Guides · Futures prop firm
Topstep review: fees, rules and all-in cost
Every figure on this page is read from Topstep's own site and dated line by line. Last checked: August 18, 2026.
Is Topstep the right choice?
Topstep is the only firm in this database that advertises no promo code. Elsewhere the list price is a struck-through price almost nobody actually pays, and comparing becomes an exercise in decoding; here, the amount you read is the amount you are billed. It is also, at each of the three sizes on offer, the cheapest monthly subscription we have recorded — and it compares against competitors' list prices, not their discounted ones. The absence of promos cuts both ways, though: the price never comes down either, and once the other firms' codes are applied in the comparison, several of them move back ahead.
The trade-off sits in two words in the table: per month. The figure highlighted at the top of this page is the price of one month of evaluation, not the price of the evaluation. At a one-off-payment firm, failing three months running does not change the bill; here every additional month is added on. Then comes an activation fee, due once on the move to a funded account and identical across all three sizes: on the smallest account it weighs more than three months of subscription, on the largest less than one. The all-in cost calculator is the only place where both effects are visible together.
On the rules, Topstep is clear about the money and about the method alike. The drawdown is end-of-day during the evaluation and on the funded account, the least treacherous configuration. As for the consistency rule, it does exist, but it is the most permissive recorded here, tied with four other firms: the site's glossary is a reminder that the lower the percentage, the tighter the rule, and Topstep sits at the top of the recorded range, alongside Alpha, Lucid Trading, Take Profit Trader and YRM. It therefore constrains how profits are spread out without forbidding a good day.
Strengths
- No promo code on record: the advertised price is the price paid, with no code to hunt for and no discount to keep an eye on — an exception in this sector.
- On the standard path, all three lines of the bill — evaluation, reset, activation — carry a published amount. The two “no activation fee” paths do show their monthly rate and their activation at zero, but their reset price only appears with the daily loss limit option: that is our record stopping there, not the firm going quiet, and their total is therefore given as a floor.
- No conditional fees in the record: no monthly data feed, no deduction on payout, no surcharge for connecting by API — line items several competitors bill on top.
- The drawdown stays end-of-day after the move to a funded account, where several firms switch at exactly that moment to trailing or static: the rule you learned during the evaluation is the one that applies to real money.
- At every size the profit target, the maximum loss limit and the contract limit are stated, and the payout split is announced — enough to do the arithmetic before buying rather than after.
Watch out for
- A consistency rule applies during the evaluation all the same: no single day may account for more than half of total profit, which is enough to rule out the “one big session and it's done” scenario many candidates are counting on.
- The activation fee is the same whatever the account size: proportionally, the smallest account bears it the most heavily.
- An immediate reset costs the price of one month's subscription, on top of the month already paid — the included reset credit only arrives at renewal.
- The official position on microscalping is the one line in the rules table our verification did not fill in: if your style rests on very short round trips, read the rulebook before buying.
- On the standard path as on the no-activation path, no daily loss limit frames the session: nothing stops you before the end-of-day threshold, and the daily ceiling is entirely yours to set. The third plan does offer one — $1,000 to $3,000 depending on size — but it is paid for in the other direction: accepting it is what buys the lowest monthly rate of the three no-activation plans ($85 instead of $95 on the 50K) and doubled payout caps.
Who it suits
This model suits the trader who passes the evaluation in one or two months, who trades regularly rather than in bursts, and who prefers a stable price to a struck-through one: the cheapest subscription in the database makes the attempt inexpensive, and the end-of-day drawdown is the easiest to follow for someone new to the format. It suits three profiles poorly. The one whose result comes from two or three big sessions: the 50% rule forces them to dilute, which means trading longer than they would like, with the risk that implies. The one aiming at the smallest size to limit the outlay: the activation fee, identical at every size, weighs most heavily there, and a firm with no activation fee will come out cheaper over the same duration. And the one who stretches the evaluation over long months: even at this rate, the subscription eventually overtakes a one-off payment, which the calculator shows as soon as you extend the duration.
What are the trading rules at Topstep?
