FTMO is the firm every other prop firm gets compared to. We checked its 1-Step and 2-Step rules, the real euro prices, how the 80 to 90 percent payout actually works, and what UK traders need to know before paying a fee. Independent review, no affiliate deal.
Written by Wesley, Founder & CEO
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Reviewed by The Forex Complex trading team
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Last updated 24 September 2026
FTMO is the safest default choice in prop trading, and it is priced like it. The rules are fair and unusually clear: a 10 percent target with no time limit, a 5 percent daily and 10 percent overall loss limit on the 2-Step, and a fee you get back with your first payout. Payouts are on demand from day 14 and the company has been paying traders for over a decade, which is rarer than it should be in this industry.
The trade-offs are real. The 1-Step's 3 percent daily loss is tight for most forex strategies, the Standard account bans trading 2 minutes either side of high-impact news and forces you flat before the weekend, and the 2-Step starts at an 80 percent split when several rivals start at 90. If you want the strictest, most established firm and can trade calmly inside its limits, FTMO is hard to beat. If you need cheap, fast and flexible, look at the alternatives further down.
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| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No time limit on either Challenge, so you are never forced into a trade | 1-Step daily loss limit of 3 percent is tight for volatile pairs and gold |
| Challenge fee refunded with your first reward on the 2-Step | Fee is not refunded on the 1-Step |
| Payout on demand from day 14, processed in a few business days | 2-Step starts at 80 percent; 90 percent requires the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme |
| Ten years of operation, part of a group that owns the broker OANDA | Standard account: no trading 2 minutes either side of high-impact news |
| Unlimited free trials on up to $200k with the real rules | Standard account must be flat before the weekend; Swing is 2-Step only |
| MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView, 24/7 support in 21 languages | Best Day rule caps any single day at 50 percent of your positive days' profit |
| UK traders accepted, card and Revolut Pay fees free | Simulated accounts only; no FCA protection applies |
FTMO publishes its Trading Objectives in plain language, which is one reason it scores well on clarity. These are the four numbers that decide whether you pass, quoted from the objectives page, with the 2-Step figures first because that is what most forex traders choose.
10 percent in the Challenge phase, then 5 percent in Verification. The 1-Step has a single 10 percent target. No time limit on either.
Maximum Daily Loss of 5 percent of the initial capital on the 2-Step, 3 percent on the 1-Step. Includes floating losses, resets at midnight CE(S)T.
Equity must never fall below 90 percent of the initial capital, on both products. This is a static limit, not trailing.
At least 4 trading days per phase on the 2-Step. A trading day is any day with at least one position opened. No minimum stated for the 1-Step.
Two smaller rules catch people out. The Best Day rule says your single best day may not represent more than 50 percent of your total positive days' profit, which stops one lucky session carrying the account. And the consistency check is otherwise light: FTMO states there are no additional consistency requirements beyond the objectives and sustainable risk management.
This is the decision most reviews skip. The two products are priced and ruled differently enough that the wrong choice costs you either money or breathing room.
Challenge, then Verification, then the FTMO Account
One evaluation phase, straight to the FTMO Account
For a forex trader the 2-Step is the better door in most cases. You give up 10 percentage points of split at the start, but you gain a 5 percent daily buffer instead of 3, the fee back, and the option of a Swing account that lifts the news and weekend restrictions. The 1-Step suits scalpers with very tight stops who want the 90 percent from day one and never hold through news.
Follow market updates and trade ideas designed to respect drawdown limits.
Percentages hide how little room there is. On a $100,000 2-Step account the daily limit is $5,000 and the overall limit is $10,000, and both include open floating losses. The ledger shows what that means at a common 1 percent risk per trade.
The uncomfortable conclusion: at 1 percent risk, five losing trades in one day fails the account, and ten losers over the whole evaluation fails it for good. Most traders who fail FTMO do not fail on the profit target, they fail on a bad day. Halving risk to 0.5 percent doubles your margin for error and changes almost nothing about your ability to reach 10 percent over an unlimited period.
