1. Reliability and Corporate Background
- Market Experience: Audacity (Audacity Capital) is one of the oldest firms in the industry, founded in 2012 and based in London. The5ers followed in 2016 operating from Israel. Both firms have survived multiple industry "shake-outs," proving a level of stability that newer firms lack.
- Public Reputation: The5ers holds a significantly higher volume of user feedback with over 20,000 reviews and a score of 4.8, whereas Audacity maintains a 4.5 score with a much smaller public review footprint. This suggests a larger active community and potentially more refined customer support systems at The5ers.
- Geographic Restrictions: The5ers has a much longer list of banned countries, including Russia, Israel, and several African nations. Audacity is more accessible but remains restricted in the United States, Syria, and North Korea.
2. Evaluation Models and Capital Access
- Structure Variety: The5ers offers a more diverse range of paths. Their Bootcamp is a low-entry-cost 3-step challenge, while High Stakes is a standard 2-step model. Audacity provides the Ability Challenge (2-step), Ability One (1-step), and a direct Funded Trader Program (Instant Funding).
- Scaling Potential:
- The5ers features one of the most aggressive scaling plans in the industry, allowing traders to reach up to $4,000,000 in capital across different programs.
- Audacity also scales up to $2,000,000, doubling the account every 3 months if a 2.5% monthly profit is maintained.
- Logic: The5ers is better suited for traders looking for long-term growth into multi-million dollar management, while Audacity's scaling is more rigid and tied to specific 3-month review cycles.
- Max Allocation: Audacity limits initial allocation to $240,000. The5ers allows for higher aggregate limits depending on the program (e.g., multiple High Stakes or Bootcamp accounts).
3. Trading Rules and Consistency Requirements
- Consistency Score (The Audacity Hurdle): Audacity implements a strict Consistency Score formula. If your most profitable day accounts for more than 30% of your total profit (Score < 70), your account undergoes manual review. This penalizes "lucky" high-impact trades and forces a "slow and steady" approach.
- The5ers' Flexibility: The5ers does not use a mathematical consistency formula for its High Stakes program, making it more favorable for traders with variable performance. However, their Bootcamp requires a mandatory Stop Loss and a 2% maximum risk per position.
- Expert Advisors (EAs):
- Audacity only allows self-developed EAs. Using commercial bots bought from MQL5 or third parties is a breach.
- The5ers allows EAs but also demands source code ownership or unique strategies. Using "off-the-shelf" bots that everyone else uses will lead to disqualification due to "copy trading" policies.
- News Trading:
- Audacity is restrictive, prohibiting new trades 3 minutes before and after high-impact news.
- The5ers allows news trading on Bootcamp/Hyper-Growth but strictly prohibits opening/closing trades 2 minutes around news on High Stakes (resulting in profit deduction).
4. Drawdown and Risk Management
- Daily Drawdown Calculation:
- Audacity uses the highest value between balance and equity. This is a "hidden" difficulty spike because if you have a large floating profit that retracts, it could trigger a daily loss limit even if your balance is positive.
- The5ers uses an EOD (End of Day) High-Watermark. The daily limit is reset at the end of the day based on the balance or equity at that moment, which is generally more lenient than Audacity's intraday equity tracking.
- Stop-Out Levels: Both firms are relatively opaque regarding specific stop-out levels (marked as UNKNOWN), but The5ers' Bootcamp has a unique "Daily Pause" at 3% loss, allowing the trader to resume the next day instead of losing the account immediately.
5. Payouts and Profit Sharing
- Profit Split:
- Audacity starts at 75% for the Ability Challenge but can go up to 90%. For the Instant Funded program, splits are lower (50-70%).
- The5ers starts lower (50% in Bootcamp/Hyper-Growth) but scales to 100% as the trader progresses through the milestones. High Stakes starts at a competitive 80%.
- Payout Frequency: Both firms offer bi-weekly payouts after the initial period. The5ers requires a minimum withdrawal of $150, while Audacity's Instant Funded program requires a 10% profit reach before the first withdrawal, which is a significant hurdle for new traders.
- Refunds: Audacity refunds the fee with the first payout. The5ers only offers refunds on the High Stakes model; Bootcamp fees are considered "entry costs" and are not typically refunded.
6. Trading Conditions and Assets
- Leverage:
- Both firms offer 100:1 on Forex for their flagship challenges.
- However, Audacity significantly reduces leverage to 30:1 once you are in the "Funded Trader" (Instant) program.
- Crypto: The5ers allows crypto trading over the weekend, whereas Audacity's crypto leverage is very low (2:1) and lacks specific weekend clarity.
- Platforms: The5ers offers MT5 and cTrader, providing a modern alternative for those who dislike MetaTrader. Audacity provides MT4 and MT5.
- Commissions: Audacity charges a flat $6/lot on Forex. The5ers is cheaper at $4/lot, which directly impacts the net profitability of scalpers.
7. Comparison Summary and Recommendations
Choose Audacity if:
- You want Instant Funding and are willing to pay a higher entry price to skip evaluations.
- You are a manual trader with a very consistent, low-variance strategy that fits their Consistency Score.
- You prefer a UK-regulated environment and standard MetaTrader platforms.
- You plan to hold trades for the long term and don't mind the 10% profit requirement for the first withdrawal on funded accounts.
Choose The5ers if:
- You want the lowest entry cost possible (Bootcamp starts at $22).
- You are a Scalper or use cTrader, benefiting from lower commissions and more modern software.
- You are looking for the highest possible profit split (up to 100%) through a long-term scaling plan.
- You trade Crypto and need weekend market access.
- You prefer a more lenient daily drawdown calculation (EOD vs. Intraday Equity).
