Rules as published by each firm
CFD vs MULTI-ASSET
Static Equity-Based vs Static Balance-Based
☪ Islamic / Swap-Free Ready
FTMO vs FundedNext
Which of these two is likelier to end your account, and why — compared rule by rule from what each firm publishes.
Short answer
- Both use the same drawdown mechanic: the loss limit is fixed to your starting balance and never moves.
- Minimum trading days: FTMO 4 days, FundedNext no minimum — this sets the earliest you can finish, however fast you hit the target.
- Entry cost: FundedNext from $32, FTMO from $155.
Figures below are what each firm publishes. Confirm them on the firm's own site before paying for an evaluation — these rules change without notice.
FTMO
CFD • Max $2,000,000
Drawdown Model
Static Equity-Based
Profit Split
80% - 90%
Starting Price
$155
Min Trading Days
4 Days
FundedNext
MULTI-ASSET • Max $4,000,000
Drawdown Model
Static Balance-Based
Profit Split
80% - 95%
Starting Price
$32
Min Trading Days
0 Days
Side-by-Side Specifications Matrix
Every figure below is taken from the firm's own published rules. Check the source and date under the table before you size a position on it — prop firm rules change without notice.
| Evaluation Parameter | FTMO | FundedNext |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Class / Market | CFD | MULTI-ASSET |
| Drawdown Calculation Type | Static Equity-Based Measured on equity — balance plus open trade P/L, swaps and commissions — so an open losing position can breach the limit before you ever close it. On the 2-Step the loss limit is fixed for the life of the account and never moves; FTMO's other programme uses a limit that trails your end-of-day balance upward at 00:00 CE(S)T and never moves back down. |
Static Balance-Based The 10% limit is fixed to your starting balance and never moves up with profit. Static on Stellar 1-Step (6%), 2-Step (10%) and Lite (8%); Stellar Instant is the exception and trails. |
| Max Daily Loss | 5.0% 5% of your starting capital on the 2-Step, measured on equity, with the limit reset at 00:00 CE(S)T; FTMO's other programme uses a different percentage that we could not independently confirm. |
5.0% Measured on equity - realised and unrealised P&L plus swap and commission - and resets at 00:00 server time. |
| Max Overall Loss | 10.0% 10% of your starting capital, measured on equity, and the same figure on both of FTMO's programmes. |
10.0% 10% is the Stellar 2-Step figure; the firm's rules page lists 6% for 1-Step, 8% for Lite and 6% trailing for Instant. |
| Profit Split | 80% - 90% | 80% - 95% |
| Minimum Trading Days | 4 Days 4 trading days on each phase of the 2-Step Challenge and Verification; whether it applies on FTMO's other programmes was not independently confirmed. |
0 Days |
| News Trading Policy | ✓ On a funded Standard account you cannot open or close a trade within 2 minutes before or after selected news releases; Swing accounts are exempt, and the restriction does not apply during the Challenge or Verification for either account type | ✓ Unrestricted during the Challenge; on funded accounts only 40% of profit made in the 10-minute high-impact news window is credited while losses count in full |
| Weekend & Overnight Holding | ✓ Permitted (Swing accounts may hold over the weekend at any stage; Standard accounts are unrestricted during the Challenge and Verification but must be flat before the weekend close once funded) | ✓ Permitted (Weekend and overnight holding allowed across Stellar models) |
| Supported Platforms | MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView | MT4, MT5, cTrader, Match-Trader |
| Payout Schedule | Bi-weekly (Every 14 days) or on-demand Payouts are on demand from the 14-day mark onward, not a forced fortnightly cycle. |
Every 14 days after a 21-day first trading cycle The 14-day cycle only starts after the 21-day first cycle, and only continues if you made profit and requested a withdrawal in the previous cycle. |
| First Payout Eligibility | 14 days from first placed trade You can claim on the 14th day after your first placed trade or any day after it, with roughly 1-2 business days to review and 1-2 more to pay. |
21 days (end of the first Stellar 2-Step trading cycle) 21 days applies to Stellar 2-Step; Stellar 1-Step runs a 5-business-day cycle from the very first one. |
| Consistency Rule | No restrictive consistency rule True for the 2-Step; FTMO's newer programme carries a different rule that our checker could not confirm, so do not read this as covering every FTMO account. |
None by default; 40% best-day gate if the On-Demand Rewards add-on is bought The 40% gate blocks the payout request itself, not just the payment, and applies no matter how profitable the account is. |
| Islamic / Swap-Free Option | ✓ Available on Request Swap-Free option available on request via support for eligible regions (no overnight interest fees charged) |
✓ Dedicated Islamic Accounts Swap-free / Islamic option available on every challenge, priced at 10% above the regular challenge fee |
| US Residents Accepted | ✓ Accepted | ✗ Restricted |
| Maximum Capital Allocation | $2,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
Where these figures come from. Read from FTMO's own published rules on : Maximum Loss and Maximum Daily Loss mechanics · 2-minute news blackout · Overnight and weekend holding · Forbidden practices · Current platform list · Eligibility · Payout mechanics · Scaling Plan. Prop firm rules change without notice — confirm on the firm's own site before you pay for an evaluation.
Where these figures come from. Read from FundedNext's own published rules on : Static vs trailing drawdown per programme with · The four supported platforms and the US-client · Copy-trading policy · The named prohibited strategies · On-Demand Rewards add-on and its 40% best-day · News Profit Split Rule on funded accounts · Stellar 2-Step payout cadence · Stellar 1-Step payout cadence · FundedNext Pro scale-up · Swap-free accounts offered on every challenge . Prop firm rules change without notice — confirm on the firm's own site before you pay for an evaluation.
What can end the account even if you are profitable
These are the rules people usually find out about after a payout is refused.
