Hantec resets from balance, FTMO includes the float
Hantec Trader anchors the daily loss to day-start balance at 00:00 on its MT5 server. A floating winner does not get the higher-of treatment that some rivals use, and a floating loser is not added into the daily formula the way FTMO adds floating PnL at 00:00 CE(S)T. You still lose the account if the closed damage, or a stop that fills, spends the $5,000. The open profit is simply less likely to rewrite tomorrow.
Enhanced 2-step is a static 10% maximum, $10,000, matching FTMO. Express 1-step is a 4% day and a 6% trailing maximum, $4,000 and $6,000. FTMO's 1-step is a 3% day and a 10% end-of-day trail. The names Enhanced and Express are not synonyms for FTMO Standard and FTMO 1-step. Read the trail before you scale a winner.
Zero minimum days, and a payout that can shrink to 7
Hantec lists zero minimum trading days on the evaluation. FTMO lists four. Both 2-step targets are 10% and 5%. The fee gap is $41. The split starts at 80% and can reach 90% with an add-on, paid bi-weekly or on a 7-day cycle if you buy that add-on. FTMO pays 80% to 90% starting 14 days after the first funded trade. There is no best-day cap on Enhanced or Express.
The speed is the product. A trader who finishes a $10,000 target in two sessions has met the Hantec calendar and has not met the FTMO calendar. Open a Venasri account if you are going to attempt both, because a two-day pass on one login teaches a pace the other login will reject.
The bot that passes Enhanced will fail Instant
Expert Advisors are allowed on Enhanced 2-step and Express 1-step, inside 2,000 messages a day, on MT5 and MT4. They are prohibited on Instant. The usual breach is a trader who deploys the same MT5 bot on the instant account because the logo on the statement matches. FTMO allows EAs on the challenge platforms, including cTrader and DXtrade, inside its own 2,000-request day. There is no FTMO tier in this matrix that is manual-only in the way Hantec Instant is.
Evaluation news is permitted at Hantec. Funded accounts pick up a two-minute window, similar to FTMO Standard. Weekend holding is an option, not the default assumption. Bot controls should be bound to the Enhanced or Express login and refused on Instant. If the platform cannot express that refusal, do not run the EA on a second account you have not named.
Flatten both 2-steps near $4,250
Equity Guard at $4,250 fits the shared $5,000 day. Express needs a different number, near $3,250, because the day is $4,000 and the trail is $6,000. A guard copied from Enhanced onto Express will still be waiting when the 1-step is over. FTMO's 1-step needs a guard near a $3,000 day, which is tighter than Express and looser on the lifetime trail.
Because Hantec uses a balance anchor, you do not have to partial a winner solely to stop midnight from lifting the floor. You still have to survive the stop. A 1.00 lot gold position with a 50-pip stop risks $500 at $10 per pip. Ten of those are the day on either 2-step. The $41 you saved does not buy an eleventh.
