How you lose the account
Losing an account in these two firms depends on both mathematical limits and behavioral violations. In both Atlas Funded and FTMO, the most direct path to termination is breaching the drawdown limits (daily or maximum) or failing the inactivity rule, which requires opening at least one trade every 30 days.
- Atlas Funded: You can lose the account through the "Atlas Protector" rule. If your net floating loss reaches 2% of the initial balance, the firm closes your positions and cuts your profit split to 50% on the first trigger; a second trigger results in account closure. Additionally, using more than 80% of your margin or violating prohibited strategies like latency arbitrage or martingale will terminate the contract.
- FTMO: Account loss occurs if the equity drops below the allowed limits. Beyond drawdown, FTMO is strict with its "Account Rolling" prohibition and "one-sided bets." In Standard accounts, trading through restricted news events on funded accounts can lead to profit deductions or warnings, although the firm is generally more permissive with trading styles in its "Swing" version.
Maximum drawdown
The maximum drawdown is the ultimate floor of your account. The way it is calculated determines how much "breathing room" you actually have.
- Atlas Funded: Uses different models depending on the plan. In 1/2/3-Step evaluations, it is static. In "Instant" accounts, it is a trailing drawdown based on the closed balance at 00:00 UTC (it does not lock at the starting balance). In "Access" accounts, it follows the equity (trailing equity).
- Numerical Example: On a $100,000 1-Step account with a 7% maximum drawdown, your hard floor is $93,000. It never moves, regardless of how much profit you make.
- FTMO: The 2-Step Challenge uses a static drawdown. However, the 1-Step version uses an "End-of-day trailing" drawdown, and the Instant accounts use an intraday trailing drawdown on the closed balance.
- Numerical Example: On a $100,000 2-Step Challenge with a 10% maximum limit, your floor is $90,000. If you grow the account to $110,000, your floor remains $90,000, giving you a real cushion of $20,000.
Daily drawdown
This is the most sensitive rule because it is evaluated constantly or at specific reset times, often catching traders during high volatility.
- Atlas Funded: Resets at 00:00 UTC. In standard plans, it is a fixed amount based on the initial account size. In Instant and Access plans, it is a percentage of the equity at the time of reset. Notably, intraday profit does not raise the daily floor for that same day.
- FTMO: It is strictly equity-based. This means the limit is calculated based on the equity at the end of the previous day. If you have open positions floating in profit at the time of reset, your daily loss limit for the next day will be further away from your starting balance, but if they are in loss, it will be closer.
Rules beyond drawdown
Both firms impose additional restrictions that, while not always resulting in immediate closure, can lead to profit confiscation.
- Atlas Funded:
- Scalping: Profits from trades held for less than 3 minutes are deducted on funded accounts.
- News: On funded accounts, profits from trades opened or closed within 5 minutes of high-impact news are deducted.
- Consistency: Only applies to "Instant Funded" (best day cannot exceed 20% of total profit).
- Atlas Protector: A 2% floating loss threshold that triggers automatic position closure.
- FTMO:
- Consistency: In the 1-Step version, the best day cannot exceed 50% of the total profit. In Instant accounts, the limit is 30%.
- News: Standard accounts cannot execute or close trades 2 minutes before and after news.
- Holding: Standard accounts must close positions before the weekend; Swing accounts do not have this restriction.
Risk that comes from the setup
The environment (platforms and assets) introduces execution risk. Slippage during news or high-spread periods can trigger a drawdown breach even if the trader's strategy was sound.
- Platforms: FTMO offers a wider range of institutional-grade platforms: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DXTrade, and TradingView. This diversity allows traders to choose the execution engine they trust most. Atlas Funded offers MetaTrader 5, TradeLocker, and MatchTrader. TradeLocker and MatchTrader are often seen as less stable than cTrader, which adds a layer of platform-specific risk.
- Assets and Leverage: FTMO offers Stocks, which Atlas does not. FTMO's leverage is capped at 1:100 (Standard) or 1:30 (Swing). Atlas also offers 1:100 but does not publish exact thresholds for scaling or specific leverage for all crypto symbols in the structured data, which is a risk factor as unknown variables prevent proper margin planning.
What is at stake and what you recover
The initial fee is the "at-risk capital." What you recover and how you recover it varies significantly.
- Atlas Funded: Prices are in USD ($97 for a $10k 1-Step). The refund is not cash; it is returned as "Atlas Balance" (internal credit) after the third consecutive payout. This increases the risk for the trader, as they cannot recover their initial investment in cash even after succeeding.
- FTMO: Prices are in EUR (€79 for a $10k 1-Step). The refund is a full cash refund provided with the first payout. This significantly reduces the long-term risk once the first profit is realized.
- Payout Frequency: Both firms generally pay every 14 days, but Atlas offers an "On-Demand" add-on and daily payouts for "Pro" accounts, which reduces the time the profit is "at risk" within the firm's accounts.
Frequently asked questions
Which firm is cheaper to start a $10,000 challenge, Atlas Funded or FTMO?
Atlas Funded is cheaper for a 1-Step evaluation, costing $97 USD, whereas FTMO charges €79 EUR (which is approximately $85-$88 USD depending on the exchange rate). However, Atlas Funded also offers an "Access" 1-Step model for only $5 USD, but it requires a $88 USD activation fee once you pass, making the total cost similar to FTMO's initial price.
Which firm offers a better maximum drawdown cushion on 1-Step accounts, Atlas Funded or FTMO?
FTMO offers a significantly better cushion with a 10% maximum drawdown on its 1-Step account. In contrast, Atlas Funded only allows a 7% maximum drawdown for its 1-Step plan. This 3% difference represents a much larger margin for error and strategy volatility in favor of FTMO.
Between Atlas Funded and FTMO, which one is more restrictive regarding news trading?
Atlas Funded is more restrictive in terms of profit protection, as it deducts gains from trades opened or closed within a 10-minute window (5 before and 5 after) of high-impact news on all funded accounts. FTMO only applies news restrictions (a 4-minute window) to its "Standard" accounts, while its "Swing" accounts have no news trading restrictions at all, making FTMO the safer choice for news traders.
Which firm has a safer refund policy, Atlas Funded or FTMO?
FTMO has a safer policy because it provides a full cash refund of the challenge fee with the trader's first payout. Atlas Funded does not return the fee in cash; instead, it credits it as "Atlas Balance" (internal store credit) and only after the trader has successfully reached their third consecutive payout, which represents a much higher risk of never recovering the initial investment.
