“Our capital. Your skills.”

You may have seen those words in an advertisement if a single thought about futures trading ever crossed your mind while scrolling. But you won’t find these words from traditional brokerages (think Robinhood, WeBull, Fidelity, etc). This sales pitch of “we supply leverage, you supply skill” is unique to a rapidly growing industry: funded prop firms.

Already familiar with funded prop firms? Scroll down to my side-by-side comparison of TopStep vs Lucid Trading

Funded prop firms provide simulated trading environments (often referred to as “sim”) for customers hoping to refine their edge and/or get paid for trading without putting up too much personal capital. In some cases, $75 USD unlocks 25K of simulated capital to prove your skills and potentially take $1000s in payouts. That’s some serious ROI. But how does it work?

At most funded prop firms, like Topstep and Lucid Trading, traders go through a process like this:

1. Pick an account size. Accounts often come in different sizes from 25K to 150K. Larger account sizes have more leverage, give bigger payouts, but cost more.

2. Pass the evaluation. After purchasing an account, traders must hit simulated profit targets (in a simulated market environment) without breaking the rules for that evaluation. Then, traders move onto the “funded” stage.

3. Upgrade to funded. The “funded” stage is when traders can take payouts. I’m using quotes around “funded” because it’s really “sim funded.” In “funded” traders are still trading in a simulated market environment. The difference between “funded” and evaluation, though, is that hitting goals of simulated profits in “funded” enables payouts of real money. And that’s why traders love prop firms. Little personal capital is required for payouts besides the cost of an account.

4. Get called to Live. Live is when traders are taken to the live market (sometimes with a % of earned sim profits). No more simulated market data. Now it’s for real. Traders get called to Live after proving their skills in sim environments, or after taking the maximum amount of sim payouts. Each firm has different rules, so read up on them carefully.

Here’s a good glossary for all the funded prop firm terms you need to know.

Now that we know a little bit about how funded prop firms work, let’s talk about two popular ones: Topstep and Lucid Trading.

 

TOPSTEP

Learn. Trade. Earn.

Topstep caters its services to futures traders who are just starting out. They’re one of the biggest (if not the biggest) funded prop firms. When asked about how Topstep began, Chat GPT said, “Topstep was founded in 2012 by former Dow futures floor trader Michael Patak on the Chicago Board of Trade floor, originally launching as TopstepTrader before later rebranding.”

And who doesn’t love a rebrand? Let’s break down what traders love about Topstep, and where they’ve gotten criticism.

REASONS TRADERS CHOOSE TOPSTEP

• Competitive pricing. $49/month gets you an evaluation (AKA Trading Combine) with 25k of simulated capital.
• Legacy. “Topstep didn’t enter the prop trading space. We created it.” That is a line found in their marketing. And it’s true. In a space when firms rise and fall overnight, having some history is a plus.
• Reset express funded account (XFA). You’ve passed your Trading Combine, upgraded to an XFA, and then failed it. Topstep offers a “Back To Funded” perk where traders can pay to reset their XFA. That can be a major time saver.

 

WHAT TOPSTEP COULD IMPROVE

• Only one platform. If you trade with Topstep, you’re forced to trade on Project X. A lot of traders like the look and feel of Project X, however it comes with risk. Major outages have been reported on Trustpilot and online (especially at the end of 2025 with many users still awaiting compensation).
• Customer support. Users flock to X and other social media platforms to talk about Topstep’s poor communication and customer support. They’re a massive company, so getting a resolution in 5 minutes is unlikely. And that’s understandable. But reports of people waiting weeks for a response to a payout denial or other issue is a reason to proceed with caution.
• True LIVE upside. Their website says you can take up to 150K live, but that’s not always the case. Many traders experienced getting called to live early without being able to scale up their account to a max live balance.

So, Topstep offers a simple and affordable program. And while the possible payout potential is greater than other firms, the likelihood of achieving those max payouts seems low, based on trader testimonials. With monthly subscription costs, activation fees, and no flexibility in platform choice, Topstep leaves something to be desired.

 

LUCID TRADING

TRADE WITH CLARITY

Lucid Trading has become one of the top funded prop firms in the space. Their CEO AJ Campanella often makes appearances in marketing materials and in the Discord community and chats directly with traders. Lucid Trading offers a variety of plans designed to complement different types of traders and trading styles: LucidFlex for the simplest rules, Pro or Black for the highest ROI.

Let’s break down Lucid Trading.

REASONS TRADERS CHOOSE LUCID TRADING

• Payout speed. Their website promises payouts in 15 minutes on average (lots of traders online claim their payouts hit their bank account in 1-2 minutes). No other firm really competes with Lucid Trading on payout speed, respectfully.
• Customer experience. There are different plans to choose from, several trading platforms offered (and the list is growing), no activation fees or monthly subscription fees, a real-time dashboard for instant upgrades, no missed sales with the Promo Vault, the list goes on. These are the trader-friendly features that provide a great experience for Lucid Trading’s customers.
• Trust. When there are widespread problems, Lucid Trading CEO gets on Discord Town Halls and addresses the customers. Accountability is huge in this space, especially if you’re a rapidly growing company. Growing pains are inevitable. How they’re handled is what’s most important.
• Platform Depth. Lucid offers a wide variety of platforms like Ninjatrader, Tradovate, Rithmic, Motivewave, Quantower and now Tradesea

 

WHAT LUCID TRADING COULD IMPROVE

• Payout caps. Lucid Trading has more conservative payout caps compared to other firms. These caps, though, are what allowed them to maintain metal trading when other firms were restricting contracts. Also, with 5 funded accounts, you can still take some big payouts from Lucid Trading.
• They are new. Lucid Trading formed in April 2025. So, they’re shaking up the space with trader-friendly features and affordable plans, but without a long track record the firm needs to continue being watched.

Due to the affordable plans, low pressure one time fee, and a trader-friendly experience. I recommend Lucid Trading.

It comes down to those three things for me and most traders.

When you’re starting out, having affordable options matters a lot. We all blow up. Especially in the beginning. So knowing it’s not going to cost an arm and/or leg to get back in the game is crucial.

And even more importantly, a trader-friendly experience. Experience is everything. Especially when you’re starting to figure out how to trade and defining your trading style. Psychology is half (if not more) of the battle in trading. So, knowing that you have a responsive customer support team to rely on if there’s an issue is huge. Also feeling confident that there aren’t any hidden rules to stop you from taking a payout and being able to take as much time as you need without monthly fees. This way, you can focus on what matters: trading to get a payout.

And the plans grow with you. Start with LucidFlex and master your system. Then, go for bigger payouts with a LucidBlack or LucidPro.

If you want more resources to take your trading to the next level, check out the other resources including the Unbound Suite with trading indicators, strategy, and discord community.