ of total profit
- - Overleveraging threshold concretely defined at 85% margin — no vague clauses
- - Within-account hedging allowed — most firms prohibit this entirely
- - Broker-backed with regulated infrastructure — institutional execution quality
Cons
- ● 11% one-star rate on Trustpilot across only 633 reviews — higher negative proportion than industry average for a Tier 2 firm
- ● Conservative scaling structure — $300,000 maximum across all linked accounts, lower than most competitors
- ● Payout every 14 days by default — 7-day option requires a paid add-on
- ● News trading restricted on certain models — check your specific challenge before buying
- ● Smaller community & less trader feedback av- Trailing drawdown locks permanently at starting balance after 6% profit — floor tightens as you succeed
- - Same strategy across accounts prohibited if aggregate capital exceeds $300K
- - Copy trading prohibited including substantially similar trades — pattern-based enforcement
- - RMG exit requires 3 successful payouts with company verification — lengthy process
- - 11% one-star rate on Trustpilot — higher than industry average for Tier 2 firms
- - No instant funding model — evaluation required on all standard programsailable compared to more established firms
Middle of the road
Comparing them to my main firm, they come out somewhere in the middle. Two of my three disputes were resolved quickly. The third is still open. Better than I feared, worse than the marketing suggests.— Verified Trader (chidi brown) See all reviews
The trailing drawdown lock is the most important mechanic to understand before you trade — once you hit 6% profit, your floor locks permanently at your starting balance and stays there regardless of further gains. The more you profit early, the less room you have later. Within-account hedging is explicitly allowed — one of the few firms where this is permitted. If you use an EA, your trade duration distribution will be reviewed if scalping is flagged — keep sub-3-minute trades below 30% of total profit.
Trading Conditions
Drawdown System
- Enhanced: 4% daily, 8% max — Trailing, locks at start balance after 6% profit
- EnhancedX: 4% daily, 5% max — Trailing, locks at start balance after 6% profit
- Endurance: 3% daily, 6% max — Trailing, locks at start balance after 6% profit
- Express: 4% daily, 8% max — Trailing, locks at start balance after 6% profit
- Instant24: no daily or max loss defined — check website
- 14-day refund: available if no trades placed — voided immediately after first trade
- Inactivity: not explicitly defined — check website for current rules
High-Frequency & Fast Trading
- Not Allowed:
- HFT
- Scalping — defined as sub-3-minute trades generating 30%+ of total net profit
- Latency arbitrage and all forms of arbitrage
- Front-running trades placed elsewhere
- Reverse trading and group hedging
- Third-party or marketed challenge-passing strategies
- Multiple accounts with shared IP, VPN, device ID or proxy
- Automated algorithms for manipulative trading
Low Liquidity & Timing
- News trading allowed — no time window restriction in T&C
- All-or-nothing trading around news events: prohibited
- Overleveraging defined as 85%+ margin across one asset or connected assets
- Excessive risk around news flagged as overleveraging or one-sided bet
- Same strategy across multiple accounts prohibited if aggregate capital exceeds $300K
- Within-account hedging: allowed — more permissive than most competitors
Loss-Chasing & Gambling
- Not Allowed:
- All-or-nothing trading — risking entire daily loss limit or substantial portion on single trade
- Overleveraging — defined at 85% margin threshold across one asset or connected assets
- Collusion with others to manipulate prices or coordinate trading
- Copy trading including mirrored, synchronised or substantially similar trades
- Coordinated trading whether manual, automated or through third-party means
- Hedging across accounts — prohibited
Risk Management
- RMG placement: FX 1:30, Indices/Commodities 1:5, Metals 1:3, Crypto 1:1 — applies all accounts
- RMG exit: 3 successful payouts on single account following company verification
- Scalping enforcement: EA trade duration distribution reviewed if flagged
- Payouts: every 14 days standard — every 7 days with paid add-on
- Profit split: up to 90-95% depending on program
- Account sizes: $1K to $200K across all models
Hantec Trader – Trading Conditions
Forbidden Trading Practices
- ● Exploiting platform or pricing errors or latencies
- ● Arbitrage of any kind — including latency arbitrage & arbitrage between accounts
- ● Scalping — defined specifically: trades held under 3 minutes generating 30%+ of total net profit constitute scalping
- ● High-frequency trading
- ● Front-running trades placed elsewhere
- ● Reverse trading & group hedging
- ● Copy trading or coordinated trading — including mirrored, synchronised or substantially similar trades
- ● Collusion with others to manipulate prices or coordinate trading
- ● Multiple accounts with shared IP, VPN, device ID or proxy — prohibited
- ● Overleveraging — defined as using 85% or more margin across one asset or connected assets
- ● All-or-nothing trading — risking the entire daily loss limit or a substantial portion on a single trade
- ● Same strategy across multiple accounts where aggregate capital exceeds $300,000
- ● Third-party or marketed strategies to pass the challenge
The scalping definition here is unusually specific — & unusually fair. Isolated fast trades don't trigger it. Only when sub-3-minute trades represent 30%+ of total profits does it constitute scalping. That's more transparent than most firms' vague "tick scalping prohibited" clause.
