Topstep Account Types: Trading Combine vs Express Funded 2026

Topstep's account structure is deceptively simple—two main stages with meaningfully different rules at each—but the differences between the Trading Combine and the Express Funded Account are larger than most traders realize before they pass.

The evaluation gives you freedom.

The funded account gives you structure. Understanding exactly how the rules change when you transition from one to the other prevents the frustration of getting funded and immediately discovering that the strategies and habits that worked during evaluation don't translate cleanly to the funded stage.

I'm going to break down every account type, every rule difference, every cost, and every practical implication so you know exactly what you're getting into at each stage.

Why Topstep matters: Topstep is the firm that started the futures prop trading industry. Founded by CME floor trader Michael Patak, they've been around longer than any competitor. I've evaluated their accounts, tracked their payout history, and compared them against every major alternative in the space.

That said, longevity doesn't mean perfection. Topstep has strengths (proven track record, fast payouts, strong platform support) and weaknesses (trailing drawdown, subscription model costs, no affiliate program for reviewers) that I've documented honestly. For a complete breakdown of their account types, pricing, and what to expect at each stage, read my full Topstep accounts overview. For the absolute latest, check Topstep's website or their Help Center.

Stage 1: The Trading Combine (Evaluation)

The Trading Combine is Topstep's one-step evaluation where you prove you can trade profitably within defined risk parameters. It's a monthly subscription that provides access to a simulated trading account with live market data.

Account Sizes and Core Specifications

Topstep offers three account sizes, each with proportionally scaled parameters.

The 50K Account is the entry point and the most popular choice. Profit target: $3,000 (6%). Maximum Loss Limit (EOD trailing drawdown): $2,000 (4%). Maximum position size: 5 standard contracts or 50 micro contracts. Monthly subscription: $165 standard / $49 with typical promotional pricing. Reset fee: $49.

The 100K Account doubles the capital but maintains the same percentage targets. Profit target: $6,000 (6%). Maximum Loss Limit: $3,000 (3%). Maximum position size: 10 standard contracts or 100 micro contracts. Monthly subscription: $325 standard / $99 promotional. Reset fee: $99.

The 150K Account is the largest available. Profit target: $9,000 (6%). Maximum Loss Limit: $4,500 (3%). Maximum position size: 15 standard contracts or 150 micro contracts. Monthly subscription: $375 standard / $149 promotional. Reset fee: $149.

The percentage discrepancy matters: the 50K account gives you 4% drawdown room while the 100K and 150K accounts give you only 3%. This makes the 50K account slightly more forgiving in percentage terms, which is why most experienced Topstep traders recommend starting there.

Trading Combine Rules

The evaluation rules are deliberately simpler than the funded-stage rules—Topstep wants to test profitability and risk management without overwhelming you with compliance requirements.

One rule, three objectives is how Topstep frames it. The one rule: don't hit the Maximum Loss Limit. The three objectives: reach the profit target, maintain the 50% Consistency Target, and manage your drawdown.

EOD trailing drawdown mechanics: Your Maximum Loss Limit starts at a fixed amount below your starting balance ($48,000 on a 50K account). As your end-of-day balance increases, the floor trails upward by the same amount. If your account closes at $52,000 on day 5, your new floor is $50,000 ($52,000 - $2,000). The drawdown is enforced in real-time, though—if your balance touches the current floor at any point during the trading day, even intraday, the account fails.

A critical nuance that catches traders: the trailing only updates at end of day, but the enforcement happens throughout the day. This means your floor can be at $49,000 from yesterday's close, and if your balance touches $49,000 at 10:15 AM today—even briefly—the evaluation is over. The EOD component only applies to when the floor moves up, not when the floor is enforced.

No time limit. Your Trading Combine subscription runs monthly until you pass or cancel. There's no expiration on the evaluation itself—you can take 2 days or 200 days. The subscription simply rebills every 30 days.

No daily loss limit. During evaluation, Topstep does not enforce a mandatory daily loss limit. You can lose $1,500 on a Monday and recover on Tuesday without consequence, as long as you don't breach the overall Maximum Loss Limit. TopstepX allows you to set an optional self-imposed daily loss limit, which is recommended but not required during evaluation.

No minimum trading days. While the Consistency Target naturally requires multiple trading days (you can't have a best day below 50% with only one trading day), there's no explicit minimum. Two perfectly balanced trading days—$1,500 each—would technically pass the consistency requirement at exactly 50%.

