FTMO vs TradeDay: which prop firm is better in 2026?
FTMO wins this comparison (13 against 3). TradeDay stays relevant for traders whose priorities differ from the average.
FTMO
Forex / CFD · Crypto · Stocks · Trustpilot 4.8/5
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 : 13 / 33
TradeDay
Futures · Trustpilot 4.6/5
TradeDay was founded in Chicago in 2020 by two former institutional market professionals, and that background shows in the rulebook: no daily loss limit, news trading and scalping allowed, and withdrawals available from day one. The May 2026 rework dropped static drawdown accounts in favour of two paths, Quick Pay and Fast Pass.
Criteria won : 3 / 33
Pricing at equal account size
Cheapest evaluation for a 100 K account.
FTMO
€499
TradeDay
$240
Full comparison
| Criterion | FTMO | TradeDay |
|---|---|---|
| Trust | ||
| Score | 88/100 ✓ | 80/100 |
| Trustpilot | 4.8/5 ✓ | 4.6/5 |
| Founded | 2015 ✓ | 2020 |
| Headquarters | CZ | US |
| Pricing | ||
| Entry price | €79 ✓ | $131 |
| Price for a 100 K account | €499 | $240 ✓ |
| Refundable fee | Yes ✓ | No |
| Reset price | — | — |
| Account sizes | 200 K ✓ | 150 K |
| Rules | ||
| Steps | 1 | 1 |
| Profit target | 10 % | 6 % ✓ |
| Max daily loss | 3 % | — |
| Max total drawdown | 10 % | — |
| Drawdown type | Static ✓ | Trailing intraday |
| Time limit | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Consistency rule | 50 ✓ | 30 |
| Min trading days | — | 5 |
| Payouts | ||
| Profit split | 80 % | 80 % |
| Max profit split | 90 % | 90 % |
| First payout | 14 days | 0 days ✓ |
| Payout frequency | A la demande a partir du 14e jour suivant le premier trade, puis tous les 14 jours | a la demande des le premier jour, minimum 250 $ par retrait |
| Payout methods | — | — |
| Scaling plan | Yes ✓ | No |
| Max allocation | 2 M ✓ | 150 K |
| Trading | ||
| Platforms and instruments | mt4, mt5, ctrader, dxtrade, tradingview ✓ | tradovate, rithmic, ninjatrader, tradingview |
| Instruments | fx, indices, metals, energy, crypto, stocks ✓ | futures |
| Leverage | 1:100 (forex) | — |
| News trading | Yes | Yes |
| Weekend holding | Yes ✓ | No |
| Expert Advisors | Yes | — |
| Copy trading | Restricted | — |
| Scalping | Yes | Yes |
| Hedging | Yes | — |
Choose FTMO if…
- Your budget is the binding constraint: the entry ticket starts at €79, below TradeDay.
- You want a drawdown you can compute in your head: the limit is fixed on the starting balance and never moves as the account grows.
- You need a platform TradeDay does not offer: mt4, mt5, ctrader, dxtrade.
- You are aiming for size: allocation scales up to 2 M.
Choose TradeDay if…
- You need a platform FTMO does not offer: tradovate, rithmic, ninjatrader.
- Cash flow matters to you: the first withdrawal comes after 0 days rather than 14.
Our analysis
Risk rules side by side
FTMO applies a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with a 3 % daily limit. TradeDay applies a trailing intraday drawdown. 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.
Payout terms compared
FTMO keeps 90 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 14 days, then pays A la demande a partir du 14e jour suivant le premier trade, puis tous les 14 jours. TradeDay keeps 90 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 0 days, then pays a la demande des le premier jour, minimum 250 $ par retrait. 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.
Platforms and instruments
FTMO is the only one of the two to offer mt4, mt5, ctrader, dxtrade. TradeDay covers tradovate, rithmic, ninjatrader, 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.
Trust and longevity
FTMO has been running since 2015, 5 years longer than TradeDay. On Trustpilot they sit at 4.8/5 and 4.6/5 respectively. Our trust pillar scores them 97/100 and 85/100, 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.
Entry cost
FTMO opens at €79 against $131 for TradeDay, a substantial gap on the smallest account. At the reference size of 100 K the comparison is €499 for FTMO against $240 for TradeDay. 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.