Rules as published by each firm
FUTURES vs FUTURES
End-of-Day Trailing (Intraday-Enforced) vs End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing
☪ Islamic / Swap-Free Ready
Topstep vs TradeDay
Which of these two is likelier to end your account, and why — compared rule by rule from what each firm publishes.
Short answer
- Both use the same drawdown mechanic: the loss limit steps up at each daily close and never steps back down. A floor set at last night's close is still enforced live all session, so you can be liquidated intraday by a level you never saw move.
- Daily loss cap: Topstep 2%, TradeDay 2.5%.
- Minimum trading days: Topstep 2 days, TradeDay 5 days — this sets the earliest you can finish, however fast you hit the target.
- Entry cost: Topstep from $49, TradeDay from $99.
Figures below are what each firm publishes. Confirm them on the firm's own site before paying for an evaluation — these rules change without notice.
Topstep
FUTURES • Max $450,000
Drawdown Model
End-of-Day Trailing (Intraday-Enforced)
Profit Split
90%
Starting Price
$49
Min Trading Days
2 Days
TradeDay
FUTURES • Max $250,000
Drawdown Model
End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing
Profit Split
90% - 100%
Starting Price
$99
Min Trading Days
5 Days
Side-by-Side Specifications Matrix
Every figure below is taken from the firm's own published rules. Check the source and date under the table before you size a position on it — prop firm rules change without notice.
| Evaluation Parameter | Topstep | TradeDay |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Class / Market | FUTURES | FUTURES |
| Drawdown Calculation Type | End-of-Day Trailing (Intraday-Enforced) The floor ratchets once per day on the closing balance and locks permanently when it reaches your starting balance, but the breach check runs live all session on realized plus unrealized P&L — touching it for one tick liquidates the account immediately. The threshold only steps up on your end-of-day balance and never moves down, so an open winning trade cannot drag your floor higher during the session. |
End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing |
| Max Daily Loss | 2.0% 2% of account size ($1,000 / $2,000 / $3,000 on $50K / $100K / $150K), measured on the day's net P&L; it is optional in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account and automatic only in the Live Funded Account, and hitting it never ends the account — it flattens you, cancels your orders and locks you out until 5 PM CT the next session. |
2.5% Left unchanged under the refuted-verdict rule — see left_uncorrected; the only loss-based failure condition TradeDay publishes is the Maximum Drawdown. |
| Max Overall Loss | 4.0% 4% on the $50K account ($2,000); the $100K account gets 3% ($3,000) and the $150K account 3% ($4,500), because Topstep sets this limit in dollars per size rather than as a percentage. |
3% 3% is the $100k trailing max drawdown ($97,000 floor); the $25k and $50k accounts are 4% ($1,000 / $2,000) and the $150k is 3% ($4,500), identical across Quick Pay and Fast Pass. |
| Profit Split | 90% | 90% - 100% |
| Minimum Trading Days | 2 Days Two days is the Trading Combine minimum, and it only works if your best day stays under 50% of the Profit Target; the Express Funded and Live Funded accounts have their own separate day counts for payouts. |
5 Days 5 is the Quick Pay figure; TradeDay's own pages contradict each other on Fast Pass (its knowledge base says 3, its marketing pages say none), so this was left unchanged. |
| News Trading Policy | ✓ News trading is allowed, but putting on your full maximum position size directly into a scheduled major news event is a named prohibited strategy and those profits can be rejected | ✓ TradeDay auto-liquidates every open position 2 minutes before and reopens 2 minutes after its Tier-1 releases (FOMC, CPI, non-farm payrolls, crude oil and natural gas inventories, crop production); accidental breaches are forgiven, repeated abuse loses the account |
| Weekend & Overnight Holding | ✗ Flat by Close (Intraday futures only; every position flat by 3:10 PM CT, risk desk starts flattening at 3:08 PM CT, nothing held from one session to the next) | ✗ Flat by Close (Overnight and multi-session holding is allowed — a position opened in one session must be closed before the next session's close, and all positions are auto-liquidated 10 minutes before each daily close) |
| Supported Platforms | TopstepX, Tradovate, NinjaTrader, Quantower | Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView |
| Payout Schedule | Daily payouts after 5 winning days (+$200/day) | On request with no buffer and no minimum trading period on Quick Pay; requests submitted before 5:30pm ET are processed the next business day, minimum $250 Cut-off is 5:30pm ET for next-business-day processing; the repo's earlier 'same-day once the safety buffer is met' matched nothing on TradeDay's own pages. |
| First Payout Eligibility | 5 winning days (Standard Path) or 3 trading days (Consistency Path) Standard Path needs five winning days; the Consistency Path pays out after three trading days with at least one trade each, but only if your biggest day stays at or below 40% of total net profit. |
