FTMO Futures vs Topstep: FTMO Wins on Expected Value, Topstep Wins on Monthly Cost. If You're Running a Bot, VPS Access Is the Deciding Factor [September 2026]

※ Rules and pricing were confirmed on both companies' official pages and help centers on September 23, 2026 (Trustpilot and automated-trading rules confirmed September 22, 2026). Please re-confirm with the official sources before purchasing.

📢 Advertising/affiliate disclosure: We do not hold an affiliate link for either company.

TL;DR

• The monthly fee is less than half at Topstep. $50K: Topstep $49, FTMO Futures Pro $139
• Even so, expected value favors FTMO Futures Pro. Running $50K at the same 0.30 lots for a year, FTMO comes out to +$4,836 vs. Topstep's +$2,519 at zero edge, and +$10,141 vs. +$8,651 with a small edge
• Topstep loses out because of the $149 activation fee every time you pass, withdrawals capped at 50% of the balance, and a max loss as tight as $2,000
• Topstep's daily loss limit is optional, so sizing up flips the result in its favor. But that means buying 25+ resets a year, which risks running into Topstep's rule against "excessive reset purchasing"
• If you're running a bot, go with FTMO. Topstep bans VPS, charges a separate $14.50–$29/month for API access, and doesn't allow the API on live accounts
• If you want more accounts, go with Topstep. You can hold up to 5 accounts after passing (FTMO caps it at 3)

Comparison table (September 23, 2026)

For both, consistency only applies during evaluation, and violating it doesn't fail you outright — it just delays passing. Both are usable from Japan at every stage.

Expected value: FTMO Futures Pro wins at the same lot size

Here's the per-account expected return from running evaluation → funded account → payout for 1 year (252 trading days). Assumptions are shared across both firms.

• 1 trade a day on Micro Gold (MGC), 0.6% stop loss ($262 at 0.10 lots)
• Same lot size for evaluation and the funded account
• Reset on a breach; buy again if you lose the funded account
• Round-trip MGC commission: $1.82 at FTMO, $1.92 at Topstep (both include the CME exchange fee of $1.40)

$50K, 0.30 lots (the cap for FTMO Pro, since its daily loss is hard)

Here's what makes up Topstep's gap.

• Activation fee: at zero edge you pass roughly 7 times a year, costing about $1,060
• Withdrawals capped at 50% of the balance: the rest stays in the account and disappears together with the next loss
• Max loss of $2,000: FTMO Pro's is $3,000, equal to the profit target

Topstep wins if you go without a daily loss limit and size up

Since Topstep lets you skip the daily loss limit, you can size up to 0.50 lots (a $1,310 loss per losing trade) even on $50K.

At a small edge or better, it flips in Topstep's favor. But this means losing 66% of the max loss on a single loss, and buying roughly 25 resets a year. Topstep lists "excessive purchase of Trading Combines or resets" as a prohibited practice.

Detailed calculations are in FTMO Futures expected value and Topstep expected value.

Pricing: Topstep on monthly fee, total cost depends on how fast you pass

Here's the total cost to pass on $50K (no breaches, no resets). Bot users at Topstep also need to add the API fee (as low as $14.50/mo with a coupon).

• If trading manually, Topstep's no-activation-fee plan is cheapest from month 1
• But by expected value, FTMO Pro still wins. The value of the $3,000 max loss and being able to withdraw "100% of profit" outweighs the monthly fee gap

Reset handling also differs. A Topstep reset pushes your billing date 30 days out, so buying it right away rather than waiting is the better deal. An FTMO reset doesn't change your billing date, so if you're within 2 weeks of your next billing date, waiting is cheaper.

Payouts: Topstep pays out "half at a time"

Topstep only lets you withdraw up to 50% of the balance. The funded account starts from $0, and after the first payout the max loss locks to $0. Since the remaining balance stays in the account as a cushion, the account is harder to kill, but each individual withdrawal is smaller.

FTMO Pro lets you withdraw up to 100% of profit. But the withdrawn amount is deducted from the balance and the max-loss line doesn't move, so withdrawing everything puts you right up against the line, meaning you need to leave room for a few losing trades.

Automated trading: go with FTMO if you're running a bot

Here's a quote from Topstep's official help center.

The line is order transmission: your server can watch and record, but it cannot trade.

The main trading hours for US stock index futures run from around 22:30 JST to 5am the next morning. Since Topstep doesn't allow VPS, you're stuck leaving your home PC running until morning.

Notes on the rules

Which should you buy?

FAQ

Q. So which one is better overall?

At the same lot size, FTMO Futures Pro. On $50K at 0.30 lots and zero edge, it's +$4,836 vs. +$2,519 for the year. Topstep's monthly fee is cheaper, but the activation fee and the "withdraw up to 50% of balance" cap flip the result.

Q. Isn't Topstep's withdrawal cap $12,000?

$12,000 is the per-payout cap for a $150K account opened under the Consistency plan with a daily loss limit added at purchase (a limited-time offer that doubles the cap). The normal cap on a $50K account is $2,000 (Consistency plan: $3,000), and even then you can only withdraw up to 50% of the balance.

Q. Should I add Topstep's daily loss limit?

For $50K, expected value is higher if you skip it. If you have an edge on $150K, adding it is better because the payout cap doubling has a bigger effect. A daily loss limit, when triggered, only stops trading for the day — it doesn't fail you.

Q. Can I buy from Japan?

Yes for both. Topstep's list of "countries that can't trade" and its list of "Express Funded only, no live access" don't include Japan. Neither of FTMO's general exclusion list nor its live-account exclusion list includes Japan either.

Reference links (official)

• Topstep: Pricing and Payment Questions
• Topstep: Payout Policy
• Topstep: What is the Maximum Loss Limit?
• Topstep: TopstepX API Access (bot, VPS, live)
• Topstep: What is Responsible Trading?
• FTMO Futures: Trading Objectives & Rules
• FTMO Futures: Forbidden Trading Practices
• FTMO Futures FAQ: VPN and VPS

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