FTMO Review 2026: Pricing, Rules, Payouts, and Who It's Actually For

FTMO Uses a Two-Phase Evaluation Before Rewards

FTMO does not deposit $100,000 into a brokerage account for you. Its current product pages describe the Challenge, Verification and subsequent FTMO Account as demo accounts with fictitious capital. After the two evaluation phases, a trader who completes identity checks and accepts the FTMO Account Agreement may become eligible for real-money Rewards based on simulated profit.

This distinction matters. The number displayed as account size is a risk-rule reference, not cash you own or can withdraw. Your direct financial exposure is the fee you pay, plus any tax or payment cost shown at checkout. Your contractual upside is a Reward calculated under the agreement—not ownership of the simulated balance.

The minimum path is eight trading days because each evaluation phase requires positions to be opened on four separate CE(S)T trading days. There is now no maximum trading-period deadline for the 2-Step evaluation. The source article’s older 30-day and 60-day limits are therefore removed, while the useful two-phase explanation remains.

FTMO also offers a separate 1-Step CFD product, and its rules must not be borrowed here: the current 1-Step page shows one evaluation, a 3% daily-loss rule, a 10% end-of-day trailing maximum loss, a 50% Best Day objective, a 90% Reward ratio and a non-refundable fee. This review’s canonical component and calculations remain strictly about the 2-Step Challenge.

FTMO 2-Step Challenge Prices Run from €89 to €1,080 Before Discounts

For the global 2-Step reference checked on September 7, 2026, the reviewed catalog records five USD-denominated simulated account sizes and EUR-denominated fees. The different currencies are deliberate: “$100K account” names the simulated balance, while “€540” is the reference Challenge fee. Do not relabel the fee as dollars.

These are reference figures, not a promise about the amount a particular reader will see. Region, base currency, tax, eligibility and a time-limited promotion can change checkout. Record the exact product, account size, currency, account type, fee and terms URL before paying. A search result for an FTMO discount code or Black Friday offer is not evidence that a promotion is current or available to your account.

That makes the sensible cost unit money paid across all attempts before a first approved Reward, not fee divided by simulated account size. Decide the maximum number of attempts in advance. If a second attempt would violate your budget, the apparent “refundable” label should not influence the first purchase.

The Daily and Maximum Loss Rules Are the Real Purchase Test

On the 2-Step product, the Maximum Daily Loss Amount is 5% of the initial simulated capital. FTMO recalculates the day’s equity floor at 00:00 CE(S)T by subtracting that fixed amount from the balance recorded at midnight. Equity includes the balance, floating profit or loss, swaps and commissions. A position can therefore breach the rule before it is closed.

The 10% Maximum Loss is static for 2-Step: on a $100K account, the equity floor remains $90,000 rather than following a new high. “Static” does not mean close-of-day only; equity is monitored, so floating losses and costs still matter. A daily floor can become the tighter constraint after a profitable midnight balance even while the overall floor stays fixed.

Trading-day, news and weekend details

A 2-Step trading day is counted when at least one position is opened on that CE(S)T date. Holding a single position across several dates does not create a new opening on every date. The four-day minimum applies separately to Challenge and Verification.

During the Evaluation Process, FTMO’s current FAQ says traders may hold positions overnight and through weekends, and may trade macroeconomic news, subject to forbidden-practice rules. On a subsequent Standard FTMO Account, selected news windows and weekend or long-market-break closures can apply. The Swing account type is the published exception. Check the account type and instrument schedule instead of carrying evaluation permissions into the Reward stage.

Platforms, markets and automation

The reviewed 2-Step catalog lists MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView. FTMO’s strategy FAQ allows discretionary and algorithmic approaches, including EAs, when the activity is legitimate, replicable under real-market conditions and does not use forbidden practices. That is not blanket approval for any purchased bot, latency exploit, copied account service or identical strategy across excess allocations.

The canonical card lists Forex, Indices, Metals and Crypto for this exact CFD scope. This review does not use that card to infer any other product route. If the public product menu changes, select the exact offering first and verify its own price, loss, instrument and payout documents before comparing it with 2-Step.

FTMO 2-Step Starts at an 80% Reward Ratio and Documents a Day-14 Request Path

FTMO’s current withdrawal FAQ says a 2-Step FTMO Trader receives 80% of eligible simulated profit, with a path to 90% through the Scaling Plan or Premium Programme. A Reward request becomes available on the 14th day or later after the first trade on that specific FTMO Account. Open positions and pending orders must be closed before the request.

The FAQ states that FTMO does not add a withdrawal commission. It also states minimum closed-profit thresholds of $20 for bank wire and $50 for cryptocurrency, while method-specific maximums include $20,000 for Visa Direct or Mastercard Send and $3,000 for Skrill. Availability and intermediary charges can vary, so the invoice, destination details and transaction record are the evidence for one actual Reward.