News Trading
- ● News trading is not explicitly banned — no 2-minute window rule in the T&C
- ● All-or-nothing trading around news events → prohibited
- ● Excessive risk provoked by news → flagged as overleveraging or one-sided bet
News trading is permitted as long as it doesn't constitute a single-bet approach. The overleveraging definition — 85% margin across one asset — gives a concrete threshold most firms don't bother defining.
Expert Advisors
- ● EAs allowed — automated trading is permitted
- ● Automated algorithms for manipulative trading → prohibited
- ● Third-party or marketed strategies → prohibited
- ● EAs used for scalping or HFT → will trigger prohibited trading rules
Custom EAs are fine. Off-the-shelf challenge-passing bots are not. Standard distinction — but Hantec Trader's scalping definition means your EA's trade duration distribution will be reviewed if flagged.
Copy Trading
- ● Copy trading prohibited — including trades that replicate, mirror or substantially align with another trader in timing, direction or strategy
- ● Coordinated trading → prohibited whether manual, automated or through third-party means
- ● Hedging across accounts → prohibited
- ● Hedging within a single account → allowed
The within-account hedging allowance is worth noting — it's more permissive than most firms on this specific point.
Account Models — Overview
| Model | Steps | Phase 1 Target | Phase 2 Target | Daily Loss | Max Loss | Drawdown Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enhanced Challenge | 2-Step | 10% | 5% | 4% | 8% | Trailing (locks at start balance after 6% profit) |
| EnhancedX Challenge | 2-Step | 8% | 4% | 4% | 5% | Trailing (locks at start balance after 6% profit) |
| Endurance Challenge | 3-Step | 6% | 6% | 3% | 6% | Trailing (locks at start balance after 6% profit) |
| Express Challenge | 1-Step | 10% | — | 4% | 8% | Trailing (locks at start balance after 6% profit) |
| Instant24 | Instant | No target | — | — | — | — |
Account sizes: $1,000 / $2,000 / $5,000 / $10,000 / $25,000 / $50,000 / $100,000 / $200,000
Pricing: $129–$699 depending on size & model chosen
Profit split: Up to 90–95%
Payouts: Every 14 days — every 7 days with add-on
Full challenge parameters, profit targets & drawdown rules available on the Hantec Trader website — check before buying as these are updated regularly.
Risk Management Group (RMG)
This is one of the more structured risk management mechanisms in the industry — worth reading carefully.
If Hantec Trader determines you've engaged in prohibited trading, you may be placed in the Risk Management Group rather than immediately terminated. While in RMG:
- ● FX leverage capped at 1:30
- ● Indices & commodities capped at 1:5
- ● Metals capped at 1:3
- ● Crypto capped at 1:1
- ● Applies to all accounts — existing & future
You exit the RMG after successfully receiving 3 payouts on a single account, following Company verification. It's a second chance mechanism — unusual in an industry where most firms terminate first & ask questions later.
