Prop firm rules · FTMO

Does FTMO allow expert advisors?

Yes: FTMO allows expert advisors, both in the challenge and in the funded account.

The style is free — discretionary, algorithmic or EA — but the rulebook limits the activity the bot generates and bans specific practices, some of which a badly configured EA triggers without its owner noticing.

Checked on 25 August 2026 against FTMO's own public pages

FTMO sets these conditions and can change them

Limits that affect an EA

Server requests: max. 2,000
a day
Open orders: max. 200
at a time
Capital per strategy: $400,000
per trader
or strategy
High-impact news: ±2 min
except Swing
Maximum total loss: 10%
trailing on 1-Step
static on 2-Step

Checked on 25 August 2026 · every figure has its source linked under the table

What FTMO allows and what it bans

Where each practice stands in FTMO's public rulebook.

PracticeStatus

Expert advisorsAllowed

In the challenge: Allowed
In the funded account: Allowed
Trading style: Discretionary · algorithmic · EA
Authorship of the EA: Your own · unverified

EA activityLimited

Server requests: Max. 2,000 a day
What counts as a request: Trades and pending orders
Open orders: Max. 200 at a time
If it overloads the server: Warning and EA adjustment

Capital per strategyLimited

Cap: $400,000
Counted per: Trader or strategy
Scope: All accounts combined
Identical strategies: Accounts suspended

High-impact newsLimited

Window: ±2 min around the release
Scope: Opening, closing, stop loss and take profit
Instruments: Only those affected by the news
Exception: Swing accounts

Banned practicesForbidden

Exploiting feed errors: Forbidden
Ultra high speed or mass entry: Forbidden
Manipulation across accounts: Forbidden
Gap trading on scheduled news: Forbidden
Dodging the Best Day Rule: Forbidden

MartingaleNot banned

It does not appear expressly forbidden. With a 10% maximum total loss, trailing on the 1-Step account, a single adverse run can exhaust the available margin before it recovers.

Sources · checked on 25 August 2026

The limits an EA trips without meaning to

None of them bans automation. What they do is mark the point where a reasonable configuration stops being one.

More than 2,000 server requests in a day
The counter is not closed trades: it is requests. Every opening, modification and closing of a simulated trade or a pending order adds to it. An EA that keeps readjusting the stop loss burns through that budget far sooner than its trade count suggests.
Two hundred orders open at the same time
It is a limit of the platform's servers, not an objective of the evaluation, but it behaves like a hard ceiling. Grid strategies and anything that slices a position into many small entries run into it.
Four hundred thousand dollars per trader or per strategy
It applies to all accounts combined, before scaling, and it is counted per strategy as well as per person. It is the limit that turns a shared EA into a problem, and it has its own section below.
Two minutes either side of a high-impact news release
On the affected instruments you cannot open or close inside that window, and a stop loss placed beforehand counts as well if it triggers. An EA with no news filter does not make the distinction: it executes. Swing accounts are the exception.
The 10% maximum total loss
On the 2-Step it is static and measured against the initial capital. On the 1-Step it is trailing: it is recalculated each day from the highest balance reached, so the margin narrows as the account moves forward. Any progression that raises the size after a loss works against you.
Being the legitimate owner of the EA
The rulebook bans software that gives an unfair advantage, and coordinated trading across accounts. That it also requires you to be the legitimate owner or developer of the program is not worded that way on any public FTMO page: it remains to be verified.

The risk of running an EA that many traders run

It is the only limit on this page you cannot measure from your own terminal.

A commercial EA is sold to a lot of people, and all of them run the same logic with the same default parameters, on the same instruments and at the same moment. To the buyer it is a product; to the prop firm it is one strategy spread across hundreds of accounts.

FTMO says so in its documentation, without hedging: if you use a third-party EA it is possible that other traders are already using that same EA and therefore exactly the same strategy, and that exposes you to having your account denied for exceeding the maximum capital allocation rule. That is the $400,000 cap, counted per trader or per strategy.

The outcome is described just as plainly: if it detects identical strategies spread across several accounts and the combined capital exceeds the cap, FTMO reserves the right to suspend the accounts involved. It does not depend on you doing anything wrong: it is enough for the seller to have placed enough licences. And you cannot check it, because you do not know how many have been sold. Worth asking before you pay.

The difference is in the distribution: a mass-market EA hands the same strategy to strangers, and a system installed and configured for one specific account is not part of that spread. That does not exempt anyone from the limits above, and it says nothing about how the trading will go.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use an Expert Advisor in the FTMO Challenge?

Yes. FTMO does not restrict trading style: it accepts discretionary, algorithmic and expert advisor trading, in the challenge and in the funded account alike. What it does limit is the activity the EA generates.

What happens if my EA goes over 2,000 server requests?

The rulebook calls that account hyperactive and lists it among the forbidden practices. FTMO says it warns the trader and asks them to adjust the logic or the parameters of the EA. The counter includes simulated trades and pending orders.

How many orders can my EA have open at once?

Two hundred. It is a limit of the platform servers rather than an objective of the evaluation, but an EA that deploys grids or slices positions reaches it easily.

Can I use an EA I bought from someone else?

You can, and it is the riskiest situation on this page. FTMO warns that other traders may be running that same EA, and therefore the same strategy, and that this exposes the buyer to having their account denied for exceeding the capital allocation cap.

Is martingale forbidden?

It does not appear expressly forbidden in the rulebook we checked. That does not make it safe: with a 10% maximum total loss, trailing as well on the 1-Step, a single adverse run can exhaust the margin before it recovers.

Can I leave the EA trading through a high-impact news release?

On the affected instruments you cannot open or close within the window of two minutes before and two minutes after the release, and a stop loss or take profit triggering counts too. Swing accounts are the exception.

Before you automate, compatibility

None of this matters if the system does not fit your firm and your account, so that is confirmed before anything is charged. Both ways of buying the licence are on the pricing page.

See both ways to buy the licence

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