Overview
Topstep is a Chicago futures firm that has run its Trading Combine since 2012. It's a day trading program for CME products only, traded on its own TopstepX platform. It suits futures traders who are fine paying monthly while they work on passing.
How the evaluation works
Trading Combine: one phase with a 6% profit target ($3,000, $6,000 or $9,000 on the 50K, 100K and 150K). The Maximum Loss Limit is $2,000, $3,000 or $4,500 below your balance and trails your end-of-day high until it locks at the starting balance. There's no daily loss limit unless you add one at checkout.
You can pass in two days and there's no time limit, but the subscription rebills every 30 days until you pass. The standard path is $49, $99 or $199 a month plus a $149 activation fee on passing. The No Activation Fee path costs more monthly instead.
Rules worth knowing
Your best day has to stay at or below 55% of total profit. Go over it and your target rises. Every position must be flat by 3:10 PM CT, so overnight and weekend holds are out. News trading is allowed. Automated strategies are allowed at your own risk, and a trade copier can run across your own accounts, but hedging between accounts is banned.
Getting paid
After passing you get an Express Funded Account with a 90/10 split. On the Standard path you need five winning days of $150 or more before each request, and on the Consistency path three trading days with no day above 40% of profit. Each request is capped at 50% of the balance and a dollar limit by size. Payouts go by ACH or Aeropay in the US, Wise in a few countries, or international wire.
At a glance
- Platforms
- ProjectX
- Payouts
- Bank transfer, Wise
- Founded
- 2012
- Based in
- Chicago, United States
Good
- Running since 2012, with a path to a live funded account
- No time limit on the Combine
- Up to five funded accounts at once, with a trade copier
- No daily loss limit unless you choose one
Watch for
- Monthly subscription until you pass
- Activation fee on the cheaper path
- All positions flat by 3:10 PM CT
- Payouts capped per request in the funded stage
Challenges
Every account Topstep sells. Sort by any column.
| Program | Drawdown | Payouts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading Combine1-step | $50K | $49 | 6% | — | 4% | End-of-day trailing | 90% | 2 days | After 5 winning days |
| Trading Combine1-step | $100K | $99 | 6% | — | 3% | End-of-day trailing | 90% | 2 days | After 5 winning days |
| Trading Combine1-step | $150K | $199 | 6% | — | 3% | End-of-day trailing | 90% | 2 days | After 5 winning days |
Trading rules
What the funded account lets you do. Restricted means allowed with conditions; check the firm's terms.
Not available to residents of AF, AO, BF, BI, BY, CD, CI, CU, DZ, HT, IQ, IR, KE, KP, LB, LY, MA, ML, MM, NG, NI, PK, RU, SD, SO, SS, SY, TR, UA, VE, YE.
Payouts
How you get paid
- Methods
- Bank transfer, Wise
- Frequency
- After 5 winning days
- First payout
- —
Profit split by program
- Trading Combine
- up to 90%
What traders say
Scores from the sites traders use, and our summary of what they're saying, checked 6 October 2026.
Topstep, the Chicago futures firm running since 2012, has one of the longest track records in prop trading and a split review profile. It scores 3.7 on Trustpilot from about 14,900 reviews, where roughly seven in ten reviews are five stars and almost one in five is one star. On Prop Firm Match, verified futures traders give it 4.5 from about 140 reviews. Few people dispute that it pays. The complaints are about rules, caps and closures, and about paying monthly while waiting.
What traders like
Reliable payouts. Many reviewers on Trustpilot, Prop Firm Match and Reddit say they've been paid repeatedly over years, and the firm's instant payouts get frequent mentions.
TopstepX. The in-house platform gets a lot of praise on Prop Firm Match for being smooth, with built-in loss limits and lockouts.
Clear rules and a fair drawdown. Several traders like the end-of-day drawdown and the daily loss limit that stops a tilt from blowing the account.
Common complaints
Accounts closed with payouts forfeited. Several Trustpilot and Reddit reviewers say accounts were closed for hedging or other prohibited conduct, with no appeal and without seeing the data behind the decision.
Monthly fees. Some say subscription renewals and resets kept billing while their accounts were under review.
Payout caps and rule changes. Lower payout caps on smaller accounts drew a wave of negative reviews in April 2026, and Reddit posters say the firm keeps adding rules in its own favour.
Few reach live capital. A review site points to the firm's own figure that well under one in a hundred funded traders reached a live account in 2025.
Recently
July to October 2026: review sites checking the Trustpilot page in August put it at 3.6 and describe it as sharply polarised. A July Trustpilot review describes payouts forfeited after an account closure with no appeal, and a recent reviewer returning after a year away says platform reliability and support have slipped.
Where this comes from
Trustpilot: the main review page and the largest pool of reviews.
Prop Firm Match (futures): verified futures-trader reviews.
Forex Peace Army: an older review page with little recent activity.
Better Business Bureau: formal complaints and the firm's replies.
Reddit search: threads in r/TopStepX, r/Daytrading and r/PropFirmTester.
YouTube search: payout proof and review videos.
Verified reviews
Reviews from traders who've connected an account at Topstep to Chartnaut, so you know they actually traded there. Opening soon.
