Guide

Take Profit Trader vs Topstep: 50K futures evaluation rules compared (Trading Test vs Trading Combine)

By TradeDesk HQ editorial desk · checked 2026-10-15 against the official sources below

The short answer

Both 50K evaluations need a $3,000 profit target against a $2,000 trailing drawdown that moves only on end-of-day balances, stops trailing at the $50,000 starting balance and liquidates on any intraday touch. Take Profit Trader's 50K Trading Test lists no daily loss limit, needs at least 3 trading days with your best day below 50% of net profit and allows 6 contracts or 60 micros; Topstep's 50K Trading Combine has a $1,000 Daily Loss Limit only if you add it at checkout, needs your best day at or below 55% of total profit, can pass in as few as 2 days and allows 5 contracts or 50 micros. After passing, Take Profit Trader PRO pays 80/20 once the balance reaches $52,000 and trails its drawdown intraday, while Topstep's Express Funded Account pays 90/10 with a $125 minimum and a $2,000 or $3,000 per-request cap.

Side-by-side

Rule	Take Profit Trader 50K Trading Test	Topstep 50K Trading Combine
Profit target	$3,000	$3,000
Max drawdown / loss limit	$2,000 end-of-day trailing; floor starts at $48,000 (our subtraction), follows your highest end-of-day balance and stops at $50,000; any touch, including unrealized losses, liquidates	$2,000 trailing Maximum Loss Limit; starts at $48,000, updates end of day but monitored in real time on realized and unrealized P&L; locks at the starting balance
Daily loss limit	None listed in the Trading Test rule articles	Optional; $1,000 fixed if added at checkout; forced break until 6 PM ET, not a rule violation
Consistency	Best day below 50% of net profit; if above, required profit rises to more than twice your best day	Best day at or below 55% of total profit; if above, target becomes best day divided by 0.55; recommended less than $1,650
Minimum days and time limit	At least 3 trading days; no time limit	Can pass in as few as 2 days; no time limit
Max contracts	6 contracts or 60 micros	5 contracts or 50 micros (10:1)
Trading day (ET)	6 PM to 5 PM ET; open positions auto-closed at 4:55 PM ET	6 PM to 4:10 PM ET; all positions closed by 4:10 PM ET
Monthly fee	Monthly subscription; the Test Subscriptions article gives no dollar fee	$49/month (Standard path) or $95/month (No Activation Fee path)
Reset	$99; renewal date unchanged	$49 Standard path / $95 No Activation Fee path
Funded activation fee	$130, which the help center calls the standard PRO activation fee; some promo codes replace it with a credit	$149 one-time per XFA on the Standard path; $0 on the No Activation Fee path
Funded account and split	PRO, 80/20 (you keep 80%); live PRO+ 90/10 by invitation only	Express Funded Account (XFA), 90/10 (you keep 90%)
Before the first payout	PRO balance must reach the $52,000 buffer zone (buffer = $2,000 max drawdown)	Standard: 5 winning days of $150+; Consistency: 3 trading days, largest day at or below 40% of total net profit
Payout size	No per-request cap listed in the PRO withdrawal article; $50 fee on wallet withdrawals of $250 or less	50% of balance up to $2,000 Standard or $3,000 Consistency per request; $125 minimum
Funded drawdown	PRO: $2,000 intraday trailing on peak balance including unrealized gains; stops at the starting balance	XFA: balance starts at $0 with the MLL at -$2,000, locks at $0; set to $0 permanently after the first payout

FAQ

Do Take Profit Trader and Topstep use the same drawdown on a 50K evaluation?

Both use a $2,000 trailing drawdown that moves only on end-of-day balances and stops at the $50,000 starting balance, and both liquidate if realized or unrealized losses touch the floor at any time. The difference comes after you pass: Take Profit Trader PRO trails intraday on peak balance including unrealized gains, while Topstep's XFA starts at a $0 balance with the MLL at -$2,000 and locks at $0. (per takeprofittraderhelp.zendesk.com, checked 2026-10-15)

Does the Take Profit Trader Trading Test or the Topstep Trading Combine have a daily loss limit?

Take Profit Trader's Trading Test rule articles list no daily loss limit. Topstep's 50K Trading Combine has a $1,000 Daily Loss Limit only if you add it at checkout; hitting it flattens positions and blocks new trades until 6 PM ET, which Topstep calls a forced break, not a rule violation. (per help.topstep.com, checked 2026-10-15)

How do the Take Profit Trader 50% and Topstep 55% consistency rules compare?

Take Profit Trader needs your best day below 50% of net profit and at least 3 trading days; above 50% the required profit rises to more than twice your best day, so a $2,000 best day means more than $4,000. Topstep needs your best day at or below 55% of total profit; above it the target becomes best day divided by 0.55, so a $1,800 best day makes it $3,273. (per takeprofittraderhelp.zendesk.com, checked 2026-10-15)

How do Take Profit Trader and Topstep differ on 50K contracts and pricing?

