Half of $6,000 is the real Topstep day, not the trail alone
The Combine is a single step. The maximum loss is an end-of-day trail, $3,000 on $100,000, and it locks once the buffer above the starting balance is used up. The published daily line in this comparison is 2%, or $2,000, beside that $3,000 trail. FundingPips 2-step Standard is a 5% day and a static 10% maximum, $5,000 and $10,000, anchored to the higher of day-start balance or equity at 00:00 UTC+3. A static floor does not chase an open high. An end-of-day trail does, once the session closes green.
Two minimum days can pass the Combine, and a payout still wants five winning days of at least $200. FundingPips asks for 8% then 5%, which is $8,000 then $5,000, across three minimum days. The $300 fee gap is obvious. The $3,800 day that quietly adds $1,600 to the futures target is the part the invoice does not show.
The first $10,000 comes out at 100%, then the split is 90%
Topstep pays 100% of the first $10,000 withdrawn and 90% after that. You can request up to half the balance after those five winning days. FundingPips lets you choose Tuesday at 60%, bi-weekly at 80%, on-demand at 90% if the consistency score holds, or monthly at 100%. A futures trader who wants the first $10,000 untouched will prefer Chicago. A CFD trader who wants a 100% month and can live with the score will prefer Dubai.
Live funded Topstep accounts add tier-1 flatten windows. The evaluation itself allows news. Everything must be flat before 3:10 PM CT, and there is no weekend hold. FundingPips allows weekend holding on the evaluation and on selected funded models, then applies a five-minute news window once you are funded. Open a Venasri account and store 3:10 PM CT separately from 00:00 UTC+3.
One NQ contract is a fifth of the trail and a tenth of the Dubai day
One NQ point is $20. A 25-point stop risks $500. Six of those losses are the $3,000 trail. The same six losses are $3,000 of a $5,000 FundingPips day, with $2,000 still unused. A 50-pip gold stop at 1.00 lot is also $500 on the FundingPips book, at $10 per pip. It is not a futures order, and it will not help the Combine.
Bots are allowed on Topstep where the API respects CME message ratios. FundingPips allows third-party tools as trade and risk managers, and it wants proof you own the source if the tool is a full entry bot, inside 2,000 requests. Bot controls attach to the FundingPips MT5 login. They do not send the NQ order on TopstepX, NinjaTrader, or Tradovate.
Cap the green day at $3,000 and the red day under the trail
Equity Guard on FundingPips should flatten near $4,250, and it should partial a winner before 00:00 UTC+3 if the open gain is large enough to lift the higher-of anchor. On Topstep, flatten while the end-of-day loss is still inside the $3,000 trail, near $2,400, and stop a winning session as it approaches $3,000 so you do not donate yourself a $7,600 target.
Pro at FundingPips is a 6% maximum, not the Standard 10%. Zero adds a 45% consistency score of its own. Do not fix a Topstep consistency problem by opening a Zero account and repeating the same oversized day. The score will recognize it. The Combine will too, at half the profit target, which is the stricter of the two green-day tests.
