Payout frequency is how often you may request a withdrawal from a funded account. The range runs from on demand, where you may request at any time, through bi-weekly and monthly schedules, to a first payout that only opens after a waiting period. The schedule is set by the firm and the plan, not by the trader.
The first payout is often slower than later ones. BrightFunded, for example, opens the first request 30 days after the first funded trade and later requests every 14 days, while other plans pay on demand from the start. A plan can also combine the two: on demand withdrawals, but only after a minimum number of funded trading days.
Frequency matters because it decides when profit becomes cash. A trader who needs regular income should weigh a bi-weekly plan against an on-demand plan even if the on-demand plan costs more. Profit sitting in a funded account is not money in hand until the payout window opens and the request is approved.
The common trap is reading 'on demand' as 'instant'. A request still needs processing time, and the minimum payout and any buffer still apply. Check the first-payout wait, the repeat schedule, and the processing time on the payout page. Prop trading can cost you every fee you pay.