Choosing a grid bot prop firm usually means planning for limits a personal exchange account does not impose: typically a daily loss limit and a maximum loss, often trailing, that can end the account long before a margin call. Grid and DCA (dollar-cost averaging) bots profit by adding positions as price moves against them, which is exactly the exposure those limits cap.
Below: how both meet loss, leverage and order limits, which firms in our comparison restrict them, and what the QATS rules imply. All arithmetic is illustrative.
How grid and DCA bots build exposure
Both typically trade a high win rate for a heavy tail: smooth in a range, holding their largest position at the worst price in a trend. That tail is what prop rules measure.
- Grid bot: a ladder of buys below the price and sells above it at fixed steps, earning a little each time price swings between levels.
- Long-only grid: buys each level on the way down and sells it one step higher, so a steady fall fills every buy and leaves a full-size long.
- DCA bot: a base order plus safety orders at set distances against the trade, lowering the average entry, with one take profit above that average.
- Martingale-style DCA: each safety order is larger than the last, so size grows faster than the price moves.
Which prop firms ban grid trading
In our comparison data, checked 2026-10-29, Funded Trading Plus allows EAs, algos and bots but names grid trading as banned, alongside arbitrage and tick scalping. Others restrict automation more broadly: some ban it, some limit high-frequency or copy trading, and FTMO lists caps on open orders and daily positions that a dense grid can reach.
Where a policy is silent on grids, ask in writing before you buy.
| Firm | Policy as published |
|---|---|
| QATS | AllowedAPI, TradingView webhooks, Bot Builder; the same server-side checks as manual orders |
| Funded Trading Plus | “You can also use EAs, Algos or Bots.” Arbitrage, grid trading and tick scalping are banned. |
| FTMO | EAs allowedwith a warning that third-party EAs may be used by other traders; up to 200 open orders and 2,000 positions per day. |
| HyroTrader | Allowed“Trading bots connected via API are permitted.” HFT, copy trading and signal providers are banned. |
| Crypto Fund Trader | Allowedwith restrictions: HFT, tick scalping, arbitrage, news-scalping and reverse-trading EAs are banned. |
| Blue Guardian | EAs and copiers permittedHFT, tick-scalping and arbitrage bots banned |
| BitFunded | Banned“Every trade has to be placed manually by the account holder.” |
| Apex Trader Funding | Automation, including AI and HFT, is prohibited on all account types. |
Grid bot prop firm math: the daily loss limit decides the size
Take a long-only BTC grid on a $10K QATS Crypto account: 10 buy levels of $1,000 each, 1% apart. All 10 together are $10,000 of BTC, which ties up only $500 of margin at 20×. Margin is not the constraint. The daily loss limit is $400 (4%), and it counts open positions, fees and funding, not just closed trades.
In this example the open loss passes the daily limit once price falls about 9% below the first level, a move crypto markets can make in a single session. On QATS Crypto, reaching the daily limit is a breach that fails the account, not a pause until the next day.
| Fall below first level | Levels filled | Open notional | Open loss | Share of daily limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2% | 3 | $3,000 | $30 | 8% |
| 4% | 5 | $5,000 | $101 | 25% |
| 6% | 7 | $7,000 | $214 | 54% |
| 8% | 9 | $9,000 | $369 | 92% |
| 10% | 10 | $10,000 | $567 | 142% |
DCA bots and the trailing maximum loss
A martingale-style DCA ladder grows faster. With a $1,000 base order and 4 safety orders, each 1.5 times the last and 2% apart, the position reaches $13,188 at the last safety order. A 10% fall from the first entry then costs about $617, beyond the $400 daily limit and beyond the $600 maximum loss on a $10K account.
The maximum loss is measured on equity, open losses included. On QATS Crypto the floor trails the highest end-of-day balance until it reaches the starting balance, so a grid that banks many small wins raises its own floor while its open inventory stays exposed.
With a 40% best-day rule, a bot that earns most of its profit on one volatile day also raises the profit needed to pass.
Leverage, margin and resting orders on QATS
QATS Crypto allows up to 20× on BTC and ETH, 10× on large caps and 5× on other coins. One instrument has one leverage per account while a position or working entry exists on it, and resting entries reserve margin like open positions, so a wide ladder shrinks what the bot can add. Fixed lot caps are off on the current plans; position size follows leverage, free margin and equity.
At most 50 orders can rest on one account at once, counting entries, OCO legs, stops and take profits together; an order past that is refused with WORKING_ORDER_LIMIT. Market orders never rest, so the cap never blocks closing at market.
Each instrument holds one net position, so a two-sided grid’s sells reduce the long first. Opposite positions on one market across your accounts are refused with CROSS_ACCOUNT_HEDGE, ruling out a long grid here and a short grid there.
Order churn and rate limits
Grid bots cancel and replace orders constantly. On the QATS Trader API, entries and exits draw on separate request budgets, so stops and cancels are not starved by entry traffic. Every entry that reaches the quota check counts, even a refused one, and an exhausted budget returns HTTP 429 with Retry-After. Read the budgets from capabilities.rateLimits and back off.
You can also set your own daily stop, maximum margin and maximum trades per day as extra limits on top of the plan rules; a margin cap is a simple brake on how far a ladder grows.
What QATS rules imply for grid and DCA bots
QATS allows bots through the Trader API, TradingView alerts and Bot Builder under the same server-side checks as manual orders. Its published plan rules do not single out grid or DCA logic; what matters is whether the worst case fits the loss limits. Check your account’s current terms first.
- Size the full ladder so its loss at the last level, with fees, stays well inside the daily limit.
- Cap the number of levels and safety orders, and avoid martingale multipliers on a prop account.
- Attach a hard stop below the last level instead of letting the grid hold indefinitely.
- Pause the bot ahead of events that can trend a market through the whole ladder.
- Run the exact configuration on the free sandbox, which has virtual funds and the same server-side risk checks.
Frequently asked questions
01Do prop firms allow grid bots?
Policies differ. Among the firms we compare, Funded Trading Plus allows bots but bans grid trading, and some ban automation entirely. QATS allows bots under the same risk checks as manual orders; its loss limits decide how large a grid can be.
02Is DCA allowed on a prop firm account?
Adding to a position is commonly allowed, but each addition counts toward the loss limits once open. Martingale-style DCA, where each order is larger than the last, reaches them fastest.
03How many orders can a grid bot keep open on QATS?
At most 50 orders can rest on one account at once, counting entries, OCO legs, stops and take profits. Market orders never rest, so the cap never blocks closing at market.
04Does high leverage help a grid bot pass?
No. Leverage only changes the margin each level ties up; the dollars lost as price moves through the ladder are the same, and the loss limits are fixed in dollars.
Educational content, not investment advice. QATS evaluations and initial funded accounts are simulated; payouts depend on eligibility, verification and the applicable agreement.