The drawdown is end-of-day — EOD — and that is the most important point on this page. The loss threshold is recalculated on the closing balance: unrealised profit during the session does not raise the bar under your feet, unlike intraday trailing, which follows gains tick by tick and can fail you on a profit you never banked. At Topstep this choice applies to the evaluation and to the funded account. Worth noting too in the target grid: on the smallest size the profit target is one and a half times the allowed drawdown; on the other two, exactly double. The small account is therefore the least lopsided of the three, which partly offsets the weight of its activation fee.
The consistency rule frames the evaluation without strangling it. In practice, your best day must not represent more than half the profit accumulated: a very big session does not bring you closer to passing, it obliges you to keep trading in order to dilute it. Measured against the other firms in the comparison, that is the widest threshold recorded, matched by Alpha, Lucid Trading, Take Profit Trader and YRM — several competitors go markedly lower, and that is where the rule really starts to block. The table below gives the exact value, for Topstep as for the others.
The bill does not have the same number of lines depending on the path you choose, and that is where the essentials are decided. On the standard path it has three: the subscription runs as long as the evaluation is neither passed nor cancelled, the reset costs exactly one month's subscription — a reset credit being included at renewal — and the $149 activation fee is due only once, on the move to a funded account: whoever fails never pays it. On the two no-activation paths that third line disappears in exchange for a higher monthly rate, and the trade-off becomes arithmetic: on the 50K, $49 a month plus $149 of activation overtakes $95 a month from the third month on. Paying the activation fee pays off if you pass quickly, and costs you if you settle in.
That leaves one point the page cannot tell you: the official position on microscalping, the only line in the rules table our verification did not fill in. Everything else that decides how you will be allowed to trade is there — trading through economic releases is given as allowed, the platforms are named, the wait before a first payout is stated in trading days, and the payout split is announced at 90/10. On the first two paths no daily loss limit is applied: no intraday guardrail will stop you before the end-of-day drawdown — that limit is one you have to set yourself. The third path does impose one, from $1,000 to $3,000 depending on size, and that is precisely what is traded for its discount. On the amounts, one reservation only, and it is ours: the reset price of the two no-activation paths is displayed only with the daily loss limit option, so we have not recorded it, and their total is shown accordingly as a floor.
| Evaluation rule | 50K 50K Trading Combine (subscription) | 100K 100K Trading Combine (subscription) | 150K 150K Trading Combine (subscription) | 50K 50K Combine, no activation fee | 100K 100K Combine, no activation fee | 150K 150K Combine, no activation fee | 50K 50K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | 100K 100K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | 150K 150K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit target | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| Minimum trading days | 2 — the same at every size | ||||||||
| Maximum contracts | 5 mini / 50 micro | 10 mini / 100 micro | 15 mini / 150 micro | 5 mini / 50 micro | 10 mini / 100 micro | 15 mini / 150 micro | 5 mini / 50 micro | 10 mini / 100 micro | 15 mini / 150 micro |
| News trading | Allowed | ||||||||
| Microscalping | not checked on this pass | ||||||||
| Interest rate products (bonds) | Tradable | ||||||||
| Platforms | ProjectX · Quantower | ||||||||
"Not checked" means this comparison did not verify the point on the pass of August 16, 2026 — not that the firm hides it. Gaps that are the firm's own doing are listed separately below.
How much is the Topstep activation fee?
Activation fee at Topstep: the firm charges $149 (one-off) on 3 plans; states the item is free on 6 plans. Recorded August 18, 2026.
| Size | Plan | Item | Amount | Frequency | Verification | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50K | 50K Trading Combine (subscription) | Activation (funded account) | $149 | one-off | verified August 16, 2026 · source | Express Funded Activation Fee |
| 100K | 100K Trading Combine (subscription) | Activation (funded account) | $149 | one-off | verified August 16, 2026 · source | |
| 150K | 150K Trading Combine (subscription) | Activation (funded account) | $149 | one-off | verified August 16, 2026 · source | |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation fee | Activation (funded account) | $0 | one-off | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The plan is called “No activation fee”: Topstep charges nothing to activate the funded account |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation fee | Activation (funded account) | $0 | one-off | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The plan is called “No activation fee”: Topstep charges nothing to activate the funded account |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation fee | Activation (funded account) | $0 | one-off | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The plan is called “No activation fee”: Topstep charges nothing to activate the funded account |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Activation (funded account) | $0 | one-off | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The plan is called “No activation fee”: Topstep charges nothing to activate the funded account |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Activation (funded account) | $0 | one-off | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The plan is called “No activation fee”: Topstep charges nothing to activate the funded account |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Activation (funded account) | $0 | one-off | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The plan is called “No activation fee”: Topstep charges nothing to activate the funded account |
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How much does a reset cost at Topstep?
