FTMO is not a broker. Understanding that distinction is the starting point for everything else. It is a Prague-based evaluation platform that lets disciplined traders prove their skills in a simulated environment — and earn real cash performance rewards of up to 90% of simulated profits without ever risking their own trading capital. Since 2015, it has paid out more than $650 million to over 4.5 million customers across 140+ countries.
1. What FTMO Is (and What It Isn't)
The most common misconception about FTMO is that it operates like a brokerage firm where you deposit money and trade live markets. It does not. The company's full legal name is FTMO Evaluation Global s.r.o. (Identification No.: 092 13 651), headquartered at Quadrio offices, Purkynova 2121/3, Nové Město, Prague, Czech Republic.
FTMO operates entirely outside the regulatory perimeter of the Czech National Bank (CNB) and other financial supervisors — because all market activity on the platform uses fictitious capital in a simulated environment. It is registered as a commercial company delivering educational services, analytical software, and structured trading evaluations, not as a licensed investment firm.
✓ What FTMO Is
- Educational & evaluation provider (Prague, CZ)
- Simulated trading platform with live data feeds
- Performance reward grantor (up to 90% split)
- Software & analytics dashboard provider
- Czech commercial entity (non-financial)
✗ What FTMO Is Not
- A licensed financial brokerage
- A deposit-taking institution
- A regulated investment advisor
- A direct market counterparty
- Regulated by CNB or equivalent
All trading across FTMO Evaluation Challenges, Instant Accounts, and Sim-Funded accounts is conducted with fictitious funds in a simulated demo environment. Real-time market data is provided by third-party liquidity partners to replicate live conditions. Performance reward payouts are real cash — but they come from FTMO's corporate funds based on your simulated P&L, not from market gains.
2. How the FTMO Model Works: From Demo to Real Rewards
The mechanism that converts simulated trading performance into real monetary rewards sounds paradoxical at first. Here is how it works in practice.
Once in a Sim-Funded account, your simulated P&L is tracked against real-world bid-ask spreads, commissions, daily swap rates, and overnight financing fees — so the performance metrics reflect what would have happened on a live account. Verified profits then become eligible for contractual payout requests at your plan's reward ratio (up to 90%).
3. Regional Access: Global vs. US Traders
FTMO's product availability varies significantly by region. This is one of the most practically important distinctions for new traders to understand before signing up.
- Global (140+ countries): Full access to both CFD evaluations (Forex, Indices, Commodities) and Futures evaluations.
- United States: Due to US regulatory constraints, American traders are restricted exclusively to Futures evaluation products. CFD challenges are not permitted.
- Australia: Access is available but certain product restrictions may apply — verify locally before subscribing.
4. CFD Evaluation Paths
CFD evaluations are available in account sizes from $10,000 to $200,000 (also offered in EUR, GBP, and other currencies). There are three main routes:
2-Step Challenge (Traditional Route)
The most popular path. Two evaluation phases must be passed consecutively:
- Phase 1: 10% profit target, 5% max daily loss, 10% max loss, minimum 4 trading days
- Phase 2: 5% profit target, same risk rules
- Fee: One-time, 100% refunded upon successfully passing both phases
1-Step Challenge
A single-phase evaluation with tighter rules designed for experienced traders:
- 10% profit target, 3% max daily loss (stricter), 10% max loss
- 50% consistency rule applies during evaluation
- Faster path to Sim-Funded status but less margin for error on daily drawdown
Instant Account
No evaluation phase — direct access to a Sim-Funded account with immediate reward eligibility:
- 10% max loss, 3% max daily loss, up to 1:100 leverage, 30% consistency rule
- Up to 90% profit split available immediately
- Constraint: Only one active Instant Account permitted at a time (per Clause 3.15 of FTMO Terms)
Standard vs. Swing Accounts
When configuring a CFD Challenge, you also choose between two operational modes:
- Standard: No trading during high-impact news releases (2 minutes either side). All positions must be closed before weekends once in the funded stage.
- Swing: News trading and overnight/weekend position holding are permitted. Not available on 1-Step Challenges.
Account type modifications (Standard ↔ Swing) can only be processed before placing the first trade or following a reward withdrawal. Plan your trading style before you begin.
5. Understanding Risk Limits
FTMO's risk framework is strict by design — the entire premise is that you demonstrate disciplined risk management, not just profitability. Two limits govern every account simultaneously:
| Limit Type | What It Measures | Breach Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Daily Loss Limit | Maximum loss allowed within a single calendar day | Immediate evaluation failure or Sim-Funded account forfeiture |
| Max Drawdown (EoD Trailing) | Trailing limit based on End-of-Day equity high — moves up as you profit, never down | Immediate evaluation failure or Sim-Funded account forfeiture |
Hitting either the Daily Loss Limit or the Max Drawdown threshold at any point during the trading day results in immediate disqualification of the evaluation or forfeiture of the Sim-Funded account. There is no partial breach — it is binary. The EoD Trailing Drawdown is particularly important to track: as your balance grows, the trailing floor rises with it, reducing the room you have to absorb adverse moves.
