1. Evaluation Models and Entry Pathways
The primary difference between these two entities lies in their accessibility. While FTMO focuses on a strict evaluation process (1-Step and 2-Step), Audacity provides a third option: Instant Funding (Funded Trader Program).
- Audacity's Triple Offer: They provide 2-step evaluations (Ability Challenge), 1-step evaluations (Ability One), and direct funding. The instant funding model allows traders to skip evaluations by paying a higher upfront fee, which is ideal for those with capital but no time for phases.
- FTMO's Specialization: FTMO adheres to the industry-standard 1-step and 2-step models. Their 2-step evaluation is their flagship product, known for having a higher maximum drawdown (10%) compared to their 1-step version.
- Account Sizes: Both firms offer a range from $10,000 to $200,000+, but Audacity's "Ability" range goes up to $240,000, slightly exceeding FTMO's standard $200,000 cap.
2. Risk Management: Drawdown and Consistency Rules
Risk parameters are where the technical difficulty of each firm becomes apparent. Audacity implements a much more complex "Consistency Score" than FTMO.
- Drawdown Calculation: FTMO uses Equity-based daily drawdown, meaning it tracks floating losses in real-time. Audacity uses the highest value between balance and equity, which is a more restrictive calculation because it "locks in" peak equity during the day.
- Audacity’s Consistency Formula: They use a mathematical score:
[1 - (most profitable day / total profit)] * 100.- A score below 50 prevents the trader from passing or withdrawing.
- This forces the trader to maintain a very tight distribution of profits, making "lucky" high-RR trades a liability rather than a benefit.
- FTMO’s Consistency: Only the 1-Step account has a consistency rule (no single day can exceed 50% of total profit). Their 2-Step account has no consistency rule, offering significantly more freedom for aggressive or high-conviction traders.
3. Trading Restrictions and Strategy Limitations
Both firms allow common strategies like scalping and hedging, but their approach to automation and news trading differs significantly.
- Expert Advisors (EAs): FTMO is very flexible, allowing almost any EA. Audacity only permits self-developed EAs. Using a commercial or third-party EA on Audacity is a breach of contract, which is a significant risk for traders who do not code their own tools.
- News Trading: FTMO offers a "Swing" account type that allows news trading without restrictions. Their standard accounts have a 4-minute window (2 before, 2 after) where trading is banned. Audacity has a 3-minute window for high-impact news and considers breaking this rule as "excessive risk-taking."
- Prohibited Methods: Audacity explicitly bans Martingale and Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA). FTMO is more lenient regarding these strategies as long as they don't lead to "overleveraging" or "account rolling."
4. Payout Structures and Profit Splits
The frequency and requirements for receiving capital differ in terms of "hurdles."
- Profit Sharing: FTMO offers a standard 80% split, which can scale to 90%. Audacity starts at 75% for its Ability Challenge, only reaching 85-90% after specific profitability milestones (doubling the account twice).
- Withdrawal Hurdles:
- FTMO traders can withdraw every 14 days with very low minimums ($20 for bank, $50 for crypto).
- Audacity's Funded Trader Program (Instant) requires the trader to reach 10% profit before they can even request a withdrawal. This creates a significant "buffer" requirement that FTMO does not have.
- Refunds: Both firms refund the initial fee with the first payout, but on FTMO, this only applies to the 2-step challenge.
5. Assets, Platforms, and Commissions
FTMO provides a more robust technical infrastructure for professional traders.
- Platform Variety: FTMO offers cTrader and DXTrade in addition to MT4/MT5. Audacity is limited to the MetaTrader ecosystem.
- Asset Classes: FTMO includes Individual Stocks, providing more diversification than Audacity, which focuses on Forex, Indices, and Commodities.
- Leverage Tiers: FTMO provides a consistent 100:1 (Forex) on standard accounts. Audacity varies leverage by program; their "Funded Trader" (Instant) accounts are restricted to 30:1, which significantly limits the ability to open multiple positions compared to their "Ability" challenge.
- Commissions: Audacity charges $6-$10 per lot depending on the asset. FTMO is slightly more competitive at $5 per lot for Forex.
6. Scaling and Professional Growth
Both firms offer scaling, but the "ceiling" and the path to professional trading are different.
- Audacity Scaling: They double the account balance every 3 months if the trader achieves 2.5% monthly profit for 3 consecutive months, up to a cap of $2,000,000.
- FTMO Scaling & "Prime": FTMO's scaling also reaches $2,000,000, but they offer a unique professional path called Quantlane. High-performing "Supreme" traders can be headhunted for a traditional prop trading job in Prague with a fixed salary and institutional conditions.
7. Summary: Strategic Choice
Choose FTMO if:
- You use commercial EAs or third-party trading tools.
- You want to trade Individual Stocks or prefer using cTrader/DXTrade.
- You want a 2-step evaluation with no consistency rules, allowing for more flexible trading styles.
- You prefer a firm with a long-standing reputation and a clear path to a professional institutional career (Quantlane).
- You trade from countries not banned by FTMO (they have a more extensive list of banned regions, but Audacity specifically bans the United States).
Choose Audacity if:
- You want Instant Funding and are willing to pay a premium to skip the evaluation phases.
- You are a highly consistent trader who naturally produces a smooth equity curve (favouring their Consistency Score).
- You prefer static drawdown rules (on the balance) rather than trailing rules often found in other instant firms.
- You are a manual trader who develops your own tools and doesn't rely on public EAs.
