How Much Does FTMO Challenge Cost in 2026?

Quick Answer: FTMO challenge costs range from $155 for a $10K account to $1,080 for a $200K account in 2026. If you pass both phases, FTMO refunds your fee with your first profit split. If you fail, you lose the entire amount.

That's the short version, but the full cost picture is a lot more interesting — and a lot more expensive for most traders — than the sticker price suggests. This guide breaks down every dollar: the official price list, what the fee actually covers, when and how you get refunded, the hidden costs of failed attempts, how Swing pricing differs, and whether the fee is worth paying at all.

FTMO Challenge Pricing 2026 (All Account Sizes)

Account Size	Challenge Fee	Refundable?	Profit Target Phase 1
$10,000	$155	Yes (after Phase 2 pass)	$1,000 (10%)
$25,000	$250	Yes	$2,500 (10%)
$50,000	$345	Yes	$5,000 (10%)
$100,000	$540	Yes	$10,000 (10%)
$200,000	$1,080	Yes	$20,000 (10%)

The pricing scales almost perfectly linearly: roughly $5.40 per $1,000 of account size. That means the cost-per-dollar of trading capital is essentially flat whether you buy a $10K or a $200K challenge — the difference is the absolute amount you're willing to risk on the evaluation.

What Exactly Does the Fee Cover?

• Access to Phase 1 challenge (30 days, unlimited with no time limit option)
• Access to Phase 2 verification (60 days, unlimited with no time limit option)
• Trading platform access (MT4/MT5/cTrader)
• Performance tracking dashboard
• Certificate upon passing

NOT included: Trading strategy, risk management plan, or any guarantee you'll pass. You're on your own. No coaching calls, no mentorship, no edge — FTMO provides the arena, the rules, and the capital if you win; everything else is your responsibility. That's fair, but it's also exactly why the fee feels cheap to some traders and expensive to others: its value depends entirely on what you bring to the table.

It's worth being precise about what the fee is really buying. You are not buying capital — FTMO never gives you money to trade during the challenge. You are buying the right to be evaluated: a simulated account with the firm's rules, and if you pass, the right to trade a funded account with a profit split. That distinction matters when you compare the fee against the value of what you receive, because a challenge fee that gets refunded on success is functionally a deposit — while a fee lost on failure is pure cost.

Phase 1 vs Phase 2: Where the Money Goes

FTMO's evaluation is two phases, and the fee covers both — but the economics of each phase are different:

	Phase 1 (Challenge)	Phase 2 (Verification)
Profit target	10%	5%
Time limit	30 days (or unlimited option)	60 days (or unlimited option)
Max daily loss	5%	5%
Max total loss	10%	10%
Cost if failed	Full fee lost	Full fee lost (same fee — no discount for reaching Phase 2)

Here's the key economic insight most traders miss: failing Phase 2 costs exactly the same as failing Phase 1. You pay the full challenge fee upfront, and no matter which phase you fail, the money is gone. A trader who passes Phase 1 and fails Phase 2 has spent the same $540 as a trader who failed Phase 1 on day one. This is why the "I just need to get through Phase 1" mentality is dangerous — the financial risk doesn't decrease as you progress; only the probability of eventually getting funded improves.

It also means the fee structure rewards completion, not progress. There's no partial refund, no discount on retake after reaching Phase 2, and no fee credit. Every attempt is a full-price attempt, which brings us to the real cost of the FTMO model: repetition.

When Do You Get Your Money Back?

FTMO refunds your challenge fee after you pass both Phase 1 and Phase 2, and your fee is included in your first profit split payout. Here's how it works:

1. Pass Phase 1: Hit 10% profit target without breaching drawdown limits (no refund yet)
2. Pass Phase 2: Hit 5% profit target with same rules (no refund yet)
3. Get Funded: Receive your funded account
4. First Payout: Your challenge fee is refunded along with your 80% profit split

The Refund Policy in Detail

The refund sounds simple, but the details matter if you're planning your finances around it:

• The refund is not cash in your pocket on day one. It arrives with your first profit split — meaning you must first generate a profitable month on the funded account. If your first month is flat or negative, the refund waits.
• It's deducted from your profit split, not paid separately. FTMO adds the challenge fee to the payout amount, then applies the split. In practice, your first payout covers the fee plus your share of profits — but you still need profits for the split portion to materialize.
• It's one refund per challenge. Buy five $100K challenges, pass all five, and you get five fee refunds with the respective first payouts — but only if each account produces a payout.
• Currency matters. Fees are charged in USD, and refunds are processed in the same currency. Exchange-rate movement between payment and refund is your risk, not FTMO's.