- FTMO: Once you are funded on a Standard account, you cannot open or close a trade within 2 minutes either side of a selected news release — a stop-loss or take-profit that fires inside that window counts too — and FTMO can terminate the account for it. source
- FTMO: On a funded Standard account you must close your positions shortly before the market closes for the weekend, and before any rollover or market break lasting more than 2 hours, or you break the account's rules. source
- FTMO: You cannot spread one position across correlated instruments or hold opposing trades just to make your daily profits look evenly spread — FTMO calls that artificially distributing profit without distributing risk, and it can delete the trades, fail you, cancel your payout or close your account. source
- FTMO: You cannot trade off price-feed glitches, display errors or delayed quotes, and FTMO says this counts against you even if you did it without realising, with the same penalties up to termination. source
- FTMO: You cannot let anyone else access or trade your account, trade someone else's account, or coordinate trades between your connected accounts or with other traders in your Program Group for manipulative purposes — FTMO can terminate every agreement you hold with them. source
- FTMO: If FTMO decides you broke any of these rules it can forfeit a payout you have already earned, not just close the account — so being profitable does not protect the money until it is paid. source
- FTMO: You cannot request your first payout until the 14th day after your first placed trade, however fast you hit the target. source
- FundedNext: If you bought the On-Demand Rewards add-on and your single best day made more than 40% of your total profit, FundedNext will not even let you submit a withdrawal request until you trade more days and bring that share back under 40%. source
- FundedNext: Once you are funded, FundedNext credits you only 40% of any profit you make within 5 minutes either side of a high-impact news release but charges you 100% of any loss in that same window. source
- FundedNext: You may copy trades only between your own Challenge accounts or only between your own Instant accounts; the moment a funded account or another person's account is on either side, or you use a service like Social Trader Tools or Duplikum, FundedNext can warn you or terminate the account. source
- FundedNext: If you hedge by buying an instrument on one of your FundedNext accounts and selling the same instrument on another, that counts as prohibited group hedging and both accounts can be terminated. source
- FundedNext: Running a grid bot that stacks buy and sell orders at set intervals above and below the market is a banned strategy, and FundedNext can terminate the account, refuse the profit reward, or ban you permanently. source
- FundedNext: Do not build a strategy around the thin market between 00:00 and 02:00 server time: if your trading looks like it consistently milks that settlement window, FundedNext can review the account, cancel those trades, or close the account. source
- FundedNext: Place 200 or more trades, or send 2,000 or more server messages, in a single day and that day counts as a hyperactivity violation - three of them breach the account, and 15,000 messages in one day disables it immediately. source
- FundedNext: Letting anyone else trade or log into your account, or selling the account on, is treated as a zero-tolerance breach and can cost you the account, the payout, or your access to FundedNext for good. source
- FundedNext: Buying several evaluation accounts back-to-back and deliberately burning some to pass others is monitored as account rolling, and FundedNext can block you from buying new accounts or cut your lifetime allocation limit. source
- FundedNext: Place no trade for 60 straight days on any FundedNext CFD account and it is deactivated, and the firm says that 60-day clock cannot be extended for any reason. source
- FundedNext: On a Stellar 2-Step funded account you cannot request your first payout until the end of day 21 of your first trading cycle, no matter how much profit is sitting there. source
Drawdown Architecture: FTMO vs FundedNext
The fundamental differentiator between FTMO and FundedNext lies in how risk and liquidation thresholds are tracked:
FTMO: Static Equity-Based
FTMO applies a Static Equity-Based approach. Under this structure, your stop loss floor is anchored to balance intervals. This ensures that temporary floating open profits do not pull your stop loss floor higher in real-time.
FundedNext: Static Balance-Based
FundedNext implements a Static Balance-Based model. This provides traders with full intraday flexibility without the fear of open spikes ratcheting up their liquidation point.
The Trader's Verdict: Which Firm Should You Choose?
Depending on your trading style, asset preference, and capital requirements, here is how our research team segments the two providers:
Choose FTMO if you:
- Want Static Equity-Based risk management.
- Trade primarily CFD instruments with MT4, MT5, cTrader.
- Value Discretionary swing & algorithmic traders who value institutional payout credibility and the 2-Step's static equity drawdown cushion.
- Want the ability to hold swing positions over weekends and economic news releases.
- Seek up to $2,000,000 in maximum scaling capital.
Choose FundedNext if you:
- Prefer Static Balance-Based execution terms.
- Trade MULTI-ASSET via MT4, MT5, cTrader.
- Value Traders looking to earn a 15% profit bonus during evaluation challenges with balance-based drawdown and no time limits.
- Want flexible swing trading terms without time limits.
- Want access to starting entry fees at $32.
Frequently Asked Questions: FTMO vs FundedNext
Which firm offers a better drawdown model between FTMO and FundedNext?
FTMO uses Static Equity-Based, while FundedNext utilizes Static Balance-Based.
Traders who hold positions through volatile pullbacks typically favor FTMO, whereas scalpers capitalizing on quick momentum benefit from FundedNext.
Can I trade both FTMO and FundedNext accounts at the same time?
Yes. Many professional prop traders run trade copiers (such as Replikanto for NinjaTrader futures, or Social Trader Tools for MT4/MT5 CFDs) to mirror trades across both FTMO and FundedNext simultaneously, diversifying broker risk and maximizing total payout potential.
Which prop firm has faster payout disbursements?
FTMO processes payouts on a Bi-weekly (Every 14 days) or on-demand basis (14 days from first placed trade), whereas FundedNext operates on a Every 14 days after a 21-day first trading cycle schedule (21 days (end of the first Stellar 2-Step trading cycle)). Both platforms support crypto and direct bank transfers.