FTMO

FTMO is the Prague prop firm that has been running evaluations since 2015, and it's still the reference point most traders compare others against. You trade forex, metals, indices, commodities, stocks and crypto CFDs on MT4, MT5, cTrader or TradingView, with leverage up to 1:100. There are three routes: the classic 2-Step Challenge, a newer 1-Step Challenge, and the Instant Account launched on 12 October 2026. Prices run from €79 for a $10,000 1-Step to €2,999 for a $100,000 Instant Account.

FTMO isn't cheap, and its funded accounts come with real limits. On a Standard FTMO Account you can't trade around restricted news or hold through the weekend, the 2-Step pays 80% until you qualify for 90%, and only the 2-Step refunds its fee. The 1-Step and Instant Account add consistency rules and trailing drawdown. This review covers each route with dollar examples so you can see what you're paying for.

The short version

• Best for: traders who value a long track record, published rules and a choice of four platforms, and who are happy to pay more for that.
• Not for: budget buyers, weekend swing traders on a Standard account, and anyone who trades the big US releases on a funded account.
• Biggest strength: track record and transparency. FTMO has paid out more than $650 million by its own count, and every rule has a worked example on its site.
• Biggest risk: the funded-stage restrictions. News and weekend rules on Standard accounts can end an FTMO Account, and the Instant Account's trailing floor doesn't reset when you withdraw.
• Our score: 3.3 out of 5. Full marks for track record, pulled down by price, the 80% starting split on the 2-Step, and news and weekend limits.

Who runs FTMO

FTMO was founded in 2015 in Prague. Its Challenge terms (last updated 12 October 2026) are with FTMO Evaluation Global s.r.o. (ID 092 13 651), and the funded FTMO Account is offered by a sister company, FTMO Trading Global s.r.o. (ID 094 18 415). Both are registered at Purkyňova 2121/3, Prague 1, Czech Republic. The terms are governed by Czech law, with disputes going to the Czech courts, and consumers can also use an out-of-court consumer dispute process.

FTMO is part of a bigger group now. Finance Magnates reported on 27 March 2026 that FTMO's founders, Otakar Šuffner and Marek Vašíček, became co-CEOs of the broker OANDA, and that OANDA's prop trading clients were moving into the FTMO Group from 2 March 2026. US traders are served through an affiliated site, ftmo.oanda.com.

Everything at FTMO is simulated. Its terms say so plainly: your Challenge and FTMO Account trades are not trades in real financial instruments, and rewards are paid for the data your trading generates.

The rules live in a public Trading Objectives page with worked examples, plus a long FAQ, a forbidden practices page and dated trading updates. That's the most complete rulebook of any firm we cover.

Programs and prices

Prices below are list prices from FTMO's pricing table, checked on 28 October 2026. They're in euros, for accounts sized in US dollars. FTMO was running promotions when we checked (the $100,000 2-Step showed €439 and the $100,000 1-Step €399), but we use list prices. You can also open accounts in EUR, GBP, CZK, CAD, AUD or CHF at matching sizes.

2-Step FTMO Challenge

The original route: a Challenge, then a Verification, then the FTMO Account.

• Challenge: make 10%. Verification: make 5%.
• 5% max daily loss and 10% max loss (static) at every stage.
• At least 4 trading days in each phase. No time limit.
• Funded: 80% reward split, rising to 90% through the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme. The fee is refunded with your first reward.
• Available as a Standard account (1:100) or a Swing account (1:30, no news or weekend limits). Swing is 2-Step only.

Worked example, $100,000 2-Step. Your equity can never go below $90,000. On day one it can't go below $95,000. If you end a day with a $102,000 balance, the next day's floor is $97,000. Pass the Challenge at $110,000 and the Verification at $105,000, with all positions closed, after at least 4 trading days in each.

1-Step FTMO Challenge

Added in February 2026. One phase, then a 90% FTMO Account.

• Make 10% with a 3% max daily loss and a 10% max loss, trailing at end of day.
• Consistency: your best day can't be more than 50% of total profit (for orders from 12 October 2026).
• No minimum trading days listed and no time limit.
• 90% reward split from the first reward. The fee is not refundable. Standard account type only.

Worked example, $100,000 1-Step. The max loss floor starts at $90,000 and is reset each midnight to 10% below your highest day-end balance. End a day at $104,000 and the floor becomes $94,000. It stays there if you slip back to $103,000. Your daily floor starts at $97,000. To pass you need $110,000, and if your best day was $6,000 you'd need $12,000 of total profit, not $10,000, to satisfy the 50% rule. After a reward, the max loss resets to $90,000.

FTMO Instant Account

Launched on 12 October 2026. No evaluation: the account is live for rewards from day one.

