Best Prop Trading Firms — November 2025 (Updated List)

• FTMO Challenge (Two-Phase Evaluation)
• FTMO One (Single-Phase Evaluation)
• Swing, Standard, and Aggressive Trading Modes
• Funded Accounts with 80–90% Profit Split
• Automatic Scaling Plan up to $2M

FTMO offers a structured automatic scaling system designed to reward consistent traders with larger account sizes and higher profit splits.

Requirements:

• Maintain a minimum 4-month trading cycle.

• Achieve at least 10% total net simulated profit over the cycle.

• Complete a minimum of 2 successful payouts within the period.

• End the cycle with a positive account balance.

Benefits of Scaling:

• Your account balance increases by 25% after each successful scaling cycle.

• Profit split is upgraded from 80% to 90% once scaling criteria are met.

• Capital can scale up to $2,000,000, depending on performance.

• Scaling continues automatically every time the requirements are fulfilled.

Additional Notes:

• FTMO applies scaling to each account individually.

• Combined capital limits apply (400K Standard, 600K Prime, 1M Supreme Prime), but scaling can extend the total allocation beyond these amounts.

Maximum Daily Loss

The Maximum Daily Loss limit is 5% for Standard accounts and 10% for Aggressive accounts. This rule applies in both Challenge and Verification phases.

How It Is Calculated

• Calculated from the higher of:
  • Account balance at the start of the day, or
  • Account equity at the start of the day.

• Includes both closed and floating (open) positions.

• If your equity drops by more than the allowed percentage at any moment, the account is breached.

Example (Standard Account)

• Start-of-day balance: $100,000

• 5% daily loss limit → $5,000

• If your closed losses + floating losses exceed $5,000 at any moment, the account fails.

Breaching this rule results in immediate loss of the account, even if the breach is caused by open positions.

Maximum Overall Loss

Drawdown Model

FTMO uses a static drawdown model, where both loss limits are fixed relative to your account balance and do not trail with equity.

Key Points

• Daily Loss Limit: Fixed at 5% (Standard) or 10% (Aggressive).

• Overall Loss Limit: Fixed at 10% (Standard) or 20% (Aggressive).

• Limits are calculated from the starting balance (adjusted only when equity grows).

• Applies to both floating (open) and realized (closed) losses.

• The drawdown does not trail like some prop firms’ models; it remains static unless your account balance increases.

This structure ensures predictable and stable risk thresholds throughout the Challenge, Verification, and funded periods.

3 Percent Rule

No explicit three percent rule is published; traders mainly follow 5 percent daily and 10 percent overall loss rules.

Consistency Rules

No strict consistency score, but large lot size spikes or highly unbalanced trading may be reviewed during evaluation and funded stages.

Other Risk Rules

FTMO enforces several additional risk and conduct rules to ensure fair trading and protect platform integrity. These vary slightly by account type.

Trading Restrictions

• Weekend Holding:
  • Allowed on Swing Accounts (evaluation + funded).
  • Not allowed on Standard/Aggressive funded accounts — all positions must be closed before the weekend.

• News Trading:
  • Allowed on Swing Accounts.
  • Allowed during evaluation on Standard/Aggressive.
  • Not allowed on Standard/Aggressive funded accounts within 2 minutes before or after high-impact news on the affected instrument.

Strategy & Behaviour Rules

• Abusive, high-frequency, or latency-based strategies are prohibited.

• Third-party EAs are strictly prohibited.

• Copy trading: You may copy your own accounts, but copying other traders is not allowed.

• Third-party trading: No one else may trade your account.

• Position size anomalies: Opening unusually large or inconsistent lot sizes compared to your historical behaviour may lead to breach.

• Forbidden trading practices: FTMO may disqualify trades deemed manipulative, risky, or exploitative (as listed on their “Gambling Is Not The Right Way To Make Money” guidelines).

Activity Rules

• Minimum 4 trading days required per evaluation phase.

• Inactivity rule: You must place at least one trade every 30 days or request an account freeze to avoid termination.

