Key takeaways
Topstep (topstep.com) is a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm founded in 2012 that lets futures traders earn firm-backed capital by passing a simulated evaluation called the Trading Combine.
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Topstep (topstep.com) is a Chicago-based proprietary trading firm founded in 2012 that lets futures traders earn firm-backed capital by passing a simulated evaluation called the Trading Combine. Three account sizes exist: $50K (target $3,000, max loss $2,000, daily loss $1,000, 5 standard contract cap), $100K (target $6,000, max loss $3,000, daily loss $2,000, 10 contracts), and $150K (target $9,000, max loss $4,500, daily loss $3,000, 15 contracts). Topstep uses an End of Day trailing drawdown (not intraday like Apex Trader Funding), enforces a 50% single-day consistency cap during the Combine, and funds passing traders into an Express Funded Account with a 90/10 profit split after the first $10,000 in lifetime payouts (trader keeps 100% of the first $10,000). Express payouts require 5 winning trading days of at least $150 net or a 3-day Consistency Path capped at 40% single-day share; Standard path withdraws up to $5,000 per request, Consistency path up to $6,000. Standard Combine pricing runs $49/$99/$149 per month with a $149 activation fee; No Activation Fee path runs $109/$159/$209 per month. Promoted Live Funded Account uses a 2025 Dynamic Live Risk Expansion tier system tied to profit milestones (10-day minimum per tier) and unlocks daily uncapped payouts after 30 winning trading days. Topstep covers one exchange data fee (default CME); added exchanges cost about $133 per month each. Main rival Apex Trader Funding uses an intraday trailing drawdown, no daily loss limit, up to 20 performance accounts, a 30% funded consistency rule, and a drawdown-plus-$100 payout buffer on the first three payouts.
Topstep gives aspiring futures traders a path to firm-backed capital through a structured evaluation. Understanding how Topstep rules work for futures traders means learning the firm’s risk management guidelines, daily limits, and payout policies. Judging these rules on their own terms helps traders decide if the program fits their style. This complete guide to Topstep walks through every account size, every rule, every pricing path, and every payout mechanic current as of 2026.
Key Points
- Topstep uses an End of Day trailing drawdown, which gives traders more room during intraday price swings than an intraday trailing drawdown.
- Traders must respect a strict Daily Loss Limit, which acts as a safety net that locks the account for the day instead of closing it for good.
- The 50 percent consistency rule applies during the evaluation phase so no single trading day can account for more than half of the total profit target.
- Payouts are tied to a required number of winning trading days, and the firm runs a 90/10 profit split after the trader takes their first $10,000 in cumulative payouts.
Understanding the Topstep Evaluation Structure The program is split into clear phases. Traders start in the Trading Combine, a simulated environment where they must hit a profit target while managing risk. After passing, they move to an Express Funded Account, which stays simulated but allows real profit withdrawals. Consistent traders may then be promoted to a Live Funded Account.
Recent Topstep Rule Adjustments Proprietary trading firms change rules often. Topstep’s 2025 and 2026 updates added new pricing paths, removed the 50 percent consistency rule for funded accounts, and introduced new dynamic risk expansion models for live accounts. Any fresh topstep review needs to reflect these current parameters.
The Core Philosophy Behind Topstep Rules
Topstep builds its rules to test a trader’s discipline and risk management, not their ability to hit one lucky winner. The futures market moves fast, and a proprietary trading firm takes on financial risk when it backs a trader with real capital. To control that risk, Topstep sets clear limits on how much money a trader can lose in a day, how much they can lose in total, and how many contracts they can trade at one time.
For a beginner or intermediate trader, these rules can feel tight at first. They copy the risk frameworks used by institutional trading desks. The goal is to filter out traders who rely on luck or oversized positions, and to find traders who can produce steady, repeatable returns over time. Once traders understand how the rules work, they can shape their strategy to stay inside the boundaries and earn funding.
Exploring Topstep Account Sizes for Futures Traders
When you start the evaluation, you pick an account size. Topstep offers three main account sizes for futures traders. The size you pick sets your profit target, your maximum loss limit, your daily loss limit, and the maximum number of contracts you can trade.
The three account sizes are the $50,000 account, the $100,000 account, and the $150,000 account. The dollar figures represent the buying power of the account, not real cash you can lose. The true “size” of your account comes from the maximum loss limit.