Run your own numbers with our drawdown calculator and position size calculator before you pay a fee, and use the consistency calculator to check the Best Day rule against your own history.
Avoiding rule violations starts with position sizing
Avoiding rule violations starts with position sizing and disciplined trade selection. Use The Forex Complex signals as one part of your trading plan.
FTMO charges a single one-time fee per Challenge with no monthly costs. Prices are set in euros and were read from ftmo.com on 24 September 2026. FTMO runs discounts often, so treat these as list prices and check before you buy.
| Account size | 2-Step fee | 1-Step fee | Daily loss (2-Step / 1-Step) | Max loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | €89 | €79 | $500 / $300 | $1,000 |
| $25,000 | €250 | €199 | $1,250 / $750 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | €345 | €319 | $2,500 / $1,500 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | €540 | €499 | $5,000 / $3,000 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 | €1,080 | €999 | $10,000 / $6,000 | $20,000 |
Access to the evaluation on a simulated account, the Account MetriX analytics, the FTMO Academy and 24/7 support. On the 2-Step the fee is refunded in full with your first reward, using your original payment method, which makes a passed 2-Step effectively free. Failed attempts are not refunded and there is no reset discount stated on the site.
Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Revolut Pay are instant and free. PayPal, Skrill and cryptocurrency carry a 3 percent fee, and bank transfer takes 2 to 5 business days. Prices are in euros, so a UK card will apply its own conversion rate; a GBP-to-EUR card with no foreign transaction fee saves a few pounds.
This is where FTMO earns its reputation. The process is documented, the timeline is short, and the company reports more than $650 million paid to traders since 2015.
Once you pass, your FTMO Account opens and the payout clock starts at your first placed trade.
From the 14th day you can claim in the Account MetriX at any time, provided all positions and pending orders are closed and the objectives are met.
FTMO checks the account against the agreement and confirms the invoice.
Minimum $20 by bank wire, $50 by cryptocurrency. On the 2-Step your Challenge fee comes back with this first reward.
The Premium Programme adds a second route to 90 percent: four rewards of at least 4 percent with no failed account in the previous four months unlocks Prime status, and Supreme traders on a $400,000 account lose the daily loss limit entirely. Both are documented on FTMO's site and both take months of consistent trading, so treat them as a horizon rather than a selling point.
You pick the platform in the Challenge configurator. TradingView access is a genuine differentiator for chart-first traders; DXtrade and Match-Trader are not offered.
Discretionary trading and Expert Advisors are allowed. FTMO caps server load at 200 concurrent orders and 2,000 positions a day, flags hyperactive EAs, and may refuse funding to traders running the same third-party EA as many others.
Yes. The United Kingdom is on FTMO's list of served countries. Its eligibility page excludes nationals and residents of Iran, Syria, Myanmar and North Korea, anyone on international sanction lists, and a set of higher-risk countries including Russia, Belarus, Cuba and Afghanistan. United States residents are routed to a separate entity at ftmo.oanda.com. You must be over 18 and complete FTMO Identity verification before your first payout.
Three things a UK trader should understand before paying. First, FTMO is not a broker and every account is a demo account. FTMO says so on every page: "all accounts we provide to our clients are demo accounts with fictitious funds and any trading is in a simulated environment only." You are paid a share of simulated profits under a contract with FTMO s.r.o. in the Czech Republic. Second, the FCA's retail protections do not apply. The FCA's CFD restrictions (PS19/18), including leverage caps of 30:1 to 2:1, margin close-out and negative balance protection, apply to FCA-authorised firms selling CFDs to UK retail clients. FTMO does not appear on the FCA Financial Services Register because it is not doing that; a funded-account fee is not a regulated investment. That is neither a red flag nor a comfort, it is simply a different product, and the FCA's guidance on high-risk investments is still worth reading. Third, tax. Rewards are income from a service contract, not spread-betting winnings, so they are unlikely to be tax-free in the way UK spread betting can be. Check with an accountant or HMRC; we are not tax advisers.
