Head-to-head
FTMO vs PDT Partners
A direct, side-by-side comparison of FTMO and PDT Partners — profit splits, evaluation fees, payout cadence, supported assets, and trading rules. Data pulled live from our firm directory.
Quick verdict
PDT Partners is best for
traders avoiding evaluation hurdles.
Full PDT Partners profile →Cost & compensation
Cost and compensation path
Published fees and payout timing apply to trader-paid funding programs. Firm-capital and institutional paths are shown separately because their economics usually depend on hiring, allocation, salary, bonus, or profit-sharing terms.
FTMO
estimateApprox. total
—
to reach first payout eligibility
Approx. time
17days
from sign-up to first eligible request
- Start cost
- —
- Monthly fee
- None
How we estimated this
- Adds ~10 calendar days for evaluation completion (most firms require ≥5 minimum trading days).
- Source — eval fee: €89–€1,080 one-time (refundable on pass); monthly: No monthly fee — one-time challenge cost; first payout: First payout possible after 14 days; reduce to weekly on request.
PDT Partners
Firm CapitalNot applicable for this model
This is a firm-capital or hiring-based trading path, not a trader-paid funding program. Compensation is typically handled through salary, bonus, draw, allocation, or profit-sharing arrangements rather than a published evaluation fee and payout schedule.
Trade-offs
Where each firm is weaker
No firm wins on every axis. These are the most meaningful drawbacks of each option — derived from the same structured fields shown in the table, never invented.
FTMO trade-offs
No structural disadvantages versus the other firm based on the fields we track.
PDT Partners trade-offs
No copy trading
Forbids copy / algo bridges. FTMO permits them.
Decision guide
Best for your trader type
- Highest profit share
90% vs —%
- Fastest to funded
No mandatory evaluation.
- Biggest scaling ceiling
Up to $200,000.
- Copy & algo traders
Copy trading is permitted.
- Fastest payouts
On-demand (default 14 days, weekly available) payouts.
| Attribute | FTMO Evaluation Based · est. 2015 | PDT Partners Firm Capital · est. 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| Evaluation fee | €89–€1,080 one-time (refundable on pass) | — |
| Monthly fee | No monthly fee — one-time challenge cost | — |
| Evaluation required | Yes | No |
| Instant funding | No | No |
| Capital | ||
| Profit split | 90% | N/A (fund vehicle) |
| Max allocation | $200,000 | Firm capital |
| Account sizes | $10K, $25K, $50K, $100K, $200K (USD/EUR/GBP/CZK) | Firm capital |
| Scaling | Scaling Plan: +25% balance every 4 months at 10%+ profit over 2 of 4 months. | — |
| Payouts | ||
| Frequency | On-demand (default 14 days, weekly available) | Salary + bonus |
| First payout | First payout possible after 14 days; reduce to weekly on request | Salary + bonus |
| Assets | ||
| Futures | Yes | Yes |
| Stocks | Yes | Yes |
| Options | No | No |
| Forex | Yes | No |
| Crypto | Yes | No |
| Trading rules | ||
| News trading | Yes | Yes |
| Overnight holding | Yes | Yes |
| Weekend holding | Yes | Yes |
| Copy trading | Yes | No |
| Technology | ||
| Platforms | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DXtrade | Proprietary |
| Data feed | Purple Trading / Spotware | — |
| Company | ||
| Headquarters | Prague, Czech Republic | New York, NY |
About PDT Partners
Quantitative hedge fund spun out from Morgan Stanley's Process Driven Trading group.
Full PDT Partners profile →Trust & stability
Reputation and rule-change activity
Two added decision signals: a weighted reputation score from independent review sources, and a 90-day view of structural rule-change activity where monitored sources are available.
Reputation
canonical- Sources used
- 1
- Confidence
- medium
Weighted blend of independent trader-review sources. See methodology.
Rule Stability
last 90d- Last change
- —
- Type
- —
- Sources monitored
- —
- Status
- No changes detected in monitored sources
Weekly diff of the firm's published rule pages (terms, rules, FAQ, legal). "No changes detected" only means none of the monitored monitored sources changed — other surfaces (Discord, email, dashboards) are not covered. "Limited" or "unavailable" means our monitor cannot reach enough sources to make an honest call.
Reputation
Not enough independent rating sources to compute a canonical score yet.
Rule Stability
last 90dWe do not currently have enough monitored public rule sources for this firm to report rule-change activity honestly.
Frequently asked
Common questions
- Which has a higher profit split — FTMO or PDT Partners?
- FTMO pays 90% of trader profits once funded.
- Is FTMO cheaper to start than PDT Partners?
- FTMO: evaluation from €89–€1,080 one-time (refundable on pass). PDT Partners: evaluation pricing varies.
- Which pays out faster — FTMO or PDT Partners?
- FTMO payouts: On-demand (default 14 days, weekly available). PDT Partners payouts: Salary + bonus. First-payout eligibility: FTMO — First payout possible after 14 days; reduce to weekly on request; PDT Partners — Salary + bonus.
- What's the maximum allocation at FTMO vs PDT Partners?
- FTMO scales up to $200,000. PDT Partners scales up to Firm capital.
- Can I trade news at FTMO or PDT Partners?
- FTMO: permits news trading. PDT Partners: permits news trading.
- Can I hold positions overnight at FTMO or PDT Partners?
- FTMO: allows overnight holds. PDT Partners: allows overnight holds.
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