Futures
Topstep Trading Combine
No Activation Fee · $50,000 account
Selected public offer only. Buyer eligibility and other variants are outside this comparison.
Sources checked 19 September – 24 October 2026. Reviewed by a site member and AI assistants. Release pfw-release-2026-10-24-pilot-2, approved 24 October 2026. Each source shows the date it was last checked.
Costs
List price
List price: $95 per month
Conditions and limits. $95 a month for the $50,000 account, charged every 30 days until the Trading Combine is passed or cancelled, with no activation fee. Level 1 market data is included; Level 2 costs $38 a month extra.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 23 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Topstep Pricing and Payment Questions (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Trading Combine Subscriptions (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. The advertised base price of the selected account and how it is billed. A temporary public offer, available without a code, is shown beside it with any conditions the firm states, while a recent check confirms it; codes, optional purchases and unverified buyer charges are excluded.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: What are you buying when you pay for a challenge?
Fee per $1,000 of opening risk
Fee per $1,000 of opening risk: $47.50 to $95.001 or 2 charges in 30 days
Conditions and limits. A monthly subscription: one or two charges in a 30-day attempt ($95 to $190), with no activation fee. It renews every 30 days from sign-up until the Trading Combine is passed or cancelled, and a reset moves the next charge to 30 days later. Sales tax may be added at checkout, which starts with a Topstep sign-up; commissions and exchange fees come off the balance on each trade (ES: $3.78 a round turn).
How this is calculated. (List price × charges in a 30-day attempt + activation fee + platform and data fees), in US dollars, divided by the opening loss allowance and multiplied by 1,000.
- List price
- $95 per month
- Charges in a 30-day attempt
- 1 to 2
- Activation fee
- None
- Platform and data fees
- None
- Opening loss allowance
- $2,000
- Result
- $47.50 to $95.00
A monthly subscription can be charged once or twice in 30 days, depending on when the evaluation is passed and renewed.
Promotions, coupons and optional add-ons are excluded.
Final buyer charges such as taxes or payment fees are not verified.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 23 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Topstep Pricing and Payment Questions (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Express Funded Account Activation (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Level 1 and Level 2 Market Data (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: What is the Maximum Loss Limit? (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. The advertised base cost of a 30-day attempt in US dollars, divided by the opening loss allowance and multiplied by 1,000. A cost scenario for comparing accounts, not an all-in price.
Activation fee
Activation fee: None
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Express Funded Account Activation (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. A mandatory charge to activate a funded account after passing, if any.
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Read the guide: Reserve activation costs and keep refunds conditional
Platform and data fees
Platform and data fees: None
Official source: Topstep · Help: Level 1 and Level 2 Market Data (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Mandatory platform or market-data charges on top of the list price, if any.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: What market data is included, and what costs extra?
Payout processing fees
Payout processing fees: No Topstep fee for Prop-to-Brokerage (US), Aeropay (US banks) or Wise (China, Canada and the UK), though banks or those services may charge their own; $30 for ACH (US banks) and for wire/SWIFT (international).
Official source: Topstep · Help: Topstep Payout Policy (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Charges deducted when a payout is sent, which depend on the payment method.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: How do payout processing fees affect cash received?
Evaluation & risk
Opening loss allowance
Opening loss allowance: $2,000
How this is calculated. Opening balance minus the opening total-loss floor.
- opening balance
- $50,000
- opening total-loss floor
- $48,000
- Result
- $2,000
Daily loss limits and any trailing of the floor after the opening are separate rules.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: What is the Maximum Loss Limit? (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. How much the account can lose from its opening balance before the total-loss rule is broken, using the smallest allowance across the required evaluation phases. An account bought without an evaluation uses its funded account's allowance. It is not daily headroom, live capital or a pass probability.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: How do you calculate the opening loss allowance?
Difficulty ratio
Difficulty ratio: 1.50
How this is calculated. For each required evaluation phase, the profit target divided by that phase's opening loss allowance. The results are added.
- profit target
- 6% of $50,000 = $3,000
- opening loss allowance
- $2,000
- Result
- 1.50
This describes the shape of the evaluation; it is not a pass probability.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: What is the Maximum Loss Limit? (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Each required phase's profit target divided by that phase's opening loss allowance, added together. More target per dollar of allowed loss gives a higher number; an account bought without an evaluation has no target, so its ratio is 0. It describes the shape of the evaluation, not the chance of passing.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: How PFW's comparison pages summarize a route
Evaluation route
Evaluation route: Trading Combine on the No Activation Fee path, without the Responsible Trading Advantage: the Trading Combine, then an Express Funded Account on the Standard or Consistency payout path, chosen at activation. The path cannot be changed after purchase; the Responsible Trading Advantage is an option at checkout, and a Live Funded Account follows only if Topstep's Risk Team calls the trader up.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Topstep Pricing and Payment Questions (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Express Funded Account Activation (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Topstep Program Overview (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. The exact variant compared here and the stages between purchase and a funded account.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: What do one-step, two-step, three-step, and instant funding mean?
