Head to head · September 2026
Topstep vs Earn2Trade
Our call: Topstep (8.0 vs 6.0). The best counterparty in the industry: over a decade, 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 (50K) | $85/mo | $68/mo + $139 fee |
| Activation fee | $0 | $139 |
| Drawdown | EOD | intraday (changes on pass) |
| Consistency | 55% eval, none funded | 30% eval, none funded |
| Profit split | 90/10 from dollar one (post-Jan-2026 accounts) | Depends on when the evaluation was bought. Bought before 2026-07-06: flat 80/20 in favor of the trader. Bought on/after 2026-07-06 the split is set by the size of the SINGLE withdrawal request, not by accumulated profit: 50/50 below the threshold, 80/20 at or above it. Thresholds by starting funded balance are $1,500 on 25K, $2,250 on 50K, $3,000 on 100K, $4,000 on 150K and $5,000 on 200K. $400K Trader Career Path accounts are a fixed 60/40. The firm's share is deducted monthly or at each withdrawal. |
| First payout | 5 days | 0 days |
| Platforms | TopstepX (in-house only), Quantower via TopstepX credentials | NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView, Finamark, R|Trader, BlackArrow One |
| Discount | up to 13% off | 60% off |
| Get started | Visit Topstep | Visit Earn2Trade |
Topstep in one paragraph
Worst deal in Tier 1 (no public discount code, $5-6K payout caps on a 150K) but the most trustworthy payout record in futures prop: more than a decade, no credible non-payment scandal. Keep exactly one as the 'this check always clears' anchor. Two things to price in: the MLL resets to $0 permanently after every payout, so you are one bad day from losing the account; and the caps only double (to as much as $12,000) if you opt into the Daily Loss Limit add-on at purchase — without it, scaling withdrawals here is slow.
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 split is no longer a straight 80/20: on evaluations bought from 2026-07-06 onward, 80/20 only applies to withdrawal requests at or above a size-based threshold, and anything below it pays 50/50. The hard daily loss limit, the LiveSim ceiling (the stage runs only to the first $5,000 of profit, $4,000 net) and slower scaling make it a diversifier or safe anchor, not a primary.
Full review →More Topstep comparisons
More Earn2Trade comparisons
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