Take Profit Trader's 50K Trading Test allows 6 contracts or 60 micros, costs $99 to reset and $130 to activate PRO, which the help center calls the standard PRO activation fee; its Test Subscriptions article gives no monthly dollar fee. Topstep's 50K Trading Combine allows 5 contracts or 50 micros and costs $49/month on the Standard path or $95/month on the No Activation Fee path, with a $149 activation fee when you pass on the Standard path. (per help.topstep.com, checked 2026-10-15)

What do Take Profit Trader and Topstep pay after you pass the 50K evaluation?

Take Profit Trader PRO pays 80/20 once the balance reaches the $52,000 buffer zone, equal to the $2,000 max drawdown, and invitation-only PRO+ accounts pay 90/10. Topstep's Express Funded Account pays 90/10 with a $125 minimum payout and a cap of 50% of balance up to $2,000 Standard or $3,000 Consistency per request. (per takeprofittraderhelp.zendesk.com, checked 2026-10-15)

Key difference

On the 50K evaluation the headline rules nearly match: a $3,000 profit target, a $2,000 trailing drawdown, both floors moving only on end-of-day balances, both stopping at the $50,000 starting balance and both liquidating on an intraday touch. The evaluation differences are specific: Take Profit Trader lists no daily loss limit, needs at least 3 trading days and keeps your best day below 50% of net profit, with 6 contracts or 60 micros; Topstep offers an optional $1,000 Daily Loss Limit, can pass in as few as 2 days and keeps your best day at or below 55% of total profit, with 5 contracts or 50 micros. The bigger contrast comes after you pass. Take Profit Trader's PRO account switches to an intraday trailing drawdown on peak balance including unrealized gains and needs a $52,000 balance before 80/20 withdrawals, while Topstep's Express Funded Account (XFA) restarts at a $0 balance with a -$2,000 Maximum Loss Limit and pays 90/10 within per-request caps.

Drawdown on the evaluation: same mechanism, different breach outcome

Take Profit Trader's Rule 3 calculates the test drawdown only at the end of the trading day, not during open trades, and shows it in the Control Center as Minimum Account Balance. On the 50K the drawdown is $2,000, so the floor starts at $48,000 (our subtraction; the firm's worked example is the 25K, where the floor starts at $23,500 and a $1,000 day 1 lifts it to $24,500). It follows your highest end-of-day balance until it reaches the original starting balance, then stops trailing. If the account drops to the floor at any time, through realized or unrealized losses, it is immediately liquidated. Topstep's $2,000 Maximum Loss Limit (MLL) on the 50K Combine cannot be adjusted, rises as your end-of-day balance grows, never moves down and locks permanently once it reaches your starting balance; Topstep's example starts at $50,000 with an MLL of $48,000, trails to $48,500 after a $500 day and stays there after a $500 loss. It is monitored in real time on realized and unrealized P&L, and a touch is liquidated by market order. So on both evaluations an intraday high that is gone by the close does not lift the floor, and an open loss that touches the floor ends the attempt. After a breach, a Take Profit Trader reset gives a new test with the same rules for $99; a Topstep breach liquidates you for the rest of the day and the Combine is ineligible for funding until you Reset.

Daily loss limit: none listed vs optional $1,000

Take Profit Trader's Trading Test rule articles list no daily loss limit, so on the test the $2,000 trailing drawdown is the only dollar loss limit they describe. Topstep's 50K Combine has no Daily Loss Limit (DLL) unless you add it at checkout: $1,000 fixed, no later changes, and it carries into your XFA when you pass. When net P&L hits it during the trading day, open positions are flattened, pending orders are cancelled and no new trades are allowed until 6 PM ET, when the next session opens. Topstep calls this a forced break, not a rule violation, and the account stays eligible for funding. The mechanism in plain terms: with no daily limit, one session can use the whole $2,000 on the Take Profit Trader test; with the $1,000 DLL on Topstep, a single day is capped at half of the $2,000 MLL. Topstep also lets you set an adjustable Personal Daily Loss Limit in Risk Settings after purchase; only the checkout DLL is fixed.

Consistency: best day below 50% vs at or below 55%

Take Profit Trader's Rule 5 needs at least 3 trading days, where a trading day is any day with at least one trade, and your best day's net P/L divided by your total net P/L must be below 50%. Exceeding it does not fail the test; the required profit rises to more than twice your best day. The firm's 50K example: days of +$2,000, +$600 and +$500 give $2,000 / $3,100 = 65%, so you must make more than $4,000 before the account qualifies. Topstep's Combine requires your single best day to be at or below 55% of total profit, with a recommended best day of less than $1,650 on 50K. Exceeding 55% does not fail the account; the Profit Target rises to Best Day divided by 0.55, and Topstep's example is a $1,800 best day that makes the target $3,273. Topstep says you cannot pass in one day but can pass in as few as 2 days. Our arithmetic, not the firms': finishing exactly on the $3,000 target, your best day must be below $1,500 on Take Profit Trader, against Topstep's recommended less than $1,650.

