Author: Eduardo Montero
Last Updated on June 5, 2023
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FTMO is a proprietary trading firm, considered by some media and traders to be the best of its kind. The company was founded in 2015, so it is relatively young compared to others prop firms that have been in the market for more than 10 years. Even so, the Czech Republic-based company has been growing steadily, funding more than 10,000 traders in more than 180 different countries.
The firm’s goal is to find traders who are experienced in the markets but do not have the financial conditions to trade in a favourable environment with adequate capital.
To determine whether a trader qualifies for an FTMO funded account, this prop trading firm has developed a two-step evaluation process, the FTMO Challenge and Verification, which must be passed in order to manage up to $400,000 of capital, with the possibility to grow this figure up to $2 million following its scaling plan.
One of the main features that makes FTMO an attractive option is the profit split, where traders take up to 90% of all profits, without taking any losses.
According to the company, they are very clear that the traders’ journey can be challenging, so to help them develop, they have created various tools and educational materials, which we will detail below.
On the other hand, they provide 3 leading trading platforms in the investment industry, in this case MetaTrader 5, MetaTrader 4 and cTrader.
To all this we must add the more than 2000 ratings on Trustpilot and more than 500 reviews on Forexpeacearmy with scores of 4.9 and 4.39 respectively.
But this is just a summary, throughout this review you will find everything you need to know about FTMO.
In this article you can find a complete comparison table between the features of FTMO and its main competitors and alternatives:
FTMO vs Topstep vs Blufx vs Fidelcrest vs The5ers vs City Traders Imperium Vs My Forex Funds
Is FTMO reliable?
Like most proprietary trading firms, FTMO is not supervised by any regulatory body, as the funds used are solely the company’s own private funds, and not liquidity providers such as banks or financial institutions, nor traders’ own money.
This does not mean that it is a fraudulent prop firm, only that in case of insolvency or eventual bankruptcy the clients are not fully protected if they have undrawn profits.
In this case we can only be guided by the comments left by its users on platforms such as Trustpilot, Forexpeacearmy, Forexfactory, among others, where they have even left proof of payment like this one:
According to the prop trading firm itself they have paid only in 2021 more than 27 million dollars to their traders, located in more than 180 countries around the world.
On the other hand, they have a public address to which you can turn to in case of major problems, located at Purkynova 2121/3 110 00 Prague, Czech Republic.
What are the opinions of FTMO users?
Undoubtedly, the reviews, opinions and comments of the users of any company say a lot about how good or bad it can be. That is why we value and analyse each of these ratings, seeking to find both strong and weak points of the company in question.
In this section, we would like to show some of the most relevant and well-founded opinions we have found about FTMO, in order to get an idea of what their customers think of this company.
The vast majority of reviews found rate FTMO as not one of the best, but the best proprietary trading firm.
They also rate the customer service as fast and efficient, responding to questions quickly and with accurate answers.
They also comment that it is a real company, which pays its clients what it promises, including the return of the payment for the evaluation, and the best thing: in quite short periods of time.
On the other hand, many say it has competitive spreads and commissions, and excellent trading conditions in general.
We have also found comments highlighting the clear and simple rules of the evaluation program, which also forces the trader to be more disciplined at all times.
How does FTMO work?
The way FTMO works is not very different from other prop trading firms, they basically require you to pass an evaluation process (two-stage in this case), which will help them choose the best traders, those who demonstrate experience in the markets, to put the company’s money in their hands with the aim of sharing the profits. If you are interested in companies without an evaluation process you can see this list: Prop firms without evaluation.
How does the FTMO evaluation process work?
Before you can make real profits with FTMO you need to go through an evaluation process, which consists of two steps, with FTMO Challenge being the first and Verification being the second.
Step 1: FTMO Challenge
This is a first step lasting between 4 days (minimum) and 30 days (maximum) that assures the prop trading firm that the trader can be profitable, trade responsibly and manage risk appropriately.
This first phase has (according to the company) reasonable rules, in which it keeps both the profit target and the allowed losses in a healthy balance.
These rules are part of what they call “trading objectives”.
On the other hand, the evaluation has a one-time fee that is paid only once at the beginning of this first phase, no monthly or recurring payments.
