Earn2Trade vs Topstep: Which Futures Prop Firm Should You Choose?

Earn2Trade and Topstep are both futures-only prop firms with EOD trailing drawdown and structured evaluations—but they're built for fundamentally different traders.

Earn2Trade's Trader Career Path scales you from a $50K evaluation to a $400K funded account with fixed drawdown, includes NFA-certified educational resources, and enforces a stricter 30% consistency rule that demands genuine trading discipline. Topstep gets you funded faster with a lower profit target, offers commission-free execution on TopstepX, and has 14 years of payout history versus Earn2Trade's decade of operation. I've tested both, and the choice depends on your timeline: Earn2Trade rewards patient traders willing to scale through structured progression, while Topstep rewards traders who want funded capital quickly with minimal barriers.

How I compare firms: This comparison is built from actual accounts I've evaluated and traded with each firm—not from reading marketing pages or aggregating reviews. I've run evaluations, tested platforms, analyzed rule differences, and tracked real payout data across both firms.

Topstep pioneered futures prop trading and remains the benchmark every other firm gets measured against. For the full breakdown of their account structure, pricing, rules, and what makes them different from newer futures firms, check out my complete Topstep review. It's based on real evaluation experience and honest analysis—including what works, what doesn't, and where newer competitors have caught up. For the absolute latest, check Topstep's website or their Help Center.

Evaluation Structure: Speed vs Progression

Topstep's Trading Combine is built for speed. One phase, 6% profit target, no minimum trading days, and you can be funded same-day after passing. The 50% consistency rule extends most evaluations beyond two days, but experienced traders regularly pass within 1-2 weeks.

Earn2Trade offers two paths. The Gauntlet Mini is a standalone evaluation starting at $150K-$200K account sizes with a one-time fee structure or monthly subscription. Minimum 10 trading days required. The Trader Career Path (TCP) is the flagship—start at $50K ($190/month) and scale progressively through funded account tiers up to $400K with fixed drawdown. Each time you hit a profit target and withdraw, you upgrade to the next tier with more capital and a wider drawdown cushion.

The TCP's scaling model is unique in the industry. At $200K, your drawdown becomes completely static (fixed at $194K floor)—meaning it never trails again. That's enormous. No other major firm offers a funded account where your drawdown floor is permanently fixed at that level. You can be down $6,000 intraday and recover without any risk of the drawdown tightening.

Consistency Rules: 30% vs 50%

This is the single biggest rule difference and it deserves detailed attention.

Topstep's 50% consistency target means no single trading day can exceed 50% of your total profits. If you make $4,000 total, no single day can be over $2,000. This is relatively easy to manage for traders who trade daily.

Earn2Trade's 30% rule is significantly stricter. With $4,000 in total profits, no single day can exceed $1,200. This forces genuine consistency—you can't pass by having two great days and coasting. You need sustained, moderate daily performance over at least 10 trading days.

For disciplined traders, the 30% rule isn't a problem—it's how they already trade. For traders who rely on catching large moves (CL breakouts, NQ FOMC reactions), the 30% rule can feel punishing. One exceptional day early in the evaluation can lock you into needing weeks of additional trading to dilute it below 30%.

My take: Earn2Trade's 30% rule produces better traders. Topstep's 50% rule produces faster evaluations. Both are legitimate approaches.

The Scaling Advantage: Earn2Trade's Real Differentiator

Most prop firms give you a funded account and that's it—you trade the same size until you blow it or quit. Earn2Trade's Trader Career Path is genuinely different.

You start at $50K. Hit the profit target, withdraw, and your account upgrades to $100K with a wider drawdown. Then $150K. Then $200K—where the drawdown becomes permanently static. Then potentially $400K with custom terms for elite performers.

At the $200K level, your drawdown floor is fixed at $194,000. It never trails. You can have a terrible week, recover, and your account is intact—because the floor doesn't move. Compare that to Topstep's 150K account where the trailing drawdown follows your highest closing balance and never stops until it reaches starting balance.

The catch: this progression takes months. You're not getting $400K in capital next week. You're building toward it over 6-12 months of consistent trading. But the destination—a $400K account with static drawdown—is something no other major prop firm offers.

Live Account Option: Earn2Trade's Hidden Edge

Most prop firms (including Topstep) keep you in simulated funded accounts indefinitely. Earn2Trade offers a genuine path to live execution through their brokerage partner. Once funded, you can choose between LiveSim (simulated fills, faster setup, $139 activation fee) or a Live account (real CME brokerage execution, longer setup, $135/month exchange data fees).

The Live account means your orders route through an FCM directly to CME. You're recognized as a professional trader. Execution is real. Fills are real. This matters for traders who want institutional-grade execution or who are concerned about simulated environment limitations.

Topstep's Express Funded Account is simulated execution only. There's no path to live trading through Topstep.

Profit Split: Topstep Wins Here

Earn2Trade's 80/20 split is the least generous among major futures prop firms in 2026. You keep 80%, the firm keeps 20%. On $10,000 in profits, that's $8,000 to you versus $9,000 at Topstep (90/10) or $10,000 at firms offering 100% on the first $10K.

Over a year of consistent trading, the 10% difference between Earn2Trade's 80/20 and Topstep's 90/10 is significant. On $50,000 in annual profits: $40,000 at Earn2Trade versus $45,000 at Topstep. That's $5,000 left on the table.

Earn2Trade argues the lower split is offset by the scaling program—you'll eventually trade a $400K account where even at 80/20, your dollar earnings dwarf what a static 150K Topstep account produces. That math is correct if you reach the upper tiers. But most traders won't.

Education: Both Strong, Different Approaches

Topstep's education is community-driven: TopstepTV live coaching, Discord peer learning, Training Camp structured curriculum. It's built for daily engagement and trader development through interaction.

Earn2Trade's education is more formal: 60-video Beginner Crash Course covering fundamentals through advanced concepts, professional mentors with NFA Series 3 and Series 34 certifications. It's structured curriculum rather than live coaching.

For complete beginners, Earn2Trade's structured coursework may be more valuable. For traders who learn by doing and engaging with peers, Topstep's live community is superior.

The Verdict

Choose Earn2Trade if you: want a structured career progression from $50K to $400K, value the endpoint of static drawdown at $200K+, prefer formal education with NFA-certified mentors, want the option of live CME execution (not just sim), don't mind 80/20 profit split for the scaling upside, trade with a patient multi-month outlook, and prefer 16+ platform choices over a single proprietary platform.

Choose Topstep if you: want the fastest path to funded capital, prefer 90/10 profit split from day one, value commission-free execution, want daily live coaching via TopstepTV, don't need the promise of scaling to $400K, prefer a 14-year track record over Earn2Trade's decade, and don't mind trading exclusively on TopstepX.

The honest synthesis: Earn2Trade is the better firm for traders who think in terms of a 12-month trading career plan. The TCP progression, static drawdown at $200K, and live account option create a genuine professional pathway. Topstep is the better firm for traders who want funded capital this month with the highest profit split and lowest friction. Different time horizons, different optimal choices.

‍