The Four Firms at $100K, Side by Side
Every cell below is pulled from each firm’s plan record on this site, so it changes when the firms do. I’ve compared at $100K because it’s E8’s own “recommended” size, Apex’s most-bought size, and the tier where Topstep’s and Tradeify’s rule differences actually bite.
| $100K | E8 Signature | E8 Zero Max | Apex EOD Trail | Topstep Standard | Tradeify Select |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price with DGT | $182 | $382 | $119 | $99 / month | $159 |
| Fee model | One-time | One-time | One-time, deep recurring discounts | Monthly subscription | One-time |
| Activation fee | None | None | $90 (or $159 up front on the no-activation variant) | $149 (or $149 / month on the no-activation path) | None |
| Profit target | 6% ($6,000) | 6.5% ($6,500) | 6% ($6,000) | 6% ($6,000) | 6% ($6,000) |
| Drawdown type | EOD Trailing, locks at start | EOD Trailing, locks at start after first payout | EOD Trailing (Intraday Trail variant also sold) | EOD Trailing | EOD Trailing, locks $100 above start |
| Daily loss limit | None in the challenge; 2% Daily Pause (soft) once funded | None | $1.5K | None | None (Daily path adds one once funded) |
| Consistency — evaluation | None | 40% | None | 50% | 40% |
| Consistency — funded | 35% | None | 50% | None (40% on the Consistency path) | None |
| Daily payouts | No | Yes | No | No | Yes (Daily path) |
| Cap per payout | $2.25K, rising over five payouts | $5K flat | $2K, rising over six payouts | $3K (50% of balance) | $3.5K on Flex; lower on the Daily path |
| Payouts per account | 5, then free reset | 5, then free reset | 6, then requalify | Unlimited; live path after | Unlimited; Elite live path |
| Split | 80% | 80% or 100% | 100% | 90% | 90% |
| Max funded accounts | 5 Signature + 3 Zero per household | — | 20 PAs | Up to 5 XFAs (one live) | 5 across all plans |
| Path to real capital | No | No | No | Yes — Live Funded Account | Yes — Elite Live (discretionary) |
One note before the head-to-heads: the Tradeify Select cell shows both the Flex cap and the Daily path’s daily-loss figure because Select lets you pick one of two payout policies at funding, and that choice is permanent — see the Tradeify review for the full split.
E8 Futures vs Apex Trader Funding
This is the comparison most futures traders actually make, because Apex is the account everyone has already tried. Since the March 2026 rebuild Apex sells two programs — EOD Trail and Intraday Trail — with no evaluation consistency rule, a 30-day window to pass, and Performance Accounts that pay weekly once you have five qualifying days, a 50% consistency result and a $500 minimum. Each PA gets six payouts on a rising cap ladder (from $2K on the $100K EOD), then you requalify. You keep 100%. You can run 20 PAs at once, which is the whole Apex proposition: copy one edge across a wall of accounts.
Drawdown. E8’s EOD dynamic drawdown moves once a day on closed profit and locks at your starting balance; Apex’s EOD Trail behaves the same way at the daily close, while Intraday Trail follows your unrealised high tick by tick — the model that has ended more Apex accounts than any rule (my Apex trailing drawdown guide has the math). If you’re choosing between E8 Signature and Apex Intraday, E8’s floor is simply kinder. Against Apex EOD Trail, it’s a draw.
Payouts. E8 Signature: 35% best-day, five profitable days between payouts, a permanent buffer, five payouts then a free challenge. Apex: 50% consistency, five qualifying days, $500 minimum, six payouts then requalify. Apex’s consistency is looser and its ladder longer, but its cap stacks to a lifetime total per PA; E8 Zero sidesteps the whole conversation with daily payouts and no funded consistency at all. On a single account, Zero pays faster and more freely than any Apex PA; across twenty PAs, Apex pays more in aggregate.
