Topstep Review 2026

Topstep scores 73 out of 100 overall. Topstep is easy to verify and has a real live-capital stage, but you pay a monthly subscription, you trade on its own platform, and its rules changed many times in 2026.

Trust 71: Mostly checks out. Top factor: 14+ years in operation.
Cost 78: Fair price to get funded. Top factor: eval fee vs max drawdown.
Payout 71: Decent payout terms. Top factor: high scaling ceiling.
Rules 70: Workable rules. Top factor: generous or no time limit.

TopstepTrader, LLCIllinois, USAFounded 2012Futures prop firmTopstepX

Visit Topstep

Firm Data Monitoring Status

Trustpilot RatingChecked weekly - last checked 2026-10-26
Sales and PromotionsFirm emails received since 2026-08-04
Rules, Pricing and PayoutsYearly deep dive plus firm emails - terms last verified 2026-07-02

At a Glance: The Four Scores

Four scores, one published method.

73/ 100

Still Funded Score

3.6

An equal blend of the four scores below. How the score is calculated.

Data Confidence: High

Trust Score

3.5

Is the firm legit: is it a real, accountable business, does it actually pay, and what does its track record show?

14+ years in operationclear terms

Cost Score

3.9

What it costs to get funded and stay funded: the eval, resets, the activation fee and data fees. Measured at today's price after any dated sale, plus how deep the firm's sales usually run.

eval fee vs max drawdowneval fee vs profit target

Payout Score

3.5

How easy it is to get paid: how much you can take out, how fast it lands, how often, and how many accounts you can stack.

high scaling ceilingon-demand withdrawals

Rules Score

3.5

How trader-friendly the rules are: the drawdown type, how big the drawdown is next to the profit target, daily loss limits and consistency rules.

generous or no time limitno or soft daily loss limit

Topstep has no affiliate program. Still Funded earns nothing when you sign up with Topstep, and reviews it anyway, because the roster is chosen by trader demand, not commissions.

Scores update on their own whenever this firm's data changes.

Trustpilot: The Last Four Checks

The four newest Trustpilot checks that feed the Trust score. Trustpilot is one signal, not the whole picture.

3.7↑14,894 reviews(+32)2026-10-05
Checked 2026-10-05: 3.7 across 14,894 reviews, profile active. Review count +32 since the check before.
3.714,930 reviews(+36)2026-10-12
Checked 2026-10-12: 3.7 across 14,930 reviews, profile active. Review count +36 since the check before.
3.714,959 reviews(+29)2026-10-20
Checked 2026-10-20: 3.7 across 14,959 reviews, profile active. Review count +29 since the check before.
3.714,992 reviews(+33)2026-10-26
Checked 2026-10-26: 3.7 across 14,992 reviews, profile active. Review count +33 since the check before.

Sales We Tracked: The Last 12 Months

The sales this firm has emailed us, one dot per month. Terms only, never codes.

Nov 2025Nothing tracked
Dec 2025Nothing tracked
Jan 2026Nothing tracked
Feb 2026Nothing tracked
Mar 2026Nothing tracked
Apr 2026Nothing tracked
May 2026Nothing tracked
Jun 2026Nothing tracked
Jul 2026Nothing tracked
Aug 20261 saleEvals at $75
Aug 2026: 1 sale
- Evals at $75
Sep 2026Nothing tracked
Oct 2026Nothing tracked

Pricing and Account Tiers

Every active eval at full price, plus the best target-to-drawdown ratio in the lineup.

Eval	Price	Sale Price	Activation Fee	Max Drawdown	Drawdown Type	Profit Target	Time Limit
50K	$49/mo	-	$149	$2,000	End-of-Day Trailing	$3,000	None
50K No Activation Fee	$95/mo	-	Included	$2,000	End-of-Day Trailing	$3,000	None
100K	$99/mo	-	$149	$3,000	End-of-Day Trailing	$6,000	None
100K No Activation Fee	$149/mo	-	Included	$3,000	End-of-Day Trailing	$6,000	None
150K	$199/mo	-	$149	$4,500	End-of-Day Trailing	$9,000	None
150K No Activation Fee	$229/mo	-	Included	$4,500	End-of-Day Trailing	$9,000	None

Best Target-to-Drawdown Ratio
Profit target divided by max drawdown, shown target first. Lower is better: less profit to earn per dollar of drawdown. Some firms sell targets smaller than the drawdown, so the ratio can run below 1 : 1, and 1 : 1 is not a bottom.
1.5 : 1
50K, 50K No Activation Fee
$3,000 target / $2,000 drawdown

Every account above includes 1 free reset credit at full price.

