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Earn2Trade vs Topstep

Earn2Trade vs Topstep: two monthly-subscription futures firms with EOD drawdown, but very different daily limits, consistency rules and payout splits. Includes a worked 50K payout example.

November 5, 2026

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Earn2Trade and Topstep both charge a monthly subscription until you pass, both use an end-of-day (EOD) trailing drawdown in the evaluation, and both accept US traders. Beyond that they diverge. Earn2Trade offers a structured career path toward a real live account but applies a hard daily loss limit and pays only 50% on smaller withdrawals. Topstep makes the daily limit optional, pays 90% from the first payout and offers fast US payout rails, but charges an activation fee on its cheaper path. This comparison uses each firm's official pages as we checked them in November 2026, including Earn2Trade's July and November 2026 rule changes.

Earn2Trade vs Topstep at a glance

Earn2TradeTopstep
MarketFuturesFutures
FundedTime score7.2/108.1/10
Data statusPartially verified (prices above TCP25 and GAU50 not printed)Verified
Listed priceTCP25 from $150/month; GAU50 from $170/month$49/month (50K Standard path, plus $149 activation)
Pricing modelMonthly subscription; LiveSim activation fee conflicting ($0 on product pages, $139 in fee schedule)Monthly subscription
Fee refundableNo refund foundNo (most fees non-refundable)
Max account size$200,000 (Gauntlet Mini, TCP Live); 400K Career Path account at a fixed 60% split$150,000
Max profit split80% on withdrawals at or above a size threshold; 50% below it90%
Profit target$1,750 (TCP25); $3,000 (GAU50)$3,000 (50K) / $6,000 (100K) / $9,000 (150K)
Daily loss limitHard limit: $550 (TCP25), $1,100 (50K), $2,200 (100K); fails the evaluationOptional: $1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000 (pauses trading)
Max drawdown$1,500 (TCP25) / $2,000 (GAU50) EOD$2,000 / $3,000 / $4,500 EOD trailing, locks at starting balance
Drawdown typeEOD (evaluation, LiveSim); trailing on LiveEnd-of-day (EOD) trailing, enforced in real time
Minimum trading daysNone (since July 6, 2026)No minimum (pass in as few as 2 days)
Consistency rule30% best-day rule in evaluation (does not fail you)Best day at or below 55% of target (Combine)
News tradingAllowed, no restrictionsRestricted briefly around Tier 1 releases
EAs / botsTrade copiers banned; personal automation not clearly addressedAllowed via TopstepX API ($29/month); no HFT
First payoutAfter 5 profitable days meeting a daily minimum ($100 on 25K)After 5 winning days of $150+ (XFA Standard)
Payout frequencyWeekly, processed on WednesdaysPer request once eligible; daily after 30 winning days (Live)
Payout methodsRise, Deel, Bayzat; crypto in select casesProp-to-brokerage, Aeropay, ACH, Wise, wire
PlatformsNinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, R|Trader, Quantower and moreTopstepX
US tradersYes (Rise does not pay IA, MN, SC)Yes
Trustpilot4.5 (5,061 reviews)3.7 (15,022 reviews)

Rows marked "not published" or "not verified" could not be confirmed on the official pages we reviewed in November 2026.

FundedTime scores

Earn2Trade scores 7.2/10 and ranks eighth of the 10 futures firms we rate. Topstep scores 8.1/10 and ranks second. Scores follow our published methodology, including how much we could verify, and are not a guarantee of results.

Pricing and fees

Topstep's Trading Combine costs $49, $99 or $199 a month on the Standard path for 50K, 100K and 150K, plus a $149 activation fee per Express Funded Account (XFA). The No Activation Fee path drops that fee for a higher monthly price, although Topstep's pages disagree on it ($85 or $95 for 50K). Resets cost the monthly fee, and most fees are non-refundable.

