All three of the major futures prop firms — Topstep, Apex Trader Funding, and MyFundedFutures — made significant rule changes between July 2025 and March 2026. Topstep introduced the 90/10 profit split, the Standard versus Consistency Path payout choice, and the No Activation Fee Combine. Apex did a complete overhaul on March 1, 2026 — one-time payments instead of monthly fees, EOD and Intraday drawdown choice, MAE rule removed, 50% consistency rule replacing the old 30%. MyFundedFutures retired Starter, Expert, and Milestone in July 2025, replacing them with Core, Rapid, and Pro. This hub compares all three firms side by side under their current 2026 rules — drawdown mechanics, profit targets, consistency rules, profit splits, payout cadences, and which firm is best for which kind of trader.
Twelve months ago, the rules at Topstep, Apex Trader Funding, and MyFundedFutures looked broadly similar — recurring monthly fees, intraday trailing drawdowns, single-rule payout structures, and consistency rules that blocked many payouts. Today, all three firms operate under meaningfully different rule sets than they did a year ago. The competitive pressure between them has been good for traders. Each firm has loosened or restructured the rules that historically frustrated traders most. This page is the side-by-side comparison of where the three firms actually stand in April 2026 — not where they stood in January 2025 — and which is right for which kind of trader.
Each firm has, intentionally or not, ended up serving a different segment of the futures trader market in 2026. Understanding which firm is built for which trader is more useful than memorising every rule.
Topstep is the oldest of the three (founded 2012) and remains the most institutionally polished. The rules are the clearest in the industry, the help center is the best documented, the community is the largest. Topstep is the safest choice for traders who value structure and predictability over rule flexibility. It is also slightly more expensive at the larger account sizes than the alternatives.
Apex spent years with a difficult reputation among traders due to the legacy intraday drawdown, the MAE rule, and the 30 percent consistency rule. The March 2026 overhaul addressed essentially every documented complaint at once. The firm is now meaningfully more trader-friendly than it was a year ago, but the legacy reputation lingers. Apex in 2026 is best for traders who want one-time pricing (no monthly subscription burden), the choice of drawdown model, and a high-volume account ecosystem.
MFFU spent the second half of 2025 restructuring around three genuinely different products — Core, Rapid, and Pro — rather than three pricing tiers of the same product. This means the choice of plan matters more at MFFU than at the other firms. MFFU is best for traders who know exactly which trade-offs they want — best split (Rapid), bi-weekly cadence (Pro), or cheap entry (Core) — and are willing to align their trading style to one specific plan.
| Topstep | Apex (post-March 2026) | MFFU | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drawdown type | EOD trailing | Choice: EOD or Intraday | Plan-specific (Core EOD, Rapid intraday, Pro EOD) |
| $50K profit target | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| $50K drawdown | $2,000 | $2,500 | $1,500 (3% on Core) |
| Daily Loss Limit | $1,000 ($50K) | $1,000 ($50K EOD only) | None on any plan |
| Consistency rule (eval) | Yes — 50% of profit target | None | None |
| Min trading days | None published | 7 non-consecutive | 2 active sessions |
| Time limit | None | None | None |
| News trading | Permitted | Permitted (with brackets) | Tier 1 news flat 2 min before/after |
| Mandatory brackets | No | Yes (platform-enforced) | No |
| Topstep XFA | Apex PA | MFFU Core / Rapid / Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit split | 90/10 (new traders) | Tiered, 100% from 6th payout | 80/20 / 90/10 / 80/20 |
| Consistency rule (funded) | 40% on Consistency Path; none on Standard | 50% (loosened from 30% in March 2026) | 40% / none / none |
| Payout cadence | 5 winning days (Standard) or 3 days + 40% (Consistency) | 8 trading days + consistency | 5 winning days / 5 winning days / 14 calendar days |
| Min payout | $150 winning day threshold | $500 | $250 / $250 / $1,000 |
| Max payout per cycle | $5K Standard / $6K Consistency | Tiered, increases with payouts | $5K / $11.25K / $100K cumulative |
| Floor lock threshold | Account balance + $0 once Combine target met | Starting balance + $100 (Safety Net) | Starting balance + $100 |
| Multi-account limit | 5 active XFAs | Multiple, varies by account size | 5 funded $50K, 3 funded $100K/$150K |
Drawdown mechanics are where these three firms differ most, and where most blown accounts come from. Spend more time on this section than any other.
Topstep's trailing Maximum Loss Limit only updates based on end-of-day balance. Intraday unrealised swings have no effect on the floor. You can be up $1,500 mid-session and give it all back without the floor moving. Once your end-of-day balance reaches your starting balance plus the drawdown amount (i.e., the original starting account balance), the floor freezes at the starting balance. This is the most forgiving of the three firms' drawdown structures by design.
