Futures · 1-step · Since 2012

Topstep Review: rules, challenges and payouts

Name: Topstep Review (2026): Rules, Payouts & Fees | XSR
Item: Topstep
Rating: 4.6
Author: XSR Trading Community

Suits — First futures evaluation, with the most documented rulebook.

CEO: Michael Patak
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
Founded: 2012· 14 yrs
Access: HKLimitedTWOpen

Platforms

TopstepX
Quantower

Discount code

No code yet

No working code right now

You pay the firm's list price. We will add a code here as soon as there is one we can stand behind.

Open Topstep

What it covers

Topstep has no public code right now, so you pay list price: from $49 a month for the 50K Standard Path. It occasionally issues one-time codes by email, stream or X (LETSGO25 in October 2025), and its terms forbid sharing them publicly. A new buyer gets 15% off a first purchase with any existing trader's referral code, and adding a daily loss limit takes $10/$20/$30 off a No Activation Fee Combine.

XSR score

From

$49

per month · $50K

Max allocation

$750K

Up to 5 Express Funded Accounts (XFAs) at once; Topstep states up to $750,000 of buying power across them with a trade copier (5 × $150K). Only one Live Funded Account at a time.

Sizes

$50K–$150K

Programs 3

First payout

3days

every 5 winning days (3 trading days on the consistency path)

Trustpilot

3.6/5

What Topstep is, and who it suits

What the firm is, who it suits, and what you will trade it on.

XSR summary

Topstep, based in Chicago and running evaluations since 2012, is the longest-established futures evaluation firm. You pay a monthly Trading Combine subscription with no deadline and pass one step: an end-of-day trailing loss limit plus a 55% best-day rule. You then trade a simulated Express Funded Account with 90/10 payouts capped per request, and consistent traders are called up to a real-money Live Funded Account. Everything runs on Topstep's own TopstepX platform. The catch for Hong Kong: residents are XFA-only, with a $200,000 lifetime payout cap and no Live account.

Written by XSR from the firm's own pages — not generated, not paid for.

Suits

First futures evaluation, with the most documented rulebook.

Watch out for

It bills monthly until you pass, the Combine has a 55% best-day rule, and payouts outside the US go by SWIFT wire ($30, 5–10 business days).

Platforms2

TopstepXTopstepX
QuantowerQuantower

The details

Data feed / broker: ProjectX
Assets: IndicesFXEnergyMetalsRatesAgricultureCrypto
Instruments: CME Group futures only: equity indices (ES, NQ, RTY, YM, NKD and micros), FX futures (6A, 6B, 6E, 6J and more), energies (CL, NG, RB, HO, QM, MCL), metals (GC, SI, HG, PL and micros), Treasuries (ZT to UB), grains and livestock, and Micro Bitcoin / Micro Ether. No spot forex or stocks.
Leverage and limits: Trading Combine: 5/10/15 minis (50/100/150 micros) on 50K/100K/150K, micros counted 10:1. XFAs follow a balance-based Scaling Plan: a 50K starts at 2 lots and reaches 5 at a $2,000 balance; a 150K starts at 3 and reaches 15 at $4,500. Live uses Dynamic Live Risk Expansion. In high volatility energies and metals are temporarily capped (e.g. CL 3/6/9; SI, HG, PL at 0).
Commissions: TopstepX deducts the full round-turn cost (exchange, NFA and commission): ES/NQ/RTY/YM $3.78, MES/MNQ $1.22, CL $4.02, GC $4.32, MCL $1.72 after the 1 October 2026 exchange increase. Level 1 data is free; Level 2 is $38 a month. Live accounts pay professional data fees.
Max allocation: $750KUp to 5 Express Funded Accounts (XFAs) at once; Topstep states up to $750,000 of buying power across them with a trade copier (5 × $150K). Only one Live Funded Account at a time.
Legal entity: TopstepTrader, LLC

Topstep challenges and prices

Pick a program and a size. Every number is the firm's list price and rule before any code.

Topstep's standard evaluation: the lower monthly price, rebilled every 30 days until you pass or cancel, with no deadline. A one-time $149 activation fee is charged for each XFA you earn. The path cannot be changed after purchase. Rebills every month until you pass or cancel.

Account size

Terms of this account

Trading Combine (Standard Path) · $50K

$49per month

Activation fee: $149
Profit target: +$3,0006%
Max loss: −$2,0004%
Daily loss limit: None
Max contracts: 5 minis / 50 micros
Min. trading days: 2
Time limit: None
Consistency (test): Your best day must stay at or below 55% of total profit; go over and the target rises to best day ÷ 0.55, so passing takes at least 2 days.
Profit split: 90% to you (90/10)

Target against room to lose

Trailing · EOD

$670 of room leftPass

Loss floor: −$2,0004%
Start: $50K
Target: +$3,0006%

The loss limit trails your closing balance once a day. Overnight profits raise your floor; intraday swings do not.