Quick Pay: none — withdraw from any positive balance; Fast Pass: 5 profitable trading days, each clearing a per-tier minimum profit ($100/$150/$200/$250 for $25k/$50k/$100k/$150k) The 5 Fast Pass days need not be consecutive, and the balance must also be above the starting balance with net profit since the last payout. |
| Consistency Rule | Trading Combine: best single day must stay at or below 50% of the Profit Target. Express Funded Consistency payout path: largest day must stay at or below 40% of total net profit Measured as your largest single day divided by the relevant total — against the Profit Target in the Combine (50%), against total net profit on the Express Funded Consistency payout path (40%, not rounded). |
Evaluation only: no single day may exceed 30% of total profit to date on Quick Pay (45% on Fast Pass); a breach raises the profit target instead of failing the account, and no consistency rule applies to Funded Sim or Funded Live Measured as one day's P&L against total profit to date; separately, Fast Pass Funded Sim accounts opened on or after 26 July 2026 must also pass a 45% single-day check before a payout is released. |
| Islamic / Swap-Free Option | ✓ Inherently Swap-Free (CME Futures) Inherently Swap-Free (Topstep forces every position flat by 3:10 PM CT and permits no holding from one session to the next, so no overnight interest/riba can accrue) |
✓ Inherently Swap-Free (CME Futures) Inherently Swap-Free (Regulated CME futures exchange model; zero overnight holding and zero swap financing) |
| US Residents Accepted | ✓ Accepted | ✓ Accepted |
| Maximum Capital Allocation | $450,000 | $250,000 |
Where these figures come from. Read from Topstep's own published rules on : Maximum Loss Limit · Daily Loss Limit · Combine 50%-of-Profit-Target best-day rule and · 3 · Flat 90/10 split and the pre-2026-01-12 gating · Named prohibited strategies · Trading Combine two-day minimum and the best-d · The two restriction tiers · TopstepX as the firm's own platform and the st · Quantower connects via TopstepX credentials, T · Express Funded Standard Path five-winning-day . Prop firm rules change without notice — confirm on the firm's own site before you pay for an evaluation.
Where these figures come from. Read from TradeDay's own published rules on : Maximum drawdown mechanism and the $100k examp · Pricing/programme tables giving the per-size d · Tier-1 news auto-liquidation window (2 minutes · Consistency objective · Evaluation objectives per programme; cross-che · Funded ruleset · Overnight holding permitted across sessions; 1 · Fast Pass payout gate · Quick Pay payout policy · Payout processing timing · Account limits and the hedging prohibition wit · Withdrawal mismanagement clause tying large/fr · Section 23 Prohibited Conduct. Prop firm rules change without notice — confirm on the firm's own site before you pay for an evaluation.
What can end the account even if you are profitable
These are the rules people usually find out about after a payout is refused.
- Topstep: Your account is wiped the instant your balance touches the Maximum Loss Limit at any point in the session, and open unrealized losses count — you can be up on the week and still get liquidated by one spike against an open trade. source
- Topstep: In the Trading Combine your single best day must stay at or below 50% of the Profit Target, and if it goes over, Topstep raises your Profit Target instead of passing you. source
- Topstep: If you take the faster three-day payout path on an Express Funded Account, your biggest single day must be 40% or less of your total profit — Topstep does not round, so 40.1% means no payout. source
- Topstep: You must close every position by 3:10 PM CT each weekday, and Topstep's risk desk starts flattening people at 3:08 PM CT, so a winning trade left open into the close gets closed for you and nothing can be carried into the next session or the weekend. source
- Topstep: Deliberately loading up your full maximum position size right before a scheduled major news release is a banned strategy, and Topstep can reject the profits it produces. source
- Topstep: Blowing one account into its Maximum Loss Limit and then repeating the same reckless bet on your next account is banned as account stacking, and Topstep shuts it down and can refuse the profits when the gamble finally works. source
- Topstep: Deliberately draining a Live Funded Account to force it to fail is banned, so you cannot blow up a struggling live account to get a clean start. source
- Topstep: Using software, AI, ultra-high-speed systems or mass order entry to gain an unfair edge, or placing orders outside the current best bid and offer, is banned and Topstep can reject your profits and close the account. source
- Topstep: Running scalping bots, firing hundreds of seconds-long trades a day, trading recklessly into gapped markets or milking the simulator's unrealistically clean stop-loss fills gets your payout refused and you removed from the program, even if you hit the profit target. source
- Topstep: You cannot take a first payout until you have five winning days on the Standard Path, or three trading days with at least one trade each on the Consistency Path — profit alone does not unlock the money. source
- TradeDay: TradeDay closes every open position 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after its own Tier-1 data releases (FOMC, CPI, non-farm payrolls, crude oil and natural gas inventories, crop production reports); one accidental breach is forgiven, but traders who keep trading through the window lose the account. source