Pros and Cons

Pros

The earliest founding date on record among the firms we cover: an Illinois company registered in July 2012, a real leased office in the Chicago Board of Trade Building, and the same founder running it since day one.
Verifiable registration inside the corporate family: Topstep Brokerage is a CFTC-registered introducing broker and NFA member, with a Plus500US clearing partnership and a real-capital live stage as the program's destination.
Its own published yearly trader statistics: pass, funded, payout and live call-up rates, plus a shareable Proof of Payout card on every payout since January 2026.
Payouts backed by many trader reports: thousands of dated reviews say a payout arrived, with they always pay as a common theme.
Trader-friendly rules: automation allowed at every stage with conditions, news trading allowed, no time limit, no minimum days, and a consistency target that raises your target instead of failing you.
A Monthly Reset Credit with every rebill on every size and plan, and Level 1 CME data included at every stage: a blown Combine, Topstep's eval, is not always new money, and the basic data feed costs nothing extra.

Cons

Frequent rule changes are the biggest risk. Between January and February 2026 came a worse profit split, a payout path rework, a higher activation fee, TopstepX as the only platform and less starting capital on the live account (LFA). Each is dated under What Has Changed.
The profit split moved against new traders on January 12, 2026: a flat 90/10 from the first dollar replaced 100% of the first $10,000, and since December 30, 2025 repeat payouts need positive net profit since the last one.
TopstepX is the only platform since February 28, 2026, with NinjaTrader and Tradovate gone with the rest, and dated reviews call the December 2025 outages the worst stretch in the firm's history.
The subscription keeps billing after you blow the account: hitting the Maximum Loss Limit doesn't stop the rebill, the account trades as practice until you reset or cancel, and canceling is permanent for that subscription.
Payouts on Topstep's XFA, its funded account, are capped per request until the live stage, which only 0.71% of XFA traders reached in 2025 by Topstep's own numbers. The live call-up is required once offered and starts you at 20% of your capital.
The ID check (KYC) is strictly enforced, with a dated pattern of complaints: community reports of funded accounts closed and profits forfeited over video-verification violations.

Rules at a Glance

The rules that fail people. Tap the info icon beside a rule for the plain-terms version.

DrawdownEOD trailing
How your drawdown line moves. End-of-day trailing rises with your closing balance; intraday trailing rises with every tick of open profit; static never moves. The type decides how much of your own gains you can give back.
Trailing Drawdown Explained
Daily Loss LimitNo daily loss limit
The most you can lose in one session before the day ends. A soft limit ends your day and keeps the account; a hard limit ends the account.
Keeping a Funded Account
Consistency RuleEval and funded
Caps how much of your profit can come from one day. Some plans use it in the eval, some once you are funded, and some in both.
Prop Firm Consistency Rule Explained
How Long You Must Hold a TradeNo minimum
Whether every trade has to stay open for a set time before you can close it. Some firms set no time but still limit scalping.
Weekend HoldingNot allowed
Whether positions can stay open over the weekend. Not allowed means everything must be flat before the Friday close.
AutomationAllowed (eval and funded)
Whether bots, EAs and algos are allowed to place trades, at the eval stage and at the funded stage.
Markets You Can't TradeSee the list
Markets the firm will not let you trade in this program.
- stocks
- options
- spot forex
- spot crypto
- CFDs
- anything outside CME Group futures (CME, COMEX, NYMEX, CBOT); products can be pulled temporarily for volatility per the TopstepX product note
Sim or LiveMust move to live
Whether the funded account is simulated, live, or starts simulated and can move to live.
Topstep's Risk Team calls traders up at its discretion, based on steady performance on the funded account (XFA). The move is required once offered: declining means closing the XFA. The live account (LFA) is set up in 7 to 10 business days, and all your XFAs close at the call-up.
Funded Trader Earnings
Accounts at OnceUp to 5 funded
How many funded accounts you can hold at the same time at this firm.
Account Stacking
Copy Your Own AccountsAllowed
Whether you may copy your trades across your own accounts at this firm with a trade copier or within your broker.
Account Stacking