Apex post-March 2026 lets you choose EOD or Intraday at evaluation purchase. Once chosen, you cannot switch. EOD on Apex behaves similarly to Topstep — updates daily, intraday swings irrelevant. Intraday on Apex behaves like the legacy mechanic — every new equity high (including unrealised) ratchets the floor upward in real time. The Safety Net mechanic locks the floor at starting balance + drawdown + $100 once the EOD balance reaches that level. Most traders should choose EOD; Intraday is for traders who specifically prefer the older structure.
Core uses EOD trailing 3 percent. Pro uses EOD trailing. Rapid uses intraday trailing 4 percent — and the intraday mechanic on Rapid is the strictest of any plan across all three firms because the floor follows real-time equity including unrealised profit. Rapid traders who do not understand this typically blow accounts within their first month.
The full mechanics of EOD versus intraday trailing, including the math examples that make the difference clear, are covered in the trailing drawdown guide.
Pricing structures differ enough across the three firms that direct comparison requires accounting for both monthly subscription and one-time fees, plus the activation fee at Topstep Standard Path.
| Account size | Topstep Standard | Topstep No Activation | Apex (one-time) | MFFU Core/Rapid/Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50K | $49/mo + $149 activation | Higher monthly, no activation | One-time payment, varies by promo | $77 / mid / higher monthly |
| $100K | $99/mo + $149 activation | Higher monthly, no activation | One-time payment, varies by promo | n/a (Core) / mid / higher monthly |
| $150K | $149/mo + $149 activation | $209/mo, no activation | One-time payment, varies by promo | n/a (Core) / mid / higher monthly |
Total cost depends heavily on how many attempts you take to pass. A trader who passes a Topstep $50K Standard on the first attempt pays $198 ($49 + $149). A trader who takes 4 months pays $345 ($49 × 4 + $149). The same trader on Apex one-time pays the same amount regardless of attempts, but pays full price for each new evaluation if they blow one.
Apex's move to one-time pricing in March 2026 is the most significant pricing innovation in the industry in years. Whether it works out cheaper depends entirely on how quickly traders pass.
Many serious prop firm traders run accounts at all three firms simultaneously. The reasons are diversification (no single firm controls all your funded capital), redundancy (one firm changing rules unilaterally does not destroy your income), and stylistic match (different firms favour different trading styles).
Running multi-firm requires either manual discipline at each account or, much more practically, a trade copier that replicates trades across firms while respecting per-account rules. A copier built for prop firm trading needs to handle the Topstep XFA scaling, the Apex Performance Account contract limits, the MFFU plan-specific drawdown models, and the Tier 1 news restriction unique to MFFU. Doing this manually across more than three accounts is impractical.
The single biggest mistake multi-firm traders make is using their lead account on the firm with the loosest rules. The correct approach is the opposite — lead from the strictest firm, so all follower accounts at less strict firms inherit the strictest constraints automatically. This prevents accidentally blowing the strictest account because the lead was sized for a more permissive firm.
All three firms have signalled, in various ways, that more rule changes are coming through 2026 and 2027. The competitive pressure is real and ongoing. Specific things worth watching:
Bookmark this hub. We update it as rules change. The individual firm references — Topstep, Apex, MFFU — go deeper on each firm's specifics. For the strategic side of actually passing under these rules, see the firm-specific strategy guides — Topstep and Apex. For the trade copier side of running multiple accounts across firms, see the NinjaTrader trade copier guide.
There is no objectively best firm. There are firms that are best for specific kinds of traders. The traders who post on social media that one firm is "better" than the others are usually telling you about themselves — what kind of trading style they have, what trade-offs they have made — not delivering an objective verdict.
The honest answer goes like this. Topstep is the safest first choice if you are new to prop firm trading and want structure. Apex is the best choice if you want the most modern rule set in 2026 and prefer one-time pricing. MFFU is the best choice if you have a clear preference for one specific drawdown model and payout structure that lines up with a specific MFFU plan.
Most working prop firm traders end up at all three firms eventually. The first one is usually about getting funded somewhere. The second is usually about diversification. The third is usually about playing to a specific edge that a specific plan suits. By the time a trader has been working in the industry for more than a year, they typically have a portfolio of accounts across multiple firms rather than a single primary firm.
Whichever firm you pick first, the rules in this hub are the rules you need to know. Update your knowledge as the firms update their rules. The traders who survive long careers in this industry are the ones who treat the rules as part of their trading plan, not as an afterthought.