Prop Firm Software RFP: Requirements That Produce Comparable Quotes
A vague “send pricing” request produces proposals that cannot be compared. A useful RFP gives every vendor the same volumes, platforms, workflows and commercial scenarios, then separates mandatory requirements from optional roadmap items.
Section 1: operating profile
- New launch, live firm or migration.
- Current and 12-month active traders/accounts.
- Monthly challenge order volume.
- Number of brands/legal entities.
- Target launch or migration date.
- Operating/support time zones.
Section 2: trading platforms
List required launch platforms separately from future platforms. Ask the vendor to identify whether each connection is native, partner-mediated, custom or roadmap. Require all third-party platform/bridge/data fees to be disclosed.
Section 3: challenge and risk rules
Provide actual examples: phase count, targets, daily loss definition, maximum loss, trailing/static behavior, minimum days, consistency, news/weekend restrictions and funded-stage rules. Ask whether each can be configured without vendor development.
Section 4: customer lifecycle
Define purchase, provisioning, reset/retry, phase promotion, funded conversion, KYC, payout, breach, refund and account closure. Ask which transitions are automatic and which require staff action.
Section 5: integrations
- Payment processors.
- KYC/identity provider.
- Email/transactional messaging.
- Analytics and attribution.
- Affiliate system.
- API/webhooks.
- Accounting/reporting exports.
Section 6: migration
For a live firm, attach a data inventory rather than saying “full migration.” Specify customer records, active challenges, funded accounts, trading history, KYC state, transactions, payouts, affiliate relationships and configuration. Require parallel validation and rollback planning.
Section 7: non-functional requirements
- Target uptime/SLA and measurement method.
- Incident severity and response targets.
- Roles, permissions and audit logs.
- Backup/recovery expectations.
- Data location where material.
- API limits and versioning.
- Support hours and escalation.
Section 8: commercial response table
Require vendors to price the same three scenarios—for example 500, 2,000 and 10,000 active accounts/traders—and separate setup, recurring platform, usage, trading platform, market data, KYC, payments, API, extra brands and custom development. Percentage models must state the exact calculation base.
Section 9: contract and exit
Ask for minimum term, renewal, price-change rights, termination notice, refund rules, data ownership, export format, retention after termination, migration assistance and liability cap. These terms can be more consequential than a feature gap.
Scoring framework
| Category | Example weight |
|---|---|
| Core lifecycle/risk fit | 25% |
| Trading/integration architecture | 20% |
| Reliability/support/security | 20% |
| Commercial model / TCO | 20% |
| Migration and exit | 10% |
| Roadmap/nice-to-have | 5% |
Adjust weights to the firm; do not let a vendor's strongest marketing category define your scorecard.
Use the 30-test demo checklist after written responses, and our pricing-model framework to normalize commercial proposals.
FAQ
Do small prop firms need an RFP?
Not a formal enterprise document, but even startups benefit from sending the same structured requirements to each vendor so price and scope are comparable.
What should be mandatory?
Only requirements that the firm genuinely needs at launch or to operate safely. Inflating mandatory requirements can increase price and eliminate otherwise strong vendors.