The Fifty Thousand Dollar Topstep Account Parameter
The $50,000 account is the most common entry point for beginners. To pass the evaluation on this account, you need to hit a profit target of $3,000. Your Maximum Loss Limit is $2,000, which means your account balance can never drop by $2,000 from its high-water mark. Your Daily Loss Limit sits at $1,000. In this account, your top position size is 5 standard contracts or 50 micro contracts.
The One Hundred Thousand Dollar Topstep Account Parameter
The $100,000 account needs a profit target of $6,000 to pass. The Maximum Loss Limit for this tier is $3,000. The Daily Loss Limit is $2,000. For this account, the top position size you can hold at any one time is 10 standard contracts or 100 micro contracts.
The One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollar Topstep Account Parameter
The $150,000 account is the largest option. It needs a profit target of $9,000. The Maximum Loss Limit is $4,500, and the Daily Loss Limit is $3,000. Traders on this account can hold up to 15 standard contracts or 150 micro contracts.
Traders should weigh the ratio of the profit target to the maximum loss limit. For the $50,000 account, the ratio of profit to drawdown is $3,000 to $2,000, or 1.5 to 1. For the $100,000 and $150,000 accounts, the ratio is 2 to 1. That means the $50,000 account asks for less return relative to risk allowance to pass.
The Topstep Trading Combine Evaluation for Futures Traders
The Trading Combine is the first step of the Topstep program. It is a simulated evaluation where you trade with real market data to prove your profit and your discipline. There is no minimum number of trading days to pass the standard Trading Combine, so you can pass at your own pace as long as you hit the profit target and follow the rules. For most futures trading candidates, this pass trading combine phase takes about one to three months on average.
In the Trading Combine, only one hard rule will cause you to fail right away. The rest of the parameters are objectives or safety nets. Knowing the difference between a hard rule violation and a safety net is the core skill for managing your evaluation account.
The Maximum Loss Limit Rule
The most important rule in the Topstep Trading Combine is the Maximum Loss Limit. If your account balance hits or drops below this limit, your account closes for good, and you fail the evaluation.
Topstep uses an End of Day trailing drawdown for its Maximum Loss Limit. This is a major edge for traders compared to firms that use intraday drawdowns. End of Day means that your maximum loss limit updates only at the end of the trading session based on your realized end of day balance. It trails your highest end of day balance by the drawdown amount, and it never moves backward.
Worked Example for End of Day Drawdown You buy a $50,000 Trading Combine. Your starting Maximum Loss Limit is $2,000. Your failure threshold is an account balance of $48,000. During your first trading day, your account moves around. You are up $800 at one point, but you close the day with a realized profit of $500. Your new end of day balance is $50,500. Because the drawdown trails your highest end of day balance, your failure threshold moves up by $500. Your new Maximum Loss Limit is $48,500. If you lose $400 the next day, your account balance drops to $50,100. The Maximum Loss Limit does not drop with it. It stays locked at $48,500.
Once your account balance grows enough that your trailing Maximum Loss Limit reaches your starting balance (for example $50,000), the drawdown stops trailing. It locks at $50,000 for the rest of the evaluation.
The Daily Loss Limit Rule for Topstep Traders
The Daily Loss Limit is a safety net, not a hard rule. It sets the top amount of money you can lose in a single trading session.
If your net profit and loss for the day hits or passes your Daily Loss Limit, your account enters a “soft breach.” This is not a rule violation, so it does not fail the evaluation. Instead, the Topstep system closes all your open positions, cancels all your pending orders, and locks you out of the trading platform for the rest of that day’s trading session.
The trading day runs from 5:00 PM Central Time to 3:10 PM Central Time the next day. If you hit your Daily Loss Limit at 10:00 AM, you are locked out until 5:00 PM that evening. When the new session starts, your Daily Loss Limit resets.
Worked Example for Daily Loss Limit You are trading a $100,000 account with a Daily Loss Limit of $2,000. You start the day and take a run of losing trades, bringing your net profit and loss for the session to negative $1,800. You take one more trade. The trade goes against you by $200. The moment your open, unrealized loss brings your total daily loss to $2,000, the system closes your trade at market price. You cannot place new trades until 5:00 PM. Your account is still active, and you have not failed the combine, as long as your $2,000 loss did not breach your overall Maximum Loss Limit.
Understanding the Topstep Consistency Rule
Another key objective in the Trading Combine is the consistency rule. Your best single trading day cannot account for more than 50 percent of your total profits.
Topstep applies this rule to stop traders from passing on one lucky trade or a single news event. They want to see a repeatable strategy.