Rules Detail

Topstep calls the Maximum Loss Limit the One Rule, and it is the rule that ends accounts here. The drawdown line moves only at the close. It rises with your closing balance, never intraday and never down, and it locks once it climbs to your starting balance in the Combine or to $0 in the funded account. But Topstep checks it in real time, open trades included, so a wick that hits the drawdown line mid-session ends the account even if the day would have closed above it. An end-of-day trailing drawdown with an intraday check; respect the intraday part.

A daily loss limit is optional until the live account, where it is automatic, and its breach is soft: positions flatten, orders cancel, and the day is over. My rule is simple. If it costs extra, skip it. If it doesn't, turn it on, because it stops one bad afternoon from becoming a blown account, and that matters most once you are funded. Here the toggle that adds one on a No Activation Fee Combine lowers the monthly instead of raising it.

Flat by 3:10 PM CT every day, no overnight or weekend holding. The conduct that gets an account reviewed: serially blowing accounts hunting a big run (Topstep calls that account stacking; copying your own accounts is a different thing and supported), running full size into a scheduled major release, and trading from a VPS, VPN or remote server. Since February 28, 2026 TopstepX is the only platform, so a NinjaTrader or Tradovate workflow doesn't come with you.

Automation is allowed at every stage with conditions: Topstep will not help set it up or fix it and makes no exceptions for errant trades or malfunctions; test it on the Practice Account first; the prohibited-conduct review still applies; and automation through the ProjectX API is not allowed on the live account (LFA). ProjectX API access is an optional paid add-on. No minimum hold time is stated, but seconds-long scalping at very high frequency falls under the review for exploiting the simulator. Going over the contract limit and fixing it within 10 seconds is ignored; 10 seconds or more may trigger a review. The trading day runs from 5:00 PM CT to 3:10 PM CT the next day, flat by 3:10 PM CT (15 minutes before an early holiday close). The move to the live account in detail: 20% of the capital is tradable and 80% is held in reserve, released as you hit milestones; the daily loss limit becomes automatic and tightens at low balances ($2,000 and 5 contracts at $10,000 or below; $1,000 and 3 contracts at $5,000 or below, reviewed Fridays); Dynamic Live Risk Expansion replaces the Scaling Plan; and payout caps are removed. A big drawdown can trigger a Shoulder Tap, Topstep's move back down to a single funded account (XFA), with Back2Funded not available, and losing that XFA forfeits any live reserve left. Micros: 10 micros count as one mini toward limits; Micro Silver (SIL) counts 5 to 1 and as 2 of any other micro; MBT and MET are capped at mini-equivalent lots; the micro-to-mini setting is not available on the live account.

Source - logged 2026-07-02

Payouts at a Glance

Profit split, speed and the first payout. Tap the info icon for the detail. The evidence is under Payout Evidence below.