Profit targets
Profit targets: 6%
Conditions and limits. $3,000 (6% of $50,000). Consistency Target 55%: if the best day's profit is more than 55% of the target ($1,650), the target rises to the best day divided by 0.55.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: What is the Maximum Loss Limit? (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. The profit each required evaluation phase must reach, as a share of the opening balance. An account bought without an evaluation has none.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: How does the journey from purchase to payout work?
Loss mechanics
Loss mechanics: Maximum Loss Limit of $2,000, trailing the end-of-day balance. In the Trading Combine it starts at $48,000, rises with the end-of-day balance and locks at the $50,000 starting balance. The Express Funded Account's balance starts at $0, so its limit starts at -$2,000 and locks at $0; after the first payout it is $0. It is monitored in real time, open positions included: touching it closes the Trading Combine until a reset, and the Express Funded Account for good.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: What is the Maximum Loss Limit? (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. How the maximum loss limit is set and how it trails or locks as the account grows.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: How do static, EOD, and intraday overall max loss differ?
Minimum days and time limits
Minimum days and time limits: No time limit for passing: the Trading Combine subscription stays active until you pass or cancel. You cannot pass in one day; you can pass in as few as two days. An Express Funded Account with no trading activity for more than 30 days may be closed.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: Trading Combine Subscriptions (checked 15 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Trading Combine Parameters (checked 15 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Consistency at Topstep (checked 15 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Express Funded Account Parameters (checked 15 October 2026).
About this rule. The minimum number of trading or profitable days each evaluation phase requires, including any minimum the firm states a consistency rule sets, any time limit for passing, and any inactivity period after which the account is closed.
Daily loss and contract limits
Daily loss and contract limits: No daily loss limit in either stage unless the trader adds one at checkout, when buying the Trading Combine (the Responsible Trading Advantage) or activating the Express Funded Account: $1,000, fixed. Up to 5 minis or 50 micros at a time in the Trading Combine (10 micros count as one mini); in the Express Funded Account the Scaling Plan sets the limit by the current balance, which starts at $0. Topstep sets lower limits on some volatile products.
Official sources: Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Daily Loss Limit in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Trading Combine Parameters (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: What is the Scaling Plan? (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Risk Adjustments: High Risk/High Volatility (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Two limits: any daily loss limit, and the most contracts the account may hold at once, counting minis and micros as the firm states.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: How do daily-loss rules compare across prop firms?
Read the guide: How does the firm count contracts toward the limit?
Payouts
First and later payouts
First and later payouts: Standard path: 5 winning days of at least $150 net P&L (not necessarily in a row) before each request, and net profit since the last payout (except before the first). Consistency path: 3 trading days with at least one trade each, with the largest single day at most 40% of the total net profit. The count restarts after each payout.
Official source: Topstep · Help: Topstep Payout Policy (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. When the first payout can be requested and how often later requests are allowed. Waiting periods, qualifying days, review and payment are separate clocks.
Payout minimums and caps
Payout minimums and caps: At least $125 per request and at most 50% of the balance, capped at $2,000 per request on the Standard path or $3,000 on the Consistency path; the 90% share then applies.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: Topstep Payout Policy (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Checkout: Trading Combine $50K, No Activation Fee (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. The smallest request allowed and any limit on how much can be withdrawn per request or cycle.
Funded consistency rules
Funded consistency rules: Standard path: no consistency rule. Consistency path: no single day may make up more than 40% of the total net profit in each payout window, which starts again after each payout.
Official source: Topstep · Help: Express Funded Account Parameters (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Rules on how profit must be spread across days or trades before a funded payout, and any required profitable days.
After a payout
After a payout: The payout comes out of the balance and the Maximum Loss Limit is set to $0 for good, so the remaining balance is the room left to lose; the winning-day count or consistency window restarts, and a lower balance can lower the Scaling Plan's contract limit. After a payout the account can no longer be reactivated through Back2Funded.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: What is the Maximum Loss Limit? (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Topstep Payout Policy (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Back2Funded: Rules, Guidelines, and How It Works (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. What changes on the account after a payout, such as how the loss limit resets or when the account closes.
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Read the guide: How do actual programs handle the post-payout threshold?
Published processing time
Published processing time: Internal approval can take 1 to 3 business days. Aeropay then pays instantly after approval (US banks that support real-time payments), Prop-to-Brokerage the same day if requested by 12 PM CT, Wise and ACH in 1 to 3 business days, and wire/SWIFT in 5 to 10 business days.
Official source: Topstep · Help: Topstep Payout Policy (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. How long the firm says review and payment take after a request. These are published estimates, not measured times.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: What do “24-hour,” “instant,” and “on-demand” payouts mean?