Worked Example for Consistency Rule Mathematics You are trading a $50,000 account with a total profit target of $3,000. On Monday, you have a strong session and make $2,000 in profit. On Tuesday, you make $500. On Wednesday, you make $500. Your total account profit is $3,000. You have hit the profit target. But your best day ($2,000) accounts for 66.6 percent of your total profits ($3,000). Because 66.6 percent is higher than 50 percent, you have not passed the evaluation.
To fix this, you keep trading and build your total profit so your $2,000 day drops below 50 percent of the total. Take the profit of your best day and divide it by 0.50 to find your new required total profit target. $2,000 / 0.50 = $4,000. You now need to grow your total account profit to at least $4,000 before Topstep considers you a pass on the Trading Combine.
Topstep Trading Combine Pricing and Subscription Paths
Topstep runs a monthly subscription model for the Trading Combine. The subscription auto-renews every month until you pass the evaluation or cancel the service. Topstep offers two pricing structures: the Standard Path and the No Activation Fee Path. These trading combines pricing options are designed to suit traders with different budgets and confidence levels, and current futures prop firm discounts can reduce the monthly cost further.
The Standard Topstep Pricing Path
The Standard Path has a lower monthly subscription fee during the evaluation phase, but it adds a one-time activation fee once you pass and move to the Express Funded Account.
- $50,000 Account: $49 per month subscription.
- $100,000 Account: $99 per month subscription.
- $150,000 Account: $149 per month subscription.
If you pass the Trading Combine on the Standard Path, you pay a $149 activation fee to open your Express Funded Account, no matter the account size.
The No Activation Fee Topstep Pricing Path
The No Activation Fee Path has a higher monthly subscription, but the activation fee upon passing is waived. This path fits experienced traders who feel confident they can pass the evaluation in their first month.
- $50,000 Account: $109 per month subscription.
- $100,000 Account: $159 per month subscription.
- $150,000 Account: $209 per month subscription.
When you pass on this path, you pay zero dollars to activate your funded account.
If a trader violates the Maximum Loss Limit rule during the Trading Combine, they must buy a reset to keep going. The cost of a reset equals the monthly subscription price of their chosen path and account size.
Moving to the Topstep Express Funded Account
When you hit the profit target, follow the consistency rule, and avoid your maximum loss limit, you pass the Trading Combine. You are then promoted to the Express Funded Account.
The Express Funded Account is still a simulated trading environment. But the profits you earn in this account count as real money and can be sent to your actual bank account. You start this phase with an account balance of zero dollars. Your maximum loss limit parameters carry over from the Trading Combine. For example, if you passed a $50,000 account, your maximum loss limit in the Express account is negative $2,000.
Choosing Your Topstep Payout Path
When you activate your Express Funded Account, you pick between two payout structures: the Standard Path and the Consistency Path.
Express Funded Account Standard Path Under the standard structure, traders must build up at least 5 winning trading days to qualify for a payout request. A winning trading day is a day where your net profit after commissions is $150 or more. These days do not need to be back-to-back. Once you reach 5 winning days, you can request a payout of up to 50 percent of your total account balance, with a cap of $5,000 per request.
Express Funded Account Consistency Path This path needs fewer days but adds a consistency metric. To request a payout, you must trade a minimum of three days. Your largest single trading day cannot be more than 40 percent of your total net profit during the payout window. If you meet this consistency target, you can request up to 50 percent of your account balance, with a higher cap of $6,000 per request.
The Topstep Express Account Scaling Plan
One of the most important mechanics in the Express Funded Account is the Scaling Plan. The Trading Combine let you trade a flat maximum number of contracts, but the Express account caps your position size based on your current account balance.
The Scaling Plan stops new funded traders from oversizing positions and blowing their accounts right away. You start at the lowest tier of buying power and earn the right to trade more contracts as you build a profit cushion.
Worked Example for the Scaling Plan You activate a $50,000 Express Funded Account. You start with an account balance of zero dollars. Under the scaling plan, while your balance is between zero dollars and $1,500, you can trade a maximum of 2 standard contracts (or 20 micro contracts). You trade carefully for a week and grow your account balance to $1,600. At the end of the trading day, the Topstep trade report updates. Because your balance is now over the $1,500 threshold, your limit scales up. The next day, you are allowed to trade a maximum of 3 standard contracts. If you take a loss and your balance drops back to $1,200, your limit scales down to 2 contracts the following day.
The scaling limits are set based on the end of day trade report. Your contract limits do not change mid-session.