Practically, UK traders pay in euros by card with no FTMO fee, trade London and New York sessions comfortably, and can request rewards to a UK bank account by wire. The Standard account's rule of closing before the weekend falls at Friday's market close, 22:00 London time in winter.
FTMO sets the benchmark on trust and clarity. Where rivals compete is price, starting split and flexibility. Figures below are each firm's headline 2-Step or equivalent product; read the linked review before deciding.
| Firm | Daily / max loss | Starting split | Fee refund | Our review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTMO | 5% / 10% | 80% (1-Step 90%) | 2-Step yes | This page |
| FundedNext | See review | See review | See review | FundedNext review |
| Funding Pips | See review | See review | See review | Funding Pips review |
| The5ers | See review | See review | See review | The5ers review |
| Alpha Capital Group | See review | See review | See review | Alpha Capital Group review |
See the full ranking on our best prop firms UK page, or read how to compare prop firms safely if you are new to funded accounts.
FTMO suits traders who value certainty over cost. If you have a tested strategy, risk under 1 percent a trade, and would rather pay a little more to deal with a firm that has paid out for ten years, this is your firm.
Avoid FTMO if your edge depends on trading the news candle, if you routinely hold forex over the weekend on a Standard account, or if you risk 2 percent or more per trade. The 1-Step's 3 percent daily limit will also punish gold and index traders with wide stops. And if the cheapest possible evaluation is the priority, several rivals undercut FTMO on the same account size.
Our difficulty rating separates the three things that actually fail people. FTMO is moderate on targets, strict on daily risk, and easy on payouts.
10 percent then 5 percent with no time limit is achievable for a consistent trader. The clock never forces a trade.
5 percent daily on the 2-Step is fair; 3 percent on the 1-Step is where most failures will happen. Size for the limit, not the target.
On demand from day 14, a few business days to process, documented minimums, fee refunded on the 2-Step.
For traders who want a higher starting split and a choice of evaluation models.
Read the review →For traders who want the lowest evaluation cost and faster payout cycles.
Read the review →For patient traders who prefer a scaling-first model over a large upfront account.
Read the review →Comparing prop firms? Join our Telegram group to see how our forex signals fit different trading rules.
Our free Telegram signals are trade ideas with an entry, a stop loss and staged take-profit levels, plus the reasoning. That structure maps neatly onto FTMO's rules, because a known stop lets you size every position against the daily and maximum loss before you click. What it does not do is pass the challenge for you, and we will not pretend otherwise.
"FTMO is the firm I point people to when they ask which one will actually pay them, and I say that knowing it is not the cheapest or the most flexible. What I like is that nothing is hidden: the objectives page tells you exactly how you fail. The mistake I see most is traders taking the 1-Step for the 90 percent split and then blowing a 3 percent daily limit on a normal gold move. Take the 2-Step, risk half a percent, treat the free trial as a real exam, and only pay when you have passed it twice. The fee is refundable; a rushed attempt is not."
Every firm is scored out of 10 on nine criteria: forex trader suitability, challenge fairness, cost transparency, payout reliability, rule clarity, platform support, UK accessibility, risk management fit and support quality. The overall score is the average. We read the firm's own rules, terms and FAQ pages, check its Trustpilot profile and complaint themes, and re-verify prices on the date shown at the top. We hold no affiliate or referral relationship with FTMO or any firm reviewed here.
FTMO Trading Objectives · FTMO reward withdrawal FAQ · FTMO eligibility FAQ · FTMO FAQ · Trustpilot, FTMO · FCA PS19/18 · FCA Financial Services Register · HMRC
Founded The Forex Complex in 2021 after several years trading forex independently. Leads the daily signals review and weekly live streams for a community of 325,000+ traders.
FTMO is a legitimate, long-established prop firm. FTMO s.r.o. was founded in Prague in 2015, is part of the FTMO Group alongside the broker OANDA, reports over 4.5 million customers and more than $650 million paid in rewards, and holds a 4.8 TrustScore from over 52,000 Trustpilot reviews. It is not a broker or an investment firm: all FTMO accounts are demo accounts in a simulated environment, and traders are paid a share of simulated profits.