Price. Apex’s evaluations run permanent deep discounts with code DGT ($119 for the $100K EOD Trail versus $182 for E8 Signature) but charge $90 at the funded stage unless you buy the pricier no-activation variant; Apex has no resets — a failed or expired evaluation is a new purchase, though most sizes sell a five-pack at a lower per-account price; E8 gives you a free challenge after your fifth payout instead.
Track record. Apex has the longest futures payout history of the four and I’ve documented mine — you can watch me request a $55,000 Apex payout on camera. E8’s futures program is younger; its payout medians and rulebook are published, but the community evidence is thinner. Verdict: Apex for scale and the 100% split; E8 Zero for a single account that pays daily without a consistency rule; E8 Signature over Apex Intraday if drawdown behaviour is what keeps blowing you up.
E8 Futures vs Topstep
Topstep is the structural opposite of E8. The Trading Combine is a monthly subscription ($99 a month at $100K), the Express Funded Account costs $149 to activate on the Standard path (or a higher monthly fee on the no-activation path), you keep 90%, and — the thing none of the other three offer — there is a Live Funded Account at the end of it, trading real capital. E8 is explicit that it never goes live: five payouts, free reset, repeat.
Payout rules. Topstep’s XFA Standard path wants five winning days of $150+ and pays up to 50% of your balance, capped at $3K per payout, with a minimum balance rule after the first. The XFA Consistency path (from February 2026) trades a 40% consistency target for eligibility in as few as three days and a $6,000 cap per window. E8 Signature sits between the two — 35% best-day, five profitable days — while E8 Zero has no equivalent at Topstep at all. Topstep’s tile on this site reads 15-minute payouts; E8’s medians are 11 hours to approval and 24 to funds.
Risk rules. Both run an end-of-day trailing drawdown that locks at the starting balance, and Topstep adds a hard daily loss limit (None at $100K) where E8 Signature uses a soft 2% pause and Zero has none. Topstep’s Back2Funded lets you reactivate an account that hits max loss; E8’s answer is the free challenge after five payouts. Verdict: if a documented route to real capital matters, or you want coaching and structure, Topstep — I’ve traded it, been paid, and been on TopstepTV, so that’s not a throwaway line. If you want a one-time fee, no activation, and daily payouts, E8 Zero. Long-running subscription math favours E8 for anyone who takes more than a month or two to pass.
E8 Futures vs Tradeify
Tradeify is the closest match on the board, because Tradeify Select and E8 built the same product from opposite directions. Select is one evaluation (40% consistency, three-day minimum, no daily loss limit) after which you choose a permanent payout policy: Flex (every five winning days, up to 50% of total profit, larger caps, no daily loss limit) or Daily (daily eligibility above a buffer, 2× the profit since your last payout, smaller caps, a daily loss limit and a tighter drawdown). Neither path has a funded consistency rule, and both pay 90%.
Zero vs Select Daily. Both pay daily with no funded consistency. Zero’s cap is $5K on Max ($1.6K on Starter) per request; Tradeify cut the Select Daily caps for accounts bought after 1 September 2026, and the $100K now sits well under Zero Max. Tradeify offers 90% versus Zero’s 80% or 100%, has no five-payout ceiling, and holds out the Elite live transition — but adds a daily loss limit and a $250 minimum where Zero has neither. Contract scaling is similar at both.
Signature vs Select Flex. Flex has no funded consistency rule and no buffer; Signature has both. Flex’s cap ($3.5K at $100K post-September) is higher than Signature’s early-ladder cap ($2.25K), and Tradeify pays 90% to E8’s 80%. Signature’s edge is the entry price ($182 versus $159 with DGT) and no evaluation consistency rule — you can pass in a day. My Tradeify consistency guide covers how the 40% evaluation rule plays out. Verdict: for a daily-payout account with the fewest rules, it’s Zero Max versus Select Daily and the tiebreakers are cap size (Zero) against split, no payout ceiling and a live path (Tradeify). For the cheapest entry, Signature; for the cleanest funded account, Select Flex.
Where E8 Wins, Where It Loses
- Wins: no activation fee, one-time pricing, an EOD drawdown that never trails intraday, news trading allowed in both stages, daily payouts with no funded consistency on Zero, the lowest entry price on Signature, and a rulebook that’s fully published before you buy.
