FTMO Futures vs Topstep vs Apex: Which Should You Buy?

FTMO Futures vs Topstep vs Apex, in short: at $50K, FTMO Futures is the monthly subscription with no activation fee — Growth from $119/month, Pro from $139/month — end-of-day drawdown that locks, no consistency rule once funded, and the biggest sim-funded payout caps of the three ($2,500 Growth, $5,000 Pro per request). Topstep is the other subscription, $49/month plus a $149 activation, with an optional daily loss limit, a 55% consistency target in the Combine, $2,000–$3,000 payout caps on the funded account, and the only documented path to real Topstep capital. Apex is the one-time fee — $59 with code DGT plus $90 activation on the EOD Trail — 30 days to pass, no evaluation consistency, a 100% split on up to 20 funded accounts, and a hard ceiling of six payouts per account. FTMO is the new brand with the friendliest funded rules; Topstep is the safest route to a live account; Apex is the cheapest way to run scale. Which one you buy depends on which of those three things you’re actually paying for.

I’ve been paid by Apex on camera — the $55,000 request is on the Apex review — and I hold Topstep accounts. FTMO Futures launched out of beta on September 17, 2026, and no one, me included, has finished a payout cycle there yet. Every number below comes from the three firms’ own rules pages and pulls live from our plan database.

The Three Firms at $50K, Side by Side

FTMO sells two accounts, Growth and Pro. Topstep sells one Trading Combine on two price paths (Standard with a $149 activation, or No Activation Fee for a higher monthly). Apex sells two drawdown types — EOD Trail and Intraday Trail — each as a Standard evaluation with an activation fee or a No Activation Fee version. The columns below are FTMO Growth, FTMO Pro, the Topstep Standard Combine and the Apex EOD Trail Standard; the alternates are covered in the fee section.

Prices pull from our plan records. FTMO has no launch promotion, so code DGT is FTMO’s list price today and the maximum discount whenever one runs. Apex’s DGT price is 90% off list — the coupon price is exactly a tenth of the sticker on every evaluation. Topstep runs no code; the $49 is the price.

The Same Three at $100K

FTMO Futures vs Topstep

FTMO vs Topstep is the closest pair here: both are monthly subscriptions, both use an end-of-day drawdown that locks at your starting balance, both flatten you at 4:10 p.m. ET, both run a 90/10 split with unlimited payouts, and both end in a real-capital account. The differences are in what the subscription buys you and how the funded rules are shaped.

Price. Topstep’s Combine is cheaper on the sticker — $49 a month at $50K against FTMO Growth’s $119 — but Topstep charges $149 when you fund, so a first-month pass costs $198 at Topstep and $119 at FTMO. Topstep’s no-activation path at $95 a month closes most of that gap. FTMO’s subscription stops itself the day you pass; Topstep’s runs until you cancel. Neither has a time limit.

Evaluation rules. Both have a consistency rule in the evaluation, and they work differently. FTMO’s is a hard ratio (40% Growth, 50% Pro) and a breach simply means you keep trading until it corrects. Topstep’s is a 55% “consistency target”: if your best day is more than 55% of the profit target, the target itself goes up and you need to earn more to pass. FTMO Growth has no daily loss limit in the evaluation; Topstep’s is optional at purchase (and worth a small discount on the no-activation Combine), soft when it fires, and fixed once you’ve chosen it. FTMO Pro’s is hard.

Funded rules. This is where FTMO pulls ahead. Once Sim-Funded, FTMO has no consistency rule on either account. Topstep makes you pick a payout path when you activate: Standard (five winning days of $150+, no consistency, request up to 50% of the balance, capped at $2,000 on the 50K) or Consistency (three trading days, a 40% consistency objective, capped at $3,000). Add the optional daily loss limit at purchase and Topstep doubles those caps — $4,000 and $6,000. FTMO Growth caps at $2,500 but only lets you withdraw half your profit; FTMO Pro caps at $5,000 and lets you take all of it. Both firms hold you to a minimum of days between requests — four or five at FTMO, three or five at Topstep — and neither offers daily payouts on the sim-funded account.

