Topstep Review 2026

Topstep has three stages. You buy a Trading Combine, a monthly subscription to a simulated account. Pass it and you get an Express Funded Account (XFA), which has no monthly fee and is where you earn payouts. Topstep's risk team can later move consistent XFA traders to a Live Funded Account.

To pass the Combine you reach the profit target, keep your best day below 55% of the target and never let your balance touch the Maximum Loss Limit. At checkout you choose a Standard path, which is cheaper each month but charges a $149 activation fee when you pass, or a No Activation Fee path. Topstep says paths cannot be changed after purchase.

The table shows the monthly list prices from Topstep's help center on 25 Oct 2026. Adding an optional daily loss limit at checkout takes $10, $20 or $30 a month off the No Activation Fee price.

The Maximum Loss Limit trails your end-of-day balance. It rises when you close the day at a new high and never moves down. On a $50K Combine it starts $2,000 below the starting balance. Breaches are checked in real time, with open profit and loss included, so touching the line at any moment during the day liquidates the account.

In the Express Funded Account the limit starts at minus $2,000 on a $50K account and locks at $0 once your balance is up $2,000. After your first payout it is set to $0 for good, so your remaining balance becomes your loss floor. Topstep recommends reaching that lock before taking payouts.

A daily loss limit is optional. If you add it ($1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 by account size), hitting it stops trading for the day rather than failing the account.

You keep 90% of each payout. Traders who joined the new dashboard before January 12, 2026 keep 100% of their first $10,000 in lifetime profits.

The XFA has two payout paths. Standard needs 5 winning days of $150 or more net profit. Consistency needs 3 trading days with your best day at no more than 40% of net profit. Either way you can take up to 50% of your balance per request, capped by account size, and the minimum is $125. Live Funded Accounts have no dollar cap and, after 30 winning days, allow a payout every day.

US traders can be paid same day through Prop-to-Brokerage or instantly through Aeropay with no Topstep fee. ACH and international wires cost $30. Wise is available in some countries.

Activation is $149 per XFA on the Standard path and $0 on the No Activation Fee path. A reset after you hit the Maximum Loss Limit costs the same as a month of your plan: $49, $99 or $199 on Standard and $95, $149 or $229 on No Activation Fee.

If you lose an XFA before its first payout, Back2Funded lets you reactivate it within 30 days for $599, $699 or $829 by size, up to twice.

Level 1 CME data is included. Level 2 depth of market costs $38 a month. Live Funded traders pay professional data fees. On TopstepX, Topstep's own example puts an E-mini S&P 500 round turn at $3.78 and a Micro E-mini at $1.22, including exchange and NFA fees.

Topstep's pricing article says most fees are non-refundable.

Topstep is a day trading program. Every position must be closed by 3:10 PM CT on weekdays, and risk managers start flattening accounts at 3:08 PM. Holding between sessions is not allowed.

You can trade news, but Topstep bans taking your full maximum position size directly into a major scheduled release. It also bans using software or ultra-fast systems to exploit the simulator, hundreds of rapid trades to gain queue position, orders outside the best bid or offer, and stacking risky attempts across accounts.

Topstep's terms name Topstep LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, with a correspondence address at 130 S Jefferson St, Chicago, IL 60661. An affiliate, TopstepFunded LLC, is an Illinois LLC. The terms are governed by Delaware law.

Its About page traces the business to Patak Trading Partners, founded in 2010 on the Chicago Board of Trade floor. Topstep Trader launched in 2012, rebranded as Topstep in 2020, launched TopstepX in 2024 and Topstep Brokerage in 2026.

Topstep describes the Live Funded Account as trading its prop firm capital. You cannot buy it: the risk team calls traders up to it after consistent results in an Express Funded Account.

Topstep's rules are among the clearest in futures prop trading, and the 90% split, instant US payouts and a loss limit that locks after the first payout are real strengths. It suits disciplined intraday traders who flatten before the close.

Budget for the subscription. If you need three months to pass a $50K Combine on the Standard path, you pay $147 plus the $149 activation fee. Pick the No Activation Fee path if you expect to pass quickly but more than once.

Every fact on this page comes from the pages below, checked on Oct 25, 2026. Rules and prices change, so check the current terms before you pay.