Both the objectives and the cost of access to the evaluation will vary depending on the package you have chosen, which essentially defines the size of the account you will be managing once you have passed the full testing process.
Step 2: Verification
The verification stage (available only if you pass the first step) is the second and final phase of the FTMO evaluation, whose main purpose is to verify the trader’s consistency, making sure that the trader can execute his trading strategy or system profitably over the long term, all in compliance with the prop firm’s own rules.
Being only a verification phase, the trading objectives are much simpler compared to the first stage, where the profit objectives are reduced by half, while the time you have to achieve it is double, that is, 60 days, that is, keeping the minimum time in 4 days.
On the other hand, this phase is free of charge, as the entire process is paid for once at the beginning.
You can find all the information about the FTMO evaluation process on the official website of this proprietary trading firm: https://ftmo.com/
Available packages
With FTMO you will have the possibility to choose between 9 available packages, 5 in Normal mode, and 4 in Aggressive mode.
The main differences between each of the packages are the profit targets, the overall and daily maximum loss, as well as the cost of the evaluation and the account size you will be given access to once you pass the evaluation process.
Account sizes range from $10,000 to $200,000 in normal mode, and up to $100,000 in aggressive mode, with costs ranging from €155 to €1080.
At this point, it is worth noting that this one-off payment that you must make to access the challenge, if you are successful, will be 100% refunded.
You can see this in more detail in the images below.
Normal mode packages:
Aggressive mode packs:
As you can see, they all have in common the minimum days required and the total time of the Challenge phase. If you prefer, you can see this list of prop firms with no minimum trading days.
FTMO Rules
In the case of FTMO, the rules are quite simple and transparent, however you should be aware that in the evaluation stage there may be fewer restrictions than in the funded account, such as being able to trade during news.
To be more precise, you will be able to trade during news in either of the two evaluation phases, but once you have reached the targets and moved to the funded account, there will be some restrictions on this.
In this regard, the firm has a calendar of important news or events, including restricted ones, which are marked in red. No trader in FTMO Trader or FTMO Aggressive Trader account will be able to open or close trades within 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after the start time of the restricted news or event.
In the case of instruments and strategies, there are no rules or limitations in this proprietary trading firm. You may trade all instruments available on the trading platform and use any strategy, including hedging and algorithmic trading through Expert Advisors (EAs), as long as it does not violate risk management rules such as maximum daily loss, or maximum overall loss.
The latter two rules set clear limitations on how much you can lose in a day, or overall, which of course, the value set will depend on the size of the account you are managing, both at the valuation and funded account stage.
Below you can see the values set for each of the accounts offered by FTMO:
Normal Mode Rules:
Aggressive Mode Rules:
In addition, there is a rule that applies to FTMO Trader and FTMO Trader Aggressive accounts, which does not allow you to hold open positions over the weekend, nor in instruments where the rollover (market pause) is longer than 2 hours. On the contrary, this is allowed in the evaluation stages (Challenge and Verification).
To summarise, the rules you must comply with are as follows:
- Do not exceed the maximum daily loss set for each type of account.
- Do not exceed the maximum total loss set for each account.
- Do not hold open positions overnight or in instruments with a rollover of more than 2 hours (in FTMO Trader and FTMO Trader Aggressive accounts, whatever their size).
- Not to open or close positions during news signalled by the firm (on FTMO Trader and FTMO Trader Aggressive accounts, whatever their size).
You can see in detail all the FTMO rules on their website: https://ftmo.com/
Financial instruments available
Another good thing about FTMO that attracts the attention of many traders who want a funded account is the number and variety of financial instruments it offers, specifically:
- Forex (Majors, Minors, and Exotics)
- Metals (CFDs)
- Futures (CFDs)
- Stocks (CFDs)
- Cryptocurrencies (CFDs)
Below are some of the main assets available at FTMO.
Forex:
Metals:
Futures:
If you are interested in futures trading check out this list of the best prop firms for futures.
Stocks:
Cryptocurrencies (View comparative of crypto prop trading firms):
Leverage
FTMO is not one of the prop trading firms with the highest level of leverage allowed, but neither is it one of the least leveraged. In the case of this prop firm you can trade with a multiplier of up to 1:100, without any restrictions on the size of trades.