Live capital. Topstep’s Live Funded Account is a documented, rules-published program: scale into up to $150,000 of Topstep’s own capital, and after 30 winning live days of $150 or more you unlock the full balance and daily, uncapped payouts. FTMO’s Live Funded account exists on the rules page but is invitation-only after FTMO reviews your Sim-Funded record, with no published criteria. If a real account is the point, Topstep is the one that has shown its work.

Verdict — Topstep vs FTMO: if the funded rules matter most — no consistency after funding, bigger single payouts, 100% withdrawable on Pro — FTMO. If a documented route to real capital matters most, or you want the cheapest monthly ticket and the ability to choose your own daily loss limit, Topstep. Neither has a futures payout record like the other’s: Topstep has paid futures traders for over a decade; FTMO Futures is weeks old.

FTMO Futures vs Apex

FTMO vs Apex is a different fight. Apex Trader Funding is the volume play of futures prop trading, and next to it FTMO looks conservative. Apex’s EOD Trail evaluation is a one-time $59 with code DGT at $50K, plus a $90 activation when you pass, and you can run up to 20 funded accounts with a 100% payout split. FTMO is $119 a month, three Sim-Funded accounts maximum, 90/10.

The clock. Apex gives you 30 calendar days from purchase to hit the target; miss it and there are no resets — you buy again. FTMO gives you forever, as long as you keep paying the monthly. Fail an FTMO evaluation and the subscription keeps billing, with a fresh account issued on the next billing date. Two different ways to charge you for a second attempt, and the honest comparison is that Apex’s second attempt costs $59 and FTMO’s costs $109 or $119.

Evaluation rules. Apex has no consistency rule in the evaluation at all, and its daily loss limit is soft — hit $1,000 on the 50K and you’re paused for the session, not failed. FTMO Growth has no daily limit but a 40% consistency rule; FTMO Pro has both, and its daily limit is hard. Apex gives you more contracts in the evaluation (6 vs 5 at $50K) but fewer once funded (4 vs FTMO’s scaling from 2 to 5).

Funded rules. The trade reverses. Apex’s Performance Account carries a 50% consistency rule on every payout — no single day since your last approved payout can be half or more of the profit — and a five-trading-day minimum between requests. Payouts are capped per request on a ladder ($1,500 first, $3,000 sixth on the 50K; $2,000 to $4,000 on the 100K), there’s a $500 minimum, and each account is closed after its sixth payout: $13,000 lifetime on a 50K, $18,000 on a 100K, then you qualify again. FTMO has no funded consistency rule, no payout count, and no lifetime cap — but a lower per-account ceiling on how many you can run.

The split. Apex pays 100% of an approved payout. FTMO pays 90%. On the same $3,000 request that’s $300 — not nothing, but the six-payout cap and the ladder decide far more of your total than the split does.

Live capital. Apex’s Performance Account is a simulated funded account and its rules page describes nothing beyond it. FTMO at least has a Live Funded tier on paper.

Verdict — Apex vs FTMO: Apex for scale and price — twenty accounts, 100% split, the cheapest ticket of the three — if you can trade inside a 50% consistency rule and accept that every account has six payouts in it. FTMO if you want one or two accounts with no funded consistency rule, unlimited payouts and a bigger single cheque, and you’re willing to pay monthly for the brand while its futures track record is still being written.

What You Actually Pay to Get Funded

The sticker prices mislead in both directions, so here is the cost to reach a funded account at $50K if you pass in your first month, and what a second attempt costs:

• FTMO Growth: $119 total — no activation, subscription cancels itself. Second attempt: $109 reset, or $119 at the next billing date.
• FTMO Pro: $139 total. Second attempt: $129 reset or $139 at renewal.
• Topstep Standard: $49 + $149 activation = $198. Second attempt: $49 reset.
• Topstep No Activation Fee: $95 total. Second attempt: $95.
• Apex EOD Trail Standard: $59 + $90 activation = $149. Second attempt: $59, with a fresh 30-day clock.
• Apex EOD Trail No Activation Fee: $119 total. Second attempt: the same.