- TradeDay: Once you are funded, trading within 2% of an exchange price limit loses you the funded account immediately — TradeDay forgives accidental slips on trading times, products and position sizes, but states no such grace period for this rule. source
- TradeDay: If an automated or high-frequency strategy fires more than 200 trades in a single day, TradeDay can delete that trading day and all of its profits, restart or close the account, or ban you from the platform entirely. source
- TradeDay: Going long a product in one of your TradeDay accounts while short the same product in another counts as hedging: you are offboarded and suspended, and you forfeit every dollar of profit sitting in all of your funded accounts, not just the account that hedged. source
- TradeDay: Signing up more than once under different usernames or email addresses is prohibited conduct under Section 23 of the terms, which lets TradeDay delete the trading day and all profits, restart or close the account, or ban you from the service. source
- TradeDay: During the evaluation no single day may account for more than 30% of your total profit so far on Quick Pay (45% on Fast Pass); going over does not fail you, but your profit target rises until that big day is diluted back under the cap. source
- TradeDay: On Fast Pass you cannot take your first payout until you have 5 profitable trading days that each clear a minimum profit for your account size ($100 on $25k, $150 on $50k, $200 on $100k, $250 on $150k), with the balance above your starting balance. source
- TradeDay: On Fast Pass funded sim accounts opened on or after 26 July 2026, a payout is also withheld if any single day makes up more than 45% of your total gross profit. source
- TradeDay: You cannot hold a position into the daily close: TradeDay auto-liquidates everything 10 minutes before the close of the product you are trading, and funded traders are required to be flat by then. source
- TradeDay: Withdrawing often or in large amounts so that your balance sits close to the trailing drawdown can be judged as mismanaging the account, and TradeDay may then refuse to invite you back for another evaluation. source
Drawdown Architecture: Topstep vs TradeDay
The fundamental differentiator between Topstep and TradeDay lies in how risk and liquidation thresholds are tracked:
Topstep: End-of-Day Trailing (Intraday-Enforced)
Topstep applies a End-of-Day Trailing (Intraday-Enforced) approach. Under this structure, your stop loss floor is anchored to balance intervals. This ensures that temporary floating open profits do not pull your stop loss floor higher in real-time.
TradeDay: End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing
TradeDay implements a End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing model. This provides traders with full intraday flexibility without the fear of open spikes ratcheting up their liquidation point.
The Trader's Verdict: Which Firm Should You Choose?
Depending on your trading style, asset preference, and capital requirements, here is how our research team segments the two providers:
Choose Topstep if you:
- Want End-of-Day Trailing (Intraday-Enforced) risk management.
- Trade primarily FUTURES instruments with TopstepX, Tradovate, NinjaTrader.
- Value Disciplined futures day traders who prioritize End-of-Day drawdown protection and rapid daily payout availability.
- Do not mind closing before the daily market session closes.
- Seek up to $450,000 in maximum scaling capital.
Choose TradeDay if you:
- Prefer End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing execution terms.
- Trade FUTURES via Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView.
- Value Serious futures traders seeking direct CME-regulated broker funding with no payout buffer and next-business-day disbursements.
- Require strict intraday liquidity and same-day/daily payout options.
- Want access to starting entry fees at $99.
Frequently Asked Questions: Topstep vs TradeDay
Which firm offers a better drawdown model between Topstep and TradeDay?
Topstep uses End-of-Day Trailing (Intraday-Enforced), while TradeDay utilizes End-of-Day (EOD) Trailing.
Traders who hold positions through volatile pullbacks typically favor Topstep, whereas scalpers capitalizing on quick momentum benefit from TradeDay.
Can I trade both Topstep and TradeDay accounts at the same time?
Yes. Many professional prop traders run trade copiers (such as Replikanto for NinjaTrader futures, or Social Trader Tools for MT4/MT5 CFDs) to mirror trades across both Topstep and TradeDay simultaneously, diversifying broker risk and maximizing total payout potential.
Which prop firm has faster payout disbursements?
Topstep processes payouts on a Daily payouts after 5 winning days (+$200/day) basis (5 winning days (Standard Path) or 3 trading days (Consistency Path)), whereas TradeDay operates on a On request with no buffer and no minimum trading period on Quick Pay; requests submitted before 5:30pm ET are processed the next business day, minimum $250 schedule (Quick Pay: none — withdraw from any positive balance; Fast Pass: 5 profitable trading days, each clearing a per-tier minimum profit ($100/$150/$200/$250 for $25k/$50k/$100k/$150k)). Both platforms support crypto and direct bank transfers.