Funding Pips vs FTMO
These are the two highest-scoring CFD firms on the site and they finish 0.1 apart: Funding Pips 8.4, FTMO 8.3. Funding Pips wins five of six dimensions, FTMO wins one. That single win is platform, and it is worth more than the arithmetic suggests.
Both restrict news trading, both require KYC, both refund your fee, and neither has a payout-denial pattern. This is a comparison between two genuinely good firms, decided by three specific things: MT4, payout speed, and how much of the profit you keep.
Pick Funding Pips if
You want the strongest payout record in CFD prop trading, on-demand withdrawals, and 95% of the profit rising to 100%. You do not need MT4 and you do not run purchased robots.
Pick FTMO if
You need MT4, or you want a Swing account that lifts news restrictions entirely. FTMO is also the older firm by seven years, with a 4.8 rating that is the highest of any large firm we cover.
Funding Pips scores 8.4. FTMO scores 8.3. Funding Pips wins payouts 9.0 to 8.0, support 8.5 to 8.2, transparency 8.2 to 7.5, cost 8.6 to 8.5 and rules 8.3 to 8.2. FTMO wins platform 8.8 to 8.0. Four of those five margins are within 0.3, so treat this as close to a tie with one decisive difference.
Score breakdown
Rules side by side
| Funding Pips | FTMO | |
| Account sizes | $5K to $300K (5 tiers available) | $10K to $200K (5 tiers; up to $400K combined) |
| Evaluation type | Two-step (Phase 1 + Phase 2) | Two-step (FTMO Challenge + Verification) |
| Profit target | 10% | 10% of initial simulated capital |
| Phase 1 target | 8% | 10% of initial simulated capital |
| Phase 2 target | 5% | 5% of initial simulated capital |
| Max drawdown | 10% static (equity-based) | 10% (Static (2-Step) / EOD trailing (1-Step)) |
| Daily loss limit | 5% | 5% of balance at 00:00 CET (recalculated daily) |
| Time limit | None | None |
| Min. trading days | 3 days per phase (6 total) | 4 per phase (a day where at least one position is opened) |
| Consistency rule | 35%, applies only on On Demand payout cycle | None on 2-Step |
| Profit split | 95% standard; 100% at Hot Seat scaling tier | Up to 90% (80% default; 90% via Scaling Plan) |
| Payout speed | 24 hours typical; many processed within 6-12 hours | Not published |
| Scaling | Not published | 25% account boost every 4 months; min 10% net profit, 2 processed rewards, positive balance; up to $2,000,000 |
| Markets covered | Forex (majors, minors, exotics), gold (XAUUSD), silver (XAGUSD), indices (NAS100, US500, US30, UK100, GER40), energies (UKOIL, USOIL), crypto (BTC, E… | CFDs: forex pairs, indices, commodities, stocks, crypto |
| Platforms | MT5, cTrader, MatchTrader, TradeLocker | MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5), cTrader |
| Leverage | Not published | Standard: higher leverage (exact ratio not publicly listed); Swing: lower leverage |
| News trading | Prohibited (10-min pre/post window, opening and closing) | Allowed during evaluation on both account types; restricted on Standard funded accounts; unrestricted on Swing funded accounts |
| Copy trading | External copy trading not permitted | Allowed; max $400K capital per strategy per person across accounts |
| Expert Advisors | Allowed with proof of ownership (source code / development history); off-the-shelf bots prohibited | Not published |
| KYC required | Yes, before first payout | Yes, identity verification required before first reward |
| Fee refund | Returned with first payout | 100% refunded with first reward withdrawal |
| Inactivity rule | Not published | Must place at least one trade every 30 days; account freeze available for 7 days to 6 months |
MT4 is the whole platform argument
FTMO supports MT4, MT5 and cTrader. Funding Pips supports MT5, cTrader, MatchTrader and TradeLocker. Funding Pips offers more platforms in total, and still loses the dimension 8.8 to 8.0, because the one it is missing is the one a large share of forex traders actually use.
If your indicators, your expert advisor or a decade of muscle memory live on MT4, this is not a preference, it is the decision. Nothing else on this page outweighs it.
Payouts: the widest gap and the reason Funding Pips wins
Funding Pips scores 9.0 on payout reliability, the highest mark we have given any firm. It reports more than $137 million paid across over 60,000 verified transactions, and it offers four cadences: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and on demand.
FTMO scores 8.0, backed by more than $500 million paid, but runs a monthly cycle by default. On raw volume paid FTMO is ahead. On how quickly you can reach your own money, Funding Pips is well ahead.