These rules apply across Challenge, Verification, and funded stages depending on the account type.

Commissions

FTMO charges commissions on most instruments, and the exact cost varies depending on the asset type.

FX

• Standard commission is $5 per round-turn lot.

Metals

• Charged as 0.0014% of volume.

Indices & Energy

• $0 commission on most index and energy CFDs.

Crypto

• Commission is 0.0650% of volume.

Stocks

• Commission is 0.0040% of volume.

Additional Notes

• FX commission typically ranges between $5–$7 per lot, depending on instrument and liquidity conditions.

• All commissions apply during Challenge, Verification, and Funded stages.

• Spreads are RAW-style, so commissions form the primary trading cost.

FTMO provides high-quality RAW spreads, sourced directly from institutional liquidity providers. Major FX pairs often average 0.22 pips (EUR/USD), with similarly competitive pricing on indices and metals. Spreads remain stable during normal market hours, with widening only during low-liquidity periods or major news events.

FTMO operates on a market execution model, meaning trades can experience both positive and negative slippage. Slippage can occur during high-impact news, spreads widening, or low-liquidity periods. FTMO routes orders to institutional liquidity providers and mirrors trades internally, so fills are designed to match real-market conditions as closely as possible. Extreme slippage or latency-based strategies are prohibited.

Payout Frequency

FTMO offers flexible payout scheduling. Traders can request a payout after 14 days from the first trade, instead of waiting for the month-end cycle.

How It Works:

• Standard payout cycle is monthly.

• You may request an early payout any time after 14 days from your first trade.

• You can choose your preferred payout day after the 14-day mark.

• FTMO typically processes payouts within 1–2 business days.

• No withdrawal fees are charged.

Minimum Payout Amount:

• $20 for bank wire

• $50 for crypto payouts

Payout Processing

FTMO processes payout requests within 1–2 business days after the request is submitted. Processing time may vary slightly depending on the chosen payout method (bank transfer, crypto, Skrill, or Visa Direct), but most withdrawals are completed very quickly once approved.

Refund Policy

FTMO refunds the full evaluation fee with your first payout, provided you successfully complete both the Challenge and Verification phases and receive a funded account.

Key Points:

• The fee is 100% refunded during your first profit withdrawal.

• Refund applies once per successful evaluation.

• Refund is returned in the same payment method originally used.

Fee Range:

• Evaluation fees vary from €89 to €1,080, depending on the selected account size and type.

• FTMO occasionally offers promotional discounts that temporarily reduce the cost of entry.

FTMO permits news trading depending on the account type:

Swing Accounts:

• News trading is fully allowed during both evaluation and funded stages.

• Positions may be held through all news events, including high-impact releases.

Standard & Aggressive Accounts:

• Allowed during the Challenge and Verification phases.

• Not allowed while funded on targeted instruments within 2 minutes before or after significant high-impact news (as listed on the FTMO Economic Calendar).

• Non-affected instruments remain tradable during the restricted window.

FTMO applies different weekend holding rules depending on the account type:

Swing Accounts

• Weekend holding is fully allowed.

• Traders may keep positions open through Fridays, market rollovers, and major market events.

• Applies in both evaluation and funded phases.

Standard & Aggressive Accounts

• Weekend holding is not allowed once funded.

• All open positions must be closed before the market closes for the weekend.

• The same restriction applies to any market break longer than 2 hours.

• During the Challenge and Verification, weekend holding may have fewer restrictions but still follows platform trading hours.

FTMO allows copy trading only under strict conditions to ensure fairness and prevent abusive strategies.

Permitted:

• You may copy your own accounts within FTMO (for example, managing multiple funded or evaluation accounts simultaneously).

• Internal mirroring across your own MetaTrader or cTrader accounts is allowed as long as you respect the maximum capital allocation rule (400K per strategy, higher with Prime tiers).

Not Permitted:

• Copying trades from other traders is strictly prohibited.

• Signal services, trade mirroring services, and social/copy platforms (e.g., MQL5 signals, Telegram copier feeds) cannot be used.