Trading platforms
You will be able to trade on any of FTMO’s accounts with any of the three platforms offered by the firm, which in this case are:
- MetaTrader 4
- MetaTrader 5
- cTrader
The three most popular trading platforms of all time. Therefore you can take advantage of all their features and tools to your advantage for free, i.e. at no additional cost.
The historical and real-time data that feeds these platforms comes directly from the main liquidity provider, and according to the proprietary firm, they strive to simulate as closely as possible a real environment with low spreads and commissions on each of their accounts.
FTMO’s scaling plan
FTMO’s scaling plan enables traders to progressively increase the available capital in their account, allowing for greater profit potential.
Now, it is important that you understand and know how this scaling plan works.
First of all, you should know that the capital increases in the FMTO Trader account are carried out every four months, if you have met the objectives or scaling requirements.
For a capital increase you must bring the initial balance of your account 10% higher over the four trading cycles, i.e. maintain an average monthly profit of 2.5% or higher.
At the same time, 2 of these 4 months must have been profitable, i.e. have ended with a higher balance than the initial balance.
To scale your account, you need do nothing more than comply with the above rules, as the verification process is done automatically, and the trader is even shown a breakdown of progress based on the requirements.
After 4 months, if the trader complies with the rules of escalation to the next level, he/she will be eligible again for a new capital increase of 25% of the initial balance, and so on in each cycle.
On the other hand you should know that the account can only be scaled up to the limit of $2,000,000 in the case of standard accounts and $1,000,000 if it is an Aggressive FTMO account.
Another thing you should know is that traders who have scaled their accounts will get a profit split ratio of 90% of everything generated, but this is only for newly scaled accounts, not for newly merged accounts with scaled accounts, in the latter case, the profit split will be 80/20.
The following image shows a scenario where a trader successfully passed the evaluation process with an initial balance of $400,000, and then met the conditions required for the capital increase.
As you can see, in a favourable scenario, after 1 year and 3 months the trader has double the initial balance, and therefore double the loss limits.
How does the FTMO work after passing the challenge?
First of all we must know that the account that FTMO gives us after passing the evaluation and verification process, is not a real account, but a demo account with virtual balance, because according to them, they copy the operations at their discretion using aggregated orders, thanks to their own management algorithm.
Profit sharing
Just because you are trading with virtual funds does not mean that the profits are also virtual, on the contrary, FTMO is one of the best prop trading firms with the best profit split, where the trader takes up to 90% of the profits, leaving only 10% for the company.
This distribution model applies to scaled accounts, however, in non scaled accounts, the percentage will be distributed 80/20, 80% for the trader, and 20% for the proprietary trading firm.
It is important to know that unlike other firms such as My Forex Funds (access here to the My Forex Funds Review), where you can generate profits even at the evaluation stage (if you choose this type of account), with FTMO you will only see real income when you successfully pass the two evaluation stages.
Withdrawal of profits
FTMO payouts are made by default once a month, 14 calendar days after the first trade on the account. However, this payout day can be changed up to three times for each withdrawal at any time between 14 and 60 days after you start trading.
It is important to note that if you do not change the payout day before the end of the cycle, the default payout day will be anchored to the last day of that reference period until the next cycle.
Payments are processed within 1 to 2 business days after confirming the invoice, and you can receive payments via bank transfer, Skrill, or cryptocurrencies, without any associated fees or commissions.
You can keep your profits in the account and not withdraw them in order to increase the account equity and have a buffer against losses, but you should know that the firm will always withdraw its profits on payout day.
FTMO tools and educational material
FTMO seems to think about their traders’ learning, because if they are winning, so is the prop fim too. For this reason they have developed several tools that will allow the trader, from gaining more discipline, to keeping a trading diary and analysing the market better.
If we refer to the tools, FTMO puts at our disposal a group of them:
- Statistics App: This specific app will show the trader significant and numerical probabilities of market behaviour in real time, and you can use this to your advantage.
- Mentor App: An app focused on strengthening the trader’s discipline, in order to achieve better results.
