A futures-focused hub for traders comparing Topstep and Apex, with links to the full rule comparison, futures prop-firm guide, and JPTC preparation resources.
Published by JPTC EA Team under the JPTC editorial policy.
Read ComparisonBoth forex/CFD and futures prop products can use simulated accounts. Topstep Trading Combine and Apex Evaluation results are not exchange fills in a brokerage account. Futures contract specifications provide a common reference, but data, simulated fills, fees and account rules still depend on the service. Compare the exact product, stage and platform before assuming that a strategy or execution record transfers between them.
Separate what makes a loss floor move from what is tested against it. A floor can follow intraday peaks, end-of-day balances, or stay static; it may also stop trailing at a defined level. A static or locked floor does not make open losses harmless: unrealized P/L and costs can still reduce equity through it. Topstep's standard Trading Combine maximum-loss floor updates from end-of-day balances and is monitored during the session. Apex has distinct EOD, Intraday and Legacy products; do not reuse one product's rules for the others. Rules checked on 16 October 2026.
End-of-day calculation is not end-of-day-only enforcement. Topstep's MLL and Apex's EOD drawdown can both be triggered during the session by an open loss, even if the closing balance would later recover. Record the calculation basis, update time, current floor and breach boundary separately. A stop should leave room before the firm limit, but gaps and slippage can still cross it. A platform stop is not a guarantee of rule compliance.
In forex you dial risk with fractional lots and can size almost continuously. In futures your risk per trade is the stop distance in ticks, the tick value of that product and the number of contracts, and contracts are whole numbers. Sizing becomes a step function: nothing exists between one contract and two, so every change in size is a jump rather than a nudge. Tick values also differ by product, which is why an identical stop measured in ticks is a different amount of money on the Nasdaq contract than on the S&P contract. Micro contracts are smaller versions of the same products and exist to make those steps finer, which matters most on the smaller evaluation sizes. Before you send an order, know the tick value of the product, the tick distance of your stop and what the position costs you if that stop fills.
Compare the account's actual drawdown model, total fees, contract limits and payout eligibility. Write down any consistency formula with its denominator, stage and remedy: an unmet eligibility condition is not automatically a loss-limit breach. Apex EOD Evaluations currently have no consistency requirement, while the subsequent PA has separate payout conditions. Do not move a rule from the payout stage into the evaluation. Check current official rules for the particular product rather than treating either firm's name as one uniform program.
TopstepX and Apex's supported platforms are not native MT4/MT5 EA environments. Topstep permits custom automation through TopstepX/ProjectX API on eligible simulated accounts, subject to its rules; order flow must originate on the user's personal device, not a VPS or remote server, and the API is not for a Live Funded Account. Apex's current agreement requires personal manual order submission, with specifically limited exceptions such as manually configured native orders and copying the user's own manually initiated trades. Platform access or a bridge does not establish permission. Rules checked on 16 October 2026.
A scaling plan is a written rule for how many contracts you may hold at each stage of the account and what has to happen before that number changes. Some firms impose one during the evaluation, some keep it after funding, some leave it to you, and some void trades or the account outright when a contract limit is exceeded, so read the limit before assuming it is advisory. Write your own plan either way. Tie contract count to your distance from the drawdown threshold rather than to how confident you feel, add size only after a defined block of trades rather than after a single win, and cut back on a fixed rule when the buffer shrinks. Position size is one possible source of failure, alongside other rule breaches and trading losses. No representative data is provided here to rank the causes.
Check exchange hours, maintenance, holidays and the firm's own position-closing deadline separately. Topstep currently requires positions closed by 3:10 PM CT on weekdays; Apex's agreement specifies 4:59 PM ET. These are provider deadlines, not a universal futures settlement time. Account for the stated time zone and daylight saving. Do not depend on automatic flattening as a substitute for meeting the rule, or assume one part of the session always carries the greatest risk. Rules checked on 16 October 2026.
Preparation can include reading account rules, writing a risk plan and testing platform behavior. It does not establish permission for JPTC or another party to operate the account. Check personal-use, automation and copying conditions before considering any service. EA Hub is MetaTrader software and is not certified by this page for Topstep or Apex; the hosted JPTC algorithm is a separate product. Neither preparation nor software guarantees completion, continued eligibility or a payout.
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Read ComparisonSix checks to run before and during a challenge, covering the daily loss cap, sizing from the stop, and the news and session rules that break most accounts. Sent to your inbox, free, no call required.
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Neither firm is better in the abstract, and the deciding factor is usually the drawdown model rather than the headline price. Compare how each measures drawdown, whether the limits are checked intraday or on the daily close, the daily loss and consistency rules, the platforms and who pays for exchange data, whether the products you trade are covered, and what has to happen before a payout is released. Then pick the rulebook that fits how you already exit trades, and read both firms' current terms rather than a third party comparison table.
Both forex/CFD and futures prop products can use simulated accounts. Topstep Trading Combine and Apex Evaluation results are not exchange fills in a brokerage account. Futures contract specifications provide a common reference, but data, simulated fills, fees and account rules still depend on the service. Compare the exact product, stage and platform before assuming that a strategy or execution record transfers between them.
Do not attach an MT4/MT5 EA and assume it operates natively or is allowed on these products. TopstepX's API has conditional automation access for eligible simulated accounts from the user's personal device; remote order flow and Live Funded API trading are excluded. Apex's current agreement requires manual order submission subject to narrow stated exceptions. Review the exact account's rules before using any integration. This is not approval of a JPTC file or bridge.
Micro contracts reduce the currency value of a tick relative to their corresponding E-mini. For example, CME specifies $1.25 per outright tick for MES and $0.50 for MNQ. In an illustrative one-contract trade, a 20-tick stop therefore represents $25 or $10 before commissions, fees and slippage. A smaller tick value does not guarantee a small loss or make an instrument suitable. Check the exact contract, expiry and permitted size.
Payouts are gated by conditions rather than by profit alone. Expect some combination of a minimum number of trading days, a required buffer above the drawdown threshold, a consistency rule limiting how much of the profit came from one day, and a fixed schedule for when requests are processed and paid. The conditions differ between firms, between account types and between the evaluation and funded stages, and they get revised, so read the current payout terms on the firm's own page before committing.
Topstep and Apex impose account-specific closing deadlines, even where the underlying futures market remains open. Topstep currently states 3:10 PM CT on weekdays; Apex's agreement states 4:59 PM ET. Confirm the current account and holiday schedule. Do not assume holding through a daily boundary is permitted or that a later profitable close cancels an intraday drawdown breach.
Start with understanding the contract rather than choosing it from a claim that one market is easier or normally one tick wide. Check the exchange specification, tick value, fees, permitted contract count and loss floor, then test the platform in simulation. Calculate nominal stop risk and adverse execution before any order. A micro label, deep order book or successful practice session does not establish suitability.
No JPTC service promises a futures evaluation pass. Information or preparation is different from operating another person's account. Apex and Topstep apply their own personal-use, access and execution rules; a customer-owned account does not by itself make third-party trading permissible. Confirm the proposed arrangement with the firm before any connection. No result or payout is guaranteed.