FTMO

FTMO review: our verdict

FTMO suits forex and CFD traders who want an established firm with clearly documented rules, a static drawdown on its main 2-Step Challenge and no time limit to pass. Its main trade-offs are that the 2-Step reward starts at 80% (90% only through the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme), the cheaper 1-Step Challenge uses a tighter 3% daily limit, a trailing maximum loss and a consistency rule, and challenge fees are priced in euros on the global site. Standard funded accounts also carry news and weekend-holding restrictions that some traders will need to plan around.

FTMO scores 8.8/10 in FundedTime's ratings and currently ranks first of the firms we track. The score reflects its long operating history, transparent rulebook, refundable 2-Step fee and strong trader feedback, balanced against its split and funded-account restrictions. See how we score prop firms for the full weighting.

Programs and pricing

FTMO currently sells three products for CFD traders: the 2-Step FTMO Challenge (Challenge phase plus Verification), the 1-Step FTMO Challenge (one phase, no Verification) and the FTMO Instant Account (no evaluation). The 2-Step and 1-Step Challenges are offered at $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 and $200,000 of simulated capital; the Instant Account comes in $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000 sizes.

FTMO's official comparison table publishes only starting prices, in euros, on the global site. We could not find an official, readable per-size price table, so we do not list individual size prices here.

Program	Account sizes	Starting price (global site, EUR)	Fee refund
2-Step Challenge	$10k to $200k	From €89	Yes, 100% with first reward
1-Step Challenge	$10k to $200k	From €79	No
Instant Account	$5k to $100k	From €169	No

The challenge fee is a one-time payment. FTMO's FAQ states it does not charge additional or hidden fees and that one payment covers both 2-Step phases. There is no monthly subscription and no separate activation fee. FTMO does not publish a discounted reset product in the pages we reviewed; a 14-day Free Trial lets traders practise the rules without paying. US residents buy through a separate affiliated entity at ftmo.oanda.com, which publishes the same account sizes but did not show per-size USD prices in the content we could read.

On the 2-Step, traders can choose a Standard or Swing account type. Swing removes news and weekend restrictions on the funded account but cuts base leverage from 1:100 to 1:30. Swing is not available on the 1-Step or Instant products.

Trading rules explained

Profit targets

The 2-Step requires 10% in the Challenge phase and 5% in Verification. The 1-Step requires a single 10% target. Targets must be reached with all positions closed, and there is no profit target on the funded FTMO Account. Neither Challenge has a time limit.

Maximum daily loss

The daily limit is 5% of initial capital on the 2-Step and 3% on the 1-Step and Instant Account. It is checked against equity, so open losses, swaps and commissions count. Each day's floor is that day's opening balance (at 00:00 CE(S)T, Prague time) minus the limit percentage of the initial account size. On day one the floor is based on the initial capital. Touching the floor ends the account, even if the trade later recovers.

Maximum loss

On the 2-Step, the 10% maximum loss is static: on a $100,000 account the floor is $90,000 and never moves. On the 1-Step it is a 10% end-of-day trailing limit: the floor is the highest midnight balance reached minus 10% of initial capital, it recalculates once a day and can only rise. A reward withdrawal on a new 1-Step account resets the floor to 90% of initial capital. The Instant Account uses an intraday balance-based trailing 10% limit. Our static vs trailing drawdown guide explains why this matters for position sizing.

Minimum trading days

The 2-Step requires at least 4 trading days in each phase; a trading day is any calendar day (CE(S)T) on which at least one position is opened. The 1-Step and the funded account have no minimum.

Consistency rules

The 2-Step has no consistency rule. On the 1-Step, for orders created on or after 12 October 2026, the best day's profit must be 50% or less of total closed profit. Exceeding it is not a breach; you simply keep trading until the ratio falls below 50%. Older 1-Step orders use the legacy Best Day Rule, which compares the best day with the sum of profitable days only. The Instant Account's comparison row lists a 30% consistency figure. Our consistency rules explainer covers how to manage this.