- Trading journal: A tool that will allow you to automatically archive the record of all your trades. A functionality that many appreciate considering that few of us like to do this manually.
- Account MetriX: This innovative web tool is only usable by traders who are in the evaluation process, as its function is to monitor the progress of each trader until they become an FTMO Trader.
- Account Analysis: This app shows an unbiased view of your trading results.
- Performance Coach: An app to support the trader in the aspect of psychology, a factor that we too often ignore and which forms a large percentage of our success.
- Capital Simulator: This is an internal tool found in your MetriX Account, which allows you to improve your risk management and calculate the possibilities based on your current trading performance.
But that’s not all, you can also use as a tool its economic calendar, in which you will have available the most important news and events classified by financial instruments, etc..
On the other hand, in terms of educational materials, FTMO has also created a lot of valuable content for traders, both in video and text format from its blog.
With all these tools and educational materials, you will not feel alone in the lonely business of online trading.
FTMO Customer Support
The customer service at FTMO is one of the best you will find. This is evidenced by all the positive feedback this prop trading firm has received in this regard.
The means by which you can contact the company for assistance are:
- Online chat
- Phone
All of them are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except for telephone calls, which are only answered from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm CE (S) T, Monday to Friday.
In addition, if you have the possibility, you can also visit the physical offices in the Czech Republic, whose full address is:
Purkynova 2121/3, 110 00 Prague, Czech Republic.
Conclusion
Let us now look at a summary of all the positive (advantages) and negative (disadvantages) features of the FTMO prop firm.
Pros of FTMO
- Excellent reputation and extensive experience, which has enabled it to position itself as a prop firm leader in the sector.
- It has one of the best profit split schemes, where the trader can earn up to 90% of the profits, and at least 80%.
- Thanks to the generous leverage of 1:100 and the scaling plan, you can manage up to $2,000,000 of capital.
- No recurring payments, just a one-off payment on account opening that is 100% reimbursed to you after passing the evaluation stage.
- No restrictions on the use of any strategy or limits on the size of trades, so you can trade freely.
- Clear, transparent and simple rules.
- FTMO not only provides you with tools to analyse the performance of your trades, or improve risk management, but has also created some tools to help you with psychology and discipline, so you can make the most of your trading.
- Ability to withdraw your profits by bank transfer, Skrill, or even cryptocurrencies, at any time after 14 days from the first trade!
Cons of FTMO
- 2-stage evaluation process, which makes it a bit slower than other proprietary trading companies.
- The funded account the company gives you when you pass the evaluation stage is a demo account with a virtual balance, unlike most prop trading firms where the account you trade on is a live account.
- According to the company the trades are replicated on your live account at their discretion and even with modifications in some cases, although this does not affect your profits, it may raise questions as to whether there could ever be a conflict of interest between FTMO and the trader.
FTMO’s main differences from other prop firms
FTMO has been able to differentiate itself from other prop trading firms thanks to its simple rules, which are very easy to understand and follow. Compared to other proprietary trading firms these rules are simpler than those of e.g. My Forex Funds, similar to those of Topstep (Topstep Review) or Fidelcrest (Fidelcrest Review) and slightly more demanding than those of The Funded Trader (The Funded Trader Review) or SurgeTrader (SurgeTrader Review) where in addition the evaluation phase is a single step.
On the other hand, the profit split is one of the best, giving up to 90% of the profits to the trader.
It also offers unique tools and materials that you cannot find in other companies of its kind.
The FTMO customer service, offered in more than 15 languages, is one of the best and has the highest rating on Trustpilot at the moment, reaching 4.9 with more than 2000 reviews.
As you may have noticed, we are talking about one of the leading proprietary trading firms in the industry, in fact, for many it is the best prop firm you can find right now.
For this reason I encourage you to take a look at their website (https://ftmo.com/) and try them out, remember you can start with a free 14 day demo account, before paying for any packages.
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Author: Eduardo Montero
I'm Eduardo Montero. Computer scientist by profession and passionate about online trading with more than 10 years of experience in the financial markets. I'm the author of hundreds of articles published in other websites about the online trading industry. Learn more about me here: About the author.