How Many NQ Contracts on a 50K Evaluation?
Looking for how many NQ contracts you can trade on a 50K evaluation? Here is the live Alpha Futures answer by plan. Confirm the live cards before you pay, because checkout can change.
50K plan | Max position limit | Contract breakdown |
|---|---|---|
Zero | 3 minis / 30 micros | 3 NQ or 30 MNQ |
Standard | 5 minis / 50 micros | 5 NQ or 50 MNQ |
Advanced | 5 minis / 50 micros | 5 NQ or 50 MNQ |
Direct | 4 minis / 40 micros | 4 NQ or 40 MNQ |
That number is the maximum. Daily Loss Guard, maximum loss, and your stop in dollars decide whether that size is usable.
A 50K Zero evaluation also has a $1,000 Daily Loss Guard. NQ is $20 per index point. Two NQ with a 20-point stop is about $800 before costs. Three NQ at the same stop is about $1,200, which is already above that Guard.
This is an evaluation (what many traders still call a challenge) on simulated funds. After you pass you trade a Qualified Account (what traders call a funded account). You may request performance fees when the rules say you can. Performance fees are performance-based, and outcomes are not guaranteed. Simulated results do not reflect real trading outcomes.
This guide walks through the 50K caps, the same maths on 25K and 100K Zero, and how MNQ lets you size in smaller steps.
What one NQ point is worth
Position limits on Alpha Futures are written as minis or micros. The dollars behind those units are not the same on every contract.
Contract | $ per index point |
|---|---|
NQ | $20 |
MNQ | $2 |
ES | $50 |
MES | $5 |
Ten MNQ equal $20 per point, the same as one NQ, with room to scale out of the position in smaller pieces. The same mini cap on ES costs more per point than NQ, so three ES is a different day from three NQ.
Trade these on the live platforms, including AlphaTrader, WealthCharts, Quantower, and TradingView. Confirm the current list on the platforms page.
25K vs 50K vs 100K on Zero
When traders type “50k account” on Alpha Futures, they usually mean Zero. Full monthly when last checked: 25K $89, 50K $139, 100K $279. $0 activation. Confirm checkout.
Size | Max position | Daily Loss Guard (evaluation) | MLL | Points of room on 1 NQ before the Guard (before costs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
25K | 1 mini / 10 micros | $500 | $1,000 | 25 points |
50K | 3 minis / 30 micros | $1,000 | $2,000 | 50 points |
100K | 6 minis / 60 micros | $2,000 | $3,000 | 100 points |
Can you trade NQ on a 25K? The cap is one mini. One NQ is $20 per point, so a $500 Daily Loss Guard is 25 points of room ($500 / $20). The Guard includes simulated commissions and fees, so you do not have a clean 25 points in practice. Most 25K Nasdaq traders are better on MNQ (10 micros is the same cap, one-tenth the dollars per contract).
Zero evaluations have no consistency rule. Zero Qualified Accounts use 40% consistency between performance fee requests.
Standard, Advanced, and Direct 50K
If you wanted more than 3 NQ on 50K, these are the live alternatives.
Standard 50K: 5 minis / 50 micros. No Daily Loss Guard on the Standard evaluation card. 50% consistency on the evaluation, 40% once qualified.
Advanced 50K: 5 minis / 50 micros. No Daily Loss Guard. 40% consistency on the evaluation, none once qualified. Maximum loss is $1,750, tighter than Zero 50K at $2,000. You are buying a different rule set, not a looser floor.
Direct 50K: 4 minis / 40 micros. No evaluation. Daily loss limit $1,000. 20% consistency, plus a withdrawal profit target.
Premium is no longer offered on live checkout.
How to size NQ and MNQ on a 50K evaluation
Worked example, 50K Zero, Daily Loss Guard $1,000:
- 1 NQ, 20-point stop ≈ $400. Fits with room for costs.
- 2 NQ, 20-point stop ≈ $800. Close to the Guard.
- 3 NQ at the cap, same stop ≈ $1,200. Over the Guard on paper.
The same 20-point stop on MNQ is $40 per micro.
MNQ on a 50K simulated account. Ten micros are the same $20 per point as one NQ, and you can scale out (for example close 3 micros at the first target, 3 at the second, and leave 4). Zero 50K still caps you at 30 micros. Size to Daily Loss Guard, not to the maximum on the card.
If you hold NQ and MNQ together, treat them as one position limit. The live cards list minis or micros, not both stacked. Mixed size is an easy way to hit Daily Loss Guard. Confirm how the platform counts mixed positions before you hold both.
End-of-day maximum loss does not save a Daily Loss Guard hit. The Guard is an intraday threshold: if open or closed P&L reaches it, positions are flattened and the account waits until the next session.
ES and NQ are both US-index risk. For a first evaluation, pick one so you are not counting two correlated products as two separate rooms.
Performance fees after you pass
Passing does not raise your NQ cap. Zero 50K Qualified is still 3 minis / 30 micros on the live cards.
On Zero, Standard, and Advanced Qualified Accounts you may request performance fees up to 4 times per month after 5 winning days of $200+. Up to 50% of eligible profit per request, up to the published withdrawal cap. 90% split. Eligible requests are processed in five business days or less after standard approval, according to the latest operational update. Direct uses a profit target and 20% consistency instead of winning days.
FAQ
How many NQ contracts on a 50K evaluation at Alpha Futures?
3 on Zero 50K, 5 on Standard or Advanced 50K, 4 on Direct 50K, or ten times that in MNQ. Confirm the live card.
How many minis on a 50K funded account?
After you qualify it is still a Qualified Account on simulated funds. Read the Qualified cap on the same size. Zero 50K Qualified is still 3 minis / 30 micros.
Can I trade NQ on a 25K?
One mini is the Zero 25K cap. Daily Loss Guard is $500 (25 NQ points on one contract, before costs). MNQ is the usual starting size.
Is the cap how many I should trade?
No. The cap is the maximum. Size to Daily Loss Guard, maximum loss, and your stop in dollars.
Do 10 MNQ count as 1 NQ toward the cap?
The live cards write the cap as minis or micros (3 minis / 30 micros on Zero 50K). Use the micro side if you are on MNQ. Do not assume you can run 3 NQ plus 30 MNQ at once.
Are these live CME accounts?
No. Simulated evaluation and Qualified Account.
Related reading
- How Alpha Futures works
- Micro vs mini futures
- CFD vs futures
- Futures prop firm rules
- Daily Loss Guard
- EOD trailing vs intraday
- Standard plan
- Direct
- Performance fee rules
- How fast are payouts?
- What is a performance fee?
- How to pass
- Platforms
→ Start an Alpha Futures evaluation
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