Yes. FTMO reports more than $650 million paid to traders. On an FTMO Account you can request your first reward on the 14th day after your first trade and on demand after that. FTMO reviews the account within 1 to 2 business days and typically sends the reward 1 to 2 business days after the invoice is approved. The split is 90 percent on 1-Step accounts and 80 percent on 2-Step accounts, rising to 90 percent through the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme.
Yes. UK residents can join FTMO. FTMO's eligibility page excludes nationals and residents of Iran, Syria, Myanmar and North Korea, sanctioned persons, and a list of higher-risk countries including Russia and Belarus, but the United Kingdom is served. Because FTMO accounts are simulated, FTMO is not an FCA-regulated broker and the FCA's retail CFD protections do not apply to it.
The 3 percent rule is the maximum daily loss on the FTMO Challenge 1-Step. Your equity must not fall more than 3 percent of the initial simulated capital in a single day, measured from 00:00 to 23:59 Central European time. On the 2-Step Challenge the daily limit is 5 percent. Both products also have a 10 percent maximum overall loss.
On the 2-Step Challenge you must reach a 10 percent profit target in the Challenge phase and 5 percent in Verification, trade at least 4 days in each phase, and never exceed a 5 percent maximum daily loss or a 10 percent maximum loss. On the 1-Step Challenge the target is 10 percent with a 3 percent daily loss limit and a 10 percent maximum loss. There is no time limit, and your best trading day must not exceed 50 percent of your total positive days' profit.
FTMO calls it the Maximum Daily Loss. On the 2-Step Challenge and FTMO Account it is 5 percent of the initial simulated capital, so $5,000 on a $100,000 account; on the 1-Step Challenge it is 3 percent, so $3,000. The limit includes open floating losses and resets at midnight Central European time.
Once you are an FTMO Trader you request a reward in the Account MetriX on the 14th day or any day after your first trade, with all positions closed. FTMO notifies you within 1 to 2 business days and pays 1 to 2 business days after the invoice is approved. Minimum reward is $20 by bank wire or $50 by cryptocurrency. On 2-Step accounts the challenge fee is refunded with the first reward; on 1-Step accounts it is not.
FTMO charges a one-time fee with no recurring costs. At the time of writing the 2-Step Challenge costs 89 euros for $10,000, 250 euros for $25,000, 345 euros for $50,000, 540 euros for $100,000 and 1,080 euros for $200,000. The 1-Step Challenge costs 79, 199, 319, 499 and 999 euros for the same sizes. FTMO runs promotions regularly, so check the live price.
Yes. Forex is FTMO's core market, alongside indices, commodities, stocks and crypto, on MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader or TradingView. Discretionary trading and Expert Advisors are allowed. On a Standard FTMO Account you cannot open or close trades 2 minutes either side of selected high-impact news and must close before the weekend; the Swing account removes both restrictions.
FTMO is beginner-friendly in its tooling, with unlimited free trials, no time limit, 24/7 support in 21 languages and a free Academy, but the evaluation itself is not a beginner task. A 10 percent target inside a 5 percent daily and 10 percent overall loss limit requires consistent risk management. Beginners should use the free trial until they can pass it repeatedly before paying for a Challenge.
They can be used as one input, never as a system to pass a challenge. Every Forex Complex signal carries an entry, stop loss and take profit, which makes it straightforward to size each trade against FTMO's daily and maximum loss limits. On a Standard FTMO Account you must still respect the 2-minute news window and the weekend close, and no signal service can guarantee you will pass.
Risk disclaimer: Prop firm evaluations involve a non-refundable or conditionally refundable fee and trading on simulated accounts. Trading forex and CFDs carries a high level of risk, and most retail traders lose money. Nothing on this page is financial, investment or tax advice, and no signal service, including ours, can guarantee that you will pass an evaluation or receive a payout. FTMO's rules, prices and policies change; the figures here were verified on 24 September 2026 against FTMO's own pages, which take precedence. The Forex Complex has no affiliate or referral relationship with FTMO.
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