Allowed instruments: All CME Group futures including equity indices (ES, NQ, YM, RTY), energy (CL, NG), metals (GC, SI), bonds (ZB, ZN, ZF), currencies (6E, 6J, 6B), and micro versions of most contracts.

Allowed strategies: Scalping, day trading, news trading, and discretionary trading are all permitted. No automated trading systems (EAs/bots). No hedging (holding opposing positions in the same instrument simultaneously). No overnight holds—all positions must be closed by end of session.

What Happens When You Break a Rule

If you hit the Maximum Loss Limit during evaluation, your account becomes "ineligible" for funding—but it doesn't automatically close. Your subscription continues rebilling monthly. You can reset the account (using a paid reset or the free Reset-at-Rebill credit) to try again, or you can cancel the subscription entirely.

Important distinction: breaking a rule during evaluation doesn't cost you anything beyond the subscription you've already paid. There's no penalty fee, no account termination charge, and no impact on your ability to purchase a new Trading Combine later.

Stage 2: The Express Funded Account (Funded)

After passing the Trading Combine, you pay the $149 activation fee and receive your Express Funded Account (XFA). This is where the rules get more structured—and where many traders discover that passing the evaluation was the easier part.

Activation and Setup

The activation fee is $149, non-refundable, applied regardless of account size. Once paid, your Express Funded Account is provisioned and available for trading—typically within the same day.

No monthly subscription fee applies to the Express Funded Account. Your Trading Combine subscription automatically ends when you pass (verify this by checking your rebill date before the next billing cycle).

Optional Depth of Market data costs $34.25/month if you want Level 2 order book data on TopstepX.

The Express Funded Account is Simulated

This is important and sometimes misunderstood: your Express Funded Account executes in a simulated environment. You're trading live market data—real prices, real order books, real volume—but your orders are filled in simulation, not on the actual exchange. The profits you withdraw are real money paid by Topstep from their corporate funds, but the trades themselves don't interact with the CME order book.

Why does this matter? Several reasons. Your fills may be slightly different from what you'd get on a live exchange—simulation can be more generous on limit orders and less realistic on large market orders during volatile moments. Slippage in simulation tends to be lower than in live markets. And because your trades aren't on the exchange, they don't contribute to market impact—meaning strategies that would move the market at larger size won't encounter that resistance in simulation.

Funded-Stage Rules (Key Differences from Evaluation)

This is where most of the confusion and frustration occurs. The funded account adds several rules that didn't exist during evaluation.

EOD trailing drawdown continues with the same mechanics as evaluation, but with a critical addition: the drawdown locks once your end-of-day balance reaches starting balance + drawdown amount + $100. On a 50K account, the lock triggers at $52,100. Once locked, the floor stays at $50,100 forever—your drawdown becomes static rather than trailing. This is the single most important milestone in your funded account career. Every trade before the lock should be oriented toward reaching this threshold.

The Consistency Target (50%) carries over from evaluation. Your best day still can't exceed 50% of your total profit when requesting a payout. This is calculated at the time of each payout request, not continuously—so you can have a 60% day mid-cycle and fix it by trading more days before requesting withdrawal.

XFA payout requirements add structure around withdrawals. You choose between two XFA types:

XFA Standard: Requires 5 winning days of $150+ each (for 50K; $200+ for 100K, $250+ for 150K). Maximum withdrawal of $5,000 or 50% of your account balance above the drawdown floor, whichever is less. Good for traders who want straightforward requirements with moderate withdrawal limits.

XFA Consistency: Requires 3 winning days with 40% consistency. Maximum withdrawal of $6,000 or 50%. Higher per-payout potential but stricter consistency requirement.

The "winning day" definition matters: a day where your net profit (after commissions—which are zero on TopstepX) meets the minimum threshold. A day where you break even or earn $149 on a 50K account doesn't count.

Profit split: For new traders, the split is 90/10 from the first dollar. You keep 90%, Topstep retains 10%. Some legacy accounts or promotional offers may have different splits (100% on first $5,000 or $10,000).

Payout processing fee: $30 per withdrawal request. Applied to every payout regardless of amount.

Self-imposed risk controls via TopstepX are technically optional but strongly recommended. Set daily loss limits, profit targets, and trade count limits. These don't exist as firm-enforced rules (unlike some competitors that mandate daily loss limits), but TopstepX makes them easy to implement and enforces them automatically once set.