Profit Split90/10 from the first dollar
Your share of the profit you withdraw. The firm keeps the rest.
90/10 from the first dollar for traders who joined on or after 2026-01-12. Traders who joined before that date keep the older terms: 100% of the first $10,000 in lifetime profits, then 90/10.
Payout Process
First Payout3 to 5 days by payout path
The number to hit before your first payout: trading days, winning days, or a payout buffer (the profit a firm makes you keep in the account).
The fastest way is the Consistency path on the funded account (XFA): at least 3 traded days after activation, with your best day at 40% or less. The Standard path needs at least 5 winning days of $150 or more. The firm's site says a payout is possible 3 to 5 days after you get an XFA.
Payout Process
How Often You Can Get PaidAfter a set number of days
How often you can request a payout once you meet the first payout rules.
On the funded account (XFA), after a set number of days: the Standard path after every 5 winning days of $150 or more; the Consistency path after every 3 traded days with your best day at 40% or less. On the live account (LFA): every 5 winning days, then daily once you have 30 winning days on the live account (XFA days don't count). Requests can be made during CME market hours, Sunday 5 PM CT to Friday 5 PM CT.
Payout Process
Payout MethodTopstep Brokerage, Aeropay, Wise, ACH, wire
How the money reaches you: a bank transfer, a payment app, or a brokerage transfer.
Prop-to-Brokerage (Topstep Brokerage, US), Aeropay (US pay-by-bank, real-time payments), Wise (international and domestic, recommended for international), ACH (US), wire or SWIFT (international). No crypto payouts.
Payout Process
Max Payout per RequestCapped until live
The most you can take in one withdrawal.
Funded account (XFA) only: 50% of the account balance, up to a cap set by size and payout path; the caps double for Combines bought with a daily loss limit added at checkout (an offer live since 2026-06-02). Live account (LFA) payouts have no dollar cap: up to 50% of the balance per request before 30 winning days on the live account, then up to 100% of the unlocked balance daily. The firm's site advertises payouts up to $12,000 in as little as 3 days, which matches the doubled cap on the 150K Consistency path.
Funded Trader Earnings
Lifetime CapNone, except Tier 2 countries
The most one account can pay out before it closes or moves to live, if the firm publishes a limit.
None for traders in the full program. Traders in Tier 2 countries, who get the funded account (XFA) only, have a $200,000 lifetime payout ceiling, the only lifetime cap in the program; some may be offered the Pro Account track instead of the live account (LFA).
Funded Trader Earnings
ScalingGrows with your balance
How the account grows: with your balance, by contract limit steps, or by profit split steps.
On the live account (LFA), more capital is reviewed every Monday morning and deposited within 1 to 2 business days; it can be delayed or denied for reckless risk-taking. On the funded account (XFA), the Scaling Plan raises your contract limit in steps as your balance grows; it updates at the start of each session, never mid-session, and a payout that drops your balance to a lower step lowers your max contracts.
Funded Trader Earnings
Payout Speed1 to 3 business days
How long the firm takes to process a payout request. Your bank or payout service can add its own time.
Internal approval takes 1 to 3 business days, then it depends on the payout method: Prop-to-Brokerage the same day if requested by 12 PM CT (US only); Aeropay instantly after approval where the bank supports real-time payments (RTP, US only); Wise 1 to 3 business days; ACH 1 to 3 business days; wire or SWIFT 5 to 10 business days.
Payout Process

Payout Evidence

Firm-published, 2026-07-02: Topstep publishes its own 2025 numbers: 16.8% of Combines completed, 51.8% of participants reached a funded level, 33.3% of funded-level participants received a payout, and 0.71% of Express Funded Account traders were called up to Live. They are in the homepage's 2025 Trader Performance Statistics, covering January through December 2025, when we checked on 2026-07-06. Not many firms publish numbers like these, and they are sobering, which makes them more credible. Source
Firm-published, 2026-07-06: The homepage's marketing numbers when we checked on 2026-07-06: more than $1.4 billion paid out, footnoted as the all-time total with individual results varying; more than 7,000 traders paid weekly, footnoted as an internal year-to-date average; 15 years trusted by traders; and more than 140 countries. A separate page adds more than 200,000 Topstep traders. All are the firm's own claims. The 15 years runs ahead of the 2012-07-12 registered founding (14 years), though a 2009 predecessor company would make 15-plus years. Source
Firm-published, 2026-07-06: Topstep's own site publishes a 99.26% payout approval rate and a 9 second average instant payout time (checked 2026-07-06). They are the firm's own figures, not audited, but they give you something specific to hold the firm to. Source
Firm-published, 2026-07-02: Proof of Payout cards: auto-generated shareable payout receipts for every payout since 2026-01-01, plus Stacked cards for top days. A native, dated, community-visible payout-proof surface, which is worth more than a homepage counter because individual traders publish the receipts themselves. Source
Firm-published, 2026-07-03: Topstep's firm-written About block on its Trustpilot profile claims more than 10,000 funded accounts, millions in payouts, more than 12 years funding traders in more than 140 countries, and media features in Forbes, MarketWatch, and the Inc. 5000. Topstep's own site counts more than 200,000 traders while this block counts more than 10,000 funded accounts. Those are different measures rather than a contradiction, so no single number is the firm's size. Source
Community-reported on community forum, 2026-07-03: Thousands of dated reviews say a payout arrived, with they always pay as a common theme. Alongside them sit a dated run of Wise payout-delay complaints from December 2025 into January 2026 and a set of reports of profits forfeited over the ID check (KYC). Both sides are dated, so both sides are here. Source

