Methodology · How we verify

How every verdict is reached.

This page documents how we assess brokers, prop firms and trading educators — what we measure, where our data comes from, the limits of what we can know, and how a record can be challenged.

Last reviewed: June 2026

Funding & independence

How we're funded

verify.trading earns revenue from user subscriptions. We do not accept affiliate commissions, referral fees, discount-code revenue or paid placements from any broker, prop firm or educator listed on the platform. No rated entity can pay to change, improve or remove its record.

This matters because most broker and prop-firm review sites operate on affiliate revenue — they earn a commission when a reader signs up with a listed firm. That model creates an incentive to recommend, not to warn. Our subscription model removes that incentive: our assessment is independent of any commercial relationship with the entities we assess.

Principles

The rules behind every record

These apply to every entity on the platform, without exception.

Independent

No income from any entity we rate. A record cannot be bought, improved or removed by its subject.

Consistent

Assessments follow a fixed, rule-based model. The same facts produce the same result for every entity.

Sourced

We do not record a negative finding against a named party without a documented, official source — which we cite.

Current

Records are reviewed on a rolling basis and revised as circumstances change. A record reflects the latest review, not a permanent label.

Assessment models

Three categories, assessed differently

Brokers, prop firms and educators carry different risks, so each is assessed on its own criteria. These are the factors every assessment in that category considers.

Brokers

Regulation-led

Regulation

Which authority licenses the entity, and at what tier. Top-tier oversight (e.g. FCA, ASIC) counts for far more than offshore registration — it’s the single most important factor we consider.

Fund safety

Client-money protections: segregation of funds, compensation-scheme coverage, and the treatment of client money in the event of firm failure.

Withdrawals

Documented withdrawal and complaint patterns from public and regulatory sources.

History

Length and consistency of operating history.

Sanctions

Any regulatory sanctions, warnings or enforcement actions on record.

A signal we take seriously: where a broker advertises leverage exceeding what a top-tier regulator legally permits, this typically indicates clients are onboarded to an offshore entity. In that case we assess the offshore entity, not the regulated brand name.

Prop firms

Stability & payout reliability

Payouts

Documented payout reliability — the central question for a funded trader.

Stability

Ownership transparency, operating history and any history of closure or restructuring.

Rule fairness

Whether trading rules are clearly stated and consistently applied, versus structured to enable payout denial on technicalities.

Automatic classification: a prop firm confirmed to have ceased operations is recorded as Avoid, irrespective of prior reputation.

Educators & "gurus"

Status classification · no numeric score

Individuals are not assigned a numeric score. We report one factual question — whether an independently verified track record exists — and place each in one of three statuses:

Verified

An independently confirmed track record exists and has been reviewed.

Unverified

No confirmed record either way. The neutral default — not a negative finding.

Caution

Applied only where documented regulator or court action exists, with the source cited.

What we exclude: we do not classify individuals on the basis of rumour, social-media allegations or competitor claims. The absence of a verified record is reported as exactly that — not as evidence of wrongdoing.

Data sources

Where our information comes from

Assessments draw on documented, verifiable sources — not anonymous reviews alone.

Official regulators

Public registers and warning lists (e.g. the FCA register and unauthorised-firm warnings) and equivalent authorities.

Public enforcement records

Documented court actions, sanctions and regulatory decisions.

Firm-published terms

Operators' own published rules, leverage, and licensing claims.

Documented complaint patterns

Public, attributable records of withdrawal and payout issues — assessed for pattern, not isolated reports.

Limitations

What this assessment does — and doesn't — tell you

In the interest of transparency, the limits of our records:

  • A high score is an assessment of documented evidence, not a guarantee of future conduct or safety.
  • An “Unverified” educator is not accused of anything — it means no confirmed record exists either way.
  • Records reflect information available at the last review; circumstances can change between reviews.
  • We assess entities against documented criteria — we do not, and cannot, predict whether any individual trade or account will be profitable.
  • Nothing on the platform is financial advice or a personal recommendation.

The platform

What you can do with verify.trading

The verification above is free for everyone. These are the tools the platform offers on top of it.

Note: paid features do not affect any verdict. Verification is independent of, and unchanged by, your subscription. The methodology above applies identically whether you pay or not.
Free

Verification checks

Check any broker, prop firm or educator against our records — a free daily allowance for everyone, with a higher limit on Pro. The verdict itself is never behind a paywall.

Pro

Markets & economic calendar

Session context and a high-impact news calendar — including the events most prop-firm rules restrict trading around.

Pro

Trading journal

Auto-imported trades and performance analytics, so you can see what's actually working over time.

Pro

Psychology tracking

Patterns in your own behaviour — overtrading, revenge trading, tilt after losses — surfaced before they cost you.

Pro

Deeper analysis (Ask)

Ask questions about any entity and get sourced answers. Free users get a daily allowance; Pro raises it.

Common questions

Frequently asked

No. We publish verification records and factual analysis to help you make your own informed decisions. We do not tell you what to trade, buy or sell, and nothing on the platform is a personal recommendation.

Most comparison sites are paid by the firms they rank. We take no affiliate commissions, rated entities can't be our affiliates, and verdicts aren't for sale. Records come from regulators and primary sources with citations — not marketing copy.

A person isn't a balance sheet, and a decimal would imply precision we don't have. Educators get one of three plain labels instead — Verified, Unverified, or Caution — based only on whether an independently verified track record exists, or a documented action does.

No. Caution means there's a documented regulator or court action on file, with the official citation shown. It's a prompt to read the source and judge for yourself, not a verdict that something is a scam. Equally, the absence of a Caution is not an endorsement.

Never. A status or band is computed from the records and can't be bought. Paid plans unlock tools, but they don't move a single verdict.

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