Prop firm accounts · Challenge and funded account

Challenge account vs funded account: what changes when you pass

The challenge account is the test you pay for; the funded account is the one the firm may give you if you pass, and the only one of the two on which it pays you a share of the result. At most firms both run in a simulated environment, so passing does not change the money you trade with: it changes the contract.

What does change is written down, and there is more of it than you might expect: rules that disappear, rules that stay, rules that only exist afterwards, and a procedure in between that has nothing to do with trading. This page walks through it using what FTMO publishes about its two programmes.

Sources read at origin on 13/09/2026 · linked at the end

This page describes the move from one account to the other. It does not assess any firm

What changes on the way from one account to the other

What it is: a test
→ a contract
The money: you pay the fee
→ you can be paid
Profit target: must be reached
→ disappears
Loss limits: apply
→ stay the same
Environment: simulated
→ still simulated

Based on what FTMO publishes about its two programmes. Every firm writes its own

Why the two accounts get mixed up

Because “funded” suggests money that, at most firms, never comes into existence, and because the marketing name and the legal description sit on the same website. The firms’ own names for each stage are more precise than the forum’s.

"Funded account" reads as an account somebody has put money into, and "challenge account" as a practice run before the real thing. Both readings are natural, and at most firms both are wrong in the same direction: the test is not a rehearsal for a live account, and the account that follows is not the test with real money inside.

FTMO names each stage without ambiguity. The test is the FTMO Challenge — followed by a Verification phase on the two-step programme — and the account that comes after is the FTMO Account, on which the person trading becomes an FTMO Trader. Its FAQ describes each evaluation phase as a demo account with fictitious capital. And of the account that follows, its how-it-works page says you keep trading with simulated capital, but now earn a share of your simulated profits.

That sentence clears up the confusion better than any explanation: what separates the two accounts is not the nature of the money. That this is not an FTMO quirk but what five firms write in their own footers, and which firm does not fit, is in whether prop firms use real money.

What changes in the rules when you pass

The goals disappear, the limits stay, and restrictions appear that did not exist during the evaluation. It is almost the opposite of what anyone expects who thinks passing means easing off.

The accountWhat FTMO publishes

Challenge accountThe test

Profit target: Yes, and it must be reached
Loss limits: Daily and overall
Minimum days: Yes, on the two-step programme
Best day rule: To pass the one-step programme
News and weekends: Neither restriction applies

All applicable objectives have to be met at the same time. During the evaluation you may trade through macroeconomic news and hold positions over the weekend, provided you do not engage in forbidden trading practices.

Funded account · FTMO AccountThe contract

Profit target: None
Loss limits: The same ones, continuously
Minimum days: None
Best day rule: Condition for a reward, on one-step
News: No opening or closing from 2 min before to 2 min after
Weekends: Close before the weekly close and breaks over 2 h

The news restriction only covers the instruments tied to each announcement on its list, and FTMO warns that breaking it may lead to the account being terminated.

The news and weekend rows refer to the Standard account type. The Swing account type has neither restriction, during the evaluation or afterwards.

The underlying change is in the first row. In the evaluation there is a goal, and once it is reached the test is over. On the funded account there is no goal: FTMO requires "continuous compliance" with the applicable objectives at all times, so the loss limits become the only thing deciding whether the account stays alive. What a loss limit actually is, and why it is the rule that closes accounts, is in prop firm drawdown explained, and how FTMO calculates each one, figure by figure, in what a prop firm evaluation measures.

The news restriction has a detail that lands squarely on anyone who automates: FTMO writes that if a stop loss or a take profit is triggered inside the restricted window, that also counts as a breach of the account agreement. An order a program placed hours earlier can break the rule on its own. What else FTMO limits for an expert advisor, source by source, is in the page on FTMO and expert advisors.

The procedure between one account and the other

Passing does not hand over the account. A review, an identity check and a different contract come next, and FTMO writes that once all of that is done it may provide the account.

The firm reviews the results
Once the objectives are met, the account is set for review. FTMO says this typically takes one to four business days at the end of the evaluation, and one to two after the first phase of the two-step programme. Its own words about what follows are careful ones: if the review is successful, you may get the opportunity to become an FTMO Trader.
You have to identify yourself
To conclude the funded account contract, FTMO asks you to complete its identification process: a government-issued document showing nationality and a proof of address if you sign as an individual, and company documentation if you sign as a business. It also lists who it does not serve — among others, under-18s, people on sanctions lists and people previously banned for breaching its conditions — and reserves the right to terminate the contract if any of those circumstances comes to light later.
A contract is signed, and it is a different one
The relationship between FTMO and the person trading the funded account rests on the FTMO Account Agreement, which the firm signs with the trader once the objectives and the identity check are complete. It describes it as a legally binding document setting out the duties and rights of both parties, and offers to send a sample to anyone who asks by email. That FAQ does not make the request conditional on having passed, and it is the document that will govern the account you are trying to reach.
And a previous track record does not count
FTMO writes that the funded account is not granted on the basis of any past trading track record. Whatever somebody has done elsewhere, the only result that enters the decision is the one achieved inside the evaluation, measured by its rules.