What Has Changed at Topstep

Everything we have logged about this firm, newest first. Tap the info icon for the note. Sources are under All Events below.

PricingJul 2026
Pricing, Jul 2026
In early July 2026 full prices moved: the 150K Standard monthly rose from $149 to $199 with its reset price following, and the No Activation Fee monthlies moved from $109, $159 and $209 to $95, $149 and $229 on the 50K, 100K and 150K, cutting the two smaller sizes and raising the largest. A Monthly Reset Credit on Rebill was also added on every size and plan, and the firm's pricing page showed the new figures on July 6, 2026, ahead of its help-center pricing article.
On the trust record: The Responsible Trading Discount was also renamed the Responsible Trading Advantage, with an on-off switch on the No Activation Fee plan. The exact date is unknown: the pricing page moved between 2026-07-02 and 2026-07-06 while the help center lagged behind.
Rules2026-06-02
Rules, 2026-06-02
On 2026-06-02 Topstep's payout policy showed payout caps doubled for Combines bought with the Personal DLL selected at checkout, with no end date announced. Check that the doubling is still offered on the live payout policy the day you buy.
Corporate2026-04-01
Corporate, 2026-04-01
Topstep acquired The Futures Desk, announced by press release on 2026-04-01, with TFD's technology folding into TopstepX and TFD's co-founders joining Topstep. Relevant here because The Futures Desk still sells under its own brand while being a Topstep property, and the two should never be read as independent competitors.
Platform2026-02-28
Platform, 2026-02-28
Support for third-party platforms, including NinjaTrader, Tradovate, and Quantower, ended on February 28, 2026, making TopstepX the only available platform. The firm's onboarding article states TopstepX is the only available trading platform.
On the trust record: If your trading depends on a specific platform, this one change decides whether Topstep is even an option for you.
Rules2026-02-10
Rules, 2026-02-10
The Live Funded Account changed on February 10, 2026: 20% of the account's capital is tradable at the start, with the other 80% held in reserve and released as you hit milestones. The old setup gave more direct access to the capital at the start, per the firm's published account terms.
Pricing2026-02-05
Pricing, 2026-02-05
A February 5, 2026 pricing update split the Express Funded Account into Standard and Consistency payout paths, raised the activation fee from $129 to $149, and moved resets to bill at current pricing regardless of a subscription's original rate. The path split and repricing are documented in the firm's pricing article.
Payout2026-01-12
Payout, 2026-01-12
Accounts created on or after January 12, 2026 receive a flat 90/10 profit split from the first dollar. The prior structure paid 100% of the first $10,000 in lifetime profits before the 90/10 split applied, and the firm's payout policy states traders who joined before that date keep it.
On the trust record: A straightforward cut for everyone who signs up now.
Payout2025-12-30
Payout, 2025-12-30
A second requirement for repeat payouts was added on December 30, 2025: in addition to the existing winning-day cycle, requests after the first require positive net profit since the previous payout. The first payout is exempt, and the requirement appears in the firm's published payout policy.
On the trust record: It is a real extra step between you and your second payout, and it is easy to miss in the policy text.
Platform2025-12-22
Platform, 2025-12-22
Topstep notified state attorneys general on 2025-12-22 of a data incident that exposed customer information, including Social Security numbers, with 1,920 people affected per the Maine filing. Accounts of when it happened conflict: the customer notice points to a September flood-of-traffic attack (DDoS), while a separate report points to late-November logins tried with passwords leaked elsewhere (credential stuffing). Topstep says its own systems were not breached, puts the exposure down to password reuse, and offered two years of credit monitoring.
PlatformDec 2025
Platform, Dec 2025
Dated reviews describe the December 2025 TopstepX outages as the firm's worst operational failure, and an outside outage tracker recorded them. Reviewers still dispute whether Topstep made affected traders whole.
Product2025-11-25
Product, 2025-11-25
A No Activation Fee option for the Combine, Topstep's eval, launched on November 25, 2025, letting traders skip the activation fee in exchange for different monthly pricing on the same account sizes.
Platform2025-07-07
Platform, 2025-07-07
Topstep began moving traders onto TopstepX, its in-house trading platform, documented in the firm's help center from July 7, 2025. Third-party platforms were still supported then; their removal in February 2026 is its own event.
On the trust record: Platform moves are disruptive, and this one set up the February 2026 change that made TopstepX the only platform.
Founded2012-07-12

