FTMO vs. Funding Pips: A Detailed Comparison for Aspiring Traders
For aspiring traders seeking access to significant capital, proprietary trading firms like FTMO and Funding Pips have emerged as two prominent choices. Both platforms offer traders the chance to prove their skills and manage substantial capital, but they come with distinct features and offerings. In this article, we’ll compare FTMO and Funding Pips across various factors, including the evaluation process, profit-sharing models, risk management, and overall appeal to help you make an informed decision about which platform is right for you.
1. Overview of FTMO
What is FTMO?
Founded in 2015, FTMO has become one of the largest and most reputable proprietary trading firms in the world. Known for its robust evaluation process and trader-friendly policies, FTMO offers traders the opportunity to earn a funded account after successfully completing two phases: the FTMO Challenge and the Verification Phase. FTMO’s evaluation process is rigorous, ensuring that only skilled traders who can manage risk and show consistent profitability earn funding.
Key Features:
- Trading Instruments: FTMO supports a wide variety of financial instruments, including forex pairs, commodities (such as gold, silver, oil), and indices (e.g., S&P 500, NASDAQ), making it suitable for diverse trading strategies.
- Evaluation Process: The evaluation consists of two phases. First, the FTMO Challenge, which requires traders to meet a profit target (typically between 10-20%) within 30 days while adhering to strict risk management rules. Second, the Verification Phase provides a more relaxed set of conditions where traders must meet the same profit target within 60 days.
- Account Sizes and Scaling: FTMO offers various account sizes ranging from $10,000 to $200,000, and traders can scale their accounts as they continue to demonstrate consistent profitability.
- Profit Share: FTMO offers traders up to 90% of the profits, one of the most competitive profit-sharing models in the industry.
- Risk Management: FTMO enforces tight risk management rules, including a 5% daily loss limit and a 10% maximum drawdown. Traders must also complete a minimum of 10 trading days to qualify for the funded account.
2. Overview of Funding Pips
What is Funding Pips?
Funding Pips is a newer entrant in the world of proprietary trading, but it has quickly made a name for itself by offering a straightforward and flexible approach to funding traders. Similar to FTMO, Funding Pips allows traders to earn a funded account after successfully passing an evaluation. The platform is designed to provide an accessible route to trading with significant capital, all while promoting a trader-friendly atmosphere.
Key Features:
- Trading Instruments: Funding Pips offers access to forex pairs, commodities, and indices. However, unlike FTMO, it does not currently offer cryptocurrency trading. Still, the available instruments are broad enough for most traders to implement a variety of strategies.
- Evaluation Process: The evaluation process at Funding Pips is similar to FTMO’s but with more flexibility. Traders need to complete two phases: the Challenge and the Verification phase. During both stages, they are required to meet a profit target while staying within predefined risk limits.
- Account Sizes and Scaling: Funding Pips offers account sizes starting from $10,000 to $200,000, similar to FTMO. Traders have the opportunity to scale their accounts based on consistent performance and profitability.
- Profit Share: Funding Pips offers a competitive up to 90% profit share, which is comparable to FTMO’s offering.
- Risk Management: Funding Pips enforces risk management rules such as daily loss limits and maximum drawdown, although these limits tend to be more lenient than FTMO’s stricter guidelines.
3. Evaluation Process: FTMO vs. Funding Pips
Both FTMO and Funding Pips require traders to complete an evaluation process before gaining access to a funded account. While the general structure of the evaluations is similar, the two firms have some key differences that may appeal to different types of traders.
FTMO Evaluation Process:
- FTMO Challenge: The first step is the FTMO Challenge, where traders are required to achieve a profit target of around 10-20% of the account size within 30 days. During this period, traders must adhere to strict risk management rules, including a 5% daily loss limit and a 10% maximum drawdown.
- Verification Phase: Once the trader passes the Challenge, they move to the Verification Phase, which also involves achieving the same profit target within 60 days. The rules in the Verification Phase are slightly more lenient, but the trader must still meet the profit target and stay within risk limits.
- Minimum Trading Days: FTMO requires traders to complete at least 10 trading days in each phase to ensure consistency and reduce the chance of passing the evaluation through luck.
