Head to head · 33 criteria compared Across pricing, rules and payout terms, FTMO takes the lead (8 against 4). and it pays out a larger share of profits, so the choice is not automatic.
Every E8 Markets product is now single-phase: a 6% target, withdrawals available from day three, and a split running from 80% to 100%. The trade-offs are a 35-40% consistency rule, no scaling plan, and a Trustpilot rating suspended in August 2026 for a breach of the platform's guidelines.
Criteria won: 4 / 33
Founded in Prague in 2015, FTMO reports more than $450 million paid to traders and closed its acquisition of broker OANDA in December 2025. The 2-Step challenge, static drawdown and no deadline, remains its core product, with fees fully refunded on the first payout. Price is the weak spot, and it rose again in 2026.
Criteria won: 8 / 33
Cheapest evaluation for a 100 K account.
E8 Markets
$260
FTMO
€499
| Full comparison | E8 Markets | FTMO |
|---|---|---|
| Trust | ||
| Score | 76/100 | 88/100 ✓ |
| Trustpilot | — | 4.8/5 |
| Founded | 2021 | 2015 ✓ |
| Headquarters | US | CZ |
| Pricing | ||
| Entry price | $110 | €79 ✓ |
| Price for a 100 K account | $260 ✓ | €499 |
| Refundable fee | No | Yes ✓ |
| Reset price | — | — |
| Account sizes | 500 K ✓ | 200 K |
| Rules | ||
| Steps | 1 | 1 |
| Profit target | 6 % ✓ | 10 % |
| Max daily loss | — | 3 % |
| Max total drawdown | — | 10 % |
| Drawdown type | — | Static |
| Time limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Consistency rule | 35 | 50 ✓ |
| Min trading days | — | — |
| Payouts | ||
| Profit split | 80 % | 80 % |
| Max profit split | 100 % ✓ | 90 % |
| First payout | — | 14 days |
| Payout frequency | On demand (daily on E8 Pro; minimum $100) | On demand from the 14th day after the first trade, then every 14 days |
| Payout methods | rise | — |
| Scaling plan | No | Yes ✓ |
| Max allocation | 500 K | 2 M ✓ |
| Trading | ||
| Platforms and instruments | mt5, ctrader, tradelocker, match-trader | mt4, mt5, ctrader, dxtrade, tradingview ✓ |
| Instruments | fx, indices, metals, energy, crypto, futures | fx, indices, metals, energy, crypto, stocks |
| Leverage | Forex 1:30, indices 1:15, metals 1:15, crypto 1:1 | 1:100 (forex) |
| News trading | Yes | Yes |
| Weekend holding | Yes | Yes |
| Expert Advisors | — | Yes |
| Copy trading | Restricted | Restricted |
| Scalping | — | Yes |
| Hedging | — | Yes |
Choose E8 Markets if… Choose FTMO if… FTMO has been running since 2015, 6 years longer than E8 Markets. Our trust pillar scores them 74/100 and 97/100, which weighs age, corporate transparency and public payout evidence. In an industry with no financial regulator overseeing these evaluations, longevity and a verifiable payout history are the closest thing to a guarantee.
FTMO opens at €79 against $110 for E8 Markets, a moderate gap on the smallest account. At the reference size of 100 K the comparison is $260 for E8 Markets against €499 for FTMO. The headline fee is rarely the real cost, though: what matters is the price of a reset after a failed attempt, whether the fee comes back on the first payout, and whether an activation fee appears when you move to a funded account. Compare those three lines in the table above before deciding on price alone.
E8 Markets does not publish a clear drawdown model. FTMO applies a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with a 3 % daily limit. This is the single most consequential difference between the two. A static drawdown is measured once, from the starting balance, and never moves; a trailing drawdown follows your equity upward, so a winning streak raises the floor you can no longer fall below. Intraday trailing is stricter still, because it tracks unrealised peaks reached inside the session — profit you never actually banked can permanently raise your loss threshold.
E8 Markets keeps 100 % of profits, then pays On demand (daily on E8 Pro; minimum $100). FTMO keeps 90 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 14 days, then pays On demand from the 14th day after the first trade, then every 14 days. Payout frequency deserves as much attention as the split itself: a slightly lower share paid every two weeks compounds faster than a headline percentage locked behind a monthly cycle and a long first-withdrawal delay.
E8 Markets is the only one of the two to offer tradelocker, match-trader. FTMO covers mt4, dxtrade, tradingview, which its rival does not. Platform choice is not cosmetic: order execution, available order types and the reliability of your automation all depend on it, and switching mid-evaluation is rarely possible.
No discount code is published without being checked on the firm’s own website. An unverified deal does not appear here.
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