News trading

During the Challenge and Verification there is no news restriction. On funded Standard accounts and Instant Accounts, FTMO blocks order execution from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after selected high-impact releases (for example US CPI, Non-Farm Payrolls and central-bank decisions) on symbols linked to the affected currency or asset. Positions opened earlier can stay open, but stops and take-profits triggered inside the window also count. Swing accounts are exempt.

EAs, copy trading and hedging

FTMO's FAQ says trading style is up to the trader, including expert advisors, and no stop-loss is required. Limits still apply: platform servers allow 200 open orders and 2,000 positions per day, and the forbidden-practices page restricts tools that exploit platform delays, excessive server requests and opposite positions across connected accounts. Having another person trade your account is prohibited. FTMO also warns that third-party EAs can lead to problems with its maximum capital allocation rule.

Weekend and overnight holding

During evaluation, positions can be held overnight and over weekends. On funded Standard accounts, traders must close positions before any market break longer than two hours, including weekends. Swing accounts have no such restriction.

Inactivity

FTMO does not publish a fixed inactivity limit in the pages we checked. It says it will contact traders whose accounts sit unused for "a few weeks" and that a freeze can be requested for planned breaks.

Worked example

Take a $100,000 2-Step Challenge (Standard). The Phase 1 target is $10,000, so the balance must reach $110,000 with all trades closed. The static maximum-loss floor is $90,000. The daily allowance is $5,000 below each day's opening balance.

1. Day 1: opening balance $100,000, daily floor $95,000. The trader closes +$2,000. Balance $102,000.
2. Day 2: daily floor $102,000 minus $5,000 = $97,000. A losing trade closes at -$3,500. Equity bottoms at $98,500, above the floor, so the account survives. Balance $98,500.
3. Day 3: daily floor $93,500 (still above the $90,000 static floor). The trader closes +$4,000. Balance $102,500.
4. Day 4: the trader closes +$7,600. Balance $110,100. The target is met on the fourth trading day, so the 4-day minimum is also satisfied and Phase 1 is passed.

The same sequence on a $100,000 1-Step would have failed on Day 2: the 3% daily floor would be $102,000 minus $3,000 = $99,000, and equity of $98,500 is below it. Even without that loss, the 1-Step consistency rule would block a pass: a $7,600 best day is 75% of $10,100 total profit, so total profit would need to reach at least $15,200 for that day to fall to 50%. Use our drawdown calculator and position size calculator to test your own numbers.

Payouts

The first reward can be requested on the 14th day, or any later day, after the first trade on the funded FTMO Account, once all positions and pending orders are closed. FTMO's help article does not set a fixed cycle after that, so later rewards are requested when eligible rather than on a calendar. The reward share is 90% on 1-Step and Instant accounts and 80% on 2-Step accounts, rising to 90% under the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme. The 2-Step fee is refunded with the first reward.

Methods are bank wire, Visa Direct or Mastercard Send, Skrill and cryptocurrency. Minimums are $20 of closed profit for bank wire and card transfers and $50 for crypto; card transfers are capped at $20,000 and Skrill at $3,000. FTMO says it reviews requests within 1 to 2 business days and typically sends approved rewards within a further 1 to 2 business days, without its own withdrawal fee.

The Scaling Plan raises 2-Step and 1-Step funded accounts by 25% every four months when the trader has made at least 10% net profit and at least two processed rewards in that period, up to $2,000,000 across all FTMO Accounts. Instant Accounts are excluded. For a step-by-step walkthrough, read our FTMO payout guide.

Platforms and instruments

FTMO supports MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader and TradingView. TradingView execution runs through the OANDA broker profile. US clients on ftmo.oanda.com are offered TradingView or MetaTrader 5. The platform can only be changed before any trade is placed on an account.

Instruments include forex, indices, commodities, stocks and crypto CFDs, as listed on FTMO's symbols page. Base leverage is 1:100 on Standard accounts and 1:30 on Swing.

