REVIEW SUMMARY
Topstep is a Futures prop firm, located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 2010.
FEATURES
Instruments: Equity Futures, Foreign Exchange Futures, Agricultural Futures, Energy, Interest Rates Futures, Metals Futures.
Max balance: $150,000
Profit split: 90%
Cost: from $165/month
Platforms: TradingView, Proprietary, Web, NinjaTrader, Tradovate, Rithmic, Volfix, ATAS, Quantower, TradeNavigator, SierraChart, MultiCharts, MotiveWave, RInvestor, Bookmap X-Ray.
PROS & CONS
What I like:
What could be improved:
Topstep is a futures prop trading firm based in Chicago.
In this article, you’ll get a review of this prop firm, including instructions about the challenges and how to pass them to get funded with a Topstep Funded account.
Here’s what you’re going to learn:
Let’s start.
Topstep is a Futures prop firm located in Chicago, Illinois, USA, founded in 2010.
Topstep is a prop firm dedicated to Futures trading.
Here’s a list of the assets that you can trade with their accounts:
Topstep has three funded account sizes and each one has a different cost.
There’s no leverage, the trading account balance is the buying power, meaning the leverage is 1:1.
Your limits are defined by the maximum number of contracts you can trade. It starts at 5 contracts for the $50,000 account and goes up to 15 contracts for the $150,000 account.
The Topstep profit split is variable. Initially, all the profit goes to the trader, so there’s no split which is great. Only later Topstep starts to keep 10% of the profit for them which is also very good considering that a lot of prop firms keep 20% of the profit if not more.
According to Trustpilot, Topstep Trader has quite a good rating in terms of reviews.
After 1,500+ reviews, the rating is 4.5/5.0, which is very good.
The Topstep Combine is the challenge that Topstep requires you to pass to give you access to a funded account. The challenge has one single step.
Here are all the details of the Topstep Combine.
During the Topstep Combine, you have one main target to meet:
Here’s the minimum profit target you need to achieve in the Topstep Combine depending on the account you are applying to:
| TRADING COMBINE RULES | $50k account (buying power) | $100k account (buying power) | $150k account (buying power) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit target | $3,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| Maximum Position Size | 5 contracts | 10 contracts | 15 contracts |
| Daily Loss Limit | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Trailing Max Drawdown | $2,000 | $3,000 | $4,500 |
To achieve the targets mentioned above, you also need to follow some rules while trading the Trading Combine.
The number of lots/contracts on the scaling plan is just the maximum number of lots that you can trade according to your account size. You are not required to trade this amount, you can trade a smaller number of contracts if you desire.
The scaling plan is updated at the end of each trading session. This means that if you eventually achieve an account balance that allows you to trade a bigger number of contracts, you need to wait for the next trading session to do so.
Here’s how it works for each account size:
| Account Balance | Max Number of Contracts |
|---|---|
| Less than $51,500 | 2 |
| Between $51,500.1 – $52,000 | 3 |
| Above $52,000.01 | 5 |
| Account Balance | Max Number of Contracts |
|---|---|
| Less than $101,500 | 3 |
| Between $101,500.1 – $102,000 | 4 |
| Between $102,000.01 – $103,000 | 5 |
| Above $103,000.01 | 10 |
| Account Balance | Max Number of Contracts |
|---|---|
| Less than $151,500 | 3 |
| Between $151,500.1 – $152,000 | 4 |
| Between $152,000.01 – $153,000 | 5 |
| Between $153,000.01 – $154,500 | 10 |
| Above $154,500.01 | 15 |
Once you pass the Topstep Combine, you’ll finally get access to your desired funded account with real money to trade.
This account comes with a set of rules to follow, and they are the exact same you had the Trading Combine.
Note you don’t have targets anymore once you get a Topstep funded account. You just need to follow the same basic risk management rules:
In the past, it was possible to purchase a Swing Trading Combine, but unfortunately, it’s not available anymore.
Automated trading, like the one done by EAs, algos, or bots, is allowed to be used with Topstep.
The same is valid for copy trading. You can even use a trade copier to copy your trades across multiple accounts when you have them.
Currently, the prop firm doesn’t offer free trials to traders.
There are no free repeats, but there’s a reset option in case you breach any rule.
Topstep supports a variety of futures trading platforms, fifteen to be more precise.
Some of the Topstep platforms are free others are paid. The paid Topstep platforms are often free when you are in the Trading Combine phase.
For a better understanding, here’s a list of the Topstep platforms and whether they are free or not.
First, the platforms recommended by Topstep:
| Topstep Recommended Platforms | Free In Trading Combine | Free In Live Funded Account |
|---|---|---|
| TSTrader | Yes | Yes |
| NinjaTrader | Yes | No |
| Quantower | Yes | Yes |
However, if you are used to a different platform, there are other available platforms at Topstep:
| Other Topstep Platforms | Free In Trading Combine | Free In Live Funded Account |
|---|---|---|
| TradingView | Yes | Yes |
| Sierra Chart | No | No |
| T4 | Yes | Yes |
| Jigsaw Daytradr | No | No |
| MultiCharts | No | No |
| R|Trader Pro | Yes | No |
| Volfix | No | No |
| Trade Navigator | No | No |
| ATAS Orderflow Trading | Yes | No |
| Motive Wave | No | No |
| Bookmap | No | No |
| Investor/RT | No | No |
In case you are using a Mac to trade, you are limited to these platforms when trading with Topstep:
Besides the commercial platforms, you also get access to TopstepX, which is their proprietary trading platform. This platform is the first of its kind in the prop trading industry.
When you use their platform you get access to:
You need to close all positions before the end of the allowed time to trade, so beware of when does the stock market close. According to this rule, you cannot have anything open between 3:10 PM and 5:00 PM (CT time).
If you like to trade news then Topstep is a good prop firm for you.
While news trading is allowed, you’re advised by Topstep to do it with caution and avoid trading when a major news release is coming.
You just need to be careful and have good risk management. Learn how to calculate your maximum lot size wisely.
Yes, Topstep is a legit company.
Here are the contacts to reach them:
Email: support@topstep.com
Phone: (888) 407-1611
Address: 141 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite #4240, Chicago, Illinois 60604
Topstep customer service is one of the most positive aspects of the company, according to their reviews.
To contact Topstep customer service use these contacts:
Customer service email: support@topstep.com
Customer service phone: (888) 407-1611
Support Hours (Monday – Friday): 7AM – 6PM CT
WhatsApp hours (Monday – Friday): 8AM – 5PM CT
Topstep partnered with Deel to allow withdrawals of the payments using different methods.
You can withdraw from Topstep using any of these methods:
The time that each withdrawal takes will depend on the method chosen.
Here’s how much time you can expect to wait after you ask for a withdrawal:
Here is a list of the best Topstep alternatives:
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