Lucid Trading vs Topstep

Lucid Trading suits futures traders who want to pay once, choose from a wide range of platforms and keep trading until 4:45 pm ET. Topstep suits traders who want the lowest first month, a $125 minimum payout and a well known firm with its own platform, and who don’t mind a subscription until they pass. On a 50K account the two firms’ closest plans are strikingly similar: a $3,000 target, a $2,000 end of day maximum loss, a consistency rule to pass and none once funded, and payouts of half your profit up to $2,000 after five winning days of $150. The differences are how you pay, the platforms, the close time and what happens after several payouts.

Prices and rules were checked on each firm’s own website and help centre on 9 November 2026. Both firms run frequent discounts.

Lucid Trading vs Topstep at a glance

The table compares LucidFlex 50K with the Topstep 50K Trading Combine and an Express Funded Account on the Standard payout path.

Rules and drawdown

Both firms trail the $2,000 maximum loss on the end of day balance and enforce it in real time. At Lucid it locks at $50,100 once the account closes above $52,100, and after the first payout it moves straight to that locked level. Topstep’s Express Funded Account starts at a $0 balance with the limit at minus $2,000; it locks at $0 once the balance reaches $2,000, and after the first payout the limit is $0. In both cases, once you take money out, your cushion is the profit you leave in.

Both daily loss limits are optional and stop trading for the day without failing the account: $1,200 at Lucid and $1,000 at Topstep. Topstep rewards adding one. On the No Activation Fee 50K it takes $10 a month off, and under an offer running since 2 June it doubles the Express Funded payout cap to $4,000.

Both firms set a consistency rule to pass. LucidFlex needs your best day to be no more than 40% of your profit, or 50% with a paid add-on, and takes as few as three days. Topstep needs your best day to be no more than 55% of your profit, $1,650 on a $3,000 target; if it is more, the target rises. It can be passed in two days. Neither has a time limit. Topstep’s Combine allows 5 minis or 50 micros, while funded LucidFlex accounts start at 2 minis and rise to 4 at $2,000 profit.

Pricing and fees

LucidFlex 50K costs $115 once, or $80.50 with the VAULT code on 9 November, with no activation fee and $80 resets. Topstep charges a subscription that rebills every 30 days until you pass or cancel: $49 a month plus a $149 activation fee after passing, or $95 a month with no activation fee. You choose at purchase and can’t switch. Passing in the first month costs $198 or $95 at Topstep, and each extra month adds the subscription again. A reset costs $49 or $95, and each rebill includes one.

Commissions are close. Lucid charges $3.50 a round turn on ES and NQ and $1.00 on the micros. Topstep charges $3.78 and $1.22 on TopstepX, includes Level 1 data and charges $38 a month for depth of market.

Payouts

On their closest plans the payout rules are nearly the same. LucidFlex needs five days of at least $150 profit in the cycle and pays half your profit, up to $2,000, with a $500 minimum. Topstep’s Standard path needs five winning days of at least $150 and positive profit since the last payout, and pays up to half the balance, up to $2,000, with a $125 minimum. Topstep’s Consistency path instead needs three trading days and a 40% rule, and raises the cap to $3,000. Both pay 90%.

The routes to live differ. LucidFlex moves to live after five payouts. Topstep sets no payout limit on Express Funded Accounts and moves traders to a Live Funded Account when its risk team decides; all Express Funded Accounts then close, and only 20% of the transferred balance is tradable at first, with the rest released in steps. Lucid sends funds within two business days of approval. Topstep says internal approval can take one to three business days, after which payment is same day to a Topstep brokerage account or instant by Aeropay in the US, or takes up to 10 days by wire. See fast payout prop firms for others.

Platforms, automation and trading rules

Platform choice is the clearest difference. Lucid connects through CQG for NinjaTrader, Tradovate and TradingView, and through Rithmic for Quantower, Tradesea, MotiveWave, Sierra Chart, Jigsaw, Bookmap, ATAS, R Trader Pro and MultiCharts. Topstep accounts trade on its own TopstepX platform. If you rely on a particular platform, see NinjaTrader prop firms or Tradovate prop firms.

Both allow automated strategies. Lucid permits bots and trade copiers and bans hedging, microscalping and high frequency trading. Topstep allows automation without support or exceptions for malfunctions, and lets you copy trades across your own Express Funded Accounts. On news, LucidFlex has no restriction, and Topstep bans trading maximum size into major news. Positions must be flat by 4:45 pm ET at Lucid and by 3:10 pm CT at Topstep, which is 4:10 pm ET. Each firm allows five funded accounts at once.

Topstep accepts traders from more countries. It takes traders from the Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa, which Lucid does not, though in some countries, Germany and Vietnam among them, Topstep traders can hold Express Funded Accounts but not live ones.

Who should choose each firm

Choose Lucid Trading if

• You’d rather pay once than subscribe until you pass.
• You trade on NinjaTrader, Tradovate, TradingView or a Rithmic platform.
• You want to trade until 4:45 pm ET and run a bot or copier.

Choose Topstep if

• You expect to pass within a month and want the lowest first month price.
• You want a $125 minimum payout, or the $3,000 cap on the Consistency path.
• You live in a country Lucid doesn’t accept, or prefer TopstepX.

For other matchups, see Lucid Trading vs Apex, Lucid Trading vs Tradeify, Lucid Trading alternatives, Topstep alternatives, every head to head comparison and the futures prop firms hub.