Topstep for Beginners: Complete Getting Started Guide 2026

Topstep is one of the most beginner-friendly futures prop firms in the industry—but "beginner-friendly" doesn't mean easy.

The evaluation has clear rules, no time limit, and a structured path from zero to funded. What trips up most new traders isn't the profit target. It's misunderstanding the trailing drawdown, ignoring the consistency rule, and treating the Trading Combine like a sprint instead of a skill-building exercise.

I've watched traders blow through three months of subscription fees because they jumped in without understanding the fundamentals. This guide walks you through everything—from creating your account to your first funded payout—so you don't make those same mistakes.

Strategy disclaimer: The approach here is built around Topstep's specific rulebook—trailing drawdown, consistency requirements, and contract scaling limits. Your results depend on execution, risk management, and how well this aligns with your futures trading style.

For the complete strategy framework tailored to Topstep—including how to handle trailing drawdown without locking yourself out, position sizing formulas for each account size, scaling from micro to full contracts, and the risk management approach that keeps you compliant through funded payouts—check out my comprehensive Topstep strategy guide. It covers Trading Combine tactics through funded-stage scaling, all built around Topstep's specific rules. For the absolute latest, check Topstep's website or their Help Center.

What Topstep Actually Is (Plain English Version)

Topstep is a proprietary trading firm that gives futures traders access to funded accounts without requiring personal capital. Instead of depositing $25,000–$50,000 into a brokerage account and risking your own money, you pay a monthly subscription ($49–$149) to prove you can trade profitably within their rules. Pass the evaluation, and they give you a funded account to trade. You keep the profits. They absorb the losses.

The catch? You have to follow strict risk management rules. Break them, and the account closes. This isn't a criticism—it's the entire point. Topstep's rules force the discipline that separates consistently profitable traders from everyone else.

The Three Stages of Topstep

Your journey follows a clear progression:

Stage 1: Trading Combine — This is the evaluation. You trade in a simulated environment with real market data, hitting a profit target while staying within drawdown and consistency rules. Monthly subscription required.

Stage 2: Express Funded Account (XFA) — After passing the Combine, you pay a one-time $149 activation fee and start trading a simulated funded account. No monthly subscription. You can start taking real payouts after meeting requirements.

Stage 3: Live Funded Account — After demonstrating consistent profitability in the XFA, Topstep invites you to trade real capital. This is where you're managing actual money in live markets. Starting balance based on your XFA performance, up to $150,000.

Most beginners focus on Stage 1 and forget that Stages 2 and 3 have their own rules and challenges. The evaluation is just the beginning.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Your First Account

Choosing Your Account Size

Topstep offers three Trading Combine sizes. Here's what each one means for you as a beginner:

My recommendation for beginners: start with the $50K account at $49/month. The profit target is the same 6% across all sizes, so the difficulty is equivalent. The $50K account gives you a lower monthly burn rate while you learn the rules and develop consistency. If you can pass the $50K Combine, you can pass the $100K—the skills transfer directly.

There's also a pricing choice to make: the Standard Path (lower monthly fee + $149 activation fee when funded) or the No Activation Fee Path ($109/month for any size, $0 when funded). If you're confident you'll pass in 1-2 months, the Standard Path saves money. If you expect 3+ months, the No-Fee Path starts making more sense because you avoid the activation fee at the end.

Creating Your Account

The setup process takes about 5 minutes:

1. Go to Topstep.com and click "Get Started"
2. Choose your account size and pricing path
3. Enter payment information (credit or debit card—PayPal is not supported on the new dashboard)
4. Your TopstepX trading platform activates immediately
5. Sign into TopstepX through your browser—no downloads required

That's it. You can literally be placing trades within 10 minutes of creating your account. But please don't. Spend at least a few sessions on the practice account first.

Understanding the Rules That Matter

The Maximum Loss Limit (Trailing Drawdown)

This is the rule that ends more Trading Combines than any other. Here's how it works:

Your account starts with a Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) set at a specific dollar amount below your starting balance. For the 50K account, that's $2,000. So your MLL starts at $48,000.

Here's the critical part: the MLL trails your highest end-of-day balance upward, but never moves down. If your account closes the day at $51,500, your MLL moves up to $49,500. If the next day you lose $800 and close at $50,700, the MLL stays at $49,500—it doesn't drop back.

This means profits tighten your risk window. A trader who runs up $2,000 in profit and then gives it all back isn't just flat—they're approaching their loss limit because the MLL trailed up with their profits.

The lesson: don't let big winning days inflate your MLL without banking some of that progress. Steady, moderate gains are safer than one massive day followed by a drawdown.

The Consistency Target (50% Rule)

Your single best trading day cannot exceed 50% of your total profits when you pass. This prevents "lottery ticket" trading where you hit the profit target in one lucky session.

Example: On the 50K account, your profit target is $3,000. If your best day was $1,800, that's 60% of $3,000—you'd need to keep trading until that $1,800 day represents less than 50% of your total profits. That means your total profits need to exceed $3,600 before you can pass.

