FTMO vs The 5%ers
This is the closest pairing on the site. Both score 8.3. Both hold 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot, from 44,700 and 31,500 reviews. Both have been running for about a decade, FTMO since 2015 and The 5%ers since 2016. There is no weak firm here and no obvious answer.
What makes it decidable is that they win on opposite dimensions. The 5%ers takes challenge rules, payouts, support and transparency. FTMO takes cost and platform. The overall scores land in the same place, so the right choice depends on which of those you actually care about, and on two hard limits that end the argument for a lot of traders before any of it matters.
Pick FTMO if
You want an account above $50,000, or you trade on MT4 or cTrader, or you want more daily room to be wrong. Any one of those three settles it, because The 5%ers cannot offer them at all.
Pick The 5%ers if
You trade smaller size with tight risk anyway, you want up to 100% of the profit rather than 80%, and you value a firm that publishes its rules plainly. The 1-step Hyper Growth route with no time limit suits traders who do not want a second phase.
Both firms score 8.3. The 5%ers wins four of the six dimensions: challenge rules 8.5 to 8.2, payouts 8.2 to 8.0, support 8.4 to 8.2 and transparency 8.6 to 7.5. FTMO wins two: cost 8.5 to 8.0 and platform 8.8 to 7.5. FTMO’s platform margin is the widest single gap on the page, and it is enough to cancel out four narrower losses.
Score breakdown
Rules side by side
| FTMO | The 5%ers | |
| Account sizes | $10K to $200K (5 tiers; up to $400K combined) | $5K to $50K (4 tiers available) |
| Evaluation type | Two-step (FTMO Challenge + Verification) | Not published |
| Profit target | 10% of initial simulated capital | Hyper Growth: 10%; High Stakes: 10% / 5%; Bootcamp: 10% / 5% / 5% |
| Phase 1 target | 10% of initial simulated capital | Not published |
| Phase 2 target | 5% of initial simulated capital | Not published |
| Max drawdown | 10% (Static (2-Step) / EOD trailing (1-Step)) | Hyper Growth: 6% stop-out; High Stakes: 6% stop-out; Bootcamp: 6% stop-out |
| Daily loss limit | 5% of balance at 00:00 CET (recalculated daily) | Hyper Growth: 3%; High Stakes: 3%; Bootcamp: 3% |
| Time limit | None | Hyper Growth: None; High Stakes: None; Bootcamp: None |
| Min. trading days | 4 per phase (a day where at least one position is opened) | Hyper Growth: None (varies by size); High Stakes: None; Bootcamp: 3 (Pro Growth) |
| Consistency rule | None on 2-Step | Not published |
| Profit split | Up to 90% (80% default; 90% via Scaling Plan) | Hyper Growth: Up to 100%; High Stakes: Varies by plan; Bootcamp: Varies by plan |
| Payout speed | Not published | Average 16 days from request |
| Scaling | 25% account boost every 4 months; min 10% net profit, 2 processed rewards, positive balance; up to $2,000,000 | Not published |
| Markets covered | CFDs: forex pairs, indices, commodities, stocks, crypto | Forex, metals, indices, CFDs, futures |
| Platforms | MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader | MetaTrader 5 (MT5) only |
| Leverage | Standard: higher leverage (exact ratio not publicly listed); Swing: lower leverage | 1:30 |
| News trading | Allowed during evaluation on both account types; restricted on Standard funded accounts; unrestricted on Swing funded accounts | Check current rules on the5ers.com |
| Copy trading | Allowed; max $400K capital per strategy per person across accounts | Check current rules on the5ers.com |
| Expert Advisors | Not published | Allowed on most plans |
| KYC required | Yes, identity verification required before first reward | Yes, before first payout |
| Fee refund | 100% refunded with first reward withdrawal | Not published |
| Inactivity rule | Must place at least one trade every 30 days; account freeze available for 7 days to 6 months | Not published |
Two hard limits that decide it for many traders
The 5%ers caps out at $50,000. FTMO runs to $200,000, and up to $400,000 across combined accounts. If you want to trade size, the comparison is over. This is the single biggest practical difference between them and it is not a rule you can work around.
The 5%ers is MT5 only, at 1:30 leverage. No MT4, no cTrader, no proprietary platform. FTMO gives you MT4, MT5 and cTrader. If your setup, your indicators or your expert advisor live on MT4, that also ends it. This is why FTMO scores 8.8 on platform against 7.5, the widest gap between them.
Neither of those is a criticism of The 5%ers as a firm. They are constraints on who it suits. A trader running $20,000 on MT5 will never notice either one.
The 5%ers has tighter risk rules and still scores higher on rules
That looks contradictory, so it is worth explaining. The 5%ers runs a 3% daily loss limit and a 6% stop-out. FTMO gives you 5% daily and 10% maximum drawdown. On the numbers, The 5%ers is materially harder to survive on. You have roughly half the room.