The Path Beyond: Live Funded Account

After demonstrating consistent profitability on the Express Funded Account over an extended period, Topstep may offer transition to a Live Funded Account where trades are routed through their associated introducing broker to the actual exchange. This involves real market execution with associated commission costs, exchange data fees (~$135/month for CME data), and the regulatory framework of a live brokerage account.

Topstep doesn't publish specific criteria for Live Funded Account qualification—it's presented as a performance-based invitation rather than a defined milestone. Not all Express Funded Account traders will be offered the transition, and the timeline varies.

The Live Funded Account represents a fundamentally different stage: you're now trading real capital with real market impact. The simulation advantages (better fills, no slippage) disappear, and you're competing on the same playing field as institutional traders. Some traders view this as the ultimate goal; others prefer the simulated environment where execution is smoother.

Which Account Size Should You Choose?

This decision matters more than most traders realize, because the drawdown percentages aren't uniform across account sizes.

50K is the best starting point for most traders. The 4% trailing drawdown ($2,000) gives you the most room per dollar of account size. The $3,000 profit target is achievable with consistent $200-400 daily gains. The monthly cost is lowest ($49 promotional). The reset fee is cheapest ($49). And the position limit (5 standard contracts) is plenty for most strategies—even scalpers rarely need more than 2-3 contracts during evaluation.

100K appeals to traders who need larger position sizes (up to 10 contracts) or who trade instruments where 5 contracts isn't enough to execute their strategy efficiently. But the 3% drawdown ($3,000) on a $6,000 target is proportionally tighter than the 50K account's 4% drawdown on a $3,000 target. You're paying more for more capital, but the evaluation is slightly harder in percentage terms.

150K is for experienced traders with proven strategies that require larger position sizes and can tolerate the $149/month subscription cost. The $9,000 profit target requires substantial daily gains or a longer evaluation timeline, and the 3% drawdown ($4,500) means you need strong risk management from day one.

My recommendation: start with 50K. Pass it. Get funded. Prove you can extract payouts. Then consider running multiple 50K accounts (up to 5 simultaneous) rather than sizing up to 100K or 150K. Five funded 50K accounts give you $250,000 in aggregate capital with the more forgiving 4% drawdown, compared to two 150K accounts ($300,000 total) with the tighter 3% drawdown. The drawdown advantage of the 50K account compounds across multiple accounts.

Cost Comparison Across Account Sizes

Let me run the numbers for a trader who passes in month one at promotional pricing.

50K total first-year cost: $49 (eval) + $149 (activation) = $198 upfront. No ongoing monthly fees. Plus $30 per payout × estimated 12 payouts = $360. First-year total: ~$558.

100K total first-year cost: $99 (eval) + $149 (activation) = $248 upfront. Plus $30 × 12 payouts = $360. First-year total: ~$608.

150K total first-year cost: $149 (eval) + $149 (activation) = $298 upfront. Plus $30 × 12 payouts = $360. First-year total: ~$658.

The cost difference between account sizes is surprisingly small—only $100/year between 50K and 150K. The real cost differential comes from the evaluation subscription: if you take 3 months to pass a 150K ($447) versus 1 month on a 50K ($49), the extra subscription months dominate the cost calculation.

The Practical Transition: Evaluation to Funded

The moment you pass the Trading Combine and activate your Express Funded Account, several things change simultaneously.

Your evaluation subscription should automatically cancel. Verify this on your Dashboard → Billing page to avoid an unexpected rebill.

Your new account starts at the same balance as your evaluation account size (e.g., $50,000 flat). The profits you earned during evaluation don't carry over—you start at zero on the funded account.

The Consistency Target resets. Your evaluation trading history doesn't affect your funded-stage consistency calculation. Day one of your funded account is a fresh start.

The drawdown resets to its initial position. On a 50K account, your Maximum Loss Limit floor starts at $48,000 ($50,000 - $2,000). All the buffer and floor movement from your evaluation disappears.

This reset creates a psychologically challenging period. You just proved you can trade profitably, but now you're back at zero with the same drawdown pressure. The traders who handle this transition best are those who continue the exact same strategy and risk management they used during evaluation—not those who suddenly size up because they're "funded now."

The goal for your first 2-3 weeks funded should be reaching the drawdown lock threshold ($52,100 for 50K). Until that lock triggers, your funded account is just as fragile as a fresh evaluation. Once locked, the floor stops trailing and you can trade with genuine freedom. Get to the lock before you start thinking about payouts.

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