Topstep — Futures Prop Firm Review
Topstep offers a straightforward evaluation path with excellent platform variety and trader-friendly rules, making it ideal for experienced futures traders who want flexibility without complex restrictions.
Topstep stands out with its no-profit-target evaluation model, allowing traders to focus purely on risk management rather than hitting specific earnings goals. The firm offers exceptional platform flexibility with four different trading platforms including their proprietary TopstepX alongside popular choices like NinjaTrader and TradingView. With news trading allowed and overnight positions permitted on funded accounts, Topstep provides more trading freedom than many competitors while maintaining reasonable risk parameters.
Topstep uses an end-of-day trailing drawdown system where your drawdown floor only adjusts upward at market close based on your closing balance, not intraday peaks. For example, if you start with a $50,000 account and close the day at $52,000, your new drawdown floor becomes $2,000 higher the next morning. Importantly, unrealized profits during the trading day don't move this floor, so you won't get squeezed out by temporary pullbacks on open positions.
Key Stats
Topstep's evaluation process is refreshingly simple compared to many prop firms. Rather than requiring traders to hit specific profit targets while managing risk, you only need to demonstrate consistent risk management over a minimum of 5 trading days. This approach removes the pressure to force trades and allows traders to focus on their natural trading style. The daily loss limits provide clear boundaries, while the trailing drawdown system gives you breathing room as your account grows. The $149 activation fee is reasonable for the account sizes offered, ranging from $50,000 to $150,000. The platform selection deserves particular attention, as Topstep supports four different trading platforms including their own TopstepX, NinjaTrader, Tradovate, and TradingView. This variety means traders can stick with familiar interfaces rather than adapting to proprietary systems. News trading is explicitly allowed with standard risk management rules applying, and overnight positions are permitted on funded accounts, though with some account-type specific restrictions. Weekend trading is not allowed, which is standard across most futures prop firms. The payout structure starts at 80% for traders, increasing to 90% after the first payout, with funds distributed twice monthly. You can operate up to 3 accounts simultaneously, providing opportunities to scale or diversify strategies. The main drawbacks include the lack of specific profit targets which some goal-oriented traders prefer, and the restriction on weekend trading. However, with a strong 4.4/5 trust rating from over 14,000 reviews, Topstep has built a solid reputation for reliability and fair treatment of traders, making it a compelling choice for serious futures traders seeking a straightforward path to funded trading.
Futures-Specific Rules
Your max loss threshold trails your highest closed-session equity only. Open positions do not move the trailing level.