Our challenge rules dimension scores how clear and fair the rules are, not how easy they are to pass. The 5%ers publishes three distinct programs with their own tables: Hyper Growth as a 1-step at 10%, High Stakes as a 2-step at 10% then 5%, and Bootcamp as a 3-step at 10% then 5% then 5%. None has a time limit. You can see exactly what you are buying and pick the structure that matches how you trade.
So The 5%ers scores 8.5 for clarity while being the harder account, and FTMO scores 8.2 while being the more forgiving one. If your question is which is easier to pass, the answer is FTMO. If your question is which tells you the truth about itself more plainly, it is The 5%ers.
Split versus refund, again
The 5%ers offers up to 100% of profits on Hyper Growth. FTMO starts at 80% and reaches 90% only through its Scaling Plan. On a funded account you keep noticeably more with The 5%ers.
FTMO’s counter is the same one it uses against FundedNext: it refunds 100% of your challenge fee with your first reward withdrawal. That is worth real money on a first pass, and it is why FTMO takes the cost dimension 8.5 to 8.0 despite the worse split.
The arithmetic is the same as before. One pass and one withdrawal favours FTMO. A year of trading the account favours The 5%ers, and by a wider margin here than against FundedNext, because 100% against 80% is a bigger gap than 90% against 80%.
Where transparency actually separates them
The 5%ers scores 8.6 on transparency, the higher of the two and one of the better marks on this site. FTMO scores 7.5.
The gap is not about disclosure volume, since both publish detailed rules. It is that FTMO carries an informal 1% risk per trade expectation reported to be applied at payout review, which is not written into its rules the way its drawdown limits are. We have not been able to confirm it as a published term. An unwritten expectation that only appears when you ask for money is exactly what our transparency dimension is designed to catch.
In the other direction, The 5%ers is slower to pay. It runs a monthly cycle with roughly 16 days of processing and no on-demand withdrawal. FTMO’s default is also monthly. Neither is fast, and if you want your money quickly, this pair is not where to look.
Scale and reach
FTMO reports over $500 million paid in trader rewards. The 5%ers reports more than 336,000 funded traders across 23 countries. Both are among the most established firms in CFD prop trading and neither carries the payout-denial complaint pattern we have documented at weaker firms.
On review volume FTMO is ahead, 44,700 against 31,500, but both sit at 4.8 out of 5. That is as close to a tie on reputation as this category produces.
Pros and cons
FTMO pros
- Founded 2015, one of the longest-running prop firms
- $500M+ paid in trader rewards worldwide
- 4.8/5 Trustpilot from 44,700+ reviews
FTMO cons
- Best Day Rule (1-Step): one profitable day cannot exceed 50% of total profits
- News and overnight trading restricted on Standard funded accounts
- Informal “1% risk per trade” rule reported to be applied at payout review
The 5%ers pros
- Longest-running forex prop firm (founded 2016)
- 336,000+ funded traders across 23 countries
- Up to 100% profit split on Hyper Growth
The 5%ers cons
- MT5 only – no MT4 or proprietary platform option
- Monthly payouts only (not on-demand), avg. 16 days processing
- 3% daily loss limit is tight for volatile strategies
Frequently asked questions
Is FTMO or The 5%ers better?
They tie at 8.3 on our methodology. The 5%ers wins challenge rules, payouts, support and transparency; FTMO wins cost and platform. In practice two hard limits decide it: The 5%ers caps at $50,000 and is MT5 only. If you want a bigger account or you trade on MT4 or cTrader, take FTMO. If you trade smaller with tight risk and want up to 100% of the profit, take The 5%ers.
What is the largest account you can get with The 5%ers?
$50,000. That is the ceiling across its four tiers, which start at $5,000. FTMO goes up to $200,000, and up to $400,000 in combined capital across accounts. This is the biggest single difference between the two firms and it is the first thing to check before comparing anything else.
Does The 5%ers support MT4?
No. The 5%ers is MetaTrader 5 only, with no MT4, no cTrader and no proprietary platform, and it runs 1:30 leverage. FTMO supports MT4, MT5 and cTrader. If your strategy or your expert advisor is built on MT4, this rules The 5%ers out regardless of how the rest of the comparison looks.
Which has the harder rules, FTMO or The 5%ers?
The 5%ers, clearly. It runs a 3% daily loss limit and a 6% stop-out against FTMO’s 5% daily and 10% maximum drawdown, so you have roughly half the room to be wrong. It still scores higher on our challenge rules dimension because that dimension measures how clear and fair the rules are, not how easy they are to pass.
Which pays a bigger profit split?
The 5%ers, offering up to 100% on its Hyper Growth program against FTMO’s 80% default, which reaches 90% only through the Scaling Plan. FTMO offsets this by refunding 100% of your challenge fee with your first withdrawal. Pass once and withdraw once and FTMO’s refund can be worth more. Trade the account for a year and The 5%ers is clearly ahead.
How fast does The 5%ers pay?
Slowly by current standards. It runs a monthly payout cycle with an average of about 16 days of processing from request, and no on-demand withdrawal option. FTMO’s default cycle is also monthly. If payout speed is your priority, neither of these two firms is the strongest choice in the category.
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