FTMO currently publishes a company-wide “paid in rewards” figure on its site. This review classifies that as a first-party aggregate claim. We did not verify an independent audit of the denominator, rejected requests, period coverage or full aggregate. It supports the fact that Rewards are a public part of the product, but it cannot establish a personal approval probability or guarantee.

FTMO’s Scaling Page Now States up to $2M, While Pre-Scale Allocation Is $400K

The earlier $400K “scaling cap” in this article mixed two different limits. FTMO’s current account FAQ sets a $400,000 maximum combined allocation before scaling per trader or strategy across 1-Step and 2-Step accounts. Its separate Scaling Plan now advertises growth up to $2,000,000 across all FTMO Accounts.

Scaling is conditional, periodic and based on simulated performance. It is not an immediate account-size upgrade, and the starting Challenge size still controls the initial FTMO Account. Treat the $2M figure as the endpoint of a published incentive path, not capital available on purchase or a forecast that a trader will reach it.

What FTMO Gets Right and Where the 2-Step Product Can Fail Your Fit

There is no context-free FTMO Fit Score in this review. A score that ignores program, region, account size, strategy distribution, hold pattern and fee budget would imply precision the evidence does not support. The component therefore reports TSB coverage and evidence confidence; the next section makes the trader profile explicit.

FTMO 2-Step Fits a Specific Disciplined CFD Profile

A plausible fit is a trader whose representative sample uses FTMO-supported CFD markets, whose largest modeled intraday equity decline stays comfortably below 5%, and whose overall drawdown stays below the static 10% floor after spreads, swaps and commissions. This trader can open positions on four separate days per phase, chooses Standard or Swing intentionally, accepts simulated capital, and can lose the entire fee without changing essential finances.

A poor fit is a trader who needs a regulated brokerage relationship, wants to withdraw the displayed balance, depends on unrestricted news execution in a Standard FTMO Account, routinely carries unmeasured floating loss across midnight, or must pass quickly to recover the fee. A new trader is not automatically disqualified, but an untested strategy plus a paid evaluation is an expensive way to discover basic risk statistics. Use the free trial and a dedicated FTMO trading journal first.

Compare FTMO with Alternatives Program by Program, Not Brand by Brand

A statement such as “FTMO is more expensive than FundedNext” is incomplete until it names the exact programs, region, account size, evaluation stage, currency and checked date. A futures subscription cannot be compared directly with a CFD one-time fee, and a 1-Step trailing-loss product is not the same risk proposition as the 2-Step static-loss product reviewed here.

Before replacing any useful comparison prose, review the page’s current GSC queries. Then normalize price, targets, daily and maximum loss, minimum days, Reward eligibility, platforms and restrictions at one scope. Keep the editorial verdict versioned even when the server catalog updates mutable facts. The FTMO vs FundedNext, FTMO vs The5ers and FTMO vs Topstep pages use that exact-program method.

Passing FTMO Comes Down to Risk Math Before Trade Selection

The useful planning number is not the full 5% daily limit. It is the smaller internal loss budget that leaves room for correlated positions, slippage, spreads, commissions, swaps and operational error. On a $100K 2-Step account, four separate 1% losses can leave very little space before the formal $5,000 daily amount; two or three correlated positions can behave like one oversized trade.

These rows are arithmetic examples, not a recommended position size or pass-rate forecast. Replay at least a representative losing period through the exact rule clock. Track midnight balance, intraday minimum equity, total open risk, costs and whether a new position was opened on the day. The position size calculator can translate a chosen risk amount into units; the how to pass FTMO guide covers the operating routine.

Set an internal stop below the formal limit and make it technically difficult to override. If the strategy only reaches the 10% target by spending most of the 5% daily allowance, the mismatch is structural. Unlimited time removes the need to manufacture trades; it does not turn a weak expectancy into a strong one.

FTMO Is a Strongly Documented Option, Not a Universal Safety Guarantee

The current evidence supports an identifiable, long-running evaluation service with public 2-Step objectives, a one-time reference fee, simulated accounts, a documented real-money Reward workflow, multiple platforms and a conditional scaling path. The most material corrections to the old review are equally clear: evaluation time is unlimited, the published scaling ceiling is now $2M, and company-wide payout totals remain first-party claims rather than independently audited proof.

Our editorial verdict is therefore profile-relative. FTMO 2-Step is reasonable to shortlist when a trader’s own data survives the exact static-loss model, the account type matches the holding pattern, the regional route is confirmed and the attempt fee is fully disposable. It is a poor purchase when the word “funded” is being mistaken for a brokerage deposit, the fee must be recovered, or the strategy needs exceptions to the published rules.

Before checkout, save the exact order summary and re-open the 2-Step product page, Trading Objectives, fee terms, Reward FAQ and your governing agreement. If any of them conflict with the article or canonical card, stop and send the page for editorial review.