FTMO vs FundedNext vs The5ers vs Topstep: Which Prop Firm in 2026?

Prop firms are companies that fund traders who pass a challenge. You pay a fee, take a test, and if you pass you trade with their capital and split the profit. In 2026, four firms stood out for their longevity and track record of paying out. Together, they’ve paid traders more than $1.5 billion. This comparison of FTMO vs FundedNext vs The5ers vs Topstep is practical and blunt — no marketing optimism.

⚠️ The lesson from MyFundedFX (Feb/2026)

Comparison criteria

For each firm I evaluated:

• Time in business: more longevity = less risk of shutting down
• Payout volume: how much they’ve already paid out (public data from each firm)
• Challenge cost: in USD for a $100k account
• Profit target: % required to pass
• Max drawdown: how much you can lose before breaching the account
• Profit split: your share of the profit
• Supported platforms: MT4/MT5/cTrader/etc.
• EAs allowed: automation ok or manual only
• Payout time: business days between request and receipt

FTMO vs FundedNext vs The5ers vs Topstep: head-to-head table (2026)

FTMO — the gold standard of forex prop trading

Who it’s for: serious forex and CFD traders who want the firm with the deepest track record and infrastructure.

Strengths:

• The largest forex prop firm in the world, 10+ years in operation
• Refunds the challenge fee on your first payout
• Swing account available for news trading and holding over the weekend
• Full free trial before you pay for a challenge
• 24/7 support in multiple languages

Weaknesses:

• 10% profit target is high (FundedNext offers 8%)
• The standard account doesn’t allow news trading

FundedNext — best profit split

Who it’s for: traders who value a high profit percentage and flexible rules.

Strengths:

• 95% profit split — the highest in the market
• Profit sharing starts as early as the challenge phase (rare)
• No time limit on the challenge — you finish at your own pace
• Drawdown calculated on balance (doesn’t include open trades)

Weaknesses:

• Newer (2022) — less track record than FTMO
• Leverage on the 1-step Stellar plan is limited (1:30)

The5ers — best for scaling

Who it’s for: consistent traders who want to grow their account over time.

Strengths:

• Aggressive scaling program — doubles capital every 6% profit
• Low profit target (6-8%) makes passing easier
• Hyper Account rewards consistency over speed
• No time limit

Weaknesses:

• Maximum profit split of 80% (vs. 90-95% for competitors)
• Tighter max DD (8% vs. 10%)
• MT5 only (no cTrader)

Topstep — the standard for CME futures

Who it’s for: futures traders (NQ, ES, CL, GC, ZB) — a completely different market from forex.

Strengths:

• 14 years in operation, the oldest firm in the segment
• Real CME access via Tradovate / NinjaTrader
• Combine Account (monthly model) or Express (one-time payment)
• Huge community and educational library

Weaknesses:

• Trailing drawdown is harder to manage than fixed drawdown
• No MT5 — you’ll need to learn a different platform
• Not for forex traders

Which one to choose by trading style

Checklist before buying ANY challenge

If 2+ of these come back ❌, don’t buy. It’ll probably turn into another MyFundedFX.

Pairing an ONNX EA with a prop firm

If you’ve built an EA with ONNX (see our pillar guide), prop firms are the most efficient way to scale capital without personal risk. Recommended setup:

1. Train and validate the EA for 6+ months on a Deriv demo (zero cost)
2. Run extensive backtesting over 2-3 years of data
3. Buy an FTMO Free Trial and test the EA for 14 days
4. If it passes, buy a real challenge (FTMO or FundedNext)
5. Trade with conservative rules for the first 30 days
6. After your first payout, scale to multiple accounts

Advantage: you don’t risk personal capital, and an 80-95% profit split makes the ROI excellent. Disadvantage: the rules are tight — a bad run of trades can breach the account before the EA proves its edge.