Earn2Trade prints only starting prices: the Trader Career Path TCP25 from $150 a month and the Gauntlet Mini GAU50 from $170. Prices for larger sizes are not mapped on the product pages, so check checkout. Resets on 100K and above are fixed ($100 to $155); smaller resets are priced below a new subscription. The LiveSim activation fee is unclear: product pages say "No Upfront Activation Fee", but a help-center fee schedule dated May 2026 still lists $139. We found no refund on passing at either firm.

Rules and drawdown

On comparable 50K accounts the headline numbers match: a $3,000 target and a $2,000 EOD drawdown at both (Topstep 50K, Earn2Trade GAU50). Earn2Trade's TCP25 needs $1,750 with a $1,500 drawdown. Topstep's maximum loss limit trails the end-of-day balance but is enforced in real time and locks at the starting balance. Earn2Trade's EOD drawdown applies in evaluation and LiveSim; Live accounts switch to a trailing drawdown, and the $200,000 Live account has a fixed $194,000 floor. Earn2Trade does not state an evaluation lock level.

The daily limit is the sharpest difference. Earn2Trade applies a hard daily loss limit on every account ($550 on TCP25, $1,100 on 50K, $2,200 on 100K) and reaching it fails the evaluation. Its pages do not say whether open losses count; some reviewers report that they do, so plan as if they count. Topstep's daily limit is optional ($1,000, $2,000 or $3,000), chosen at purchase, and hitting it only pauses trading until the next session.

Consistency also works differently. Earn2Trade removed its minimum days in July 2026, but no day may make 30% or more of total profit, which in practice means at least four profitable days. Topstep has no minimum days and caps the best day at 55% of the target; breaking it raises your effective target. Neither rule fails you outright. Since November 2, 2026, Earn2Trade also enforces fixed contract limits (4 on 50K) instead of its old Progression Ladder; Topstep allows 5 minis on 50K.

News and automation: Earn2Trade allows news trading with no restrictions. Topstep restricts trading briefly around Tier 1 releases and bans trading full size into major news. Earn2Trade bans trade copiers and batch execution across accounts and does not clearly address personal automation. Topstep allows automation through the TopstepX API ($29 a month) from your own device, but not high-frequency trading. Neither allows overnight positions: Topstep requires flat by 3:10 pm CT and Earn2Trade between 3:50 and 5:00 PM CT.

Worked example: a bad day and a $2,250 withdrawal on 50K

A bad day. You are $1,500 up on a 50K evaluation at either firm, so the EOD floor sits at $49,500. Next morning a trade goes $1,200 against you before recovering to close at −$400.

  • Earn2Trade GAU50: the $1,100 hard limit is reached during the dip. If open losses count, as reviewers report, the evaluation fails even though the day would have closed at −$400.
  • Topstep 50K with the optional $1,000 limit: trading is flattened at −$1,000 and paused until 5:00 pm CT. The account survives at $50,500 with $1,000 of room. Without the optional limit, the dip stays above the $49,500 floor and the day closes at −$400.

A withdrawal. Earn2Trade's split depends on the size of each withdrawal: on 50K it is 50% below $2,250 and 80% at or above it. A $2,000 withdrawal pays $1,000; a $2,250 withdrawal pays $1,800, and through Rise as a US customer at 1.5% that costs about $27. At Topstep, an XFA request can be up to 50% of the balance and is capped at $2,000 on 50K on the Standard path. With a $4,500 balance you could request $2,000 and receive $1,800 at 90%, with no Topstep fee on Aeropay or prop-to-brokerage.

Cost to pass in two months: Topstep 50K Standard is 2 × $49 + $149 = $247. Earn2Trade GAU50 is 2 × $170 = $340 at the starting price, plus $139 if the LiveSim activation fee applies. Run your own numbers in the challenge cost calculator.

