Alpha Capital Daily Drawdown Rules: Balance vs Equity at Reset
Compare Alpha Capital balance-based and equity-based daily drawdown, calculate reset floors and understand COMPARE50 and COMPARE purchase discounts.
Yash R
Quick answer
Alpha Capital's daily drawdown depends on the selected plan. Pro 8%, Pro 10% and Swing use a balance-based daily reference; Pro 6% uses the higher of balance or equity. All require attention to current equity during trading, so a balance-based reset does not make open losses irrelevant.
Coupon codes: COMPARE50 for PFA's listed 50% first-purchase offer; COMPARE for 30% on later purchases. See the Alpha Capital coupon page.
Official documentation reviewed: 15 October 2026. This guide concerns Alpha Capital Forex/CFD accounts.
Which reference and percentage apply?
The official daily-risk FAQ distinguishes these models:
| Plan | Daily reference at reset | Daily percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha Pro 6% | Higher of balance or equity | 3% |
| Alpha Pro 8% | Balance | 4% |
| Alpha Pro 10% | Balance | 5% |
| Alpha Swing | Balance | 5% |
| Alpha One 10% | Higher of balance or equity | 4% |
Do not infer the daily percentage from a plan name. Pro 6%'s name does not give it a 6% daily allowance.
A practical worksheet uses the published reference multiplied by one minus the daily percentage to calculate the day's equity floor.
One overnight record produces different floors
Take an invented day-boundary record with $100,000 balance and $102,000 equity. The equity includes $2,000 floating profit.
| Plan | Chosen reference | Daily allowance | Calculated floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro 6% | $102,000 | $3,060 | $98,940 |
| Pro 8% | $100,000 | $4,000 | $96,000 |
| Pro 10% | $100,000 | $5,000 | $95,000 |
| One 10% | $102,000 | $4,080 | $97,920 |
This is a comparison of the daily calculations only. It does not replace the separate maximum-loss rule or establish that every plan has identical overall risk.
On Pro 6%, a move from $102,000 equity to $98,500 would be below the calculated $98,940 daily floor. A trader looking only at the $100,000 closed balance would miss the active boundary.
Carrying a loss reduces available room
Now change the snapshot to $100,000 balance and $99,000 equity. For Pro 8%, the reference remains $100,000, so its daily floor is $96,000.
The account's present equity is already $1,000 below balance. Its distance to that daily floor is $3,000, rather than the $4,000 headline allowance. This difference is existing exposure, not an extra charge.
Record both the calculated boundary and current distance above it. A dashboard percentage without the current equity figure can hide how much of the daily allowance is already used.
Use the account's broker-time day boundary
The official FAQ identifies the daily candle boundary as 00:00 broker time and currently labels it GMT+3. Record the broker clock shown for the account when preparing a daily ledger.
A local midnight reminder may not coincide with the platform reset. For an overnight position, the relevant question is what balance and equity the platform captured at its own boundary.
The Pro 6% guide also gives its 6% static overall loss limit. Keep that separate from the daily floor; the tighter active boundary is the one that first constrains the current account.
Coupon arithmetic for first and later purchases
PFA's two listed codes belong to different purchase situations. This deliberately hypothetical $100 base-fee example explains the arithmetic without quoting a current plan price:
| Purchase situation | Example base fee | Code | Discount | Example final base fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First purchase | $100.00 | COMPARE50 | 50% | $50.00 |
| Later purchase | $100.00 | COMPARE | 30% | $70.00 |
Choose the plan and payout package, then apply the appropriate code before payment. A lower fee does not change either loss reference.
Use the Alpha Capital review for account comparisons and allocation and merging guide before combining accounts. Prop Firm Audit may receive a referral commission from qualifying purchases.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The official daily-risk FAQ uses balance for Pro 8%, Pro 10% and Swing, but the higher of balance or equity for Pro 6% and several other plans.
Yes. If equity is higher at the day boundary, it becomes the reference. Applying the 3% daily percentage to that higher reference can raise the minimum permitted equity.
No. Balance-based describes the reset calculation. Breach checks still use current equity, including open positions.
PFA lists COMPARE50 for 50% off a first purchase and COMPARE for 30% off later purchases. The codes do not change the account's daily-risk formula.