More events are under All Events below.

All Events

PricingJul 2026
In early July 2026 full prices moved: the 150K Standard monthly rose from $149 to $199 with its reset price following, and the No Activation Fee monthlies moved from $109, $159 and $209 to $95, $149 and $229 on the 50K, 100K and 150K, cutting the two smaller sizes and raising the largest. A Monthly Reset Credit on Rebill was also added on every size and plan, and the firm's pricing page showed the new figures on July 6, 2026, ahead of its help-center pricing article.
On the trust record: The Responsible Trading Discount was also renamed the Responsible Trading Advantage, with an on-off switch on the No Activation Fee plan. The exact date is unknown: the pricing page moved between 2026-07-02 and 2026-07-06 while the help center lagged behind.
Source
Rules2026-06-02
On 2026-06-02 Topstep's payout policy showed payout caps doubled for Combines bought with the Personal DLL selected at checkout, with no end date announced. Check that the doubling is still offered on the live payout policy the day you buy.
Source
Corporate2026-04-01
Topstep acquired The Futures Desk, announced by press release on 2026-04-01, with TFD's technology folding into TopstepX and TFD's co-founders joining Topstep. Relevant here because The Futures Desk still sells under its own brand while being a Topstep property, and the two should never be read as independent competitors.
Source
Platform2026-02-28
Support for third-party platforms, including NinjaTrader, Tradovate, and Quantower, ended on February 28, 2026, making TopstepX the only available platform. The firm's onboarding article states TopstepX is the only available trading platform.
On the trust record: If your trading depends on a specific platform, this one change decides whether Topstep is even an option for you.
Source
Rules2026-02-10
The Live Funded Account changed on February 10, 2026: 20% of the account's capital is tradable at the start, with the other 80% held in reserve and released as you hit milestones. The old setup gave more direct access to the capital at the start, per the firm's published account terms.
Source
Pricing2026-02-05
A February 5, 2026 pricing update split the Express Funded Account into Standard and Consistency payout paths, raised the activation fee from $129 to $149, and moved resets to bill at current pricing regardless of a subscription's original rate. The path split and repricing are documented in the firm's pricing article.
Source
Payout2026-01-12
Accounts created on or after January 12, 2026 receive a flat 90/10 profit split from the first dollar. The prior structure paid 100% of the first $10,000 in lifetime profits before the 90/10 split applied, and the firm's payout policy states traders who joined before that date keep it.
On the trust record: A straightforward cut for everyone who signs up now.
Source
Payout2025-12-30
A second requirement for repeat payouts was added on December 30, 2025: in addition to the existing winning-day cycle, requests after the first require positive net profit since the previous payout. The first payout is exempt, and the requirement appears in the firm's published payout policy.
On the trust record: It is a real extra step between you and your second payout, and it is easy to miss in the policy text.
Source
Platform2025-12-22
Topstep notified state attorneys general on 2025-12-22 of a data incident that exposed customer information, including Social Security numbers, with 1,920 people affected per the Maine filing. Accounts of when it happened conflict: the customer notice points to a September flood-of-traffic attack (DDoS), while a separate report points to late-November logins tried with passwords leaked elsewhere (credential stuffing). Topstep says its own systems were not breached, puts the exposure down to password reuse, and offered two years of credit monitoring.
Source
PlatformDec 2025
Dated reviews describe the December 2025 TopstepX outages as the firm's worst operational failure, and an outside outage tracker recorded them. Reviewers still dispute whether Topstep made affected traders whole.
Source
Product2025-11-25
A No Activation Fee option for the Combine, Topstep's eval, launched on November 25, 2025, letting traders skip the activation fee in exchange for different monthly pricing on the same account sizes.
Source
Platform2025-07-07
Topstep began moving traders onto TopstepX, its in-house trading platform, documented in the firm's help center from July 7, 2025. Third-party platforms were still supported then; their removal in February 2026 is its own event.
On the trust record: Platform moves are disruptive, and this one set up the February 2026 change that made TopstepX the only platform.
Source
Rules2024-08-25
The default daily loss limit was removed from the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account on August 25, 2024 and replaced by an optional Personal Daily Loss Limit that traders set themselves. The firm's help center documents the Personal DLL as an opt-in risk control rather than an enforced account rule.
On the trust record: Fewer forced rules, more rope. Whether that helps you depends on whether you needed the guardrail.
Source