Payouts

Earn2Trade needs five profitable days before each withdrawal ($150 minimum each on 50K), processes withdrawals weekly on Wednesdays for requests emailed by 2:00 PM CT the previous Friday, and has a $100 net minimum. LiveSim accounts cap total withdrawals before you move to Live ($5,000 on each Gauntlet Mini size). Methods are Rise ($50 outside the US, 1.5% in the US), Deel, Bayzat and crypto in select cases; Rise does not pay traders in Iowa, Minnesota or South Carolina.

Topstep's XFA Standard path qualifies after five winning days of $150 or more; the Consistency path after three traded days with the best day at 40% or less of profit. Requests have a $125 minimum and caps of $2,000 to $6,000 by size and path. Live accounts are uncapped and pay daily after 30 winning days. US methods include prop-to-brokerage (same day if requested by 12 pm CT), Aeropay (instant after approval) and ACH ($30). See the Earn2Trade payout guide and Topstep payout guide.

Platforms and US access

Earn2Trade includes NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, R|Trader, Quantower and others free during the evaluation, and supports more with your own licence. Topstep centres on TopstepX, which does not connect to TradingView. Both accept US traders and publish country restrictions: Earn2Trade bars citizens of 25 countries from funding, and Topstep lists ineligible countries and about 25 more that can earn XFAs but not live accounts.

Who each firm suits

Earn2Trade

Traders who want a structured route to a real live account, platform choice and unrestricted news trading, and who can work within a hard daily limit and withdraw above the split threshold.

Topstep

US traders who want a low entry price, a daily limit that pauses rather than fails, a 90% split from the first payout and fast payout rails, and who are happy on TopstepX.

Which should you choose if…

  • You trade news releases: Earn2Trade, which has no news restriction.
  • Your trades have deep intraday dips: Topstep, where the daily limit is optional and pauses instead of failing.
  • You want to withdraw small amounts often: Topstep, since Earn2Trade pays 50% below its threshold and only weekly.
  • You want TradingView or NinjaTrader: Earn2Trade.
  • You want the cheapest month: Topstep's $49 50K, before the $149 activation fee.

Bottom line

Topstep scores 8.1/10 and ranks second of the futures firms we rate; Earn2Trade scores 7.2/10 and ranks eighth. Topstep's flexible daily limit and 90% split explain most of the gap. Earn2Trade is the better fit if platform choice, news trading and a clear path to live capital matter more than payout economics.

Read the full Earn2Trade review and Topstep review, see Earn2Trade vs TradeDay and Topstep vs My Funded Futures, or line up more firms in the comparison tool.

Sources (checked November 2026): Earn2Trade: earn2trade.com/trader-career-path, earn2trade.com/gauntlet-mini, trustpilot.com/review/earn2trade.com; Topstep: topstep.com/topstep-prop, topstep.com/no-activation-fee, help.topstep.com payout policy, trustpilot.com/review/topstep.com.

FAQ

Is Earn2Trade or Topstep cheaper?

Topstep's 50K Standard path starts at $49 a month plus a $149 activation fee. Earn2Trade's TCP25 starts at $150 a month and GAU50 at $170, and its LiveSim activation fee is listed inconsistently ($0 or $139).

Does Earn2Trade's daily loss limit fail the evaluation?

Yes. Reaching the daily loss limit fails an Earn2Trade evaluation. Topstep's daily limit is optional and only pauses trading until the next session.

What is the profit split at each firm?

Topstep pays 90% on XFA payouts. Earn2Trade pays 50% on withdrawals below a size threshold ($2,250 on 50K) and 80% at or above it.

Which firm allows news trading?

Earn2Trade allows news trading with no restrictions. Topstep restricts trading briefly around Tier 1 releases such as CPI and FOMC.

How often do Earn2Trade and Topstep pay out?

Earn2Trade processes withdrawals weekly on Wednesdays after five profitable days. Topstep has no fixed schedule: you request once you qualify, and US traders can be paid same day or instantly via Aeropay.

Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Prop firm rules change often; check the firm's official terms. Some links may be affiliate links; see our disclosure.

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