• You may not allow any third party to manage or trade your FTMO account.

• Any pattern identical to another trader’s activity may be flagged as a breach and can result in account termination.

Additional Notes:

• Trade copying speed must not exploit latency, arbitrage, or tick manipulation.

• All trade behaviour must reflect your own strategy and risk profile.

FTMO permits the use of Expert Advisors (EAs) with important restrictions designed to prevent abusive or non-genuine trading behaviour.

Permitted:

• You may use your own personal EAs that reflect your own trading strategy.

• Custom-developed EAs, algorithmic systems, and robots are allowed as long as you are the owner and creator of the system.

• EAs must follow all standard FTMO rules, including loss limits, news restrictions (for Standard/Aggressive funded accounts), and consistency requirements.

Not Permitted:

• Third-party EAs are strictly prohibited.

• Market-purchased, rented, or publicly shared EAs (e.g., Telegram bots, “gold scalpers,” grid/martingale products) are not allowed.

• High-frequency trading (HFT), latency arbitrage, tick manipulation, or any EA designed to exploit execution speed differences is forbidden.

• Any EA that results in suspiciously identical trading patterns to other traders will be considered a rules breach.

Additional Notes:

• You must remain the sole operator of your EA.

• EA behaviour that violates risk rules (e.g., opening unusually large position sizes) may result in account breach.

FTMO enforces strict rules against abusive, manipulative, or non-genuine trading practices. Any strategy designed to exploit platform mechanics rather than market conditions is forbidden.

Explicitly Prohibited:

• High-Frequency Trading (HFT) or ultra-fast execution exploiting millisecond latency

• Latency arbitrage, including VPS-based feed delay exploitation

• Tick scalping, quote manipulation, or exploiting price–feed imperfections

• Grid, martingale, or recovery systems that accumulate excessive risk

• Copying other traders’ accounts or signals, including Telegram copiers

• Using third-party EAs, rented bots, or publicly distributed algorithms

• Reverse arbitrage between FTMO accounts and external brokers

• Gambling-style trading, such as random oversized positions or “all-in” trades

• Hedging between two FTMO accounts, or hedging an FTMO account against an external live account

• Strategy flipping, where the system behaves unnaturally during Verification just to pass

• Abuse of news volatility, such as spiking micro-lot spam orders around releases

• Trading behaviour inconsistent with your evaluation phase method (e.g., suddenly using unusual lot sizes)

Additional Notes:

• FTMO reserves full discretion to label any behaviour as “forbidden trading practice” if it undermines fair use, even if not explicitly listed.

• Breaches can lead to immediate account termination without payout.

FTMO does not allow martingale strategies in any form. This includes both manual and automated versions.

Not Allowed:

• Classic martingale (doubling lot sizes after losses)

• Anti-martingale / reverse martingale

• Grid-martingale hybrids

• Any EA that increases position size exponentially after losing trades

• Recovery or “loss-chasing” systems designed to offset drawdowns with oversized trades

Why It’s Prohibited:

• Martingale creates unnatural risk spikes

• Violates consistency requirements and position-size rules

• Considered part of FTMO’s “forbidden trading practices”

• Often tied to grid systems, HFT, or gambling-style behaviour

Bottom Line:
Martingale and all variations of it are strictly prohibited on FTMO accounts, whether during Challenge, Verification, or Funded trading.

FTMO does not impose a fixed maximum lot size, but they enforce behaviour-based limits to prevent abusive or unrealistic trading.

Permitted:

• You may open any lot size that is reasonable and consistent with your usual trading behaviour.

• No hard cap is placed on order size as long as it fits within risk limits (daily and overall loss).

Not Permitted:

• Sudden oversized trades that are dramatically larger than your historical average.

• Inconsistent position sizing, such as opening unusually large lots only to hit targets quickly.

• Lot-size spiking, which FTMO classifies as a forbidden trading practice.

• Using lot sizes that clearly indicate gambling, martingale, or manipulation.

