FundedNext Scale-Up Plan Explained: How Accounts Grow to $4M

Quick answer: for Stellar 1-Step and 2-Step accounts bought or reset on or after 12 January 2026, FundedNext's scale-up is the FundedNext Pro Scale-Up Program: complete four reward cycles with at least 4% growth each, over at least 2 months, and the account grows by 25% (FundedNext's example: $100,000 to $125,000), with the reward share rising to 90% and a cap of $4 million. You also unlock a retroactive 15% reward on your challenge target. Stellar Lite follows the older plan (40% steps), and Stellar Instant has its own tier ladder up to $2 million.

Everything here comes from FundedNext's help centre, read on 21 October 2026. Scale-up rules have changed before and will change again, so we track them on the prop firm rule changes tracker.

Which scale-up plan applies to your account?

FundedNext runs more than one plan, and the date you bought or reset decides which one you are on.

Why the date matters

FundedNext's own guides say Stellar challenges bought or reset before 12 January 2026 keep the previous criteria, and those bought or reset after it follow the new plan. If you are not sure, check the purchase date in your dashboard before you plan your next four months.

The FundedNext Pro Scale-Up Program (1-Step and 2-Step)

The criteria

• Four qualifying Performance Reward cycles, each with at least 4% growth.
• A cycle under 4% does not count, but it does not disqualify you either. You just need four that do.
• At least 2 months of active, disciplined trading on the account.
• Merged accounts are excluded, and so is Stellar Lite.

What you get

• The account balance grows by 25%. FundedNext's example: a $100,000 Stellar 2-Step with four 4% cycles is boosted to $125,000 on review.
• Reward share rises to 90% (from the 80% base).
• The retroactive 15% reward based on your challenge profit target (1-Step and 2-Step only).
• A free $100K Stellar Lite Challenge account and a 12% discount on new account purchases.

FundedNext says the program is automatic. If you meet the criteria and are not scaled, contact its 24/7 support.

The 15% challenge reward in dollars

These are our sums from the 15%-of-target rule; your dashboard shows the exact figure. US traders are not eligible for the 15% reward.

My experience: 4% a cycle sounds small, but four profitable cycles in a row is where most funded traders slip. Aim for steady cycles at the 4% line rather than one big one.

What 4% a cycle means in real money

How the cycle length changes the pace

On Stellar 1-Step, cycles are 5 business days, so four cycles can come quickly, but the 2-month minimum still applies. On the standard 2-Step option, the first cycle is 21 days and the next ones 14 days, so four cycles take about 63 days, close to the 2-month minimum anyway.

Loss limits after a step

The percentages stay the same, so the dollar limits grow with the account. FundedNext's older plan gives this example for a $140,000 account: daily loss $7,000 and maximum loss $14,000 on 2-Step, $5,600 and $11,200 on Lite, $4,200 and $8,400 on 1-Step.

The previous plan (accounts before 12 January 2026) and Stellar Lite

The criteria

• At least 10% accumulated growth over four consecutive months.
• At least two Performance Rewards in those four months.
• The last trading cycle must end in profit.

Accounts are reviewed every four months. Meet all three and the balance grows by 40% (a $100,000 account becomes $140,000), up to $4 million.

FundedNext's own example of missing it

A trader starts on 1 January and reaches 10% by the end of April, but the last cycle is not in profit. They are not eligible. The account is reviewed again in May, using the February to May window. One losing final cycle can push your step back a month.

Stellar Lite

FundedNext's Lite guide says Lite grows its balance by 40% each time it qualifies and follows the regular process, not the Pro program. Lite's funded allocation is capped at $200,000, so check how much room you have before counting on a step.

Stellar Instant: the tier ladder

Stellar Instant scales differently:

• To move up a tier you need 10% cumulative growth in the current tier, measured as total withdrawals divided by the tier's starting balance, plus at least one withdrawal in that tier.
• Each upgrade adds the initial account balance again (a $10K account becomes $20K, then $30K).
• Scaling goes to 10 times the initial balance, then continues up to $2,000,000.
• Reward share is 70% in Tiers 1 and 2 and 80% from Tier 3.

