FTMO Review

Company and trust

FTMO was founded in Prague in 2015 and is widely credited with popularizing the modern prop-trading challenge model. The business operates through several Czech-registered entities — FTMO s.r.o., FTMO Evaluation Global s.r.o., and FTMO Trading Global s.r.o. — all sharing a registered Prague office, alongside a Delaware holding entity, JV Prop Corporation.

FTMO is not a broker and does not hold client deposits in the traditional sense: challenge accounts are simulated, and traders who pass are paid a profit share from FTMO's own capital rather than trading real market funds directly. The company reports over $650 million paid out to traders since launch and remains the most-reviewed firm in the sector on Trustpilot, which is the strongest available proxy for payout trust in an unregulated industry.

Challenge rules

FTMO offers two evaluation paths. The 2-Step Challenge requires a 10% profit target in an unlimited-time Phase 1, then 5% in Phase 2, with a 5% maximum daily loss and 10% maximum overall loss. The 1-Step Challenge asks for a single 10% target under a tighter 3% daily loss and 10% trailing maximum loss, and pays a 90% split from day one.

Both paths allow news trading, weekend holding, and expert advisors, which is more permissive than several rivals. There is no minimum trading-days requirement in most account types, so fast traders can qualify quickly, though the daily loss rule still requires discipline around volatile sessions.

Profit split and payouts

The 2-Step FTMO Account starts at an 80/20 split, rising to 90% once a trader qualifies for the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme; the 1-Step Account pays 90% immediately. Payouts are processed on a 14-day cycle by default, and FTMO reports a 99.8% on-time payout rate, with many traders describing profit-share transfers arriving within a few business days of the request.

The evaluation fee is refunded in full alongside the first successful payout, effectively making a passed challenge free. Account sizes scale from $10,000 up to $200,000 per account, with the Scaling Plan allowing balance growth to $2 million in combined capital across accounts for consistently profitable traders.

Platforms and instruments

FTMO supports MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and DXtrade, giving traders more platform choice than most competitors, plus a TradingView integration for charting. Tradable instruments span forex, stock indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and individual stocks, with leverage capped at 1:100 for most instruments (lower for crypto).

The proprietary MetriX dashboard sits alongside the trading platforms and gives a live breakdown of drawdown limits, daily loss usage, and progress toward profit targets, which reviewers consistently cite as one of FTMO's strongest tools for staying inside the rules.

Trading restrictions

FTMO is comparatively permissive: news trading, weekend position holding, and algorithmic/EA trading are all allowed on standard accounts, which is not universal in the industry. The main constraints are the daily and maximum loss limits themselves, plus standard prohibitions on copy-trading between accounts, arbitrage strategies, and exploiting platform latency or pricing errors.

Clients located in the United States, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, and other sanctioned jurisdictions are not accepted, in line with standard financial-services restrictions.

Support

Support is available 24/7 through live chat, email, and a ticketing system, with FTMO advertising service in more than 20 languages. Trustpilot reviews consistently highlight responsive support as a strength, with most negative feedback centered on rule-breach disputes rather than service quality or delayed communication.

Who is it for

FTMO suits disciplined traders who want the most established name in prop trading, a wide choice of platforms, and a transparent, well-documented rule set. Its permissive stance on news trading and EAs makes it a reasonable fit for algorithmic and event-driven traders, while its long payout history appeals to anyone prioritizing reliability over the cheapest possible entry fee.

Traders who need instant funding without an evaluation, or who trade very large size relative to a tight daily loss limit, may find other firms a better match.