# Topstep

A one-step futures Trading Combine on a monthly subscription, traded on TopstepX.

Source page: https://trust.chartnaut.com/firms/topstep  
Website: https://www.topstep.com  
Founded: 2012  
Based in: Chicago, United States  
Markets: Futures  
Platforms: ProjectX  
Payout methods: Bank transfer, Wise

## 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.

## 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

| Program | Steps | Account | Price | Profit targets | Daily loss | Max loss | Drawdown | Split | Min days | Payouts |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Trading Combine | 1-step | USD 50,000 | USD 49 | 6% | — | 4% | End-of-day trailing | 90% | 2 | After 5 winning days |
| Trading Combine | 1-step | USD 100,000 | USD 99 | 6% | — | 3% | End-of-day trailing | 90% | 2 | After 5 winning days |
| Trading Combine | 1-step | USD 150,000 | USD 199 | 6% | — | 3% | End-of-day trailing | 90% | 2 | After 5 winning days |

## Trading rules

- News trading: Allowed
- Expert advisors / bots: Restricted
- Copy trading: Restricted
- Weekend holding: Not allowed
- Overnight holding: Not allowed
- Hedging: Not allowed

Not available in: 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

## What traders say

Checked 2026-10-06.

- Trustpilot: 3.7 / 5 from 14,901 reviews (https://www.trustpilot.com/review/topstep.com)
- Forex Peace Army: no score (https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/15560/topstep-forex-futures-prop-firm)
- Prop Firm Match (futures): 4.5 / 5 from 139 reviews (https://propfirmmatch.com/futures/prop-firms/topstep/reviews)
- Better Business Bureau: no score (https://www.bbb.org/us/il/chicago/profile/financial-services/topstep-0654-90027944/complaints)
- Reddit: no score (https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=topstep)
- YouTube: no score (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=topstep+payout)

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](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/topstep.com): the main review page and the largest pool of reviews.
- [Prop Firm Match (futures)](https://propfirmmatch.com/futures/prop-firms/topstep/reviews): verified futures-trader reviews.
- [Forex Peace Army](https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/15560/topstep-forex-futures-prop-firm): an older review page with little recent activity.
- [Better Business Bureau](https://www.bbb.org/us/il/chicago/profile/financial-services/topstep-0654-90027944/complaints): formal complaints and the firm's replies.
- [Reddit search](https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=topstep): threads in r/TopStepX, r/Daytrading and r/PropFirmTester.
- [YouTube search](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=topstep+payout): payout proof and review videos.

---

Information gathered from public sources (company websites, regulator registers, third-party review sites). Ratings are quoted from those sources and are not the opinion of Chartnaut.com. Not financial advice. Trading carries a high risk of loss. Questions or corrections: help@chartnaut.com. Methodology: https://trust.chartnaut.com/methodology