• No profit target. 3% max daily loss.
• 10% max loss, trailing intraday on balance. It moves up the moment a trade closes at a new balance high and never moves down.
• Consistency: best day no more than 30% of total profit.
• 90% reward split. Fee not refundable, and no Scaling Plan.

Worked example, $50,000 Instant Account. Your floor starts at $45,000 and your first-day daily floor at $48,500. Close a trade that takes the balance to $50,600 and the floor jumps to $45,600 straight away. Reach $53,000 and the floor is $48,000. Withdraw your $3,000 profit and the floor stays at $48,000, leaving you only $2,000 of room. FTMO says outright that the limit doesn't reset on a withdrawal and that avoiding a breach is your job.

Which FTMO plan should you pick?

The 1-Step is the cheapest per dollar of funding: €499 for $100,000, or €4.99 per $1K, and it pays 90% from the first reward. The catches are the 3% daily limit, the end-of-day trailing floor, the 50% consistency rule and a fee you won't see again.

The 2-Step costs a little more (€540 for $100,000, €5.40 per $1K) but has the easiest limits: 5% daily and a static 10% floor. It's the only plan that refunds the fee and the only one with a Swing option, which matters if you hold through news or weekends. The trade-off is the 80% starting split.

The Instant Account is expensive: €30 to €34 per $1K depending on size, about six times the 1-Step. With a trailing floor that eats into your room every time you withdraw and a 30% consistency rule, we'd only consider it if you're sure you can't pass an evaluation's target but can trade very steadily.

Our pick for most traders is the 2-Step at $50,000 or $100,000. If you're confident and don't need Swing, the 1-Step saves money and pays 90% sooner.

Trading rules in practice

Drawdown and the daily reset

The daily loss limit is recalculated at midnight CE(S)T (Prague time) as that moment's balance minus the daily percentage of the initial capital. That's usually 6pm in New York and 11pm in London. FTMO measures equity including open trades, swaps and commissions, so a floating loss counts.

None of FTMO's trailing limits lock at the starting balance in the rules we read.

Leverage and fees

Standard accounts get up to 1:100 on forex, with lower leverage on indices, metals and crypto. Swing accounts drop to 1:30. Leverage can't be raised.

Commissions, from FTMO's symbols page and trading updates:

Example. A 2-lot EURUSD trade costs $10 in commission round trip. Ten of those a day is $100, which is 2% of a $5,000 daily limit on a $100,000 2-Step. On $100,000 of gold, the commission is $0.70 per side.

News trading

On a funded Standard FTMO Account and on the Instant Account, you can't open or close any order (including stop losses, take profits and pending orders) from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after a restricted release, on the instruments it affects. The list covers the big ones: Fed rate decisions, non-farm payrolls, US CPI, FOMC minutes, ECB, BoE, BoC, RBA, RBNZ and SNB rate decisions, several CPI and jobs releases, and crude inventories for oil. Each is marked in FTMO's economic calendar.

• Positions opened more than 2 minutes before can stay open.
• Unaffected instruments are fine. During US payrolls you can trade EURGBP but not GBPUSD.
• Breaking the rule can end the account.

The Challenge, the Verification and Swing accounts can trade the news. Even there, FTMO's forbidden practices page bans "gap trading": opening trades when major news is scheduled or within two hours of a market closing for two hours or more.

Weekends and overnight

Overnight holding is fine. On a Standard FTMO Account you must be flat before any market break longer than 2 hours, which includes weekends. Evaluations and Swing accounts are exempt. Breaking the rule can end the account.

EAs, hedging and copy trading

EAs and algorithmic trading are allowed if the strategy could be replicated on a live account. Platform limits are 200 orders at a time and 2,000 positions a day, and a bot that sends more than 2,000 server requests a day counts as a forbidden practice. If you run a third-party EA that many other traders use, you can hit FTMO's maximum capital allocation rule.

Hedging inside a single account is allowed. Opposite trades across accounts, or with other people, are forbidden. FTMO also bans "artificial profit distribution": spreading one trade idea across several days, or using offsetting positions, to get around the consistency rules.

Copy trading isn't directly addressed for CFD accounts. Trading on someone else's account, or letting anyone trade yours, is forbidden.

Consistency

On the Instant Account, the count starts again from zero after each reward.

Capital limits and inactivity

The terms cap the combined initial capital across all your FTMO accounts at $400,000, including accounts held by related parties. The Scaling Plan can grow balances beyond that, to $2,000,000 in total.

You must place your first trade within 30 days of an account being issued, or access is suspended. FTMO can also close an account if you go 30 days without opening a trade, or if you sit on a loss of 8% to 10% for more than 30 days.

How payouts work

You can request your first reward on day 14 or later after your first trade on the account. You must close all positions first. The FAQ doesn't spell out the cycle after the first reward.

FTMO reviews the request within 1 to 2 business days, and once your invoice is approved the money is typically sent within another 1 to 2 business days.