Funding Pips Evaluation Process:
- Challenge Phase: Like FTMO, Funding Pips has a Challenge Phase where traders must achieve a profit target, typically between 10-20% of the account size, within 30 days. The profit target can vary depending on the account size chosen by the trader. Risk management rules such as a daily loss limit and maximum drawdown are enforced, but they tend to be more lenient compared to FTMO.
- Verification Phase: After passing the Challenge, traders enter the Verification Phase where they are required to meet the same profit target within 60 days. The risk management rules are somewhat more flexible compared to the Challenge phase.
- No Minimum Trading Days: A significant difference between Funding Pips and FTMO is that Funding Pips does not impose a minimum trading day requirement during the evaluation process. This flexibility can be advantageous for traders who prefer to focus on quality trades rather than completing a set number of trading days.
4. Profit Share and Payouts: FTMO vs. Funding Pips
Both FTMO and Funding Pips offer traders an attractive up to 90% profit share, allowing traders to retain a large portion of their earnings once they pass the evaluation. However, there are some differences worth noting in terms of payout frequency and options.
FTMO Profit Share:
- Profit Share: FTMO offers up to 90% of the profits made by traders managing funded accounts.
- Scaling: FTMO provides opportunities for traders to scale up their accounts based on consistent profitability, enabling traders to manage larger capital as they grow.
- Payout Frequency: FTMO typically offers monthly payouts, giving traders the opportunity to withdraw their profits at the end of each month.
Funding Pips Profit Share:
- Profit Share: Funding Pips offers up to 90% profit share, which is in line with FTMO’s model, allowing traders to keep a significant portion of their profits.
- Scaling: Like FTMO, Funding Pips offers traders the ability to scale their accounts as they prove their profitability.
- Payout Frequency: One of the notable advantages of Funding Pips is the option for weekly payouts, providing traders with more frequent access to their earnings compared to FTMO’s monthly payout model.
5. Risk Management: FTMO vs. Funding Pips
Both firms implement strict risk management rules to ensure that traders maintain discipline and minimize the risk of large drawdowns. However, the rules vary in terms of their flexibility and enforcement.
FTMO Risk Management:
- Daily Loss Limit: FTMO enforces a 5% daily loss limit, meaning traders cannot lose more than 5% of the account balance in a single day.
- Maximum Drawdown: FTMO has a 10% maximum drawdown rule, which limits the total loss that can be incurred from the highest account balance.
- Minimum Trading Days: FTMO requires traders to complete 10 trading days during both the Challenge and Verification phases.
Funding Pips Risk Management:
- Daily Loss Limit: Funding Pips enforces a 5% daily loss limit, similar to FTMO, to ensure traders do not take excessive risks in a single trading day.
- Maximum Drawdown: Funding Pips enforces a 10% maximum drawdown rule, much like FTMO, protecting traders from excessive losses.
- No Minimum Trading Days: Unlike FTMO, Funding Pips does not require a minimum number of trading days during the evaluation process, offering traders more flexibility in how they approach the challenge.
6. Conclusion: FTMO vs. Funding Pips – Which is Right for You?
Both FTMO and Funding Pips offer excellent opportunities for traders to earn a funded account and scale their trading careers. Here’s a breakdown of which platform might be best for you:
- Choose FTMO if you prefer a well-established, globally recognized firm with a structured and disciplined evaluation process. FTMO’s minimum trading day requirement ensures that traders demonstrate consistency over time, and the firm’s long-standing reputation provides a sense of trust and security.
- Choose Funding Pips if you value flexibility in the evaluation process and prefer weekly payouts. The ability to skip the minimum trading day requirement can be particularly appealing to traders who want to focus on trading quality rather than completing a set number of trades. Additionally, Funding Pips’ slightly more relaxed risk management rules provide greater freedom during the evaluation.
Both firms offer 90% profit share, competitive account sizes, and scaling opportunities, making either a great choice depending on your preferences for evaluation rules, payout frequency, and risk management. Ultimately, the decision will depend on your individual trading style and what kind of flexibility you need during the evaluation process.
