Topstep Review for 2026: Futures Prop Trading Done Right

In the past decade, Topstep has emerged as one of the leading futures prop trading firms on the market, and the company says it now serves more than 200,000 traders and has paid out over $1 billion.

The company is available in most countries worldwide, subject to regional restrictions, and remains one of the most complete platforms for futures prop traders, combining funding, coaching, platform tools, and a path from simulated to live trading.

As one of the leading prop trading firms, it provides robust features for futures trading.

Topstep Overview

Topstep was founded in 2012 by Michael Patak, with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The idea behind the company is to provide both beginner and experienced futures traders access to capital, and give them an opportunity to test their trading skills in the competitive prop trading market.

Topstep also operates an affiliate brokerage business through Topstep Brokerage LLC, which is registered with the CFTC as an introducing broker and is an NFA member.

Evaluation Process

Topstep’s funded-trader program is built around the Trading Combine, which remains a one-step evaluation before traders move into an Express Funded Account.

Unlike many other proprietary trading platforms we’re coming across, Topstep does not require multiple evaluation phases before that first funded stage.

This evaluation program is called Trading Combine, and is designed to both train and educate futures traders, as well as give them a chance to earn a Funded Account with Topstep.

The program has one major rule, and several objectives that are non-rule violating, but that you will be asked to follow when trading in the simulated market space.

We’ll start with the major rule first, and that is that your account cannot hit or go below the Maximum Loss Limit (MLL), which Topstep calculates as Account Balance High - Maximum Drawdown at the end of each trading day.

For the base subscription level of $49/month, the MLL is set at $2,000, the $99/month plan has a $3,000 maximum loss limit, and the $149/month plan comes with a $4,500 MLL.

If you do break this one rule, you can use the Reset option and pay the price of a monthly subscription to reactivate your account, with no limit on how many Resets you can use in the Trading Combine.

Standard Path reset pricing matches the monthly subscription at $49, $99, and $149, while No Activation Fee resets cost $109, $159, and $209.

There are also some objectives which are not rule violating, but which you will be asked to follow to get funded. For starters, you will have to maintain the profit target, set at $3,000 for the starting plan, or $6,000 and $9,000 for the two larger plans.

You will also have to meet the Consistency Target set by Topstep, with your best trading day not amounting to more than 50% of total profit.

Last but not least, you may be subject to a Daily Loss Limit depending on your account settings and platform, and all Live Funded Accounts use one automatically. The daily loss limits commonly used for the three plan sizes are $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000.

Tradable Assets

Topstep is focused exclusively on futures trading, and provides a wide range of future contracts you can trade on through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the world’s largest derivatives marketplace.

The CME products you can trade on in the Trading Combine and funded accounts come from CME, COMEX, NYMEX, and CBOT.

• CME Equity Futures (ES, NQ, RTY, NKD, MES, MNQ, M2K, MBT
• CME Foreign Exchange Futures (6A, 6C, 6J, E7, M6A, 6N, 6B, 6E, 6S, M6E, 6M)
• CME Agricultural Futures (HE, LE)
• CME NYMEX Futures (CL, NG, MCL, HO, QM, QG, RB, PL)
• CME CBOT Agricultural Futures (ZC, ZS, ZL, ZW, ZM)
• CME CBOT Equity Futures (YM, MYM)
• CME CBOT Financial/Interest Rate Futures (ZT, ZN, ZB, ZF, TN, UB)
• CME COMEX Futures (GC, HG, SI, MGC)

Topstep does not offer stocks, options, spot forex, spot crypto, or CFDs in its funded-trader program.

Topstep’s biggest edge here is not raw account size, but the combination of a simpler evaluation path, strong education, built-in risk tools, and a clear route into both Express Funded and Live Funded accounts.

Trading Platforms

Topstep provides traders with a great deal of choice when it comes to personal trading platform preferences.

The company recommends using NinjaTrader and Quantower, or its proprietary TopstepX platform, while TopstepX itself has become a much bigger part of the overall experience thanks to built-in risk controls, performance tracking, TradingView charts, and mobile-browser access.

Topstep has also added TopstepX API access for advanced users who want to automate trading or connect custom tools directly from their own device, although VPS, VPN, and remote-server use are restricted.

Educational Resources

With regards to the quality and the sheer amount of resources available to traders, Topstep is light years ahead of the competition, and regularly continues to innovate, as is the case with the company’s TopstepTV live streams, Training Camp, help center, and coaching ecosystem.

With TopstepTV, you can spend an entire trading day watching and listening to experts as you trade together, with additional features like live market breakdowns and real-time trade commentary, making this one of the stronger streaming options to both get educated and to compete or get rewards by participating.

The company also has one of the best digital coaching programs for traders, as well as a rich library of podcasts, blog posts, and trader success stories that you can use to improve your knowledge and to achieve the funded trader status more easily.

There is also a thriving community of traders on the official Discord server, alongside direct support resources and status updates, where you can share insights and your experience in trading with Topstep.

Customer Experience

One issue we can point out is that Topstep still doesn’t offer a dedicated mobile app, for either Android or iOS users, though TopstepX is mobile-friendly in a browser and most desktop features are available on mobile.

When it comes to customer support, the main venue right now is the AI chatbot called Windy, who you can contact through the blue messenger box on your screen, and from what we’ve seen during our testing, the bot works pretty well, but if you can’t get the appropriate answer from Windy, you can choose to talk to a person instead, and quickly be connected to a customer support agent.

Topstep also offers 24/7 text support, 24/7 email support, phone support on business days, WhatsApp contact, a public status page, and Discord support access.

The overall customer satisfaction with the service here is mixed, with Trustpilot showing a mid-3s TrustScore and more than 13,800 reviews at the time of checking.

Final Verdict

All in all, Topstep is easily among the most complete platforms for futures traders right now, with a simple program, competitive profit split and an innovative approach that sets it apart from much of the competition.

Its strongest selling points are the one-step Trading Combine, strong coaching and content, TopstepX tools, and a real path into live funded trading.

The main drawbacks are the nonrefundable fee structure and browser-based mobile access instead of a full dedicated app.