Additional Notes:

• Lot sizes must remain proportional to your strategy and previous trading history.

• FTMO reviews account behaviour, not just numerical limits; unreasonable lot sizes may trigger disqualification even if risk rules are not breached.

Summary:
No fixed maximum lot size, but lot-size behaviour must remain consistent, realistic, and aligned with your trading strategy.

FTMO does not limit traders by a fixed number of accounts.
Instead, they enforce a maximum capital allocation per strategy, which determines how many accounts you can hold at one time.

Capital Allocation Limits:

• Standard Allocation: Up to $400,000 per strategy per person

• Prime Status: Up to $600,000

• Supreme Prime: Up to $1,000,000

How account count works:

• You may hold multiple accounts as long as the combined simulated capital does not exceed the allocation cap.

• For example, a trader can hold:

  • Four × $100K accounts

  • Two × $200K accounts

  • Or ten smaller accounts
    as long as the total stays within the allowed capital limit.

Additional Notes:

• Accounts must use the same strategy to be counted together.

• Different strategies may have their own separate allocation limits.

• Merge requests are allowed for accounts with the same parameters (platform, type, currency, etc.).

KYC is required before obtaining a funded account, meaning:

• KYC must be completed before FTMO issues the funded account,

• and before any payout can be processed.

Empowering your Success on All Major Trading Platforms

Evaluation

Scaling available after 10% profit

Trailing-to-BE

Daily 3% rule applies

Consistency score required for reward tiers

Avoid news scalping and aggressive grid strategies

$5 per FX lot on challenge; zero-commission model available

Medium

LP-dependent slippage during volatile events

On-demand

Refund after first payout on Evaluation accounts

Allowed with restrictions

Allowed with restrictions

Allowed internally

Allowed with restrictions

No HFT, no latency, no arbitrage

0

Lot-size limits for instant funding models

10

Before first payout

Funding Pips is a high-profile prop firm offering multiple challenge types (Instant Funding, 1-Step, 2-Step Standard and Pro), strict risk rules, and scaling up to $2,000,000 across MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and Match-Trader.

• FundingPips Zero (Instant Funding / No Evaluation)
• 1-Step Evaluation Challenges
• 2-Step Standard Evaluation Challenges
• 2-Step Pro Evaluation Challenges
• Scaling program with Hot Seat and up to $2M in simulated capital

Funding Pips uses a tiered scaling plan: Launchpad (after 4 payouts and 10% total profit, account grows by 20%), Ascender (after 8 payouts and 20% profit, account grows by 30%), Trailblazer (after 12 payouts and 30% profit, account grows by 40%), and Hot Seat (after 16 payouts and 40% profit, the account size doubles, you unlock on-demand payouts, a 100% profit split, and can scale up to $2,000,000 in simulated funding).

Funding Pips offers four main models: FundingPips Zero (Instant Funding) with no formal evaluation but a 4% effective target (3% buffer plus 1% profit) and strict rules; 1-Step Challenges with a 10% profit target in 30 days, 3% daily loss and 6% maximum loss; 2-Step Standard with a customizable Phase 1 profit target, 5% target in Phase 2, 5% daily loss and 10% maximum loss; and 2-Step Pro with customizable Phase 1, a 6% target in Phase 2, 3% daily loss and 6% maximum loss plus a 45% consistency requirement and only 1 minimum trading day per phase.

5

10

Evaluation accounts on 1-Step and 2-Step models use static maximum daily and overall loss limits (typically 3–5% daily and 6–10% overall), while FundingPips Zero uses a 5% trailing drawdown on equity together with a separate 1% floating loss cap on funded accounts.

A 3% rule applies on most evaluation and funded accounts (1-Step, 2-Step Standard and 2-Step Pro): no single loss or trade idea may exceed 3% of the account size, and splitting a position into multiple orders or re-entering in the same direction within 5 minutes is treated as one trade idea.