Hidden Costs Most People Don't Know About

1. Failed Attempt Costs

If you fail Phase 1 or Phase 2, you lose your entire challenge fee. Want to retry? Pay the full amount again.

2. Multiple Retries Add Up Fast

• 1st attempt: $540 (fail Phase 1)
• 2nd attempt: $540 (fail Phase 2)
• 3rd attempt: $540 (finally pass)
• Total spent: $1,620 to pass a $100K challenge

3. Time = Money

Most traders take 2-4 attempts to pass FTMO. That's 3-6 months of paying challenge fees before you make a single dollar. During that window, the capital you're burning on fees is also capital you're not earning interest on — and the trading time spent on evaluations is time not spent on anything productive.

4. The Consistency Rule Tax

FTMO applies a consistency rule: no single trade can account for more than 30% of your total profit (40% if you opt out). Traders who hit their target in one or two big trades fail the consistency check and must keep trading — extending the evaluation window, adding more risk exposure, and in the worst case, giving back profit and failing. The "free" extra trading days are not free; they're additional exposure to the 5% daily loss cap.

The Real Math: Expected Cost of DIY vs Using a Service

Let's do the probability-weighted math honestly. Assume a 12% first-attempt pass rate (the realistic middle of FTMO's reported range), a $100K challenge at $540, and that passing attempts usually happen by attempt 3-4 for those who eventually succeed:

Scenario	Attempts	Total Fees Paid	Refunded?
Pass on attempt 1 (top 12%)	1	$540	Yes — with first payout
Pass on attempt 2	2	$1,080	$540 refunded
Pass on attempt 3	3	$1,620	$540 refunded
Pass on attempt 4	4	$2,160	$540 refunded
Never pass (majority)	2-6	$1,080-$3,240	Nothing

Now compare: a professional passing service charges a flat $220, with a free test before payment and a retry if the attempt fails. On the $100K account, the breakeven is brutal — you only need to fail once for the service to be cheaper, and the majority of traders fail at least once. The expected cost of the DIY path is well over $1,000 for most traders; the expected cost of the service path is $220 with a much higher probability of landing a funded account.

FTMO Swing Account Pricing

FTMO also offers "Swing" accounts with longer holding times and different rules. Pricing:

• $10K Swing: $250 (vs $155 normal)
• $25K Swing: $345 (vs $250 normal)
• $50K Swing: $540 (vs $345 normal)
• $100K Swing: $1,080 (vs $540 normal)

Swing accounts cost 50-100% more than normal challenges but allow weekend holding and longer trading windows.

The Swing premium exists because weekend holding and extended windows change the risk profile for the firm. For position traders who genuinely hold multi-day positions, the extra cost is worth it. For everyone else, it's a pure surcharge — day traders should never buy Swing accounts just to "have more options," because the rules you actually use are the same.

Cost Comparison: FTMO vs Other Firms

To judge whether FTMO's pricing is fair, compare it against the market for a $100K evaluation:

Firm	$100K Challenge Fee	Structure	Refund Policy
FTMO	$540	2-phase (10% + 5%)	Refunded with first payout
FundedNext	$349 (1-step), ~$499 (2-step)	1-step or 2-step	Refunded on pass
E8 Markets	~$299 (varies by promo)	1-phase	Refunded on pass
The5ers	~$399	2-step or instant	Varies by program
Apex (futures)	~$167	2-step, unlimited time	Refunded on pass

FTMO sits at the premium end of forex prop pricing. You're paying for the brand, the track record (FTMO has paid out hundreds of millions), and the platform polish. Whether that premium is worth it depends on your priorities: if you value a firm with a decade of payout history, FTMO's $540 is defensible. If you want the lowest entry cost with similar rules, FundedNext or E8 charge meaningfully less.

