Topstep at a glance
- What it is: a futures prop firm based in Chicago, started in 2012 by Michael Patak, a former floor trader at the Chicago Board of Trade, who still runs it. It dropped its forex programme in 2022 to focus on futures.
- Three stages: the Trading Combine (the evaluation), the Express Funded Account (simulated, but it pays out) and the Live Funded Account, which Topstep's risk team offers to traders it picks.
- Platform: TopstepX, Topstep's own browser platform. There's no mobile app, but it works in a phone browser. It can't be connected to TradingView. Quantower can log in with your TopstepX details on Combine and Express Funded accounts.
- Markets: CME Group futures: equity indices, currency futures, energy, metals, farm products, interest rates and the micro Bitcoin and Ether contracts. No spot forex.
- Fees: a monthly subscription for the Combine, on one of two paths (below).
- India: Topstep isn't on RBI's Alert List as updated on 19 November 2025, and India isn't on its list of restricted countries. RBI says an entity not on the list should not be assumed to be authorised, and we're not aware of any ruling by an Indian regulator on prop firm fees; the guide to forex trading in India explains where prop firms sit, and prop firm taxes covers payouts.
The three stages
| Stage | What it is | What ends it |
|---|---|---|
| Trading Combine | Simulated evaluation: reach the profit target while keeping the consistency target | Your balance touching the Maximum Loss Limit |
| Express Funded Account (XFA) | Simulated account that starts at a $0 balance; payouts are real | Touching the Maximum Loss Limit, which closes the account |
| Live Funded Account | Real-money account, offered by Topstep's risk team | The balance falling below $1,000, or taking 100% of it as a payout |
Trading Combine rules and fees
| Account | Monthly fee: Standard / No Activation Fee | Profit target | Maximum Loss Limit | Optional daily loss limit | Most contracts | Best day to stay under 55% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49 / $95 | $3,000 | $2,000 | $1,000 | 5 minis or 50 micros | Under $1,650 |
| $100,000 | $99 / $149 | $6,000 | $3,000 | $2,000 | 10 minis or 100 micros | Under $3,300 |
| $150,000 | $199 / $229 | $9,000 | $4,500 | $3,000 | 15 minis or 150 micros | Under $4,950 |
- Standard path: the lower monthly fee, plus a one-time activation fee of $149 for each Express Funded Account you earn.
- No Activation Fee path: a higher monthly fee and $0 when you pass.
- Minimum days: no fixed number, but Topstep says you can pass in as few as two days; with the 55% rule below, a single day can never be enough.
- Payment: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Google Wallet and Apple Pay. PayPal isn't accepted.
- Back2Funded: reactivating an Express Funded Account through Back2Funded costs $599, $699 or $829 by size.
Which path costs less? It depends on how long you take to pass. On $50,000, three months cost 3 × $49 + $149 = $296 on Standard and 3 × $95 = $285 with no activation fee. Standard only becomes cheaper from month 4 on $50,000, month 3 on $100,000 and month 5 on $150,000, before any promotions. If you expect to pass quickly, the No Activation Fee path costs less.
How the Maximum Loss Limit works
The Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) is the lowest your balance may go. Topstep moves it up at the end of each trading day, from your highest end-of-day balance, but watches it in real time, open trades included. It never moves down. If an open trade takes your balance to the limit, the account is liquidated at once, even if the price comes back.
- In the Combine: on $50,000 it starts at $48,000. Close day 1 at $50,500 and it moves to $48,500; lose $500 on day 2 and it stays at $48,500. It stops trailing for good when it reaches the starting balance, $50,000, which happens once you've closed a day at $52,000.
- In the Express Funded Account: the balance starts at $0 and the $50,000 limit at −$2,000. It trails up and locks at $0 once your balance reaches $2,000.
- After your first payout: the limit is set to $0, wherever it was.
Why the first payout matters: say your $50,000 XFA balance is $1,500 on the standard path. The limit has trailed to −$500, so you have $2,000 of room. Take the most you can, 50% of the balance or $750, and the balance falls to $750 while the limit jumps to $0. Your room is now $750. An early payout can leave very little room for the next bad day, so size down after one. The prop firm drawdown calculator works out your room for an end-of-day trailing limit.
The 55% consistency target
Consistency = best day's profit ÷ total profit, which must be 55% or less to pass
The 55% isn't rounded and has no buffer. If one day goes over, the account doesn't fail; your profit target rises to the best day ÷ 0.55. In Topstep's own example on $50,000, a best day of $1,800 raises the target from $3,000 to about $3,273, and if a later day makes $2,200, the target becomes $2,200 ÷ 0.55 = $4,000. The extra profit has to come on a separate day after the best day's session has closed, because the best day locks at 3:10 p.m. Chicago time; trading more that same day just raises the best day. Check your own days with the consistency rule calculator.
Daily loss limit
- Combine and Express Funded Account: optional. If you choose it at purchase, it's $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 by size, it can't be changed later, and it carries over to your XFA.
- What happens when you hit it: open positions are closed, pending orders cancelled, and you can't trade until 5 p.m. Chicago time. Topstep says it isn't a rule violation; the account stays in play.
- Your own limit: you can also set a personal daily limit in TopstepX's risk settings, including one that trails up with your balance.
- Live Funded Account: always on: $2,000, $3,000 or $4,500.
Express Funded Account payouts
You pick one of two payout paths when you activate the XFA.
| Path | What you need before each payout | Most per request | Cap: $50K / $100K / $150K | Cap with the daily-limit offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 5 winning days of $150 or more (they needn't be in a row), and net profit since the last payout (not needed for the first) | 50% of the balance | $2,000 / $3,000 / $5,000 | $4,000 / $6,000 / $10,000 |
| Consistency | 3 trading days with at least one trade each, and your biggest day no more than 40% of total net profit | 50% of the balance | $3,000 / $4,000 / $6,000 | $6,000 / $8,000 / $12,000 |
- Split and minimum: 90% to you and 10% to Topstep, with a $125 minimum request. Traders who joined Topstep's new dashboard before 12 January 2026 keep 100% of their first $10,000.
