Topstep Drawdown, 2026
What your Topstep Max Loss Limit becomes the moment you take your first payout. Until then, Topstep runs one of the fairest drawdowns in futures. After it, the cushion is gone.
Here is exactly how the end-of-day trailing Max Loss Limit works, the $50K math, the reset most reviews skip, and the firm whose floor never trails at all.
Want a drawdown that never trails and never resets? Here is Phidias Express to Live. First, how Topstep’s drawdown really works.
Our verdict (William G.)
Topstep’s end-of-day trailing drawdown is one of the fairest in futures: it judges you on where you close, not on your worst tick. The catch is the $0 reset after your first payout, which strips your cushion exactly when you have earned it. If you would rather trade a floor that never trails and never resets, on real capital, Phidias Express to Live is built that way.
What is Topstep’s drawdown?
Topstep’s drawdown is a Maximum Loss Limit (MLL), a floor beneath your account that you must never touch. It is end-of-day trailing: it rises only on your end-of-day balance, never on intraday paper profit, and it never moves down. Once it climbs to your starting balance, it locks there for good. Break it at any moment and the account is closed.
Topstep Max Loss Limit by account
| Account | Max Loss Limit (MLL) | Daily Loss Limit (optional) |
|---|---|---|
| 50K | $2,000 | $1,000 |
| 100K | $3,000 | $2,000 |
| 150K | $4,500 | $3,000 |
30-second quiz
Does Topstep's drawdown fit how you trade?
Is Topstep’s drawdown intraday or end-of-day?
It is end-of-day, and that is the part Topstep gets genuinely right. Your Max Loss Limit only trails up based on your closing balance at the end of a session. Unrealized profit on an open trade does not move it.
So you can run a position to +$1,500 in your favor, give it all back, and close the day flat, and your floor does not budge. That is the opposite of an intraday trailing drawdown, where the floor chases your highest tick and tightens every time a trade runs and reverses.
How the trailing Max Loss Limit works (50K example)
Take a 50K account. You start at $50,000 and your Max Loss Limit sits $2,000 below, at $48,000.
Make $500 on day one and close at $50,500. Your MLL trails up by $500, to $48,500. Lose that $500 back on day two and close at $50,000. Your MLL stays at $48,500: it never moves down.
Keep going until your end-of-day balance reaches $52,000. Now the MLL has trailed up to $50,000, your starting balance, and it locks there permanently. From that point the floor is static: you can never lose more than your starting balance, no matter how high you climb.
One nuance most guides miss: the limit only trails at the close, but a breach is checked live. Topstep monitors your Net P&L (realized and unrealized) in real time, so if your account touches the MLL intraday, the position is liquidated on the spot.
What happens to the drawdown after your first payout?
This is the rule that surprises people. After your first Express payout, Topstep sets your Max Loss Limit to $0.
Your floor becomes your starting balance with no cushion at all. The account can no longer dip a single dollar below where it began. A normal red stretch that any funded trader has, right after you have just withdrawn, can end the account outright.
The reset most reviews skip
The fair end-of-day drawdown you passed the Combine with is not the drawdown you trade after payday. Once the MLL is $0, there is no buffer between you and account closure. Pair this with the Topstep payout rules and you see why a strong month can still end in a closed account.
End-of-day vs intraday drawdown: why it matters
Give Topstep real credit here. An end-of-day drawdown mirrors how trading actually works: you are judged on where you close, not on the worst tick of an open position. It lets you ride out a pullback and finish strong.
An intraday trailing drawdown, like the one on Apex Performance accounts, does the opposite. The floor tracks your highest unrealized balance in real time, so a trade that runs in your favor and reverses can close the account even though you never booked the profit.
Credit where it is due
Topstep’s end-of-day drawdown is one of the fairest in the futures space. If an intraday floor has ever closed an account on you, this is a real reason traders choose Topstep. The catch is not the trailing mechanic, it is the $0 reset that lands after your first payout.