Refunds
Fee refund with a reward
Fee refund with a reward: None: once funding is earned, Topstep counts the subscription and all fees as used in full.
Official source: Topstep · Help: Topstep Refund Policies (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Whether and when the challenge fee is paid back after a successful payout.
Cancellation refund
Cancellation refund: The subscription can be cancelled at any time from the Billing page, and fees are generally not refunded. Exceptions: up to one monthly renewal payment back within the first 14 days of a trader's first-ever Trading Combine if it has not been passed, and a forgotten rebill refunded if asked within 28 days of the charge and the account has not traded since.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: Trading Combine Subscriptions (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Topstep Refund Policies (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Whether a purchase can be cancelled and refunded, and on what conditions.
Trading rules
News and overnight holding
News and overnight holding: News trading is allowed in both stages: Topstep does not require flattening for economic releases, but trading the full Maximum Position Size into a scheduled major news event is prohibited. All positions must be closed by 3:10 PM CT each weekday, or earlier for products that close earlier, so nothing is held overnight or over the weekend.News trading: allowed in both stages.Overnight and weekend holding: prohibited in both stages.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: Economic Releases (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Prohibited Trading Strategies at Topstep (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: When and What Products Can I Trade? (checked 13 October 2026).
News trading by stage
- Evaluation and funded
- Allowed. Topstep does not require flattening for economic releases, but trading the full Maximum Position Size into a scheduled major news event is prohibited.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: Economic Releases (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Prohibited Trading Strategies at Topstep (checked 13 October 2026).
Overnight and weekend holding by stage
- Evaluation and funded
- Prohibited. All positions must be closed by 3:10 PM CT each weekday, or before an earlier product close; Topstep's risk managers begin flattening at 3:08 PM CT, and trading resumes at 5:00 PM CT.
Official source: Topstep · Help: When and What Products Can I Trade? (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Restrictions around scheduled news and whether positions can be held past the session close.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: How do futures programs handle session-to-session holding?
Expert advisors and copying
Expert advisors and copying: Automated strategies are allowed with conditions: Topstep does not help set them up and makes no exceptions for errant trades or malfunctions, and unfair technology or strategies that exploit simulated fills are prohibited. Copying between your own Trading Combine and Express Funded Accounts with the Trade Copier is allowed (up to $750,000 of buying power across Express Funded Accounts); hedging across accounts and trading in concert with others are prohibited.Expert advisors: allowed in both stages.Copying your own trades: allowed in both stages.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: Trading Combine Parameters (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Prohibited Trading Strategies at Topstep (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: TopstepX (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Express Funded Account Parameters (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Understanding Hedging (checked 13 October 2026).
Expert advisors by stage
- Evaluation and funded
- Allowed. Automated strategies are allowed, but Topstep does not help set them up or make exceptions for malfunctions; unfair technology and strategies that exploit simulated fills are prohibited.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: Trading Combine Parameters (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Prohibited Trading Strategies at Topstep (checked 13 October 2026).
Copying your own trades by stage
- Evaluation and funded
- Allowed. Copying between your own Trading Combine and Express Funded Accounts with the Trade Copier is allowed, up to $750,000 of buying power across Express Funded Accounts; hedging across accounts and trading in concert with others are prohibited.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: TopstepX (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Express Funded Account Parameters (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Understanding Hedging (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Whether automated strategies are allowed and whether trades can be copied between your own accounts.
Compare this rule across accounts
Read the guide: Automation and copying: what actually needs permission?
Platforms & eligibility
Platforms
Platforms: TopstepX, Topstep's own platform, is the only trading platform. Quantower can connect to Trading Combine and Express Funded Accounts through TopstepX, and API access for automated strategies and third-party tools is billed separately by ProjectX.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: New to Topstep? Start here. (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Quantower Connection Instructions (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: TopstepX API Access (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. The platforms the firm offers in this market, with any extra charge or country limit it states. It is the firm's list for all its accounts in the market.
Platform access and eligibility
Platform access and eligibility: TopstepX only (Quantower can connect through TopstepX); the Trading Combine and the Express Funded Account are simulated accounts. Traders must be 18 or over and complete identity verification before a second purchase; citizens and residents of listed countries are excluded, and traders from some countries cannot move to a Live Funded Account.
Official sources: Topstep · Help: New to Topstep? Start here. (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Quantower Connection Instructions (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Terms of Use (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: Am I Eligible to Trade with Topstep? (checked 13 October 2026); Topstep · Help: How Identity Verification Works (checked 13 October 2026).
About this rule. Who can buy the account: age, identity checks and country restrictions, and any platform limits by country.
Ratings
Not rated. Overall program scores and reliability ratings are not published yet; the figures above are measurements of stated terms, not a verdict.
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