Reset fee at Topstep: the firm charges from $49 to $199 (per reset) on 6 plans; shows an amount we have not put in figures on 3 plans. Recorded August 18, 2026.
| Size | Plan | Item | Amount | Frequency | Verification | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50K | 50K Trading Combine (subscription) | Reset | $49 | per reset | verified August 16, 2026 · source | One reset credit is included each month at renewal; an immediate reset is paid for |
| 100K | 100K Trading Combine (subscription) | Reset | $99 | per reset | verified August 16, 2026 · source | Monthly reset credit included at renewal |
| 150K | 150K Trading Combine (subscription) | Reset | $199 | per reset | verified August 16, 2026 · source | Monthly reset credit included at renewal |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation fee | Reset | no figure taken here | per reset | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The reset price is not in our record for this plan: the grid shows it only with the daily loss limit option enabled. Not estimated from the two other plans, which make it equal to the monthly fee |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation fee | Reset | no figure taken here | per reset | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The reset price is not in our record for this plan: the grid shows it only with the daily loss limit option enabled. Not estimated from the two other plans, which make it equal to the monthly fee |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation fee | Reset | no figure taken here | per reset | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The reset price is not in our record for this plan: the grid shows it only with the daily loss limit option enabled. Not estimated from the two other plans, which make it equal to the monthly fee |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Reset | $85 | per reset | verified August 18, 2026 · source | One reset credit is included each month at renewal |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Reset | $129 | per reset | verified August 18, 2026 · source | One reset credit is included each month at renewal |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Reset | $199 | per reset | verified August 18, 2026 · source | One reset credit is included each month at renewal |
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Does Topstep charge monthly or data fees?
In evaluation, Topstep bills a monthly subscription: from $49 to $229. No data fee and no monthly fee line was recorded at Topstep on this pass: that silence is ours — the firm has not stated that there are none.
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How does the Topstep drawdown work?
The Topstep drawdown is EOD in evaluation, and EOD once funded. Maximum threshold: from $2,000 to $4,500, depending on account size. 6 of 9 plans impose no daily loss limit. From the pass of August 16, 2026.
| Evaluation rule | 50K 50K Trading Combine (subscription) | 100K 100K Trading Combine (subscription) | 150K 150K Trading Combine (subscription) | 50K 50K Combine, no activation fee | 100K 100K Combine, no activation fee | 150K 150K Combine, no activation fee | 50K 50K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | 100K 100K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | 150K 150K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drawdown type | EOD — the same at every size | ||||||||
| Maximum loss limit | $2,000 | $3,000 | $4,500 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $4,500 | $2,000 | $3,000 | $4,500 |
| Daily Loss Limit | None | None | None | None | None | None | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Drawdown type (funded) | EOD | ||||||||
"Not checked" means this comparison did not verify the point on the pass of August 16, 2026 — not that the firm hides it. Gaps that are the firm's own doing are listed separately below.
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What is the Topstep consistency rule?
In evaluation, Topstep imposes a 50% consistency rule. On the funded account, the consistency rule is 40%. The maths: best day divided by total profit, kept at or below the stated rate. From the pass of August 16, 2026.
| Evaluation rule | 50K 50K Trading Combine (subscription) | 100K 100K Trading Combine (subscription) | 150K 150K Trading Combine (subscription) | 50K 50K Combine, no activation fee | 100K 100K Combine, no activation fee | 150K 150K Combine, no activation fee | 50K 50K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | 100K 100K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | 150K 150K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consistency rule | 50% — the same at every size | ||||||||
| Consistency rule (funded) | 40% | ||||||||
"Not checked" means this comparison did not verify the point on the pass of August 16, 2026 — not that the firm hides it. Gaps that are the firm's own doing are listed separately below.