The Tier 1 trap

FundedNext warns that withdrawing your full eligible share in a single Tier 1 cycle gives 7% growth, below the 10% needed. So one good cycle is not enough on Instant: plan for at least two withdrawals in Tier 1.

How to reach your first FundedNext scale-up

1. Check your plan: purchase date and model decide the rules.
2. Size for 4%, not 10%: small, steady cycles qualify; big swings break the 3% risk limit.
3. Protect the cycle end: on the older plan the final cycle must be green, so cut risk in the last days of a review window.
4. Do not merge if you want the Pro program and the 15% reward.
5. Stay out of the news window on funded accounts: only 40% of profit there counts, which makes 4% harder.
6. Use the right lot size every trade with our position size calculator.

The full risk plan is in how to pass the FundedNext challenge, and the reward cycles are in FundedNext payouts explained.

Is FundedNext's scale-up good?

The $4M cap is high, and 4% cycles are a fair bar. The weaker points are the 2-month minimum, the fact that Lite is left out of the Pro program, and the number of plans running at once, which makes it easy to read the wrong rules. Our FundedNext review scores the firm 89/100, and the FundedNext vs Funding Pips comparison shows how its growth path stacks up.

Start cheaper, scale sooner

Your first scale-up starts with your first account, and a lower fee means less profit spent earning it back. FundedNext discount code BRIDGE is independently verified: Akash Mane, founder of Prop Firm Bridge, tested it by hand at FundedNext's own checkout on 21 October 2026. That day it showed 7% off the Stellar 2-Step $200K ($1,099.99 to $1,022.99) and took the Stellar 1-Step $6K from $49.99 to $33.99. The 7% on larger sizes is for new FundedNext customers; the starter sizes work for returning buyers too, up to five uses. See the FundedNext coupon code price for every account.

Prop Firm Bridge may earn a commission from FundedNext when you use code BRIDGE, at no extra cost to you. The code only lowers your price.

A worked example: $100K Stellar 2-Step on the Pro program

Here is how the Pro rules play out on FundedNext's own example account, with the standard 21-day then 14-day cycles and an 80% share.

After cycle 5 the account has four qualifying cycles and more than 2 months of activity, so on review it should move to $125,000 with a 90% share, and the 15% challenge reward ($1,950 on this size) becomes due. The weak cycle 2 did not reset anything; it simply did not count. This is an illustration with made-up growth figures, not a promise of returns.

Stellar Instant tiers in numbers

Each step adds the original $10,000. Because growth is measured by money withdrawn, not by balance, a trader who never withdraws never moves up a tier.

Common scale-up mistakes

• Merging accounts: it removes Pro eligibility and the 15% challenge reward.
• Chasing one big cycle: a 12% cycle counts once, the same as a 4% cycle, and it raises the risk of breaking the 3% risk limit.
• Trading the news window: only 40% of profit there counts, so it takes more trades to reach 4%.
• Reading the wrong plan: a guide written before 12 January 2026 describes the 40% step, not the Pro program.
• Buying Lite for the Pro perks: Lite is not in the Pro program.

Scale-up or a second account?

Buying more accounts is capped at $300,000 of combined funded capital ($200,000 on Lite, $50,000 in a few listed countries). Scale-up is the route past that cap, up to $4 million. If you already hold the maximum, the only way to grow is to qualify.

My experience: the traders who scale fastest at firms like this are not the ones with the best month. They are the ones with the fewest losing cycles.

Sources

• FundedNext: FundedNext Pro, the Scale-Up Program
• FundedNext: does FundedNext offer a Scale-Up plan?
• FundedNext: Stellar 2-Step Challenge
• FundedNext: Stellar Lite Account
• FundedNext: Stellar Instant Account