Illustration: a made-up path held to this account's real limits.

Once you are funded

Pay $149 to activate the XFA; no monthly fee after that. The XFA starts at a $0 balance (the size is buying power) and you choose Standard (5 winning days of $150+) or Consistency (3 days, 40%) payouts at activation, permanently. Contracts follow the Scaling Plan, you may hold 5 XFAs, and the Risk Team may call you up to a Live Funded Account.

Topstep rules, in plain words

Most dangerous first. Each one says what the rule is, how it is measured, and what it looks like on a real account.

3 Strict4 Watch out2 Good to know

Maximum Loss Limit (EOD trailing, enforced live)
Strict
The MLL rises with your end-of-day balance and never falls, but it is monitored in real time, open losses included, and touching it liquidates you at once. In the Combine it locks at the starting balance. An XFA starts at $0 with the MLL at −$2,000/−$3,000/−$4,500 and locks at $0; after your first payout it is $0.
Example
50K Combine: MLL $48,000. Close day one at $50,500 and it moves to $48,500; lose $500 on day two and the balance is $50,000 but the MLL stays $48,500. Once a close reaches $52,000, the MLL locks at $50,000.
Flat by 3:10 PM CT
Strict
Topstep is day trading only: be flat by 3:10 PM CT every weekday; risk managers start flattening at 3:08 PM CT. No overnight or weekend holds. Products that close earlier (grains, livestock) must be exited before their own close. The trading day runs 5 PM to 3:10 PM CT.
Example
A trade opened at 6:30 PM CT on Tuesday counts toward Wednesday's trading day.
Prohibited conduct
Strict
Banned: hedging across your accounts, coordinated trading with others, account stacking (blowing one account and repeating on the next), VPNs or VPS, exploiting sim fills (hundreds of trades lasting seconds), holding within 2% of a price limit, and multiple profiles. Penalties range from a warning or deleted day to permanent closure and denied payouts.
Example
Long NQ in one XFA while short NQ in another is cross-account hedging.
55% Consistency Target in the Combine
Watch out
Your best day must be at or below 55% of total profit, with no buffer or rounding. Going over does not fail you, but the target rises to best day ÷ 0.55 and the rest must be earned on another day; losing days do not reset the best day. Each day locks at 3:10 PM CT.
Example
50K Combine, $3,000 target: keep your best day under $1,650. A $1,800 day lifts the target to $3,273; a $2,200 day lifts it to $4,000.
XFA Scaling Plan
Watch out
In an XFA your maximum position comes from your balance, not the account size, and a higher limit applies only from the next session. Micros count 10:1. Overages fixed within 10 seconds are ignored, and a payout that drops your balance to a lower tier lowers your limit too.
Example
50K XFA: 2 lots below a $1,500 balance, 3 lots from $1,500, 5 lots from $2,000. 150K XFA: 3 lots to start, 15 lots once the balance reaches $4,500.
XFA payout conditions and caps
Watch out
Standard path: 5 winning days of $150+ net (not consecutive) and net profit since the last payout. Consistency path: at least 3 trading days with your largest day at or below 40% of net profit. Each request is up to 50% of the balance within a per-size cap, and the day count restarts after every payout.
Example
50K XFA on the Standard path, $6,000 balance after 5 winning days: 50% would be $3,000, but the cap is $2,000, so you request $2,000 and receive $1,800 before the wire fee.
News and CPI
Watch out
You may trade through economic releases and need not flatten, but deliberately taking your full maximum position into a scheduled major release is prohibited, and slippage is never refunded. From 5 minutes before to 5 minutes after CPI, no new mini positions in index or metals futures, and micro openings are limited.
Example
On a 50K account during the CPI window, you can open at most 3 micro contracts.
Daily loss limit (optional, a pause)
Good to know
In the Combine and XFA a daily loss limit is optional: add it at checkout ($1,000/$2,000/$3,000) and it is fixed for the account's life, or set an adjustable personal one in TopstepX. Hitting it is not a violation: you are flattened and stopped until 5 PM CT. Live accounts always have one.
Example
Add the $1,000 limit when buying a 50K No Activation Fee Combine and the monthly price drops $10; under the current limited-time offer, your XFA payout cap also doubles to $4,000 (Standard).
Rebilling and inactivity
Good to know
The Combine has no deadline but rebills every 30 days and cannot be paused; it keeps rebilling after an MLL breach, adding a reset credit each time. An XFA with no trading for more than 30 days may be closed, and XFAs cannot be paused either.
Example
If your rebill date is the 5th, your dashboard must show a pass by the close on the 4th to avoid the next $49 charge.

