Prop-Firm EA Rules for TradingView Automation: FTMO, FundedNext and The5ers

Last updated 3 November 2026 · By the TradingView Link team

Short answer

All three firms allow Expert Advisors, with conditions. FTMO allows EAs in every phase, within limits such as 2,000 server requests a day. FundedNext allows them only on MT4 and MT5 accounts under $50,000, for an extra fee, and bans EAs linked to apps such as Telegram or WhatsApp. The5ers allows EAs if you own the source code and don't copy other traders' signals. News, weekend and daily-loss rules apply to automated trades too, so set up your alerts around them.

We make TradingView Link, an EA bridge, and we're an FTMO affiliate: the "Connect to FTMO" link in our footer earns us a commission. The rules below come from each firm's own pages, read on 3 November 2026 and linked at the end. Firms change their rules often, so confirm them with the firm before you trade a funded account.

How do the EA rules compare?

Prop-firm rules for EA traders (3 November 2026)
Rule	FTMO	FundedNext	The5ers
Platforms	MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView	MT4, MT5, cTrader, Match-Trader	MT5, cTrader, TradingView
EAs allowed?	Yes, in every phase	Only on MT4 and MT5 accounts under $50,000, with a paid EA add-on	Yes, if you own the source code
Main EA limits	Up to 2,000 server requests a day; $400,000 capital cap per trader or strategy	Each EA needs its own strategy; $300,000 cap per EA strategy; no EAs linked to Telegram or WhatsApp; no HFT, tick scalping, grid or arbitrage	No copying other people's signals, HFT, tick scalping, arbitrage or stealth stop-losses
News	Funded accounts*: no orders 2 minutes before or after listed releases	Funded accounts: only 40% of the profit counts on trades within 5 minutes of high-impact news	High Stakes: no orders 2 minutes before or after high-impact news
Weekend	Funded accounts*: no holding through market breaks longer than 2 hours	Allowed	Allowed
Daily loss limit	5% (2-Step) or 3% (1-Step, Instant) of initial capital, measured on equity	5% (2-Step), 3% (1-Step) or 4% (Lite) of initial balance, closed plus floating; none on Instant	High Stakes: 5% of the day's starting balance or equity, whichever is higher
Maximum loss	10%: static on 2-Step, trailing on 1-Step and Instant	10%, 6% or 8%, static; 6% trailing on Instant	High Stakes 10%, Hyper Growth 6%, both static
US residents	Through its affiliate ftmo.oanda.com, which lists MT5 and TradingView	Match-Trader only, without EAs	TradingView only

* At FTMO, the news and weekend rules apply to funded FTMO Accounts and Instant accounts. Challenge, Verification and Swing accounts are exempt.

Is a TradingView alert bridge allowed?

A bridge such as TradingView Link places your trades with an Expert Advisor, so each firm's EA rules apply to it. What the firms watch most closely is copied trades:

FTMO caps capital at $400,000 per trader or strategy, and counts trades "copied from or based on the same third-party source (such as signal groups or copy-trading services)" together.
FundedNext prohibits copy-trading and signal services, and asks that each EA use a distinct strategy, "avoiding identical trades across any accounts within FundedNext".
The5ers prohibits an "EA from a third party, where other traders have the same trades open (copy trading)".

Alerts from a strategy you built yourself are your own trades. Alerts from a signal group, or from a script that many other traders run, can count as copy trading.

Two points aren't settled on the firms' pages. Ask support in writing before you connect a funded account, and keep the reply:

FundedNext bans any "EA that incorporates third-party applications such as Telegram or WhatsApp". Its pages don't say whether a webhook bridge counts.
The5ers says "the trader must own the source code of the EA". Read literally, that rules out any bridge EA you didn't write, ours included.

If you live in the US, FundedNext and The5ers offer no MetaTrader route, so there's no EA to run there. FTMO serves US traders through ftmo.oanda.com, which lists MT5.

How do you set up TradingView Link for prop-firm rules?

