Look before you buy

Firm Trust Score

A 0–100 score built from a firm's real Trustpilot reputation, how long it's actually been operating as a futures prop firm specifically, and a checklist of the rule types that most often catch traders off guard — account stacking, flipping, windfall clauses, news-trading blackouts, and more. Picked by firm, since some of these are firm-wide policies, not tied to one specific account.

Whole firms only, not individual accounts — some rules can still vary by which account you pick, noted below.

55out of 100
Topstep logo
Topstep
3.6(14,728)
Mixed2 high-severity flags

Real caution flags turned up in our research — read the checklist below carefully before buying.

Reputation29 / 40

Based on a real Trustpilot rating of 3.6/5.

Rule safety6 / 40

Found: news trading restriction, account stacking, copy trading & ea (bot) rules, group trading / signal copying, vpn / multi-identity policy, inactivity rule, mandatory stop-loss / risk rules.

Years in operation20 / 20

Founded in 2012 — about 14 years in operation.

Rule flags

High / discretionary Common / moderate

Only rule categories we've actually confirmed apply to this firm show up here — an empty list means nothing's been confirmed yet, not that the firm has a clean bill of health.

  • News trading restrictionAppliesCommon, low severity· Computed from our data

    Applies on 24 of 24 researched accounts.

    What's this?
  • Account stackingAppliesHigh severity

    Explicitly named "Account Stacking": repeatedly hitting the Maximum Loss Limit in one account, then switching to another to repeat high-risk attempts until a large win occurs — also referenced as "excessive purchases of Trading Combines or Resets." Separately bans "Intentionally Depleting a Live Funded Account" — deliberately drawing down a funded account to force its own failure.

    What's this?
  • Copy trading & EA (bot) rulesAppliesModerate severity

    Bans "unfair technology" — software, AI, ultra-high-speed systems, or mass data entry used to gain an unfair advantage on the platform.

    What's this?
  • Group trading / signal copyingAppliesModerate severity

    Bans coordinated trading — performing trades in concert with others (including unconnected accounts or third parties) to pool risk, hedge aggregate positions, or run the same/opposite strategy simultaneously. Explicitly extends this to trading with friends and family: no coordinated group trading, even among people you know.

    What's this?
  • VPN / multi-identity policyAppliesModerate severity

    VPNs, proxy services, TOR, and geo-location obfuscation are explicitly not permitted (an Error 403 while using one is the system catching it). Also bans trading on behalf of others (including sharing incentives via a business arrangement) and account-sharing, even among friends/family. Requires identity verification (IDV), can re-check at any time, and closes any new profile created after a ban with no refund.

    What's this?
  • Inactivity ruleAppliesCommon, low severity

    The Express Funded Account closes after 30 days without a trade; the Live Funded Account closes after 90 days without a trade.

    What's this?
  • Mandatory stop-loss / risk rulesAppliesHighest severity — discretionary

    Bans purposefully trading your full Maximum Position Size directly into a scheduled major news event.

    What's this?

This score is assembled from our own research and is only as good as what we've confirmed so far — it updates automatically as more of a firm's rules get verified. Always check the firm's own terms before buying.