FTMO vs The5ers

Drawdown, the rule that ends most accounts

FTMO runs a Fixed drawdown and The5ers runs Static.

In practice that is -3% / -10% of room at FTMO and -3% / -6% at The5ers.

What entry really costs

The cheapest entry is The5ers, from $19.00 with the coupon applied at checkout, against $79.00 at FTMO.

The discount differs too: 20% OFF at FTMO and 70% OFF at The5ers.

Add the activation fee at The5ers before comparing: it is charged after you pass and never shows up in the evaluation price.

FTMO charges no activation fee, so the price you see is the full cost up to the funded account.

When the money leaves

On the split, FTMO pays 90% and The5ers pays 100%.

Neither offers a day-one payout, so plan around each standard cycle.

Declared speed: 14 days at FTMO and 16h avg at The5ers.

The rules that kill the account

FTMO enforces a consistency rule (50% Best Day), which stops a single day from carrying the whole result.

The5ers has no consistency requirement, so one strong day counts in full.

Minimum trading days: 0 at FTMO and 0 at The5ers.

FTMO explicitly bans: Latency arbitrage, Spread manipulation.

The5ers explicitly bans: 30-day inactivity, More than 4 active accounts, Consistency rule 30% per position (Futures).

Which one fits you

If the goal is testing the model on the smallest possible budget, The5ers has the cheaper entry.

Platforms: FTMO runs on MT4, MT5, cTrader; The5ers, on MT5, TradingView, Rithmic. A strategy tied to one platform decides this on its own.

There is no better firm in the abstract: there is the one that matches your drawdown, your trading hours and how fast you need to withdraw.