One condition attaches: selecting the On Demand cycle at Funding Pips activates a 35% consistency rule that does not apply on the other cadences. That is a fair trade rather than a trap, but choose your cycle deliberately.
Both restrict news, in different ways
Funding Pips prohibits news trading outright, with a ten minute window either side of a release.
FTMO allows news trading during the evaluation, then restricts news and overnight trading on Standard funded accounts while leaving Swing accounts unrestricted.
So a news trader is not well served by Funding Pips at all, but does have a route at FTMO: take a Swing account. That is a real structural advantage and it is easy to miss because both firms look restrictive at first glance.
Funding Pips is also tighter on automation. Expert advisors require proof of ownership through source code or development history, purchased bots are banned, and martingale, grid and external copy trading are all prohibited.
What you keep, and what comes back
Funding Pips pays 95% as standard, rising to 100% at its Hot Seat tier, and scales allocation to $2 million. FTMO pays 80% by default, reaching 90% only through its Scaling Plan, with a $200,000 ceiling and up to $400,000 combined.
That is a substantial gap in the trader’s favour at Funding Pips, and it is not offset by the refund because both firms return your fee: FTMO with your first reward withdrawal, Funding Pips with your first payout.
The reason cost only splits 8.6 to 8.5 despite that is that FTMO’s evaluation is cheaper to enter relative to the capital offered, and its refund lands on a larger range of account sizes.
The unwritten rule at FTMO
FTMO scores 7.5 on transparency against Funding Pips’ 8.2, and the gap comes down to one thing. Traders report an informal 1% risk per trade expectation applied at payout review, which is not written into FTMO’s rules the way its drawdown limits are. We have not been able to confirm it as a published term.
This is a caution rather than an accusation. FTMO has paid over $500 million and holds 4.8 out of 5 across 44,700 reviews, the highest rating of any large firm we cover. But an expectation that only surfaces when you ask for money is exactly what the transparency dimension exists to catch.
Evaluations are close, with Funding Pips slightly easier
Funding Pips runs a two-step at 8% then 5% with three minimum trading days per phase. FTMO runs a two-step at 10% then 5% with four minimum days per phase. Both use a 10% maximum drawdown, a 5% daily loss limit and no time limit.
Two percentage points on phase one and one fewer minimum day is a modest but real edge to Funding Pips. FTMO counters with reach: accounts to $200,000 against a lower Funding Pips entry, and a Swing variant that Funding Pips has no equivalent to.
Pros and cons
Funding Pips pros
- $137M+ in verified payouts across 60,000+ transactions
- 55,000+ Trustpilot reviews at 4.5/5, one of the largest review sets in prop
- Four evaluation models including Zero instant funding
Funding Pips cons
- MT4 not supported
- Off-the-shelf EAs and purchased bots prohibited; source code required
- News trading restricted on funded accounts (5-min window rule)
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Funding Pips or FTMO better?
Funding Pips scores 8.4 against FTMO’s 8.3, winning five of six dimensions led by payout reliability at 9.0 to 8.0. FTMO wins platform 8.8 to 8.0 because it supports MT4 and Funding Pips does not. If you need MT4 or you trade news and want FTMO’s Swing account, take FTMO. Otherwise Funding Pips is marginally the stronger firm.
Does Funding Pips support MT4?
No. Funding Pips runs MT5, cTrader, MatchTrader and TradeLocker. FTMO supports MT4, MT5 and cTrader. Funding Pips offers more platforms overall and still loses our platform dimension, because MT4 is the one a large share of forex traders actually use.
Which pays out faster, Funding Pips or FTMO?
Funding Pips, clearly. It offers weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and on-demand cycles, and on-demand withdrawal is rare in this category. FTMO runs a monthly cycle by default. Note that choosing On Demand at Funding Pips activates a 35% consistency rule that does not apply on the other cadences.
Can you trade news at either firm?
Funding Pips prohibits it outright, with a ten minute window either side of a release. FTMO allows it during the evaluation, restricts it on Standard funded accounts, and leaves Swing funded accounts unrestricted. A news trader therefore has a route at FTMO and effectively none at Funding Pips.
Which gives the bigger profit split?
Funding Pips, at 95% standard rising to 100% at its Hot Seat tier with allocation up to $2 million. FTMO starts at 80% and reaches 90% only via its Scaling Plan, capped at $200,000 or $400,000 combined. Both firms refund your challenge fee with your first payout, so the refund does not offset the gap.
Can you use expert advisors on either?
FTMO is the more permissive. Funding Pips requires proof that you own the expert advisor, through source code or development history, and bans purchased bots, martingale, grid strategies and copy trading from external sources. If you run automation you did not build, Funding Pips is likely to be a problem.
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