FTMO vs Topstep: which prop firm is better in 2026?

Trust and longevity

Topstep has been running since 2012, 3 years longer than FTMO. On Trustpilot they sit at 4.8/5 and 3.6/5 respectively. Our trust pillar scores them 97/100 and 80/100, which weighs age, corporate transparency and public payout evidence. In an industry with no financial regulator overseeing these evaluations, longevity and a verifiable payout history are the closest thing to a guarantee.

Entry cost

Topstep opens at $49 against €79 for FTMO, a substantial gap on the smallest account. At the reference size of 100 K the comparison is €499 for FTMO against $99 for Topstep. The headline fee is rarely the real cost, though: what matters is the price of a reset after a failed attempt, whether the fee comes back on the first payout, and whether an activation fee appears when you move to a funded account. Compare those three lines in the table above before deciding on price alone.

Risk rules side by side

FTMO applies a static drawdown capped at 10 %, with a 3 % daily limit. Topstep applies a trailing (end of day) drawdown capped at 4 %. This is the single most consequential difference between the two. A static drawdown is measured once, from the starting balance, and never moves; a trailing drawdown follows your equity upward, so a winning streak raises the floor you can no longer fall below. Intraday trailing is stricter still, because it tracks unrealised peaks reached inside the session — profit you never actually banked can permanently raise your loss threshold.

Payout terms compared

FTMO keeps 90 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 14 days, then pays On demand from the 14th day after the first trade, then every 14 days. Topstep keeps 90 % of profits, allows a first withdrawal after 5 days, then pays On request: Express Funded Standard after 5 winning days at $150+; Express Funded Consistency after 3 trading days with a 40% consistency target. Payout frequency deserves as much attention as the split itself: a slightly lower share paid every two weeks compounds faster than a headline percentage locked behind a monthly cycle and a long first-withdrawal delay.

Platforms and instruments

FTMO is the only one of the two to offer mt4, mt5, ctrader, dxtrade, tradingview. Topstep covers ninjatrader, tradovate, rithmic, which its rival does not. Platform choice is not cosmetic: order execution, available order types and the reliability of your automation all depend on it, and switching mid-evaluation is rarely possible.