Inactivity & Refund Policy
- Inactivity → not explicitly defined with a day limit in the T&C — check website for current rules
- 14-day refund → available if no trading has occurred on the account
- After first trade → no refund under any circumstances
The 14-day refund window is real & one of the cleaner policies in the industry. No first-trade waiver buried in footnotes — it's clearly stated upfront.
Final Take
Hantec Trader is the most institutionally structured firm in this category — broker-backed, regulated infrastructure & a risk management framework that opts for leverage restriction before termination. The scalping definition, overleveraging threshold & RMG mechanism are all more precisely defined than most competitors bother with.
The 11% one-star rate on Trustpilot across 633 reviews is worth monitoring — smaller review pool than most firms, but the proportion of negative reviews is higher than the industry average for a Tier 2 firm.
For disciplined traders who want institutional execution quality & transparent rules — Hantec Trader is a serious option. For traders who want fast payouts, high scaling paths or aggressive structures — this isn't the right fit.
Hidden Rules Meter: 3.0/10 — Trust Score: 4.3/5 — Trustpilot: 4.3/5.
Features & Support
3 Step Endurance
Step 1 6.0%
Step 2 6.0%
Express
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 N/A
Enhanced
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 5.0%
EnhancedX
Step 1 8.0%
Step 2 4.0%
Instant Lite
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
3 Step Endurance
Step 1 6.0%
Step 2 6.0%
Express
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 N/A
Enhanced
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 5.0%
EnhancedX
Step 1 8.0%
Step 2 4.0%
Instant Lite
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
3 Step Endurance
Step 1 6.0%
Step 2 6.0%
Express
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 N/A
Enhanced
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 5.0%
EnhancedX
Step 1 8.0%
Step 2 4.0%
Instant Funding
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
3 Step Endurance
Step 1 6.0%
Step 2 6.0%
Express
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 N/A
Enhanced
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 5.0%
EnhancedX
Step 1 8.0%
Step 2 4.0%
Instant Funding
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Instant Lite
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
3 Step Endurance
Step 1 6.0%
Step 2 6.0%
Express
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 N/A
Enhanced
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 5.0%
EnhancedX
Step 1 8.0%
Step 2 4.0%
Instant Funding
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Instant Lite
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
EnhancedX
Step 1 8.0%
Step 2 4.0%
Enhanced
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 5.0%
3 Step Endurance
Step 1 6.0%
Step 2 6.0%
Express
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 N/A
Instant Funding
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Instant Lite
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Express
Step 1 10.0%
Step 2 N/A
Instant Funding
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Instant Lite
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Instant Funding
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Instant Lite
Step 1 0.0%
Step 2 0.0%
Solid choice for beginners
Been trading full-time for a year and this firm is part of my routine. News trading is allowed with reasonable restrictions around major releases. Will recommend them to my trading circle without hesitation.
Would sign up again
Used their instant funding option instead of the traditional evaluation. Their dashboard makes it easy to see exactly where you stand at any moment. I hope they stay this good as they grow.
Refund policy is a joke
I wanted to like this firm, I really did. Pricing at checkout does not match what they advertised on the landing page. I will not be renewing or recommending this firm.
Feels like a real partner
Decided to try them after their founder did a podcast interview. Their dashboard makes it easy to see exactly where you stand at any moment. No notes from me. Keep doing the thing.
Hit first milestone fast
Ran them in parallel with two other firms for a side-by-side comparison. Commissions are competitive compared to what I pay elsewhere. No notes from me. Keep doing the thing.
Wire transfer hit fast
Found them through a discount code and decided to give them a try. Slippage on my order fills is within industry norms. I have zero regrets about putting my evaluation fee here.
Nice dashboard and tools
Ran them in parallel with two other firms for a side-by-side comparison. Spreads during peak hours are reasonable for a prop firm. If they keep this up, they deserve to become one of the bigger names.
Fair drawdown rules
Did not expect much going in, to be honest. Email updates about new features arrive regularly without being spammy. I hope they stay this good as they grow.
No active offers for Hantec Trader at the moment.
Check back soon — firms refresh their promos regularly.
No payout data available for Hantec Trader yet.