Practical approach: aim for daily gains of $300–$600 on the 50K account. This keeps any single day well under the 50% threshold and builds the consistent pattern Topstep wants to see.

Position Closing Requirements

All positions must be closed by 3:10 PM CT (Central Time), or by each product's specific market close time. No overnight holds. No weekend holds. If you forget to close a position, it gets auto-liquidated—and depending on where the market is at that moment, that could be a painful close.

Set a daily alarm for 3:00 PM CT. Give yourself 10 minutes to close everything manually. Don't rely on the auto-close.

Your First Week on TopstepX: What to Do

Days 1-2: Practice Account Only

TopstepX has free practice accounts. Use them. Spend two full sessions learning the interface: where the order ticket is, how the DOM works, how to set bracket orders, where your P&L displays, and how The Tilt™ indicator reads. Make 10-15 practice trades. Get the muscle memory down.

Day 3: Small Size, Live Combine

Start your actual Trading Combine, but trade small. If your 50K account allows 5 mini contracts, trade 1 micro contract. That's 1/10th of a mini. Your goal isn't to make money yet—it's to execute your process in the real evaluation environment and confirm everything works: fills, P&L tracking, drawdown monitoring.

Days 4-5: Build to Your Normal Size

Gradually increase to your intended position size. If you plan to trade 1-2 mini ES contracts, scale up from micros over these sessions. Track how the MLL and your P&L respond to real trades.

Days 6-7: Review and Adjust

Look at your dashboard. Check your consistency target percentage. Review your best and worst days. Are you on pace? Is your best day already too large relative to your total? Adjust your daily targets accordingly.

Common Beginner Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

Mistake #1: Trading Too Big Too Fast

The scaling plan in the Express Funded Account limits your position size based on your account balance. But in the Trading Combine, many beginners max out their contracts on day one. Don't. Start with 1 mini or 2-3 micros. Increase size only after you've had 3-5 profitable sessions at the smaller size.

Mistake #2: Ignoring the Consistency Target

I've talked to traders who hit $3,000 in profit on their 50K account—only to discover they couldn't pass because one $1,700 day was sitting at 57% of total profits. They had to keep trading and risk giving back gains just to dilute that one big day. The fix: track your best day percentage daily and cap your gains when you're approaching the threshold.

Mistake #3: Revenge Trading After a Loss

You lose $400 in the morning. Your MLL just got tighter. So you double your size in the afternoon to "make it back." This is how most accounts die. Set a personal daily loss limit in TopstepX's risk settings (I recommend 50-60% of the actual MLL). When you hit it, the platform locks you out. Let it.

Mistake #4: Not Understanding the Payout Reset

After your first funded payout, your Maximum Loss Limit resets to $0. This means if you withdraw $2,000 from a $52,000 balance, your new balance is $50,000 and your MLL is $50,000. One losing trade could breach it. Build a substantial buffer before requesting payouts.

From Combine to Funded: What Changes

Once you pass the Trading Combine, the transition to the Express Funded Account introduces new dynamics:

The biggest adjustment: your Express Funded Account starts at $0 balance and uses a scaling plan. You can't trade the same number of contracts you had in the Combine on day one. You earn your way up by building profit. This catches a lot of new funded traders off guard—they passed the Combine trading 3 ES contracts and suddenly can only trade micros in their funded account.

As of February 2026, you also choose between two XFA types when you get funded: XFA Standard (5 winning days of $150+ for payout eligibility, up to $5,000 or 50% of balance) or XFA Consistency (3 days with a 40% consistency target, up to $6,000 or 50% of balance). The Consistency path is faster to first payout but stricter on daily balance.

Resources That Actually Help

Topstep offers more educational support than most prop firms. Here's what's worth your time:

TopstepTV — Live daily broadcasts built into the TopstepX platform. Coaches discuss market conditions, trade setups, and risk management in real-time. As a beginner, watching experienced traders think through decisions is more valuable than any course.

The Consistency Target Calculator — Free downloadable Excel spreadsheet from Topstep's Help Center. Plug in your daily P&L numbers and it calculates your consistency percentage automatically. Use this every single day.

Practice Accounts — Free, unlimited practice on TopstepX. Test new strategies here, not in your Combine. The practice account has the same market data and execution—the only difference is nothing counts.

Topstep Discord — Active community of traders at every stage. The real value is hearing from funded traders about their actual experience—what surprised them, what they'd do differently, and how they manage funded-stage challenges.

Realistic Timeline: How Long Does It Actually Take?

Topstep's published data shows about 12-22% of Trading Combines result in a pass, but roughly 47% of individual traders eventually get funded (accounting for resets and multiple attempts). That's a meaningful difference.

A realistic beginner timeline looks like this: 1-2 months learning the platform and rules on a practice account or small-size Combine, 2-4 months actively working toward the profit target with proper risk management, and 1-2 months in the Express Funded Account building toward your first payout. Total: roughly 4-8 months from signup to first withdrawal. That's not a guarantee—it's a data-informed estimate.

The traders who pass fastest aren't the ones who trade the most aggressively. They're the ones who understand the rules deeply, trade a proven strategy, and manage risk like it's their job—because it is.

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