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Topstep

Chicago, Illinois, USA · Est. 2012 · Futures

Est. 2012, 11,000+ Trustpilot reviews, longest-tenured futures prop firm. TopstepX platform integration and deep CME coverage; Combine structure well-documented.
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TopstepX (proprietarymandatory as of 2026)
Specs verified16 of 19

Topstep score breakdown by dimension

61/100ADEQUATE6.0/10Payout6.5/10Rules5.6/10Stability8.0/10Business4.0/10Platform4.8/10Cost

Score-limiting dimension

Platform & Execution

4.0/10 weighted average

  • platform quality4/10
  • execution reliability4/10

Showing the weakest dimension by default — tap or hover any node to inspect the others.

What can kill your account

Topstep's biggest account-ending risks, with the evidence behind each.
  • Payout capCritical3/10

    A cap limits what you can withdraw per cycle. On some firms, profit above the cap is delayed; on a few, it is voided outright.

    Express Funded Account maximum per-request payout by account size — $50K: Standard $2,000 / Consistency $3,000; $100K: $3,000 / $4,000; $150K: $5,000 / $6,000. Requests are 50% of the account balance up to the cap. source

  • Pricing honestyElevated4/10

    Resetting timers, perpetual “discounts”, or undisclosed add-ons inflate the real cost of getting and staying funded.

    Monthly Trading Combine subscription with near-permanent promotional discount codes (frequent 50%+ off) and a "No Activation Fee Combine"; effective price discoverable pre-checkout. source

  • Terms stabilityElevated4/10

    Frequent terms changes can move the goalposts on an account you are already trading under.

    Four significant rule changes Nov 2025-Feb 2026 (90/10 split, Express split into Standard/Consistency paths, No Activation Fee Combine, two-rule payout structure) plus an April 28 2026 per-payout cap reduction on new 50K/100K Combines. source

  • Rule enforcementElevated5/10

    Discretionary or inconsistent enforcement means a rule can be applied after the fact to fail an account or deny a payout.

    50% consistency rule applies during the Express Funded Account; a 40% consistency target on the Consistency payout path. No single day may dominate total profit. source

Derived from TraderVerdict's scored evidence for Topstep. Each item is a TVSM-PF variable; lower scores indicate greater account risk. See the full breakdown and every source in the scorecard below.

Payout proofMedium confidence6.0/10

Payout integrity is solid overall, but one variable drags it down — check the weak point before you fund.

Lowest-scoring payout variable: payout cap — open the Specifications tab for the verbatim evidence behind the score.

Put it to the test

Run your own win rate and sizing against Topstep's verified target, drawdown model, and payout cap — and see your real odds of reaching a first payout.

Run Topstep through the Survival Calculator →

Topstep — recent record

Material score moves from the append-only changelog, plus policy-document edits our nightly differ detected on the firm’s own pages. Full history on the changelog and the rule-change wire.

  • 2026-06-17scoreScore rose to 61.1 — drawdown_model 7->8: trailing-EOD on peak end-of-day (closed/realized) balance, day-trading-only = closed-balance basis = level 8; batch 202
  • 2026-06-17scoreScore rose to 61.1 — pricing_honesty NULL->4: near-permanent 50%+ subscription discounts (list near-fictional) but effective price discoverable = level 4; eviden
  • 2026-06-17scoreScore fell to 61.1 — approval_friction 6->5: two-rule payout structure + 50% consistency + winning-days gating materially complicate payouts, documented = level
  • 2026-06-12scoreScore reaffirmed to 59.8 — payout_cap verified vs primary (Topstep Payout Policy); evidence trail backfilled; XFA Standard $50K default per §1.2, $2,000 per-cycle cap
  • 2026-05-01scoreScore rose to 67.0 — Methodology correction: drawdown_model corrected from 5 to 7. EOD trailing on closed balance matches score 7 per rubric. Apex scored identic
  • 2026-04-01scoreScore rose to 70.0 — Initial score — methodology v1.0

Primary sources

Every Topstep variable score traces to a public, primary source. The full verbatim extract and verification date for each is in the Evidence tab above; the underlying documents are listed here.

  • help.topstep.compayout_reliability
  • topstep.combusiness_viability · cost_value · payout_reliability · platform_execution · rule_fairness_clarity · rules_stability

Regulatory registers we cross-check

TVSM cross-checks each firm’s regulatory standing and any disciplinary history against these public registers as part of the stability and transparency assessment.

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