Verdict: Who Topstep Fits

Who this firm fits and who should walk away, in my words.

Good Fit For

Day traders who are flat by the close anyway. I scalp, so a 3:10 PM CT flat rule costs me nothing and takes overnight risk off the table.
Traders who want a firm they can check: an Illinois registry entry since 2012, a CFTC-registered broker in the family, a real live stage.
Anyone who buys what I buy: a reset credit on every rebill and the data feed included, so a blown month renews as a fresh account.

Walk Away If

You buy by the target-to-drawdown ratio like I do. Nothing here is tighter than 1.5 : 1, and a 1 : 1 account is the more appetizing buy.
You want uncapped payouts from day one. Every funded payout request is capped until the live stage, and the caps are not great.
You plan to stack past five accounts. Five funded accounts is the ceiling here, and I find five limiting.

Strategic Edges

Check the Responsible Trading Advantage box on a No Activation Fee Combine at checkout: lower monthly, a fixed daily loss limit, doubled XFA payout caps while that offer runs. It counts only when you buy.
Bank wins most days you trade? Activate on the Consistency payout path: three traded days beats five winning days of $150, the fastest first payout here.
Run one strategy across up to five XFAs with the built-in copier, and turn it back on after every payout, because it switches itself off while one processes.
Never pay for a reset here. Every rebill includes a reset credit, so blowing the account late in the month restarts it for nothing and an early one waits in practice mode; I use that gap to find what went wrong.
Set a Personal Daily Profit Target to lock a green day before it goes over the Combine consistency target: an oversized day doesn't fail you, it raises the target and stretches the eval.

Compared with Other Firms

The firm scored closest to this one on each score, and the lists this firm is on.

Closest on Overall: Earn2Trade (73 vs 73)
Closest on Trust: TradeDay (71 vs 71)
Closest on Cost: Lucid Trading (78 vs 78)
Closest on Payout: Alpha Futures (73 vs 71)
Closest on Rules: BluSky Trading (70 vs 70)

The lists this firm is on:

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Topstep drawdown intraday or end of day?

Both, and the difference matters. The Maximum Loss Limit itself only moves at the close: it rises with end-of-day balance growth, never intraday and never down, and it locks once it reaches your starting balance in the Combine or $0 in the funded account. But Topstep checks it in real time against your net profit and loss, open trades included, so a wick that hits your drawdown line mid-session ends the account even if the day would have closed above it.

What is the Topstep consistency rule?

In the Combine, your best single day must stay at or below 50% of the profit target, and breaking it doesn't fail you, it raises your profit target instead. In the funded account it only exists on the Consistency payout path, where your largest winning day must stay at or below 40% of net profit in each payout window (the stretch from one payout to the next). The Standard payout path has no funded consistency rule at all.