- Loses: 80% split on Signature (Zero’s 100% option costs extra), the five-payout ceiling on every account, no live path, no overnight or weekend holding, no automation of any kind, and a futures track record that’s shorter than Apex’s or Topstep’s.
- Same as everyone: copy trading between your own accounts, SimFi-style simulated funding, KYC through a third-party payout processor.
Which One Should You Pick?
- Scaling one edge across many accounts, want 100% of every payout: Apex — the 20-PA ceiling is unmatched here. See prop firms with multiple accounts.
- Daily payouts, no consistency rule once funded, one account: E8 Zero Max or Tradeify Select Daily; Zero if you want the bigger cap and no daily loss limit, Tradeify if you want 90% and no payout ceiling. Both are on my daily payouts list.
- A real route to live capital: Topstep first, Tradeify Elite second. E8 and Apex don’t offer one.
- Cheapest ticket into an EOD-drawdown account: E8 Signature with code DGT, or Apex EOD Trail if you’re fine paying the activation fee later.
- You hold overnight, run bots, or scalp sub-ten-second: not E8 — its futures rules ban all three. Compare the others on the compare tool.
Every E8 rule referenced here, with contract limits and hours, is in the E8 Futures review; the Apex, Topstep and Tradeify pages carry theirs. Payout mechanics for all four E8 products are in E8 payout rules explained, and the buy decision between E8’s own accounts is in E8 One vs E8 Signature vs E8 Zero vs E8 Pro. Code DGT works at all four firms — E8’s discount page is here.
E8 vs Apex vs Topstep vs Tradeify FAQ
Which is cheapest at $100K — E8, Apex, Topstep or Tradeify?
With code DGT: E8 Signature $182 one-time with no activation fee; Apex EOD Trail $119 one-time plus $90 at the funded stage; Tradeify Select $159 one-time; Topstep $99 per month plus $149 to activate. Cost-to-funded depends on how many months a Topstep pass takes and whether you pay Apex's activation fee.
Which of the four has no consistency rule on the funded account?
E8 Zero and Tradeify Select (both paths). Topstep's XFA Standard path has none either, while its Consistency path uses a 40% target. E8 Signature carries a 35% best-day rule and Apex a 50% consistency rule at payout time.
Which firm pays out fastest?
On eligibility, E8 Zero and Tradeify Select Daily can be requested every day; Topstep Standard and Apex work on winning-day counts. On processing, Topstep advertises near-instant approvals, E8 publishes an 11-hour median to approval and 24 hours to funds, and Apex is typically a day or two. Every one of them is faster than the fortnightly cycles older programs used.
Which of these prop firms offers a live account?
Topstep, through its Live Funded Account, and Tradeify, through the discretionary Elite Live transition. E8 states it never operates a live account; Apex's Performance Accounts are simulated with real cash payouts.
How many funded accounts can I run at each firm?
Apex up to 20 Performance Accounts; E8 five Signature Futures plus three Zero performance accounts per household; Tradeify five simulated funded accounts across all plans; Topstep up to five Express Funded Accounts. Copy trading between your own accounts is allowed at all four.
Is E8 or Apex better for drawdown?
E8's drawdown is end-of-day only and locks at your starting balance — the same behaviour as Apex's EOD Trail program. Apex's Intraday Trail follows your unrealised high in real time, which is materially harsher. If drawdown behaviour is your problem, E8 or Apex EOD Trail over Apex Intraday.
Can I trade news at all four firms?
E8 allows news trading in both stages on Signature and Zero. Apex, Topstep and Tradeify each publish their own news policies for evaluation and funded accounts — check the firm pages linked above, and my news trading list for the current comparison.
Which firm should a scalper avoid?
E8 requires at least half of your profit to come from trades held ten seconds or longer and bans any automation, so sub-ten-second scalping and bots are out. Apex's Intraday Trail punishes scalp-and-hold styles through the unrealised drawdown. For scalping-friendly rulebooks see the scalping list.