Two things fall out of that list. Topstep’s no-activation Combine is the cheapest first-month route of the six, and Apex’s no-activation evaluation is cheaper all-in than its Standard one — the $60 you save on the sticker costs you $90 at activation. FTMO’s Growth is the cheapest of the three headline products only if you pass in month one; by month two it’s the most expensive of everything here except Topstep Standard.

Payout Math: The Same $2,000 at Each Firm

Take $2,000 of profit on a funded $50K account and request as early as each firm allows:

• FTMO Growth: four qualifying days of $150+, then 50% of profit — $1,000 — at 90/10: $900, with $1,000 left as buffer.
• FTMO Pro: five qualifying days of $200+, then 100% of profit under the $5,000 cap: $1,800. Take it all and your balance lands on the locked drawdown, so leave a cushion.
• Topstep Standard path: five winning days of $150+, then up to 50% of the balance under the $2,000 cap — $1,000 — at 90/10: $900. Consistency path: three days and a 40% consistency objective for the same $900, under a $3,000 cap.
• Apex: five trading days meeting the minimum daily profit and no day at 50% or more of the $2,000, then the first-payout cap of $1,500 at 100%: $1,500, with the remaining $500 eligible the following week as payout two of six.

Apex puts the most in your pocket first, at the price of a payout you’ve now used. FTMO Pro pays the most in one request with no count against it. FTMO Growth and Topstep Standard land in the same place on a small account — the difference shows up at scale, where FTMO’s caps run to $6,000 on Pro 100K and Topstep’s to $3,000 Standard or $4,000 Consistency (or $6,000 and $8,000 with the daily-loss add-on).

Where FTMO Wins, Where It Loses

FTMO Futures wins on:

• No consistency rule after funding — the only one of the three without one on every funded path.
• Per-request caps: $5,000 on Pro 50K and $6,000 on Pro 100K, with 100% of profit withdrawable.
• Unlimited payouts per account and no lifetime cap.
• No activation fee, no time limit, and rules and price locked for the life of the account.
• A no-daily-limit evaluation (Growth) — Apex’s and Topstep’s optional limits are soft, but only FTMO Growth has none.

FTMO Futures loses on:

• Track record — zero documented futures payouts against Apex’s $100M+ and Topstep’s decade-plus in futures. FTMO’s $650M is CFD money.
• Scale — three Sim-Funded accounts against Apex’s 20 and Topstep’s five plus a Live account.
• Split — 90% against Apex’s 100%.
• Cost over time — the meter runs monthly at more than double Topstep’s Standard Combine.
• A live-capital path you can plan for — Topstep publishes its Live rules; FTMO’s is by invitation.
• Market data — Level 1 only, no DOM on FTMO’s credentials.

Which One Should You Pick?

Pick Apex if you’re building a stack: the $59 ticket, the 100% split and 20 accounts make it the cheapest way to run size in futures, and the 50% consistency rule is a price most systematic traders can pay. Go in knowing every account has six payouts in it and a 30-day clock on the evaluation.

Pick Topstep if you want the cheapest monthly seat and the only route in this comparison to a real, documented live account — and if you like choosing your own daily loss limit rather than having one imposed or absent. Be clear-eyed that its sim-funded caps are the smallest of the three.

Pick FTMO Futures if you’ll run one to three accounts, you never want to think about consistency once you’re funded, and you want the biggest single payouts — Pro if you already trade with a hard daily stop, Growth if you’d rather withdraw half your profit at a time than risk a hard breach. And accept that you’re an early customer: the rules are locked in your favour, but the futures payout proof isn’t in yet.

If you’re still torn between all three, it comes down to one question — do you want the most money per payout (FTMO Pro), the most accounts (Apex), or the most credible path to trading real capital (Topstep)? Answer that and the other two fall away.

Code DGT applies the 90% discount at Apex (Apex discount page) and the maximum available discount at FTMO (FTMO discount page). Topstep runs no discount code.

Read the full FTMO Futures review, the Topstep review and the Apex Trader Funding review for every rule, see how FTMO compares with a firm built the same way in FTMO Futures vs FundedNext Futures, or check the current futures prop firm rankings.