FTMO vs The5ers — Full Comparison (Rules, Payouts, Pricing)
Choosing a prop firm in 2026 is a bit like choosing a dentist — everyone claims they're painless, the price is always higher than expected, and you only find out how good they really are when something goes wrong. The difference is that your dentist doesn't keep 20% of your teeth if you perform well enough.
FTMO and The5ers are two of the few firms where "something going wrong" is genuinely unlikely — not impossible, but unlikely enough that both have built real reputations over real years with real payouts. That already puts them in a smaller category than most people realize.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | FTMO | The5ers | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 | 2016 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
| Max Allocation | $400K ($1M Supreme Prime) | $4M | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| Profit Split | 90% | 80–100% | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| Drawdown Type | Static | Static | Draw |
| News Trading | Restricted on funded standard | Restricted on High Stakes only | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| Weekend Holding | Standard funded — crypto only | Allowed on all models | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| EAs | Allowed | Allowed with conditions | Draw |
| Copy Trading | Own accounts only | Own accounts only | Draw |
| Trustpilot | 4.8/5 (42,188 reviews) | 4.8/5 (25,335 reviews) | Draw |
| Hidden Rules Meter | 1.7/10 | 1.8/10 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
In short, FTMO is the safer default & the industry benchmark. The5ers is the better long-term fit for traders who already know their edge.
News Trading
FTMO:
● Swing accounts — fully allowed, evaluation & funded
● Standard accounts evaluation — allowed
● Standard accounts funded — prohibited within 2 minutes before and after high-impact news
The5ers:
● Hyper Growth & Bootcamp — allowed, except bracket strategies around news
● High Stakes — prohibited within 2 minutes before and after high-impact news
If news trading is your edge on a funded account, Hyper Growth gives you more room than FTMO Standard. On High Stakes, the rules are practically identical — so if you were planning to switch specifically for news trading freedom, make sure you're looking at the right model first.
🏆 Winner: The5ers
Weekend Holding
FTMO:
● Swing accounts — allowed
● Standard accounts funded — allowed on crypto instruments only
The5ers:
● All models — allowed, no exceptions, no add-ons required
If you regularly hold positions over the weekend and don't want to pay extra for a Swing account, The5ers wins this round without a fight. FTMO's standard funded account will close your positions before the weekend whether you like it or not — the market doesn't care about your swing setup, and neither does the risk system.
🏆 Winner: The5ers
EAs & Copy Trading
Both firms allow EAs & copy trading from your own accounts. Both also have a list of things your EA better not be doing — because "I didn't know" is not a support ticket category at either firm.
FTMO:
● Allowed
● Maximum 2,000 server requests per day
● Popular third-party EAs may accidentally exceed the $400K max capital allocation limit across multiple users running the same bot
The5ers:
● Allowed if compliant
● Stop Loss mandatory on every position
● Cannot perform: tick scalping, latency arbitrage, reverse arbitrage, hedge arbitrage
● Cannot use: emulators or copy external signals
FTMO is more permissive about what the EA does, but stricter about how often it does it. The5ers is more permissive on frequency, but stricter about the EA's actual behavior. Think of it like two different bouncers at the same club — one checks what you're wearing, the other checks what you're carrying. Ideally you pass both tests without incident.
🏆 Winner: Draw
Capital Allocation & Scaling
FTMO:
● $400K max per strategy per person — standard
● $600K with Prime Status
● $1M with Supreme Prime Status
The5ers:
● $4M maximum capital limit
● Scaling available on all models
● Copy trading limited above $500K under management
If your long-term goal is managing serious capital, The5ers gives you a maximum capital limit 10x higher than standard FTMO. That doesn't mean getting there is easy — but at least the escalator exists. At FTMO, you hit $400K and start looking for the stairs.
🏆 Winner: The5ers
Hidden Rules Meter & Trust Scores
| FTMO | The5ers | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden Rules Meter | 1.7/10 | 1.8/10 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
| Trust Score PropTradingArea | 4.7/5 | 4.4/5 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
| Trustpilot | 4.8/5 | 4.8/5 | Draw |
Both scores are low — & in this context, low is exactly what you want. A low Hidden Rules Meter means fewer surprises between the homepage and the funded agreement. These are two of the cleanest firms in the industry on this metric.
🏆 Winner: FTMO
Pass Probability Analysis
This is the section most comparison sites ignore, but it's the one that actually matters.
Passing depends on three things: profit target difficulty, drawdown flexibility & rule enforcement.
FTMO 2-Step:
● 10% / 5% targets — standardized
● 5% daily loss, 10% max — static drawdown
● 4 minimum trading days
Estimated pass probability (average trader): 25–35%
The5ers Hyper Growth:
● 10% single phase — same target
● 4% daily loss, 8% max — slightly tighter
● No minimum trading days
Estimated pass probability (average trader): 25–35%
Key insight: the numbers are similar. The difference is in what happens after you pass — The5ers gives you more room to trade your actual strategy on the funded account.
🏆 Winner: Draw
Difficulty Score
| Model | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| FTMO 2-Step Standard | 3/5 |
| FTMO 1-Step | 3/5 |
| The5ers Hyper Growth | 3/5 |
| The5ers High Stakes | 4/5 |
| The5ers Bootcamp | 4/5 |
Best For Each Trading Style
FTMO is better suited for:
● Traders who want the most recognized name in the industry
● Traders who prefer a simple, standardized structure unchanged for 11 years
● Traders who don't hold positions over the weekend on a standard funded account
● First-time prop traders who want the safest, most familiar default
The5ers is better suited for:
● Traders who want to scale to serious capital — $4M is a real ceiling
● Swing traders who regularly hold positions over the weekend
● News traders on funded accounts who want flexibility without paying extra
● Traders who want 100% profit split — FTMO stops at 90%
Final Score
| Category | FTMO | The5ers | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust & Track Record | 10/10 | 9/10 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
| Rule Clarity | 9/10 | 8/10 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
| News Trading Flexibility | 6/10 | 8/10 | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| Weekend Holding | 5/10 | 10/10 | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| Scaling Potential | 6/10 | 10/10 | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| Profit Split | 7/10 | 9/10 | 🏆 Winner: The5ers |
| Pass Probability | 9/10 | 8/10 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
| Ease of Entry | 10/10 | 8/10 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
| Overall | 9.0/10 | 8.8/10 | 🏆 Winner: FTMO |
Final Verdict
FTMO is the industry standard for a reason — the rules are clear, the structure is familiar & after 11 years you know exactly what to expect. It's the firm you choose when you want zero surprises & a name that other traders immediately recognize.
The5ers wins on long-term potential — scaling to $4M, weekend holding across all models & more flexibility on news trading make it the better fit for traders who already know what they're doing & want a firm that can keep up with them.
If you're choosing blind without knowing your trading style — pick FTMO. If one of the differences above applies directly to how you trade — The5ers deserves a serious look before you hand your money to the most famous name on the list.
Check current offers before choosing:
● View FTMO Offers
● View The5ers Offers
Pricing and discounts change frequently, and choosing at the right moment can make a difference.
