FTMO Review 2025
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Our Verdict
If you have followed the industry at all, you know that over 20 prop firms shut down just in the last year. Some took payouts with them. Meanwhile, FTMO hasn’t had a single rug pull or payout scandal. Not one!
FTMO Remains the Gold Standard in Prop Trading
If you’re looking for a prop firm with unmatched trust and credibility, reliable payouts, and a long-term vision, FTMO stands in a league of its own. While it may not offer flashy discounts or bend the rules to attract new traders, what it does offer is far more valuable: trust, structure, and sustainability.
Yes, it costs more upfront. Yes, there are tighter restrictions. But if you’re a disciplined trader ready to grow with a professional-grade firm, FTMO is the one. They’ve already paid out over $300 million to traders, and most recently, they acquired OANDA, one of the world’s most respected retail forex brokerages. The team behind FTMO doesn’t seem to stop consolidating the brand and position it as a long-term leader in the industry. That’s why we highly recommend them.
Pros
- Rock-Solid Reputation.They have nearly a decade of operation and zero rug pulls!
- Reliable Payouts. That kind of peace of mind is priceless in a world where other firms disappear overnight.
- Platform Support. FTMO supports MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader, and DXtrade.
- Clear Rules and Transparency. All trading rules are clearly explained upfront.
- Scaling Plan. You can reach up to $2,000,000 in funding through their scaling program.
- Career Path with Quantlane. If you prove yourself over time, they offer career paths with salary potential and scalable capital. No other retail prop firm has this level of progression.
Cons
- Pricing is significantly higher than competitors
- No frequent promotions or discounts
- Must close trades over the weekend and holidays unless using a swing account.
- One-strike disqualification » If you break any one rule your account is closed immediately. No warning, no second chance.
- Scaling plan is slow » FTMO’s Scaling Plan requires traders to complete a minimum of 4 months with at least a 10% total net profit and process at least 2 rewards. Traders are also asked to maintain a positive account balance at the time of scaling.
- No custom risk settings » You are locked into FTMO’s standard risk/reward model, which may not suit every trading style.
About FTMO
“Talent is nothing without opportunity.” This quote perfectly sums up the reason FTMO exists.
Launched in 2015 from a small office in Prague under the name Ziskejucet.cz (“Get an Account”), FTMO started with a simple but powerful mission: eliminate the financial roadblocks that keep skilled traders from scaling. The problem was kind of obvious. Too many capable traders were stuck on demo accounts or risking their own limited capital. The solution? Build a structured, rules-based evaluation system that rewards real trading skill with real capital.
Behind the vision were two Czech entrepreneurs, Otakar Šuffner and Marek Vašíček, who saw the gap and decided to do something about it. They weren’t interested in creating just another broker or education funnel. They wanted to build a proving ground, a platform where performance speaks louder than credentials.
By 2017, the platform had outgrown its local roots and was rebranded as FTMO to reflect its global ambitions. Since then, FTMO has grown into the most trusted and recognized prop trading firms in the industry.
FTMO Headquarters:
Purkynova 2121/3, Prague 1, 110 00, Czech Republic
FTMO’s Strength Lies in Stability, Not Flashy Innovation
FTMO is not trying to be the trendiest firm in the prop trading space. And that’s exactly why so many traders trust it. In a market flooded with new firms chasing attention through excessive discount promotions, FTMO stands apart with its consistency.
There is no pressure to join a community chat or attend a motivational Zoom session. The focus here is singular: trading.
This no-nonsense, “cold professionalism” might feel intimidating, even a bit old-school, especially for beginners who are drawn to firms that feel more like “communities”. But that reserved tone isn’t a weakness; it’s part of FTMO’s brand identity. They are focused on long-term sustainability, backed by proven processes, transparent rules, and reliable payouts.
For serious traders, this quiet consistency is a breath of fresh air. It suggests stability. It shows maturity. And most importantly, it proves FTMO is here to stay, not just to ride the next prop firm trend.
Payout Reliability Is Everything and FTMO Is the Best in the Business
If you are serious about turning consistent performance into real income, payout reliability shouldn’t be a bonus. It is non-negotiable!
When it comes to prop trading, all the marketing, features, and trading conditions in the world mean nothing if you can’t get paid. And this is where FTMO continues to earn respect across the board. Every trader we spoke to emphasized the same thing: FTMO pays. Always. On time. No drama.
FTMO’s Swing Accounts Are an Underrated Option
At first glance, the FTMO’s Standard account seems like the obvious choice. It offers higher leverage (1:100), and for day traders who close positions before the weekend and avoid volatile news releases, it works just fine. But the strict rules around news trading and weekend holding can be an issue for those with a different approach.
That’s where the Swing account could be a better option for those looking beyond intraday market moves. With the Swing account, you’re allowed to:
- Hold positions over the weekend
- Trade through high-impact news releases
- Enjoy the same payout structure and scaling plan as the Standard account
The only major trade-off is reduced leverage (1:30 instead of 1:100), which might sound limiting at first but for swing traders, position traders, or those using lower-risk strategies with wider stops, this is a fair trade.
Here’s a hard lesson many traders learn the hard way: violating FTMO rules because of news timing or weekend exposure is one of the most common reasons for failed accounts. And it’s completely avoidable. The Swing account exists for exactly this reason.
If your strategy doesn’t rely heavily on high leverage, the added flexibility can make a huge difference in consistency and in keeping your account safe from rule breaches.
After all, leverage doesn’t grow accounts, discipline and time do.
Born in a Prague apartment, FTMO began as a bold experiment by a group of Czech traders with a simple yet revolutionary idea: “What if talent, and not capital, was the true barrier to becoming a professional trader?”
In its early phase, FTMO operated exclusively in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The project faced numerous challenges. They have to overcome technical and legal hurdles and not many were interested in supporting their idea. Still, the founders remained committed to their vision and pushed forward.
The team rebranded as FTMO, signaling their shift to a global ambition. The new name was inspired by the initials of four team members: Filip, Tomáš, Marek, and Otakar.
This marked the beginning of an international expansion that would eventually reach traders in over 180 countries.
In response to growing global demand, FTMO introduced a new funding tier in late 2017. The new program offered traders the opportunity to manage accounts with virtual capital of up to 2,000,000 CZK (almost 90,000 USD).
While many traders were chasing Bitcoin volatility, some FTMO traders found opportunity in XRP (Ripple), and it paid off BIG. One standout trader held a position over a 500-pip range for nine months. It wasn’t just about luck here. It was about reading the structure, managing risk, and having patience, lots of patience. In a market known for chaos, this trader proved that even crypto can reward precision.
This trade became one of FTMO’s early success stories, showcasing how traders can use discipline and long-term approach to capture major moves, even in the unpredictable world of altcoins.
“I saw the entire structure unfold and waited. Everyone else got shaken out, but I stayed in until the target. That one trade made the whole year worth it.” — FTMO Trader Interview, 2018
Also in 2018, FTMO conducted one of its most ambitious internal experiments:
91 algorithmic strategies were deployed on live markets for a full-year performance test.
The result? A 12.5% loss, despite real-time optimization.
The takeaway: automation isn’t a silver bullet. Without ongoing refinement and human oversight, even the smartest algorithms can fall short.
This reinforced a core FTMO principle: Discipline, technician & fundamental analysis, and adaptability beat shortcuts, even algorithmic ones.