FundingPips Zero accounts must maintain a 15% consistency score, where the largest winning day cannot exceed 15% of total profits to request a reward; 2-Step Pro accounts have a 45% consistency requirement in both evaluation and funded stages; and to unlock the On-Demand (90%) payout cycle on 1-Step, 2-Step and Pro models, traders must keep any single trading day below 35% of total profits since the last reward.

Max single-position risk is capped at 1% per trade idea on evaluation accounts; FundingPips Zero funded accounts add a 1% floating loss cap and strict news and weekend restrictions; there is an inactivity rule requiring at least one opened and closed trade every 30 days, and Zero accounts must log 7 profitable days in each 30-day period; capital allocation across merged accounts is limited to $300,000 on standard sizes ($25K, $50K, $100K).

Forex and metals commissions are $7 per round-turn lot on FundingPips Zero accounts and $5 per lot on 1-Step, 2-Step Standard and 2-Step Pro accounts; crypto is charged at 0.04% of notional volume on all models, while indices and energy products are commission-free.

Funding Pips does not publish fixed average or minimum spread tables; instead it provides test credentials so traders can view live spreads directly. This offers real-market quotes but makes it difficult to compare pricing or know exact costs in advance.

Orders are executed with market-style fills that can experience positive or negative slippage, especially around news releases and low-liquidity periods; public trader reviews report larger-than-expected slippage and execution discrepancies on some accounts, so traders should test conditions with small size first.

1-Step and 2-Step models offer multiple reward cycles: Tuesday payouts at 60%, bi-weekly cycles at 80%, On-Demand cycles at 90%, and standard monthly cycles at 100%; FundingPips Pro uses a weekly 80% split, FundingPips Zero pays 95% bi-weekly, and Hot Seat scaling unlocks on-demand payouts at a 100% split.

Most payout requests are processed within 1 to 3 business days once approved; instant Visa and Mastercard withdrawals typically arrive within minutes after approval, while crypto payouts are usually completed within a few hours subject to network and provider delays.

Refund and discount policies vary by promotion; challenge fees are often partially or fully offset through periodic discounts, so traders should check current Funding Pips terms to confirm whether any evaluation fee refund applies with the first payout.

On 1-Step, 2-Step and 2-Step Pro accounts, news trading is allowed during the evaluation phase; on funded accounts, profits from trades opened less than 5 hours before and closed within 5 minutes before or after high-impact news generally do not count toward rewards unless you are on the On-Demand reward cycle where news restrictions are lifted; FundingPips Zero does not allow news trading.

Weekend holding is allowed on 1-Step, 2-Step and 2-Step Pro accounts, but FundingPips Zero accounts cannot hold positions over the weekend.

Copy trading between your own FundingPips accounts registered under the same individual is allowed, and a FundingPips account may act as a master to external slave accounts; through the PropFirmOne integration, traders can also mirror strategies across multiple firms while respecting FundingPips risk rules.

Expert Advisors are allowed as long as they act as trade or risk managers and comply with all risk and behaviour rules, while third-party or rented EAs and any automation designed for latency arbitrage, server spamming or other forbidden practices are not permitted.

Gap trading, server spamming, latency arbitrage, hedging across accounts, long-short arbitrage, reverse arbitrage, server execution exploits, opposite account trading and other abusive or high-frequency models are prohibited.

Classic high-risk martingale or grid-style position sizing is not explicitly listed in the rules, but the 1% per-trade risk cap, 3% single-loss rule and consistency requirements effectively prevent traditional martingale behaviour, so aggressive loss-chasing systems are discouraged and may be treated as violations.

Historical 10-lot daily caps have been removed for new 1-Step accounts, but practical limits still apply via the 1% max risk per trade idea, the 3% single-loss rule and overall drawdown limits, and some older or alternative models may retain additional explicit volume caps.

Standard FundingPips account sizes are $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000, and traders can merge or scale multiple accounts up to a combined maximum allocation of $300,000, subject to the firm’s capital allocation rules.

Full KYC is required before using the Rise payout platform and before withdrawals are processed, and traders should expect identity and address verification once funded or before their first reward is paid.

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