FTMO says it charges no fee on withdrawals. You can also take some or all of a reward as FTMO Points (1 point = €1), which can only be spent at FTMO.

Split. 2-Step accounts start at 80% and move to 90% through the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme. The 1-Step and Instant Account pay 90% from the start.

Fee refund. 2-Step only: FTMO refunds the purchase fee with your first reward request, to your original payment method. The 1-Step and Instant fees are non-refundable. Under the terms, consumers can withdraw from a purchase within 14 days for a full refund, but only before placing the first trade.

KYC. After passing the 1-Step or the Verification, you complete FTMO Identity (KYC) and accept the FTMO Account terms before the account is issued. Instant Account traders must complete it before their first reward. FTMO's review after passing typically takes 1 to 4 business days.

Scaling Plan. Every 4 months, if you've made at least 10% net profit, had at least 2 rewards processed in that period and your balance is positive, your account grows by 25%, up to $2,000,000 across all FTMO accounts. A $100,000 account would become $125,000, then $156,250. It applies to 1-Step and 2-Step accounts, not the Instant Account.

FTMO's own pages disagree on a few points:

Plan around the stricter version: the total-profit consistency rule on any new 1-Step, and the news rule on every funded Standard and Instant account.

Who can sign up

You must be 18 or older. FTMO doesn't offer its CFD services in: Afghanistan, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bouvet Island, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Cook Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Nauru, Niger, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, the Vatican, Venezuela and Western Sahara.

• Ukraine: only Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are blocked.
• Iran, Syria, Myanmar and North Korea: excluded, except that Iranian, Syrian and Myanmar nationals with EEA residency and a traditional EEA bank account in their name may be accepted.
• United States: served through ftmo.oanda.com. Australia: through ftmo.com/au.

FTMO also excludes people on sanctions lists and anyone with a criminal record for financial crime or terrorism. Payment is by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Revolut Pay at no fee, PayPal or Skrill at 3%, crypto at 3%, or bank transfer in EUR or CZK.

Reputation

On Trustpilot, FTMO scores 4.8 out of 5 from 55,273 reviews, with 24,947 in the last 12 months, checked on 28 October 2026. The split is 92% five-star, 4% four-star, under 1% three-star, under 1% two-star and 3% one-star. FTMO claimed its profile in November 2019, pays for a Trustpilot subscription and invites customers to review, and Trustpilot notes that it hasn't replied to negative reviews. See the Trustpilot page.

The positive reviews mostly mention quick, reliable rewards, a professional platform with clear rules, and fast, helpful support. The recent one-star reviews mostly describe accounts or payouts refused after a risk review, platform or server disconnections, identity checks that ended badly, and support that asked for the same information repeatedly.

On payouts, Finance Magnates reported on 8 October 2026 that FTMO paid more than $14.4 million to about 7,100 traders in September 2026, and more than $200 million over 12 months. Those are FTMO's own figures, not audited. We found no regulator actions against FTMO in our sources.

Mistakes to avoid at FTMO

1. Holding a Standard FTMO Account over the weekend. Be flat before any market break longer than 2 hours, or buy the 2-Step as Swing.
2. Letting a stop loss fill during restricted news. Any order executed within 2 minutes of a restricted release counts, including your own stop or take profit.
3. Withdrawing from the Instant Account without checking the floor. Each withdrawal leaves the trailing floor where it was, so your room shrinks.
4. Having one huge day on the 1-Step. A best day of $6,000 means you need $12,000 of total profit to pass a $100,000 account.
5. Going over $400,000 of initial capital. The cap counts all your accounts, including those of related parties.
6. Expecting a 1-Step or Instant refund. Only the 2-Step fee comes back.

Before you buy: checklist

• Decide whether you need Swing (2-Step only) for news or weekend holds.
• Read the FTMO rules and the forbidden trading practices page.
• Check the restricted-news list in FTMO's calendar for the instruments you trade.
• Compare the euro price with your card's exchange rate.
• Confirm your country is eligible, or which FTMO site serves it.
• Make sure all your accounts together stay under $400,000 of initial capital.
• Use code SCOUT at checkout. See our FTMO coupon page for how to apply it.

Our verdict

FTMO is the safe-feeling choice: more than ten years of operation, the most detailed public rulebook we've read, a 4.8 Trustpilot score from over 55,000 reviews, and four platforms. The 2-Step, with a static floor, a refundable fee and an optional Swing account, is still one of the cleanest evaluations around.

You pay for that reputation. FTMO costs several times more per dollar of funding than newer firms, the 2-Step starts at an 80% split, and Standard funded accounts can't trade restricted news or hold over weekends. The new Instant Account is the weakest value of the three. If you trade within those limits, FTMO is a solid buy; if you need cheap or flexible, look elsewhere.