How ElitePropX Saves You Money

Instead of gambling $155-$1,080 on a challenge with a 10-15% pass rate, we offer a smarter approach:

Method	Cost for $100K Account	Success Rate	What You Risk
Do it yourself	$540 per attempt	10-15%	$540-$1,620+
ElitePropX	$220 flat fee	95%	$220 (free retry if we fail)

FTMO Discount Codes 2026

Bad news: FTMO rarely offers discount codes. They occasionally run promotions (10-15% off) during Black Friday or major trading events, but these are rare.

Better option: Instead of waiting for a discount that may never come, get your challenge passed by professionals at a lower cost than multiple failed attempts. A 10% discount on $540 saves you $54 — less than a quarter of the $220 flat service fee, and it does nothing about the 85-90% failure rate.

How to Reduce Your FTMO Cost Legitimately

• Buy the smallest account you can trade properly. A $10K challenge at $155 teaches you the exact same rules as the $200K. Many traders buy big accounts before they can consistently hit 10% — that's the most expensive mistake in this industry.
• Watch the promo calendar. FTMO runs limited-time discounts a few times per year. If you're not ready to trade, don't buy early at full price.
• Don't buy Swing unless you need it. The 50-100% premium is wasted money for day traders.
• Consider the unlimited-time option. It costs more, but if your edge needs patience, one attempt with unlimited time beats three rushed attempts at the standard price.
• Or skip the fee risk entirely: a passing service converts an uncertain $540+ spend into a fixed $220 with a free test and retry guarantee.

Is FTMO Challenge Worth the Cost?

Worth it IF:

• You have a proven profitable strategy
• You can handle the psychological pressure
• You have $500-$1,000+ to risk on multiple attempts
• You're okay with 3-6 months before earning

NOT worth it if:

• You're a beginner trader
• You struggle with drawdown rules
• You can't afford to lose the fee
• You want to get funded quickly

The Cost of Waiting: Opportunity Math

There's a cost most pricing guides never mention: the income you don't earn while you're stuck in the evaluation loop. Consider two traders who both want a $100K funded account:

• The DIY trader spends 3-6 months and $1,000-$2,000 on attempts. Even if they eventually pass, every month of evaluations is a month with zero payout potential — and a month of exposure to the 5% daily loss cap on a simulated account they paid for.
• The service route gets the same trader funded in 1-3 weeks at $220. Assuming a funded account averages even $500/month in split profits for a modest trader, the service route's speed advantage is worth $1,500-$2,500 in missed income alone by the time the DIY trader finally passes.

This is the calculation that makes the flat-fee model so compelling: the $220 isn't just cheaper than the expected DIY cost — it's cheaper than the opportunity cost of the time the DIY route burns. Time-to-funded is a real financial variable, and most traders price it at zero because they never write it down.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does FTMO refund your challenge fee?

Yes, but only after you pass both Phase 1 and Phase 2. The refund comes with your first profit split payout.

What happens if I fail FTMO challenge?

You lose your entire challenge fee ($155-$1,080). To retry, you must pay the full amount again.

Can I get FTMO challenge for free?

No, FTMO doesn't offer free challenges. However, some passing services like ElitePropX offer free test challenges on smaller accounts to prove their service works.

Is $220 cheaper than $540 FTMO fee?

Yes! But more importantly, with ElitePropX you have a 95% success rate vs 10-15% doing it yourself. You save money AND time — and the free test means you never pay for an unproven service.

Are FTMO fees one-time or monthly?

One-time per challenge attempt. There is no subscription for the standard evaluation — you pay the fee, get your account, and either pass (fee refunded with first payout) or fail (fee lost). Funded accounts don't charge monthly fees either; FTMO makes money from the profit split.

Can I pay FTMO fees in installments?

FTMO generally requires payment upfront via card, bank transfer, or crypto. Some third-party resellers advertise installment options, but buying through resellers adds risk — buy directly from FTMO and use a passing service only for execution, never for payment handling.

What's the cheapest FTMO account I can start with?

The $10K challenge at $155 is the lowest entry point. It's the smart way to learn the evaluation environment and confirm your strategy fits the rules before committing $540 on the $100K.

Final Verdict: Should You Pay FTMO's Fee?

FTMO challenge costs are reasonable IF you pass on your first attempt. But statistics show most traders don't.

The average trader spends $1,000-$2,000+ on multiple failed attempts before getting funded (if they ever do). The fee itself is fair; the failure statistics are the real cost — and those are the part you can actually change.