6. The Consistency Rule Explained
The consistency rule prevents traders from "spiking" their evaluation with one enormous winning day and coasting. It sets a ceiling on the proportion of your total profit target that any single trading day can contribute.
On the Futures Growth path, no single day can account for more than 40% of your total evaluation profit target. On the Pro path, the ceiling is 50%, allowing for slightly more concentrated winning days. The critical point — often missed by new traders — is that the consistency rule applies only during evaluation. Once you are in a Sim-Funded account, it is removed entirely across both Growth and Pro plans.
7. FTMO Futures: Growth vs. Pro Plans
FTMO Futures operates on a monthly subscription model (no one-time activation fee) across three account tiers: $50K, $100K, and $150K. The choice between Growth and Pro is essentially a trade-off between affordability and payout potential.
| Parameter | Growth ($50K) | Pro ($50K) | Growth ($100K) | Pro ($100K) | Growth ($150K) | Pro ($150K) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription | $119/mo | $139/mo | $169/mo | $199/mo | $229/mo | $269/mo |
| Profit Target | $3,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| Max Drawdown (EoD) | $2,000 | $3,000 | $3,500 | $4,500 | $5,000 | $6,000 |
| Daily Loss Limit | $1,000 Soft | $1,000 Hard | $2,000 Soft | $1,500 Hard | $3,000 Soft | $2,000 Hard |
| Payout Cap / request | $2,500 | $5,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $4,000 | $8,000 |
| Withdrawable Share | 50% | 100% | 50% | 100% | 50% | 100% |
| Payout Frequency | Every 4 days (Growth) / Every 5 days (Pro) | Every 4 days / Every 5 days | Every 4 days / Every 5 days | |||
A Soft daily loss limit ends your trading for that calendar day only — you are not disqualified from the evaluation. A Hard daily loss limit is an immediate terminal breach: hitting it at any moment terminates the evaluation or forfeits the Sim-Funded account. The Pro plan enforces a Hard limit in both evaluation and Sim-Funded stages. Choose based on your intraday volatility tolerance.
Capital Allocation Limits
FTMO enforces firm-wide aggregate capital limits to manage platform exposure:
- Concurrent accounts: A single trader may hold up to 3 concurrent Sim-Funded accounts across Futures Growth and Pro plans
- Legal capital ceiling: The hard contractual cap (Clause 5.8.5) is USD 400,000 in aggregate initial simulated capital per natural person or affiliated group across all active accounts. Marketing figures may reference "$450,000" (3 × $150K), but the enforceable legal ceiling is $400,000.
8. Trading Platforms & Tools
FTMO supports four trading platforms:
- MetaTrader 4 & 5 (MT4/MT5): Full support for Expert Advisors (EAs) and custom indicators
- cTrader: Advanced order management, depth of market, rapid execution
- TradingView: Chart-based execution via the OANDA broker integration (Futures traders receive live CME price data)
The proprietary analytics suite inside the FTMO client area includes:
- Account MetriX: Real-time equity curves, drawdown tracking, daily loss distance, profit target progress
- Economic Calendar: High-impact news tracker for Standard account news restriction management
- Equity Simulator & Trading Journal: Backtesting and trade documentation tools
- Leaderboard: Public ranking of top simulated account metrics globally
Educational Ecosystem
- FTMO Academy: 50+ video modules covering market mechanics, risk management, and trading psychology
- YouTube Channel: 400,000+ subscribers with mentor breakdowns and trader interviews
- Discord Community: 100,000+ active members sharing real-time market analysis
- 24/7 Multi-Lingual Support: 60+ specialists across 21 languages via Live Chat, Email, Phone (+420 910 920 310), and WhatsApp
9. Our Verdict: Who Is FTMO For?
FTMO is the benchmark in the prop trading evaluation industry, and its longevity since 2015 with over $650 million in payouts demonstrates it is legitimate. But it is not suitable for everyone.
Traders with a proven, rules-based strategy who want to scale capital without risking personal savings. Especially compelling for Futures traders who benefit from the subscription model, live CME data, and no activation fees. Also well-suited for traders who can operate within defined risk parameters and want a structured payout framework.
Monthly subscription fees on Futures plans are an ongoing cost whether or not you are profitable. The EoD Trailing Drawdown on Futures accounts can tighten significantly as your balance rises, increasing pressure on risk management at scale. And the Sim-Funded stage, while generating real rewards, is still a simulated environment — behaviour in a live account under real market stress can differ meaningfully from simulated performance.