Head to head · August 2026
Topstep vs Earn2Trade
Our call: Topstep (8.0 vs 6.0). The best counterparty in the industry: 13 years, zero denial pattern — but the row-by-row below shows where Earn2Trade still wins.
Topstep8.0 | Earn2Trade6.0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 8.0 / 10 | 6.0 / 10 |
| Eval cost | 150K Combine $199/mo list, ~$129 first month with champions35; 50K ~$32 first month | Gauntlet Mini 150K $375/mo list, ~$150-188/mo with 50% code; ~$85/mo discounted |
| Activation | $149 one-time (Standard path); $0 on No-Activation-Fee path | $139 one-time (LiveSim), deducted from first withdrawal |
| Drawdown | EOD | mixed |
| Consistency | 50% best-day cap in eval; funded: none on Standard path, 40% on Consistency path | 30% in eval only; explicitly none on LiveSim/Live |
| Profit split | 90/10 from dollar one (post-Jan-2026 accounts) | 50% below a small threshold (~$1,500-2,250), then 80/20 |
| Payouts | Weekly-capable; Standard path needs 5 winning days of $150+ per cycle; per-payout caps $2,000-$6,000 by size/path (cut April 2026); min $125; MLL resets to $0 after every payout. | Weekly (request by Friday, paid ~Wednesday), min $100; LiveSim capped $4,000/withdrawal until auto-conversion to Live; Live has no cap. |
| Platforms | TopstepX (in-house only), Quantower via TopstepX credentials | NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Finamark, R|Trader, MotiveWave, MultiCharts |
| Discount norm | 30-50% first-month promos near-constant (champions35 = 35%) | 40-60% near-constant (50% verified); discount applies to first 180 days |
| Get started | Visit Topstep | Visit Earn2Trade |
Topstep in one paragraph
Worst deal in Tier 1 (35% max discount, $5-6K payout caps) but the most trustworthy payout record in futures prop: 13 years, weekly payouts, no credible non-payment scandal. Keep exactly one as the 'this check always clears' anchor; don't scale here — post-April-2026 payout caps and the MLL-resets-to-$0-after-payout rule make it engineered churn for big withdrawals.
Full review →Earn2Trade in one paragraph
The trustworthy tortoise: ~10 years operating, honest published pass rates (8.89% in 2025), EOD drawdown in eval, weekly payouts from $100 with no funded consistency rule, and a genuine path to real live capital. The 50% split on the first ~$2K of profits, hard daily loss limit, and slower scaling make it a diversifier or safe anchor, not a primary.
Full review →Not sure either fits? Take the 60-second quiz and get matched against every firm we track.