The simpler alternative: Phidias static drawdown
There is a way to keep the fairness without the reset: a static floor that never trails and never changes. That is how Phidias Express to Live is built.
On Express to Live, your drawdown is a fixed floor, from $500 to $1,000 depending on account size, and it does not move, ever. It does not trail up, so there is nothing to track, and it does not reset to $0 after a payout. On top of that, your first payout converts the account to a real LIVE account with Dorman Trading, instead of keeping you in a simulation.
A real receipt, not a promise
One Phidias trader, Varun M., ran five 150K Express to Live accounts and took $22,500 in payouts to his Phidias Wallet plus $10,000 in live funded capital with Dorman Trading, his fastest account going from purchase to payout in 6 hours and 18 minutes. A specific, verified result, not a typical or guaranteed outcome.
Be fair on the trade-off: Express to Live pays 80/20, below Topstep’s 90/10, though Phidias Premium climbs to 100% over time. What you get for that is a floor that never trails, never resets, and sits in front of real capital on payout one.
Topstep drawdown: frequently asked questions
Is Topstep’s drawdown intraday or end-of-day?
It is end-of-day trailing. The Max Loss Limit only rises based on your closing balance, and unrealized intraday profit never moves it. A breach, however, is checked in real time, so touching the limit intraday liquidates the position.
Does the Topstep drawdown reset after a payout?
Yes. After your first Express payout, the Max Loss Limit is set to $0, meaning the account can never fall below its starting balance again. It removes your cushion, so a normal drawdown after a withdrawal can close the account.
What is the Max Loss Limit on a Topstep 50K?
The Max Loss Limit on a 50K account starts at $2,000 below the balance (at $48,000) and trails up on end-of-day gains until it locks at the $50,000 starting balance. The 100K limit is $3,000 and the 150K is $4,500.
Does Topstep have a daily loss limit too?
Yes, but it is optional in the Trading Combine and Express Funded Account: you add it at checkout, and it is mandatory only on the Live Funded Account. When active, the Daily Loss Limit is $1,000 (50K), $2,000 (100K), or $3,000 (150K), and hitting it locks trading for the rest of the day even if you are still above the trailing floor.
Which prop firm has a drawdown that does not trail?
Phidias Express to Live uses a static floor of $500 to $1,000 by size that never trails and never resets to $0, and it converts to a real LIVE account on your first payout. For traders burned by trailing floors, it removes the mechanic entirely.
Sources and official references
• Topstep: What is the Maximum Loss Limit? (official help center): the trailing MLL, per-account limits, and real-time breach rule.
• Topstep Trading Combine pricing: account sizes, targets and the Max Loss Limit per size.
• National Futures Association (NFA): registration lookup for regulated futures brokers.
• Dorman Trading: the NFA-registered broker behind Phidias LIVE accounts.
• Phidias accounts: Express to Live static drawdown and payout terms.
The bottom line
Topstep’s drawdown is, for most of the journey, one of the fairest in futures. The end-of-day trailing Max Loss Limit rewards how you close, not your worst tick, and it locks static once you are in profit.
The catch is what happens after payday: the $0 reset strips the cushion exactly when you have proven you can earn. If you would rather trade a floor that never trails and never resets, on real capital from payout one, Phidias Express to Live is built that way.
Related Topstep guides
Topstep Review: the full firm breakdown, every stage and rule.
Topstep Payout Rules: the caps, the $30 fee, and the buffer reset in full.
Topstep Live Funded Account: the uncapped tier and the 0.71% gate to reach it.
About the author
William G. is a futures prop-trading analyst at Phidias. He tests prop firms hands-on, reads the fine print in every help center and rulebook, and translates payout, drawdown and funding mechanics into plain English for traders deciding where to put their capital.
Last reviewed 2026.
Risk disclosure: Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Individual results such as the trader payout cited are specific, verified outcomes and are not typical or guaranteed. Topstep drawdown rules, Max Loss Limits, and reset terms reflect publicly available information as of July 2026 and are subject to change. Verify current terms on topstep.com before committing capital.