Trading styles

News trading
With conditions
Allowed, but not at full maximum size into a scheduled major release; no new mini index or metals positions within 5 minutes of CPI.
EAs / bots
With conditions
Allowed on the Combine and XFA through the TopstepX API (ProjectX, $14.50/month with Topstep's code) from your own device; no VPS or VPN, and no automation on Live.
Copy trading
With conditions
The TopstepX trade copier works across your own accounts, up to $750,000 of buying power; no coordinated trading with or for others.
Hedging
Not allowed
No opposite positions across your accounts at the same time.
Holding overnight
Not allowed
Flat by 3:10 PM CT.
Holding over the weekend
Not allowed
Scalping
With conditions
Allowed, but systematically exploiting sim fills (hundreds of trades a day lasting seconds) gets you removed.

Topstep payouts: when, how much and how

When you can withdraw, how much, and how the money reaches you.

01 · First payout
Standard path: after 5 winning days of $150+ net in the XFA. Consistency path: after 3 trading days with your largest day at or below 40% of net profit. The request day does not count toward the next cycle.
02 · After that
Each payout restarts the count: 5 new winning days (Standard) or 3 new trading days (Consistency). In a Live Funded Account, after 30 winning days you can request once a day.
03 · Profit split
90% to you, 10% to Topstep, in the XFA and Live (traders who joined the new dashboard before 12 January 2026 keep 100% of their first $10,000).

Minimum: $125 per request
Caps: Each request is up to 50% of the balance, capped at $2,000/$3,000/$5,000 (50K/100K/150K, Standard) or $3,000/$4,000/$6,000 (Consistency); Combines bought with a daily loss limit during the current limited-time offer get double caps. Live payouts are uncapped. Hong Kong residents: $200,000 in total.
Payout methods: Bank wire (SWIFT)
ACH (US only)
Aeropay (US only)
Wise (China, Canada, UK only)
Prop-to-Brokerage (US only)
Before you can request: Standard: 5 winning days of $150+ net (locked at 4:00 PM CT) and at least $0.01 of net profit since the last payout (first payout exempt).
Consistency: at least 3 trading days with a trade each, and largest day ÷ net profit at or below 40%.
Up to 50% of the balance per request, within the size's cap.
After a payout the MLL is set to $0 for good, so the remaining balance is your loss floor.
Non-US traders file a W-8BEN; payouts go only to a bank account in your own name.
Topstep reviews each request against Prohibited Conduct and Prohibited Strategies, and can delay or deny it.

From Hong Kong or Taiwan

Hong Kong and Taiwan residents are paid by international wire (SWIFT): $30 per payout, 5–10 business days, plus your bank's charges; Wise is offered only to China, Canada and the UK. Payouts go only to an account in your name, with a W-8BEN on file. Hong Kong residents stop at $200,000 in total payouts and are never moved to a Live Funded Account; Taiwan has no such limit.

Can Hong Kong and Taiwan traders use Topstep?

Read from the firm's own list. A firm that bans Hong Kong or Taiwan is not listed on XSR at all.

Hong Kong

Not restricted

Taiwan

Not restricted

Hong Kong residents can take the Combine but are limited to an XFA account capped at $200,000 in total payouts, with no Live Funded Account. Taiwan is unaffected.

Hong Kong is not banned but is on Topstep's 'XFA, not LFA' list: you can pass the Combine and take up to $200,000 in total XFA payouts, but you will never be called up to a Live Funded Account (Topstep may offer a simulated Pro Account instead). Taiwan is on neither list. Eligibility follows citizenship and permanent residency; trading from an ineligible country, even while travelling, triggers a review.

Read it on the firm's site

Sources and checks

Checked against the firm's own pages on 7 Oct 2026.

Could not be confirmed on the firm's own pages

These are printed from recent third-party coverage. Confirm them with the firm before you buy.

XFA Scaling Plan lot thresholds come from third-party copies: Topstep's help centre prints the table as an image, and its text confirms only that a 50K XFA starts at 2 lots.
Wise is listed for 'China, Canada, UK' only; Topstep does not say whether Hong Kong counts as China, so we treat Hong Kong as wire-only.

What we read

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XSR may earn a commission when you buy with a partner code; it never changes the order of firms. Prop-firm evaluations are simulated accounts sold as a product — most buyers do not pass, and no firm is regulated as a category. Nothing here is investment advice.

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