- When: requests go in from the dashboard while CME markets are open, from 5 p.m. Sunday to 5 p.m. Friday, Chicago time.
- Side effects: a payout can drop you to a lower scaling level, with fewer contracts, and trading while a payout is processing can make it fail or shrink.
Scaling plan in the Express Funded Account
The XFA doesn't give you the full contract limit on day one. A scaling plan sets your maximum position from your balance, starting at the lowest tier, and when you reach the next threshold the higher limit applies from the next session, never mid-session. Topstep publishes the tiers as a chart, and the TopstepX risk settings page shows how many contracts you can trade in your next session. 10 micros count as 1 mini.
The Live Funded Account
- Who gets one: Topstep's risk team decides. If you're offered one, you move to Live or close your XFAs; you can't stay put. It takes 7 to 10 business days to set up, and your XFAs close when it's issued.
- Money you can trade: 20% of the transferred balance is available at once (at least $10,000) and 80% is held in reserve. The reserve is released in four 25% steps, each time you make $3,000, $6,000 or $9,000 of net profit, depending on the account size. Topstep reviews this on Monday mornings.
- Daily loss limit: $2,000, $3,000 or $4,500. If the tradable balance falls to $10,000 or less, it becomes $2,000 with at most 5 contracts; at $5,000 or less, $1,000 with at most 3.
- The floor: if the balance falls below $1,000, the account can be closed at the end of the day, the rest paid out, and any locked reserve lost.
- Payouts: 5 winning days of $150 or more per request, up to 50% of the balance with no dollar cap. After 30 winning days on Live, you can ask daily, with a $125 minimum. Taking 100% closes the account.
How Topstep pays traders outside the US
| Method | Who can use it | Time | Topstep's fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wire (SWIFT) | International | 5 to 10 business days | $30 |
| Wise | China, Canada and the UK only | 1 to 3 business days | None |
| ACH, Aeropay, transfer to Topstep Brokerage | US only | Same day to 3 business days | $30 on ACH; none on the others |
So from India the route is a wire. A $1,000 request becomes $1,000 − 10% − $30 = $870 before your bank's own charges and currency conversion.
Trading hours in IST
| Rule | Chicago time | IST, US summer time (to 31 October 2026) | IST, US winter time (from 1 November 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topstep starts closing open positions | 3:08 p.m. | 01:38 | 02:38 |
| Trading day ends; you must be flat | 3:10 p.m. | 01:40 | 02:40 |
| New trading day opens | 5:00 p.m. | 03:30 | 04:30 |
| US stock market opens | 8:30 a.m. | 19:00 | 20:00 |
The close falls after midnight in India, on the next calendar day: at 01:40 IST until the end of October and 02:40 IST from November.
Commissions on TopstepX
| Contract | Round turn per contract |
|---|---|
| E-mini S&P 500 (ES), E-mini Nasdaq-100 (NQ) | $3.78 |
| Micro S&P 500 (MES), Micro Nasdaq-100 (MNQ) | $1.22 |
| Gold (GC) | $4.32 |
| Micro gold (MGC) | $1.92 |
| Crude oil (CL) | $4.02 |
Banned strategies, bots and news
- News: Topstep's only news rule bans trading your full maximum position straight into a scheduled major release.
- Hedging: opposite positions across your own accounts at the same time are banned, and so is trading in concert with other people.
- Simulator tricks: scalping algorithms that chase unrealistic simulated fills, hundreds of rapid trades for queue priority, and orders priced outside the bid and ask.
- Account stacking: taking big risks until one account fails and then repeating on the next.
- Bots: Topstep sells API access to TopstepX for $29 a month, and its page says custom bots are allowed under the normal rules, with no high-frequency trading. Orders must come from your own device: a VPS, VPN or remote server can't place or route them, and the API isn't available on Live.
- Location: VPNs, proxies and Tor aren't allowed at all.
Topstep for traders in India
- Eligibility: you must be 18 or over. Topstep's eligibility article (dated 4 September 2026) lists ineligible countries, including Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Turkey and Russia, and a separate group that can hold an XFA but not a Live account. India is on neither list. Topstep says the lists can change at any time.
- Paying: by card, Google Wallet or Apple Pay. Indian cards often have international use switched off by default, so turn it on in your bank's app first.
- Hours: the US open is at 19:00 or 20:00 IST and the close-out at 01:40 or 02:40 IST, so plan for late nights or set an earlier cut-off.
- Payouts and tax: payouts arrive by wire and are taxable income in India; see prop firm taxes, and prop firms in India for where prop firm fees sit under RBI's rules.
Which choices fit which trader
- If you pass in a month or two: the No Activation Fee path costs less.
- If you need several months: Standard, from month 4 on $50,000.
- If you make steady small days: the Standard XFA path's $150 winning days suit you, with lower caps.
- If your profit comes from a few strong days: the Consistency path pays sooner and caps higher, as long as no day tops 40% of the total.
Whatever the firm, the rules come down to how much you can lose today and in total. Work out today's room with the drawdown calculator, size each trade from its stop with the prop firm lot size calculator, and check your odds of reaching the target first with the risk of ruin calculator.
Topstep changes its rules from time to time. If a rule matters to your plan, read it on Topstep's help centre the day you buy. For other futures firms, see futures prop firms compared, or the full rules for Apex Trader Funding, Tradeify and Lucid Trading.