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Verdict
FTMO is the right pick for traders who value a decade-long payout track record over a higher headline split.
- FTMO offers a 2-Step Challenge and a 1-Step Challenge across $10K–$200K account tiers.
- Profit split starts at 80% and reaches 90% via the Scaling Plan: 4 consecutive months on the account, ≥10% net profit, and at least 2 payouts taken.
- Payouts cycle bi-weekly. Processing time is typically 1–2 business days after request.
- Drawdown is static — fixed at the starting balance — making the math more forgiving than trailing futures rules.
- News trading and overnight/weekend holding are restricted only on the live (Rewards) account, not during evaluation. Read the rules page carefully before sizing.
- US, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and several other jurisdictions are not eligible. Verify your residency before paying for a challenge.
Quick facts
| Founded | 2015 (11 years operating) |
| Headquarters | Prague, Czech Republic |
| Evaluation models | 2-Step Challenge · 1-Step Challenge |
| Max allocation | $200K starting, scaling to $2M |
| Profit split | 80% standard, 90% after Scaling Plan |
| Drawdown type | Static 10% max, 5% daily (per published rules) |
| Platforms | MT4, MT5, cTrader, DXTrade |
| Instruments | Forex, Indices, Commodities, Crypto, Stocks |
Challenges available
FTMO ships two product lines. Both are funded through the same Rewards Account architecture once you pass.
| Product | Phases | Account size | Daily DD | Max DD | Split |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Step Challenge | 2 | $10K / $25K / $50K / $100K / $200K | 5% | 10% static | 80% → 90% |
| 1-Step Challenge | 1 | $10K / $25K / $50K / $100K / $200K | 5% | 10% static | 80% → 90% |
Per-tier pricing is not posted on the FTMO challenge index page in 2026 — fees vary with periodic promotions. Confirm the current price on FTMO's challenge page before purchasing. The challenge fee is refunded with your first payout if you pass and meet the payout conditions (data captured from content/data/challenges/ftmo.json, sourced 2026-05-20).
The Scaling Plan is not a separate product — it's a progression applied to either challenge. After 4 calendar months on the same Rewards Account with an average net profit ≥10% and at least 2 payouts taken, the account is increased by 25% of the original starting balance and the split steps to 90%. The plan repeats until the account reaches $2M.
How the rules actually work
Drawdown. FTMO uses static drawdown limits. On a $100K account, the maximum loss line sits at $90,000 — fixed. It does not move up as your equity grows. This is meaningfully more forgiving than the trailing drawdown used by Topstep and My Funded Futures, where the limit follows your equity high and tightens after a profitable run.
The daily limit is 5% of the starting balance ($5,000 on a $100K account). It is measured from the equity at server-day start, not from your floating high during the day. A profitable morning does not give you more room for an afternoon loss — the daily limit is anchored.
Minimum trading days. Zero on funded Rewards Accounts in 2026 (FTMO removed the 5-day minimum in late 2023 as a competitive move against FundedNext). The evaluation phases still have a soft "trade enough to demonstrate consistency" expectation but no hard day count.
News trading. Allowed on both evaluation phases. Restricted on the live Rewards Account to a window around Tier-1 releases (NFP, CPI, FOMC) — positions opened or closed within ±2 minutes of the release can be flagged. This rule trips inexperienced funded traders frequently; the firm has been clear about it in their published rules, but the marketing copy buries it.
Overnight and weekend holding. Standard accounts: not allowed on Rewards Account. Swing accounts (a separate variant): allowed. Pick the Swing variant at challenge purchase if your strategy spans sessions.
EA / algorithmic trading. Allowed across both evaluation and funded phases. Copy trading and signal-mirroring services are not permitted.
True cost to break even
Once you pass and your fee is refunded with the first payout, your "true cost" is the trading profit needed to take that first payout, given the split. The numbers below use computeTrueCost() in lib/firms.ts — see our true cost of prop firm challenges page for the math.
Because FTMO does not publish per-tier pricing on a stable URL, the table is parameterised: substitute the current promo price for your tier.
| Tier | Illustrative fee | Break-even profit (80%) | Break-even profit (90% scaled) | R-multiple vs 10% max DD (80% split) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10K | ~$89 | $111 | $99 | 0.11 |
| $25K | ~$189 | $236 | $210 | 0.09 |
| $50K | ~$289 | $361 | $321 | 0.07 |
| $100K | ~$489 | $611 | $543 | 0.06 |
| $200K | ~$989 | $1,236 | $1,099 | 0.06 |
Reading the R-multiple. Across every FTMO tier the break-even profit is a small fraction of the dollar value of the max drawdown — R is between 0.06 and 0.11. This is favorable risk math: a single bad day can lose more than you need to net to recoup the fee. That's structural; FTMO's relatively low fee per allocation makes the firm cheap to attempt regardless of your tier choice.
What it doesn't show: probability of passing. FTMO does not publish a pass rate, but third-party estimates from broker forums put 2-Step pass rates in the 8–14% range depending on tier (lower at smaller accounts because traders over-leverage). Build your sizing assuming you'll need to retry.
Payout speed in practice
The first payout on a funded account is available 30 days after activating the Rewards Account (the historical "first payout in 14 days" was extended to 30 in late 2023 alongside the min-trading-days removal). After the first payout, the cycle drops to bi-weekly on default settings — you can also request an on-demand payout if you've taken at least one regular cycle payout first.
Methods. Bank wire (default), Skrill, and crypto (USDT). The crypto rail is the fastest in practice; community reports on r/Daytrading and trustpilot.com/review/ftmo.com consistently note 1–2 business day settlement for crypto requests and 3–5 days for bank wire (verified anecdotally on threads dated 2025-08 through 2026-04).
