Topstep

Firm notes

Futures-only prop firm, one of the longest-running in the industry. Single product line ("Trading Combine" -> "Express Funded Account" (XFA) -> "Live Funded Account"), 3 sizes ($50K/$100K/$150K), but three independent checkout-time choices multiply that into 24 real purchasable combinations -- see plan-level notes for each. Trading day definition: 5:00pm CT through 3:10pm CT the next calendar day (or the product's market close, whichever is first); positions must be flat by then; trading resumes 5:00pm CT (Sunday reopen after the weekend). No minimum number of trading days required to pass the Combine -- some traders pass in as few as 2 days, there's simply no hard floor. Maximum Loss Limit (the Combine/XFA's core drawdown rule) trails the end-of-day closing balance upward, never down, and locks permanently once it reaches a reference point: in the Combine, it locks once the MLL reaches the account's starting balance (no extra buffer, unlike some other firms' +$100 lock); in the XFA, it locks at that account's own $0 reference point once accumulated profit reaches the MLL dollar amount for that size. Consistency Target (Combine, 50%): if breached, the profit target itself increases to match (best day becomes exactly 50% of the new target) rather than simply failing the evaluation -- a distinctive mechanic, not a simple pass/fail rule. Account limits: up to 5 active Express Funded Accounts at once (1 only for "Shoulder Tap" program holders, a separate onboarding path not modeled here); XFA closes after 30 days without a trade; Live Funded Account closes after 90 days without a trade. Level 2 market data (DOM) costs $38/month extra; Level 1 is included. Payment: Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover, no PayPal. Live Funded Account (after XFA): starts with only 20% of capital immediately tradable; the remaining 80% sits in a "Reserve" that unlocks in 25% increments each time the trader hits the LFA's profit target (reviewed weekly, no multi-tier unlocking from a single big win). Daily Loss Limit becomes automatic (not optional) at this stage: $2,000/$3,000/$4,500 by size (50K/100K/150K), and the account is liquidated if balance drops below $1,000. Maximum position size shrinks dynamically as balance drops (5 contracts at $10K balance or below, 3 contracts at $5K or below). Payouts: daily, no cap stated ("unlimited growth potential"), minimum is whatever is in the unlocked (non-Reserve) balance. Only 1 Live Funded Account allowed per trader. Profit split not explicitly stated in the sources reviewed. Not modeled as a separate formal stage here -- same precedent as every other firm's live-graduation program. Source: help.topstep.com, fetched directly 2026-09-04 (primary source, not pasted by the owner).