Who can join

Individuals and companies aged 18 or over can register; no qualifications are required. FTMO excludes nationals and residents of Iran, Syria, Myanmar and North Korea (with a narrow exception for EEA residents), plus residents of a longer list of countries including Afghanistan, Cuba, Iraq and Russia, people on sanctions lists and those with financial-crime convictions.

US residents are served by an affiliated structure at ftmo.oanda.com, where JV Prop Corporation runs the evaluation and OANDA Prop US Corporation runs the reward account. Australian clients have a separate site. FTMO also runs an identity check called FTMO Identity; its FAQ explains when this is required, but we could not read that article, so confirm the timing before you buy. We verified these points on FTMO's "Who can join FTMO?" FAQ and the US how-it-works page.

Reputation and trader feedback

When we checked in November 2026, FTMO had a Trustpilot rating of 4.8 out of 5 from 55,579 reviews, with 92% five-star and 3% one-star ratings. Common praise in recent reviews centres on reliable payouts, clear rules and professional support. Common complaints include slow or repetitive support exchanges, problems after technical errors and a small number of reports of accounts being locked without a clear explanation. Trustpilot showed that FTMO had not replied to negative reviews.

FTMO's most notable recent rule change is the October 2026 switch from the legacy 1-Step Best Day Rule to a consistency rule based on total closed profit. Traders who bought before 12 October 2026 remain on the older rule.

Alternatives to FTMO

• The5ers: unlimited time and a scaling plan that reaches a 100% split, for traders planning to grow one account.
• FundedNext: lower USD prices, static drawdown on Stellar 2-Step and several reward-cycle options.
• Maven Trading: much smaller entry fees for traders testing a strategy on small accounts.
• FundingPips: weekly, bi-weekly or on-demand reward cycles and several low-cost 2-Step variants.

For head-to-head comparisons, see FTMO vs The5ers, FTMO vs FundedNext, Maven Trading vs FTMO and Clarity Traders vs FTMO.

How we verified this review

Checked November 2026. We reviewed FTMO's trading objectives page, comparison table, 1-Step and 2-Step product pages, fee, news, weekend-holding, Swing account, withdrawal and eligibility FAQs, the forbidden trading practices page, the Scaling Plan page, the trading platforms page and the US how-it-works page on ftmo.oanda.com. Trustpilot data was read directly from FTMO's Trustpilot profile.

We could not verify per-size challenge prices because FTMO publishes only "starts from" figures in a readable form, and we could not read the full terms and conditions document. FTMO does not publish a numeric inactivity limit or reset pricing in the pages we checked. Prop trading is high risk: most traders do not pass evaluations, and the challenge fee is at risk. This review is not financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is FTMO legit?

FTMO has operated since 2015 through a Czech-registered company, publishes a detailed rulebook and holds a 4.8 Trustpilot rating from more than 55,000 reviews as of November 2026. As with any prop firm, its accounts are simulated and rewards depend on following its rules.

Does FTMO allow news trading?

Yes during the Challenge and Verification. On funded Standard and Instant accounts, orders are blocked from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after selected high-impact releases; Swing accounts are exempt.

How long does FTMO take to pay out?

The first reward can be requested from day 14 after your first funded trade. FTMO says it reviews requests within 1 to 2 business days and usually sends approved rewards within another 1 to 2 business days.

Is the FTMO Challenge fee refundable?

The 2-Step fee is refunded in full with your first reward. The 1-Step and Instant Account fees are not refunded.

Can US traders use FTMO?

Yes, through FTMO's affiliated US offering at ftmo.oanda.com, which uses TradingView or MetaTrader 5 and offers the 2-Step, 1-Step and Instant products.

Can I hold trades over the weekend with FTMO?

During evaluation, yes. On a funded Standard account you must close positions before market breaks longer than two hours, while the Swing account type has no weekend restriction.