What changes with the money

During the evaluation money moves in one direction only, towards the firm. On the funded account it can move the other way, with a procedure, conditions and no balance of yours inside.

The fee is paid for the evaluation and, according to FTMO's FAQ, on the one-step programme it is not refunded. On the two-step programme it says the fee may be refunded with the first reward withdrawal, through the same method it was paid with. Two products under the same brand with a difference that is not on the front page, and it is worth having read before choosing one.

On the funded account the reward appears: a share of the account's simulated profits, which is requested, reviewed and invoiced. This page does not go into how much or when, because that has its own guide. The full procedure, what can stop the money leaving and what happens to the one-step programme's loss limit at the moment of payout are in whether prop firms actually pay and how payouts work.

And one thing does not change on either account: there is no balance of yours inside. FTMO states in its site footer that its companies do not act as a broker and do not accept deposits, so neither the evaluation nor the funded account holds money of yours to withdraw. What gets paid comes from a contract, not from an account in your name.

What does not change when you pass

The environment, who writes the rules and who answers for keeping them. All three stay exactly where they were on the day the fee was paid.

The environment stays the same. At FTMO the funded account is simulated just as the evaluation was, and what changes on reaching it is that the simulated result earns a reward. Moving from one to the other is not a step up into a live market.

The rules are still written by the firm, which can change them, and what governs is the current version of its rulebook and of the signed contract, not the one read on the day of purchase. And compliance is still the account holder's responsibility, including when a program does the trading: the restrictions in the table apply to it just the same, and passing the evaluation says nothing about what will happen on the account that follows.

If you have landed here without yet being clear on what a prop firm is, where the name comes from and how the arrangement works end to end, the step before this one is in what a prop firm is and how one works.

Sources · read on 13/09/2026

Frequently asked questions

Which rules stop applying on the funded account?

On both FTMO programmes the profit target goes: the rulebook states outright that there is no profit target on the FTMO Account that follows. On the two-step programme the minimum number of trading days goes as well. What does not go are the two loss limits, which apply to the funded account exactly as they did to the evaluation, with the added requirement of meeting them continuously. And on the one-step programme the best day rule stays, now as a condition for being eligible for a reward.

Are there rules that only exist on the funded account?

Yes, and it is the part people least expect. At FTMO, the restrictions on trading through certain news releases and on holding positions over the weekend only apply from the FTMO Account onwards, and only on the Standard account type; during the evaluation they do not apply on any account type. On a Standard funded account you may not open or close trades on the affected instruments from two minutes before to two minutes after the announcements on its list, and positions have to be closed before the weekend close or before market breaks longer than two hours. The Swing account type has neither restriction.

Does passing the challenge automatically entitle you to a funded account?

Not according to what FTMO writes. Once the objectives are met the account goes to review, then the identity check has to be completed and the FTMO Account Agreement accepted, and only then does the firm say it may provide the account. Its FAQ also lists people it does not serve and reserves the right to terminate the contract if any of those circumstances comes to light afterwards. It is a formality, but a formality with a decision by the firm at the end of it, and that is worth knowing before paying for the evaluation rather than after passing it.

Is the evaluation fee refunded once you reach the funded account?

It depends on the programme, and at FTMO the answer differs between the two. Its FAQ says the fee is not refunded on the one-step programme, and that on the two-step programme it may be refunded with the first reward withdrawal, through the same method it was paid with. On neither is it refunded simply for passing: at best, it arrives with the first payout. It is a difference between two products under the same brand that does not appear on the front page, and it changes what each one really costs.

Does a good previous trading record help you get a funded account?

Not at FTMO: its FAQ states that an FTMO Account is not granted on the basis of any past trading track record. The only result that counts is the one achieved inside the evaluation, measured by its objectives, and the final decision comes after that result has been reviewed. A track record from outside the firm, however good or well verified, neither replaces the test nor shortens it.

Does a bot trade the same way on the challenge as on the funded account?

As far as the loss limits go, yes, because they are the same on both accounts; as far as the new rules go, not necessarily. On a Standard FTMO funded account you may not open or close trades on the affected instruments around certain announcements, and the firm writes that a stop loss or take profit triggered inside that window also counts as a breach. A program that traded without that restriction during the evaluation can break it on the funded account without anybody having changed anything. No configuration guarantees that an evaluation stage will be passed, and complying with the rulebook remains the responsibility of the account holder.

Before you automate, compatibility

Moving to the funded account does not soften the rulebook a program has to follow, and on the Standard account type it adds restrictions. No configuration guarantees that an evaluation stage will be passed; what can be set out step by step is how one is installed without breaking the account's rulebook, and compatibility is confirmed before anything is charged.

See how the installation works

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