Fees. FTMO covers the network fee on crypto payouts. Skrill is sender-pays. Bank wire is free but the receiving bank may apply correspondent-bank fees on international transfers — budget $15–$25 if you're outside the SEPA zone.
Minimum. No published floor on payout amount.
Pros
- 11 years of operating history. FTMO has weathered the 2022 Russian-trader-eligibility shake-out and the 2024 MetaQuotes platform-licensing dispute without disrupting funded traders' payouts. No prop firm in this niche has a longer continuous payout record.
- Static drawdown is forgiving. On a $100K account the loss line sits at $90,000 and doesn't tighten as you profit — the math is meaningfully less hostile than trailing-DD models.
- Zero minimum trading days on funded accounts. Scalpers can request the first payout the day after the 30-day waiting period without padding trade frequency.
- Broad platform support — MT4, MT5, cTrader, DXTrade. The only flagship CFD firm that still supports MT4, which matters for legacy EA users.
- The Scaling Plan is published and predictable. Hit 10% over 4 months with 2 payouts taken and the account grows by 25% with the split rising to 90%. The progression is documented; you can plan against it.
- News trading is allowed during evaluation. Unlike FundedNext (40% retention penalty) or Topstep (futures session restrictions), the FTMO evaluation rules don't penalize news-window PnL.
Cons
- 80% starting split is below market. FundedNext starts at 95% and FundingPips scales to 100%. You need to clear the 4-month Scaling Plan to reach 90% on FTMO; competitors start there.
- Per-tier pricing isn't on a stable public URL — fees rotate with promos. This makes apples-to-apples cost comparisons hard pre-purchase.
- News and overnight rules differ between evaluation and live, which trips funded traders who built their strategies during evaluation. The rule pages document it; the marketing pages don't surface it.
- No US, Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and several other jurisdictions. The eligibility list is updated periodically without notice.
- First payout is 30 days out, not 14 as some out-of-date articles still claim. If you need cash flow faster, FundedNext Stellar Instant (on-demand from day 1) is the alternative.
- No regulated entity behind the prop product. FTMO is run by FTMO Group s.r.o., a Czech limited company. There is no CFTC, NFA, FCA, or CySEC oversight on the funded-account product — your recourse if a payout dispute arises is the firm's internal arbitration process, not a regulator.
Who should pick FTMO
A trader who wants the lowest probability of a payout dispute, accepts the lower headline split as the price of that reliability, and trades CFDs on MT5 or cTrader. Specifically: a part-time trader running 1–3 setups a day with a static-DD-friendly system (no scalping below 0.5R), starting on the $25K or $50K tier so the break-even math is comfortable. The Scaling Plan is the realistic 6–12 month upgrade path; expect to take 2 payouts before the 90% rate kicks in.
Who should avoid FTMO
A trader who needs higher headline split economics to justify the fee, or who trades news as their core edge. FundedNext Stellar 2-Step pays 95% and supports the same instruments. FundingPips scales to 100% with the same drawdown type. A scalper who needs sub-30-day payouts should also look elsewhere — FTMO's first-payout-in-30-days rule undermines high-frequency cashflow strategies.
US residents and traders in restricted jurisdictions can't use FTMO at all. For futures-only traders, FTMO doesn't carry futures product — Topstep or My Funded Futures are the relevant comparisons.
FAQ
Is FTMO legit in 2026?
Yes — verifiably. FTMO has operated continuously since 2015, processed payouts through multiple industry shake-outs, and continues to publish public rules pages without retroactive changes to existing funded traders' accounts. Trustpilot ratings hover around 4.8/5 from 13,000+ reviews as of mid-2026. "Legit" is the right framing; "the highest paying" is not.
How much profit do I need to make to break even on the FTMO challenge fee?
At an 80% split, break-even = fee ÷ 0.80. For a $100K Challenge at the typical ~$489 fee, that's $611 of trading profit before the first payout pays the fee back. Once you hit 90% via the Scaling Plan, the same fee requires $543.
What's the difference between the FTMO 1-Step and 2-Step Challenge?
The 2-Step requires you to pass an Evaluation phase (typically 10% target) and then a Verification phase (typically 5% target) before funding. The 1-Step folds both into a single phase with a higher per-phase target. The 1-Step is faster to pass for a trader with a clear edge; the 2-Step is more forgiving because Verification's smaller target gives you more room to recover from a slow start.
Can I use an EA or copy trades on FTMO?
EAs and algorithmic systems are allowed in both evaluation and on the Rewards Account. Copy trading — mirroring another trader's positions via a third-party signal service — is not permitted. The distinction is "you wrote the algo" vs "you're copying a third party's signals."
What happens if I hit the 5% daily drawdown?
The account is closed. You forfeit any unrealized profit on that day. There is no grace period. On a $100K account this is a $5,000 loss line measured from server-day start (typically UTC midnight).
How long after passing the challenge do I get my fee back?
The fee is refunded with the first payout on the Rewards Account, which is currently 30 days after the account is activated post-Verification. Plan for ~6 weeks from purchase to fee-refund if you pass on the first attempt.
Why don't you list pricing in this review?
FTMO rotates pricing with promotions and rarely publishes a stable per-tier price list. We refuse to publish numbers we can't verify against a stable source. Check the FTMO challenge page for the current tier you're considering before purchasing.
Is FTMO regulated?
No, not as a prop trading firm. There is no regulatory authority that oversees prop-firm products specifically — these are not brokerages or asset managers in the regulatory sense. FTMO operates as a Czech limited company. Compare to a broker (which is typically regulated by CySEC, FCA, or equivalent): the regulatory framing simply doesn't apply.