Vest Markets pricing is one-time fees and nothing else, from $10 to $1,000 depending on how much capital and how much exam you want. No subscription, no activation fee, and no reset purchases mentioned anywhere in the docs I read on 2026-10-15.
The mechanic that makes the pricing unusual: on instant accounts, your fee literally is your max drawdown. You are not buying an account, you are buying a loss budget, and the fee is the worst thing that can happen to you.
Instant: $10, $200, $400, $1,000. Evaluations: $15 to $450. Everything is one-time, the split is chosen at purchase, and partner links have been applying checkout discounts since launch.
Key Takeaways
- Instant accounts: $500 for $10, $5,000 for $200, $10,000 for $400, $25,000 for $1,000, all with a 95% split.
- 1-Step evaluations run $25 to $450 across 36 configurations; the 2-Step is $15, $35 and $90 for the three tiers.
- Harder exams cost less: the 20% target rows run about a third cheaper than the 10% target rows across every pairing.
- Unlike FTMO, the fee is not refunded with your first payout. The entry price is the whole price (docs.vestmarkets.com, checked 2026-10-15).
Instant Account Pricing
| Capital | One-time fee | Drawdown floor | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | $10 | $490 (2% floor) | 95% |
| $5,000 | $200 | $4,800 (4%) | 95% |
| $10,000 | $400 | $9,600 (4%) | 95% |
| $25,000 | $1,000 | $24,000 (4%) | 95% |
Per dollar of capital, the tiers are not equal. The $25K costs $40 per $1K of capital while the $500 costs $20 per $1K, but the small account exists as a test instrument rather than an income tool. Buy the size where your real risk-per-trade fits the floor, and let the $10 tier do its one job.
The split is the multiplier that matters more than the entry fee. On a $25K instant account, $1,000 of monthly profit pays you $950 at the 95% rate. The same profit on an 80/20 evaluation account pays $800, and that gap compounds every month you stay funded, which is why the split chosen at purchase outlives the $10 you might have saved elsewhere.
Evaluation Pricing
The 1-Step is a configurator with 36 outcomes between $25 and $450. Two examples at the extremes: a Platinum 10% target with no daily loss limit and a 90/10 split is $450, while a Platinum 20% target with a 3% daily loss at 80/20 is $130. The full matrix lives in the evaluation breakdown.
The 2-Step is the budget line: $15 for $5,000, $35 for $10,000, $90 for $25,000, fixed at a 10% then 5% target, 3% daily loss and 80/20 split. Same 6% static drawdown as the 1-Step, same instant funded account on pass.
FTMO refunds 100% of the challenge fee with your first payout, so its effective cost to a passing trader is zero. Vest does not do this: the docs describe one-time fees with no refund mechanic.
Compare total cost of failure instead of headline price. A Gold 1-Step at $80, failed three times, is $240 into an education. The same three failures on an FTMO 2-Step cost you nothing if the third attempt passes and pays. Different structures, different games.
The Discount Math
Vest has run checkout discounts through partner links since launch. The documented data point: roya-trading bought a $5,000 1-Step listed at $40 and paid $38 at checkout on October 8, 2026, a 5% partner discount applied automatically. Whatever is live today shows up in the checkout price through the button below, and the price you see there is the honest current one.
| Account | List price | At a 5% partner discount |
|---|---|---|
| Instant $500 | $10 | $9.50 |
| 2-Step Platinum $25K | $90 | $85.50 |
| 1-Step Gold $10K (10/3/80) | $80 | $76 |
| Instant $25K | $1,000 | $950 |
Those discount rows are illustrations at the documented rate, not promises, and the discount can change or end at any time. One honest note on the practice itself: the discount is applied by Vest at checkout through the partner link, so you never pay the affiliate a cent directly and the list price is always visible next to it.
What I Would Actually Buy
If it were my money, the sequence is short. First the $10 instant account as the trust test, because ten dollars answers the only question reviews cannot. Then, assuming it pays, the Gold 1-Step at the 10% target, 3% daily loss, 80/20 configuration: $80 list, $76 at the documented discount, targeting a $10,000 account whose $600 static floor is survivable at sane risk-per-trade.
The Platinum instant at $1,000 is the endgame for a proven edge, not the opener, and the 2-Step at $15 is the right tuition for anyone still learning what their own streaks look like. Full context on how each choice behaves after purchase is in the Vest Markets review, and modeled costs across attempt counts are in the challenge fee calculator.
Claim the Latest Vest Markets Discount
Sources: docs.vestmarkets.com account tiers, roya-trading documented discount, read 2026-10-15.
