Backtest the FTMO challenge - simulated, free.
Rehearse a FTMO 2-Step or 1-Step on real historical charts before you pay for the real one. The firm's profit targets, daily loss and max loss load automatically, the replay hides the future, and the challenge fails the moment a limit is hit - exactly where your money would have gone.
FTMO challenge rules, side by side.
What each FTMO program asks for, as published by the firm. Percentages are of the initial account balance.
| Rule | 2-Step · Challenge | 2-Step · Verification | 1-Step · Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit target | 10% | 5% | 10% |
| Max daily loss | 5% | 5% | 3% |
| Max loss | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| Max loss type | static, from the initial balance | static, from the initial balance | trailing at end of day - rises with the balance |
| Minimum days | 4 per phase | 4 per phase | 4 |
| Other rule | None beyond the objectives above | None beyond the objectives above | Best Day rule: your best day may not exceed 50% of the profit from all positive days |
Read from ftmo.com (Trading Objectives page) on 6 October 2026. Prop firms change rules without notice - check your own account dashboard before you pay for a challenge. FxBacktest is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by FTMO; the name is used only to describe which rule set the simulator loads.
Choose your FTMO program. The rules load themselves.
Each button opens a free account (or signs you straight in) and drops you into the prop-firm challenge setup with that program's targets and limits already filled in. Choose a market and a start date, and the replay begins.
Challenge 10%, then Verification 5% target · 5% daily loss · 10% max loss · minimum days: 4 per phase. Loaded into the challenge setup for you - every number stays editable.
Start a simulated 2-Step challenge → ONE PHASEChallenge 10% target · 3% daily loss · 10% max loss · minimum days: 4. Loaded into the challenge setup for you - every number stays editable.
Start a simulated 1-Step challenge →What the FTMO limits mean in trades.
The same rules counted in trades instead of percent, for a strategy that risks a fixed share of the initial balance and takes profit at twice its risk. Losers are full 1R losses with no partial closes.
FTMO 2-Step
| Rule | At 1% risk, 2R winners | At 0.5% risk, 2R winners |
|---|---|---|
| Challenge target 10% | 5 net winners | 10 net winners |
| Verification target 5% | 3 net winners | 5 net winners |
| Daily loss 5% | 5 losers in one day | 10 losers in one day |
| Max loss 10% | 10 losers in a row | 20 losers in a row |
FTMO 1-Step
| Rule | At 1% risk, 2R winners | At 0.5% risk, 2R winners |
|---|---|---|
| Challenge target 10% | 5 net winners | 10 net winners |
| Daily loss 3% | 3 losers in one day | 6 losers in one day |
| Max loss 10% | 10 losers in a row | 20 losers in a row |
Read the daily row first. It is the rule that ends most challenges, because it counts a bad day, not a bad month - and losers cluster. Our risk-of-ruin table shows how often a given win rate produces a streak that long.
Tracked automatically - and what is not.
- Profit target per phase, measured on closed balance, so an open winner cannot pass a phase.
- Daily loss on live equity, floating P&L included, against the balance the day started with.
- Max loss on live equity against the phase's starting balance.
- Minimum trading days per phase - a day counts when a trade is placed on it.
- Leverage - margin is checked on every order.
Not modelled, specific to FTMO:
- The 1-Step max loss trails: FTMO raises the floor at the end of each day as the balance makes new highs. The simulator holds it static at 10% below the phase start balance, so a run that gives back profit late can pass here and fail at FTMO. Track your peak balance by hand on 1-Step rehearsals.
- The 1-Step Best Day rule (best day ≤ 50% of positive-day profit) is not enforced. Read your day-by-day P&L in the session report before calling it a pass.
- FTMO's trading day runs from 00:00 CE(S)T. The simulator rolls the day at 00:00 UTC, one to two hours earlier, which moves the daily-loss reset.
Read these before you rehearse.
Daily vs max drawdown
Two limits, two different reset rules. Why the daily one fails more accounts than the overall one.
Read the guide → GUIDESimulate a two-step challenge
How to run phase one and verification as one rehearsal and what to look for in the report.
Read the guide → GUIDESimulate a one-step challenge
A single higher target on a tighter limit - why one-step accounts reward smaller risk per trade.
Read the guide →Four steps, about a minute.
Click a program above.
Sign up free with email or Google - no card - or log in.
Check the rules.
The challenge setup opens with the FTMO targets, limits and minimum days filled in. Change the account size or any number if your account differs.
Pick a market and a start date.
Any of the 105 instruments, any timeframe. The chart hides everything after the start, so you trade the bars as they arrived.
Replay and trade.
The challenge panel shows target progress, daily room and trading days live, and ends the run the moment a limit is hit - or passes it to the next phase.
Other firms with a preset: FundingPips · FundedNext · The5ers. Or build your own rules from the prop firm challenge simulator guide.
Backtest FTMO FAQ
Is this the real FTMO challenge?
No. It is a simulation on historical data that loads FTMO's published rules, so you can rehearse a challenge before paying for one. Nothing here is connected to FTMO, and passing here does not give you a FTMO account.
Is the simulated FTMO challenge free?
Yes. The free plan includes one prop-firm challenge straight away and a second after day 3. Pro adds 10 now and 10 more after day 3; Ultra is unlimited. No card is needed to start.
Which markets can I run the FTMO challenge on?
Any of the 105 instruments on FxBacktest - forex pairs, gold and silver, indices such as the Nasdaq and DAX, oil, crypto and US stocks - on every timeframe from one minute to monthly.
Can I change the FTMO rules?
Yes. The preset only fills in the setup screen. Account size, number of phases, each phase target, daily and max loss, minimum days and leverage can all be edited before the challenge starts.
Does FTMO have a time limit?
The 1-Step FTMO Challenge lists an unlimited trading period. In the simulator there is no clock either: a challenge stays open until it passes, fails, or you end it.