This item inside the total cost to first payout ↓ · Open the comparison preloaded on Topstep →
What are Topstep's payout rules?
Payouts at Topstep: split 90/10, payouts capped per request, minimum withdrawal $125, first payout after 3 trading days. From the pass of August 16, 2026.
| Payout split | 90/10 |
|---|---|
| Payout model | Fixed cap per request |
| Minimum withdrawal | $125 |
| Wait before first payout | 3 trading days |
| Payout fee | not checked on this pass |
"Not checked" means this comparison did not verify the point on the pass of August 16, 2026 — not that the firm hides it. Gaps that are the firm's own doing are listed separately below.
This item inside the total cost to first payout ↓ · Open the comparison preloaded on Topstep →
What does Topstep cost to first payout?
The price a prop firm advertises covers the evaluation alone. The table below adds activation, resets and recurring fees on a realistic scenario.
| Size | Plan | Cost to 1st payout |
|---|---|---|
| 50K | 50K Trading Combine (subscription) | $296 |
| 100K | 100K Trading Combine (subscription) | $446 |
| 150K | 150K Trading Combine (subscription) | $746 |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation fee | ≥ $190 |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation fee | ≥ $298 |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation fee | ≥ $458 |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | $255 |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | $387 |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | $597 |
The 3 totals marked “≥” are FLOORS, not prices: we have not recorded a line item this firm charges on other plans, so the real bill is higher by that much.
Reference scenario, the same for every firm on this site: 2 months in evaluation, 1 reset, 1 funded month, before any promo code. Change the scenario →
What are Topstep's prices, tier by tier?
Topstep publishes 9 evaluation plans across 3 account sizes — from $49 to $229 (per month). Recorded August 18, 2026.
| Size | Plan | Item | Amount | Frequency | Verification | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50K | 50K Trading Combine (subscription) | Evaluation | $49 | per month | verified August 16, 2026 · source | Monthly subscription; 50% consistency rule during the evaluation |
| 100K | 100K Trading Combine (subscription) | Evaluation | $99 | per month | verified August 16, 2026 · source | |
| 150K | 150K Trading Combine (subscription) | Evaluation | $199 | per month | verified August 16, 2026 · source | |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation fee | Evaluation | $95 | per month | verified August 18, 2026 · source | “No activation fee” path: a higher monthly fee, but nothing to pay once funded. Price shown without the daily loss limit option |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation fee | Evaluation | $149 | per month | verified August 18, 2026 · source | “No activation fee” path: a higher monthly fee, but nothing to pay once funded. Price shown without the daily loss limit option |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation fee | Evaluation | $229 | per month | verified August 18, 2026 · source | “No activation fee” path: a higher monthly fee, but nothing to pay once funded. Price shown without the daily loss limit option |
| 50K | 50K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Evaluation | $85 | per month | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The same path without an activation fee, with the “Responsible Trading Advantage” option: accepting a $1,000 daily loss limit takes $10 off per month ($95 brought down to $85) and doubles the payout caps. Topstep reserves that discount for this path alone |
| 100K | 100K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Evaluation | $129 | per month | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The same path without an activation fee, with the “Responsible Trading Advantage” option: accepting a $2,000 daily loss limit takes $20 off per month ($149 brought down to $129) and doubles the payout caps. Topstep reserves that discount for this path alone |
| 150K | 150K Combine, no activation + daily loss limit | Evaluation | $199 | per month | verified August 18, 2026 · source | The same path without an activation fee, with the “Responsible Trading Advantage” option: accepting a $3,000 daily loss limit takes $30 off per month ($229 brought down to $199) and doubles the payout caps. Topstep reserves that discount for this path alone |
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These items are due, but we could not obtain their amount from Topstep — the gap is ours, not opacity on the firm's part:
They are not filled in with an estimate, even where neighbouring plans make extrapolation tempting. The line stays marked "no figure taken here" and the total cost shown is a minimum.
Is there a promo code for Topstep right now?
No live promo code was found for this firm on the verification date.
Compare Topstep with the others
The ranking depends entirely on the scenario: a subscription firm wins on a short evaluation and loses on a long one. Compare on your own assumptions rather than on the headline price.
Run my own scenario See it in the comparison Topstep official site →