FTMO 1-Step Challenge: rules and how to pass
The FTMO 1-Step Challenge is a 1-step challenge with a 10% target, a 3% daily loss limit and a 10% trailing maximum loss. Here is what that means in dollars, how hard it is to pass, and a plan worked out from its own rules.
In our benchmark the FTMO 1-Step Challenge is one of the easier challenges to pass: 54% of attempts passed, against a middle value of 44% across all challenges. For reaching a first payout it ranks 34th of 78 accounts. How the benchmark works.
Test your strategy against the FTMO 1-Step Challenge
FTMO 1-Step Challenge rules
- Account type
- 1-step
- Account size
- $100,000
- Profit target
- 10% ($10,000)
- Daily loss limit
- 3% ($3,000) of the starting balance
- Maximum loss
- 10% ($10,000), trailing
- Minimum trading days
- None
- Time limit
- None
- Consistency rule
- 50%
- First payout
- After 14 days, 0.1%+ profit
- Profit split
- 90%
- Price
- $557.01 for $100K
- Rules checked
- 8 Nov 2026, FTMO's rules page
Work it out for this account: position size · how much you can still lose today · real cost to get funded · payouts
What you need to make, phase by phase
| Stage | Target | In R at 0.75% a trade | Minimum days | Time limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Challenge | 10% ($10,000) | 13.3R | None | No limit |
| Funded: first payout | Any profit | – | 14 days | – |
R is the amount you lose on one losing trade. At 0.75% risk, 1R is $750.
How to pass the FTMO 1-Step Challenge
- Risk about 0.75% a trade ($750). That was the risk that gave the best chance of passing and getting paid on these rules in our benchmark. Bigger trades finish sooner when they work but breach the limits far more often; smaller trades are safer but can take months. At this size the target needs about 13.3R of net profit, meaning 13.3 times your risk on one trade. The position size calculator turns that into lots or contracts.
- Stop for the day well before the 3% daily limit. The limit is $3,000, a fixed amount from the starting balance. At 0.75% a trade, 3 losing trades in a row fit inside it. A personal stop at about half the limit (2 losses, about $1,500) leaves room for slippage and for open trades, which many firms count. The drawdown calculator shows your exact room at any moment.
- Protect open profit: the drawdown trails. Your floor is $10,000 below your highest balance, and it moves up every time you make a new high, so profit you give back counts against you just like a loss. Take partial profits or move stops to break-even once a trade is well in profit, and don't raise your size after a winning run. From any new high you have room for 13 losing trades in a row at 0.75%.
- Spread your profit: 50% consistency rule. No single day can be more than 50% of your total profit. To pass at exactly the 10% target, keep every day under about $5,000. If one day makes, say, $7,500, you have to keep trading until your total profit reaches $15,000, beyond the target.
- Pace yourself. There is no time limit, so don't raise your risk to finish sooner: time is on your side.
- Once funded. The first payout comes after 14 days. With a 90% split, you keep $900 of every $1,000 of profit. Keep trading the same way you passed: the limits still apply, and the account can still be lost.
- Test your own strategy before you pay. The numbers above come from a made-up trader. Upload your backtest or trade history to see your own pass and payout chance on this account, and use the strategy builder to add a daily stop and loss guards set to these limits.
Mistakes that fail this account
- One revenge trade after a losing morning. The 3% daily limit is the most common way accounts like this fail.
- Letting a winning trade turn into a loser. With a trailing drawdown, a big open profit that comes back costs you room.
- One huge day. It can make the consistency rule hold back your pass until the rest of your profit catches up.
- Trading news or holding over weekends without checking FTMO's own restrictions, which this page does not cover in full.
Rules to watch at FTMO
Daily loss is checked on equity (open trades count) and resets at 00:00 CE(S)T. 1-Step and funded accounts: best day must be 50% or less of total closed profit (orders from 12 Oct 2026). First reward can be requested from day 14 after the first trade. Instant Account (Oct 2026): 3% daily, 10% intraday trailing, 30% consistency, 90% split. Sources: ftmo.com/en/trading-objectives/ and ftmo.com/en/faq/how-do-i-withdraw-my-profits/
What it really costs to get funded
A challenge fee buys an attempt, not an account. If you divide the fee by the chance of success, you get what the average trader actually spends, retries included, before it pays off.
- At a 54% pass chance, every $100 of fee works out at about $185 spent for each account that gets funded.
- At a 40% chance of passing and reaching a first payout, every $100 of fee works out at about $250 for each first payout.
- At $557.01 for $100K, that is about $1,031 per funded account and $1,393 per first payout.
These use our benchmark trader's odds, not yours. A stronger strategy pays less per success and a weaker one pays more, which is why it is worth testing your own trades first. Many firms refund the fee with the first payout; check FTMO's terms.