Send a stop loss with every entry, using sl= (pips) or slp= (price). The EA sets the stop on the order itself, so it's visible on the platform rather than hidden, which The5ers requires.
Size trades for the daily limit. On a $100,000 account with a 5% daily limit, the trades you could lose in one day must cost less than $5,000 together, floating losses included. qt=percent sets the size from a share of your balance, not from the distance to your stop, so it doesn't cap the loss per trade.
Cap the number of trades. The EA's MaxTradePerSymbol and Pyramiding settings (10 each by default) limit open trades per symbol and per direction.
Control trading hours. s= blocks new trades outside the times you set, in your broker's server time. It doesn't close open trades, so if your account can't hold over the weekend, send a flat alert before the Friday close.
Plan around news. TradingView Link has no news filter. On accounts with news rules, pause the alert or switch off automated trading before listed releases. At FTMO, stops, targets and pending orders that trigger inside the window count too; at The5ers High Stakes, pending orders do.
Keep strategies apart. Give each strategy its own magic number (m=). On FundedNext, check before you send the same alerts to several accounts.
Watch the request count on FTMO. FTMO forbids EAs that make more than 2,000 server requests a day. Every order, close and stop change counts. A normal strategy sends far fewer, but a trailing stop (ts=) changes the stop often.

The full alert syntax is in our documentation, and how to automate a TradingView strategy shows how to add these commands to a Pine Script strategy.

How do the firms measure daily loss?

FTMO measures equity ("Balance + Open Positions P/L ± Swaps – Commissions") against the balance at 00:00 CE(S)T. Its MetaTrader servers run on GMT+2 with daylight saving, so that's 01:00 on the platform clock.
FundedNext counts closed and floating losses, swaps and fees included, against a limit of initial balance × the daily percentage. It resets at 00:00 server time: GMT+3 in summer, GMT+2 otherwise.
The5ers High Stakes allows a 5% loss from the day's starting balance or equity, whichever is higher, at MT5 server time. Floating losses count.

At all three, open trades count. A losing trade held overnight can breach the next day's limit, even if no new trade is opened.

What should you check before connecting a funded account?

Read the firm's current EA rules and ask support about bridges, in writing.
Run the strategy on a demo account first, with the same symbols and trade sizes.
Put a stop loss in every entry command.
Run MT4 or MT5 on a VPS so no alert is missed.
Plan for news windows and weekends on your account type.
Note when your TradingView alert expires.

Trading leveraged products is risky, and breaking a firm's rules can cost you the account. This page summarizes the firms' public pages as of 3 November 2026. It isn't legal or financial advice.

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Frequently asked questions

Does FTMO allow EAs?

Yes. FTMO says it has no reason to restrict algorithmic trading or EAs, in any phase. The limits: no more than 2,000 server requests a day, a $400,000 capital cap per trader or strategy, and on funded accounts no orders 2 minutes before or after listed news and no holding through market breaks longer than 2 hours.

Can I use TradingView alerts on an FTMO account?

Yes, through a bridge on FTMO's MT4 or MT5 accounts. FTMO also lists TradingView as a platform, but alerts don't place trades on their own: to automate a Pine Script strategy you need a webhook bridge and an EA, which fall under FTMO's EA rules.

Does FundedNext allow EAs?

Only on MT4 and MT5 accounts under $50,000, with a paid EA add-on; accounts of $50,000 and up must be traded manually. Each EA must use its own strategy, and EAs that incorporate apps such as Telegram or WhatsApp are banned. Traders in the US can only use Match-Trader, without EAs.

Does The5ers allow EAs?

Yes, if you own the EA's source code and it doesn't copy other people's signals, tick scalp, run high-frequency or arbitrage strategies, use emulators or hide its stop-loss. Ask The5ers before you use a bridge EA you didn't write.

Is a TradingView bridge copy trading?

Not if the alerts come from your own strategy: the bridge only passes your signals to your account. Firms can treat it as copy trading if the alerts come from a signal group, or from a script that many other traders run with the same trades.

Can TradingView Link stop me from breaching the daily loss limit?

No. It places the orders your alerts send, with the stops you set, but it doesn't track your daily loss or equity. Put a stop loss on every trade and size trades so that a full day of losses stays under your firm's limit.

Sources

PineConnector pricing
TradingConnector pricing
MetaConnector plans
WebhookTrade pricing table
TradeSgnl pricing
SignalForge
FTMO: Trading objectives (loss limits)
FTMO: Forbidden trading practices
FTMO: Allowed strategies and EAs
FTMO: Number of accounts and capital limits
FTMO: News trading
FTMO: Overnight and weekend holding
FTMO: Platforms
FundedNext: EA rules
FundedNext: Prohibited trading practices
FundedNext: News trading
FundedNext: Daily loss limit
FundedNext: Platforms
FundedNext: EAs for US traders
The5ers: EA rules
The5ers: Prohibited trading practices
The5ers: News trading
The5ers: High Stakes loss limits
The5ers: Platforms

All read on 3 November 2026.