Contracts, trading hours and products

Take Profit Trader's Rule 2 caps the 50K at 6 contracts or 60 micros open at once, a static number, with a 10x allowance on permitted micro products; the article does not say how a mixed standard and micro position counts. Topstep's 50K Combine allows 5 contracts or 50 micros per account, with micros and minis counted at a 10:1 ratio. Neither firm lets you carry positions into the next trading day. Take Profit Trader's window runs 6 PM to 5 PM ET, the trading day ends at 5 PM ET and open positions are closed automatically at 4:55 PM ET; trades opened at or after 6 PM ET count toward the next trading day. Topstep's trading day runs from 6 PM ET to 4:10 PM ET the next day: all positions must be closed by 4:10 PM ET, open orders begin to cancel at 4:10 PM ET, Risk Managers begin flattening at 4:08 PM ET, and trades placed after 6 PM ET count toward the next trading day. Both firms expect you out before an earlier close on a product with shorter hours; Take Profit Trader says missing it liquidates the account. Take Profit Trader permits most futures listed on CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX; Topstep publishes a fixed list that includes CME and CBOT equity index futures and their micros, FX futures, NYMEX energy, COMEX metals, CBOT grains and treasuries, livestock, micro Bitcoin and micro Ether.

Pricing: subscription, resets and activation

Take Profit Trader's Trading Test is a monthly subscription billed on the same calendar day as the original purchase, with no time limit; the Test Subscriptions article gives no dollar fee, so check the firm's checkout. A reset on the 50K costs $99, gives a new test with the same rules and does not change the renewal date. Passing cancels the subscription automatically, and PRO has no recurring subscription fee. Moving to PRO costs $130, which the help center calls the standard PRO activation fee; some promo codes replace it with a PRO activation credit, and the credit article gives no breakdown by account size. Topstep's 50K Combine is $49/month on the Standard path or $95/month on the No Activation Fee path, rebilling every 30 days with no time limit to pass. A Reset costs the same as a month, $49 or $95 by path. The Standard path adds a $149 one-time activation fee per XFA when you pass; the No Activation Fee path charges $0.

After you pass: Take Profit Trader PRO vs Topstep XFA

Take Profit Trader: passing moves you to PRO, where the profit split is 80/20 and you keep 80%. You can withdraw from day one but must build a buffer first: on 50K the buffer zone equals the $2,000 maximum drawdown, so the balance must reach $52,000 before you withdraw at 80% of total profit, and the firm's payout Q&A says eligibility is day-1 and daily in PRO. The PRO withdrawal article lists no per-request cap and no funded consistency rule; wallet withdrawals of $250 or less carry a $50 fee. The drawdown changes scope in PRO: it trails intraday on your peak balance including unrealized gains, stays $2,000 on a 50K and stops at the starting balance. PRO rules also require at least one traded day per calendar week (Sunday to Friday), ban bots and algos, and require you to be flat with no open orders from one minute before to one minute after FOMC statements, NFP and CPI. PRO+, a live account paying 90/10 with no buffer zone requirement and an end-of-day drawdown, is offered only by email invitation at the firm's discretion. Topstep: the XFA pays 90/10, you keep 90%, and you choose Standard or Consistency at activation. Standard needs 5 winning days of $150+; Consistency needs 3 trading days with at least 1 trade and largest day at or below 40% of total net profit. Each request is 50% of balance up to $2,000 Standard or $3,000 Consistency, doubled to $4,000 or $6,000 with a DLL added at Combine checkout (limited time; the article gives no year or end date). Minimum payout is $125. The XFA balance starts at $0, so the MLL starts at -$2,000 and locks at $0 once the balance reaches $2,000; after the first payout the MLL is set to $0 permanently.

Where the pages differ or stay silent

Take Profit Trader's Test Subscriptions article gives no monthly dollar fee, its credit article gives the $130 activation fee without a breakdown by account size, Rule 2 does not say how mixed standard and micro positions count, and the PRO withdrawal article says you can withdraw on day one while also requiring the buffer first; its help center describes no withdrawal before the buffer zone is reached. Topstep's parameters page says your best day should stay below 55% of your Profit Target, its consistency page says at or below 55% and divides by total profit, and its recommendations say less than $1,650. Topstep's doubled payout cap article gives no year and no end date. Topstep publishes its times in Central Time; we converted them to Eastern Time, one hour later. Where a firm does not state something, ask its support rather than assume.

Sources

Rules change; confirm on the firm's site before buying.

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