How it compares
The best 1-step challenges for forex and CFDs in our benchmark, with this one included for comparison.
| Account | Pass chance | Then a payout | Target | Daily loss | Max loss | Consistency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTUK Flex Challenge | 64% | 27% | 4% | 5% | 6% trailing, locks at start | 20% funded |
| Instant Funding One-Phase Pro | 60% | 43% | 10% | 3% | 8% static | 40% |
| Bullwaves Prime 1-Step 100K | 59% | 39% | 10% | 4% | 8% static | 30% |
| Lark Funding 1-Step Career | 57% | 46% | 10% | 5% | 7% static | None |
| FundedNext Stellar 1-Step | 54% | 45% | 10% | 3% | 6% static | None |
| FTMO 1-Step Challenge (this one) | 54% | 40% | 10% | 3% | 10% trailing | 50% |
| Hola Prime 1-Step Prime 100K | 53% | 43% | 10% | 3% | 6% static | None |
Other FTMO accounts
How typical traders do on FTMO 1-Step Challenge
Eleven made-up traders, replayed 1,000 times each against these exact rules at the risk per trade that suited each one best. Every one except the grid sample makes the same average profit a day; only the shape of their results differs, which is what the rules react to. Swing trading does best here (88% pass), day trading worst (54%).
| Sample trader | Win rate and reward | Trades a day | Pass chance | Reach a first payout | Best risk a trade | Typical trading days | Most failures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swing trading | 44% at 2R | 0.3 | 88% | 80% | 1% | 70 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Position trading | 33% at 4R | 0.15 | 87% | 67% | 1% | 71 | Hit the maximum loss |
| High win rate | 75% at 0.4R | 2 | 86% | 82% | 0.75% | 92 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Opening range breakout | 55% at 1R | 1 | 80% | 75% | 0.75% | 86 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Trend following | 34% at 2.5R | 0.5 | 76% | 65% | 0.75% | 77 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Mean reversion | 58% at 0.8R | 2 | 68% | 59% | 0.75% | 63 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Breakout | 37% at 2R | 1 | 66% | 56% | 0.75% | 52 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Low win rate | 20% at 5R | 0.5 | 62% | 44% | 0.63% | 51 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Scalping | 54% at 0.9R | 5 | 57% | 44% | 0.38% | 87 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Day trading | 41% at 1.5R | 3 | 54% | 39% | 0.5% | 54 | Hit the maximum loss |
| Grid and martingale (no edge) | 91% at 0.3R | 2 | 30% | 21% | 0.75% | 56 | Hit the daily loss limit |
These are sample traders, not you: they show how the rules treat each style. Upload your own trades in the test centre for your own odds. Reward is the size of a winner in multiples of the amount risked (R).
Been paid on this account? Report your payout so other traders know what to expect.
Took this challenge? Tell us how it went, pass or fail, so other traders can see how real results compare with the test.
Price history
List price now: $557.01. We've tracked this price since 13 Nov 2026, so the 30-day low comes later.
No price changes by FTMO since we started tracking on 13 Nov 2026.
List prices from the firm's own site, checked each week. Firms also run short discount codes, which we don't track or link to: PropPassCheck takes no money from prop firms. All rule changes
Rule history
No changes recorded since we started tracking on 9 Nov 2026. Rules last checked 8 Nov 2026. All rule changes.
Questions about the FTMO 1-Step Challenge
What is the profit target for the FTMO 1-Step Challenge?
10%. On a $100,000 account that is $10,000.
What is the daily loss limit on the FTMO 1-Step Challenge?
3% of the starting balance, which is $3,000 on a $100,000 account. Breaking it fails the account.
Is the FTMO 1-Step Challenge drawdown static or trailing?
The maximum loss is 10% ($10,000) and it is trailing. The floor is $10,000 below your highest balance, and it moves up every time you make a new high.
How many trading days does the FTMO 1-Step Challenge need?
There is no minimum number of trading days, and no time limit.
Does the FTMO 1-Step Challenge have a consistency rule?
Yes: 50%. Your best day can be no more than that share of your total profit, in the challenge and when funded.
When does the FTMO 1-Step Challenge pay out, and what is the split?
After 14 days, 0.1%+ profit. The profit split is 90%.
How hard is it to pass the FTMO 1-Step Challenge?
In our benchmark (the same made-up trader replayed against every account), 54% of attempts passed and 40% went on to a first payout. That ranks it 9th of 63 challenges for pass chance.
How much should I risk per trade on the FTMO 1-Step Challenge?
In our benchmark the best results on these rules came at about 0.75% of the account per trade ($750 on $100,000). Your own best size depends on your win rate and losing streaks, so test your trades in the PropPassCheck test centre.
Will your strategy pass?
The benchmark ranks the rules, not you. Upload a backtest or trade history and PropPassCheck replays it 2,000 times against the FTMO 1-Step Challenge and every other account, showing your own chance of passing and of reaching a first payout. Nothing is uploaded: it runs in your browser. Open the test centre.
Nothing here is financial advice. Rules change, so confirm them on FTMO's own site before you buy.