How we review

Why a methodology?

Most broker review sites publish rankings. We publish a methodology — because a ranking without explanation is just an opinion, and a methodology lets you verify whether you should trust us.

All criteria, fact-check rounds and corrections are listed below and in the git history of this site. Click on a claim and you will find a source. If we made a mistake, it is in the corrections log — not quietly erased.

Broker reviews

We assess 37 brokers on six quantitative dimensions plus three qualitative ones. Quantitative:

• Regulation — which supervisors, with a direct link to public registers
• Costs — complete fee structure per asset class (trading, deposit, withdrawal, inactivity, FX)
• Minimum deposit — current threshold
• Asset scope — which products, which markets, which regions
• Protection — investor compensation scheme coverage (amount limit, jurisdiction)
• Platforms — web/mobile/API availability and features

Qualitative, per review:

• Suited For — who this broker fits (persona match). And explicitly not suited for.
• Pros and cons — at least 3 disadvantages per broker, including affiliate partners
• Tips for beginners — practical advice drawn from the review itself

What we deliberately do not do: star scores. A "4.2/5" score implies objectivity that does not exist — how do you weigh "low fees" against "poor support"? Better: describe both and let the reader choose based on their own use case.

Prop firm reviews

For prop firms, the most important trust axis is payout reliability — do you get your money when you pass, or do they invent rules afterwards? We assess:

• Evaluation structure — type (1-step / 2-step), profit target, timeframe, fee
• Drawdown rules — static / trailing / end-of-day, when triggered, recovery option
• Profit split — percentages, scaling to higher tiers
• Payout reliability — frequency, speed, methods, first-payout threshold, public payout incidents
• Trading rules — consistency, news trading, weekend holding, automated trading

Hard policy: we also name firms we are negative about. Payout denials, rule changes without prior notice and trader bans upon profit all feature in the review.

Trader profiles

We profile 26 traders with one hard rule: public, verifiable track record. No anonymous Discord admins, no "crypto whale with 500× accounts", no influencer biographies from their own press kits.

Per trader we document:

• Bio + philosophy + approach — based on books, interviews and published work with citations
• Career highlights — with dates and verifiable sources
• Key metrics — annual returns, net worth, peak AUM (where publicly known)
• Key strategies — linked to the strategy pages where we go deeper
• Controversies or cautionary tales — explicitly flagged where relevant

Strategies

We publish 24 strategies, each linked to a trader with a public track record. Per strategy:

• Core principles — the philosophy behind the approach
• Entry and exit rules — concrete, not just theory
• Indicators — which signals are used, if the strategy is technical
• Risks — explicit list of dangers specific to this approach
• Historical context — when and how the strategy has worked (or failed)

Tutorials

Tutorials are educational, not recommendatory. Each tutorial has a level (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced), a reading time, and — where relevant — an interactive tool such as the Risk Per Trade calculator. Content is regularly checked against sources; non-evergreen tutorials (e.g. market analysis) get a date stamp.

Fact-check rounds

Before publication, every broker file goes through three fact-check rounds:

• Round 1 — substantive: data filled in from the broker website, public registers, multiple review sites. Mismatches flagged.
• Round 2 — automated: scripts scripts/verify-brokers.ts and scripts/verify-fees.ts (Gemini AI) challenge the data against the broker's current live page.
• Round 3 — editorial: human review, doubts investigated, disclaimers added where data is uncertain.

These rounds have produced 36 public corrections in total. Every correction is in the git commit history with reason and source. See the brokers register for "Last checked" stamps per broker.

Errors & corrections

We make mistakes. Fees change, regulators move, platforms close. When a visitor or partner reports an error:

• A substantive check against the source within 48 hours
• Correction published with a commit message explaining the reason
• "Last checked" stamp on the relevant page updated
• For major corrections: a changelog entry on the fact-check page

Corrections are tracked publicly in the site's git history and via the "Last checked" stamps on each page. Public tracking makes the work verifiable — that is the whole point of this methodology.

Conflicts of interest

Daytraders.nl earns from affiliate partners. To keep that transparent:

• Every affiliate link has a per-link disclosure (RSM 2023)
• Sitewide affiliate disclosure names all partners
• Default ranking in listings does not favour affiliate partners — we sort on quality criteria, not commission percentage
• We name the downsides of affiliate partners and competitors where they are better — explicitly and visibly
• Fact-check rounds apply to affiliate partners too; corrections are made regardless of partnership status

For full disclosure: read the affiliate disclosure page, which names every current and historical partner.