Does Topstep allow automated trading?

Yes, at every stage, with conditions. Topstep will not help set up or troubleshoot automation and makes no exceptions for errant trades or malfunctions, API automation is prohibited at the live stage, and all trading has to come from your own device, since VPS, VPN, and remote servers are banned by the Terms of Use. Test on the practice account first.

What platform does Topstep use?

TopstepX, and only TopstepX. Since February 28, 2026 every third-party platform, including NinjaTrader, Tradovate, and Quantower, has been removed. TopstepX is web-based with TradingView charts built in and nothing to download, and optional API access for custom tools is available at an extra monthly cost.

Does Topstep actually pay out?

Thousands of dated reviews say a payout arrived, Topstep publishes its own performance statistics, and every payout since January 2026 comes with a shareable Proof of Payout card, so we grade the payout evidence as backed by many trader reports, our stronger grade. The other side is dated too: a run of Wise payout delays from December 2025 into January 2026 and a set of reports of profits forfeited over the ID check (KYC), both under Payout Evidence above.

How fast does Topstep pay out?

Internal approval takes 1 to 3 business days, then the payout method decides the rest: US traders can move money same day through Topstep's own brokerage or instantly through Aeropay where the bank supports it, Wise and ACH run 1 to 3 business days, and wires take the longest and carry a fee. Topstep's own marketing advertises near-instant processing on the fast payout methods; treat those figures as firm-published.

What is the difference between the Standard and Consistency payout paths?

You pick one when your funded account activates, and it sets how often you can get paid. Standard lets you request a payout after every five winning days of $150 or more, with no consistency rule attached. Consistency lets you request one after every three traded days, the fastest first payout in the program, but holds your largest winning day to 40% of net profit in each payout cycle. Steady daily profits favor Consistency; streaky profits favor Standard.

Is Topstep legit?

Legit by the strictest read: an active Illinois company since 2012 with a registry-confirmed office in the Chicago Board of Trade Building, a CFTC-registered introducing broker inside its corporate family, and its own published performance statistics. Loved is a different question: its Trustpilot rating is 3.7, the December 2025 outage is under What Has Changed, and the reports of profits forfeited over the ID check (KYC) are under Payout Evidence, each dated and sourced.

Does Still Funded earn money from Topstep?

No. Topstep shut its affiliate program in August 2024, no replacement exists that an independent multi-firm review site could accept, and every Topstep link on this page is a plain link with no commission behind it. We review the firm because readers demand it, and it is scored the same way as every other firm we cover.

Does Topstep own The Futures Desk?

Yes. Topstep acquired The Futures Desk on April 1, 2026, announced in a Topstep-authored press release, and TFD co-founders Josh Schwartzberg and Brian Ford joined Topstep in the deal. The Futures Desk still sells under its own brand while its technology is integrated into TopstepX, so weigh the two brands as one corporate family, not as rivals.

Can you pass Topstep in one day?

No, and it is the math that stops you, not a day-count rule. The Combine consistency target caps your best day at 50% of the profit target, so a single day can never carry the whole target on its own. Two days is the least it can take, and there is no minimum beyond what that rule forces.

Does Topstep have a monthly fee?

Yes, everything here is a monthly subscription that rebills every 30 days until you pass, cancel, or the account closes. Know the two rules that matter: blowing the account doesn't stop the billing, the account just trades as practice until you reset or cancel, and every rebill includes a Monthly Reset Credit, so blowing it near your billing date often restarts it for free.

About the Author

Lane Dotson

Founder of Still Funded and Trend Friend

Active futures day trader with more than 13 years in the markets. Founder of Still Funded and operator of Trend Friend.

More about Lane on his author page.

Affiliate Disclosure

Still Funded scores every firm on the same data, and affiliate relationships do not affect our scoring. Topstep has no affiliate program. Still Funded earns nothing when you sign up with Topstep, and reviews it anyway, because the roster is chosen by trader demand, not commissions.

Read the full Affiliate Disclosure for how we handle partnerships and links site-wide.