Lucid Trading
TopstepAt a glance
Starting price
Compared on the lowest price you can pay: with a verified code where the provider shows one, else the list price. Not compared: one bills monthly, the other once.
Drawdown type
No edge: depends on the plan or not in our data.
Consistency
Shown, not scored: firms measure consistency differently.
Profit split
Tie.
Activation fee
Best for…
Edges follow fixed rules (cheaper with the same billing, EOD on every account, higher split, no activation fee) applied to our dataset. Commercial relationships play no part. Your plan, size and stage can change the picture.
Full firm reviews: Lucid Trading review and rules · Topstep review and rules
Compare with another firm → Add up to two more firms, pick the account size and plans.
Side-by-side comparison
| Rule | Lucid | Topstep |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest evaluation | $89$65.30 with VAULT (Flex 25K) | $49 |
| Billing | One-time | Monthly |
| Activation fee | No activation fee | $149 or no-fee plan |
| Drawdown | EOD (Daily funded: intraday) | EOD |
| Daily loss limit | Your choice at checkout | Optional (RTA) · required on LFA |
| Consistency | Flex/Daily 50% in eval · Pro funded 40% · Direct 20% | 55% in Combine · XFA Consistency 40% |
| Profit split | 90/10 | 90/10 |
| Payouts | Any day once eligible | 5 winning days $150+ · LFA daily after 30 days |
| News trading | Allowed (Daily funded: no Red Folder) | Allowed (no slippage refunds) |
| Max accounts | 10 eval · 5 Sim · 5 Live (per household) | Unlimited Combines · 5 XFA · 1 LFA |
| Profit target (50K) | Flex: $3,000 Pro: $3,000 Daily: $3,000 | Standard: $3,000 |
| Max contracts (50K, mini / micro) | Flex: 4 / 40 Pro: 4 / 40 Daily: 4 / 40 | Standard: 5 / 50 |
| Plans | Flex, Pro, Daily, Direct | Standard, No Activation Fee, XFA & RTA |
| Max funding | $750K | $750K |
| Platforms | NinjaTrader, Quantower, Rithmic, TradingView, Tradovate, TradeSea, DeepChart (Rithmic accounts, connection only) | TopstepX only |
| Discount code | VAULTPublic promo (not a partner code) | — |
Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss. Prop firm evaluations are paid products; most traders do not pass. Not financial advice.
Prices are the lowest list price before any coupon; the lowest price with a code is shown underneath where the provider displays one (or as a marked estimate). Each firm has several plans with different rules — open the full rulebook for size-by-size tables.
Who is better for what
- The lowest price you can payNo clear winner: the plans differ (billing or rule type), compare them plan by plan
- EOD drawdown tradersNo clear winner: the plans differ (billing or rule type), compare them plan by plan
- Keeping more of each payoutEven: both firms are the same on this rule
- Avoiding an activation feeLucid Trading
- News tradersTopstep: Allowed (no slippage refunds)
- Holding overnightEven on overnight holding: Lucid — No (Flex, Pro, Direct): auto-closed at 4:45 PM ET; Topstep — No: flat by 4:10 PM ET (3:10 PM CT) every weekday
- Automated trading (bots, EAs)Lucid Trading: Allowed within Lucid rules (no HFT or microscalping)
- Copying between accountsLucid Trading: Trade copiers allowed
Decided only by the rows above and the rules table (each value with its source and date). Partner status plays no part; where the data does not decide, we say so.
Lucid Trading
- Best for no activation fee — No activation fee on any plan · checked Oct 1
Four plans (Flex, Pro, Daily, Direct), one-time payment with no time limit, 90/10 at every stage and live funding up to $750K.
Pros
- 4 plans: Flex, Pro, Daily, Direct
- 90/10 with no activation fee
- LucidDaily: request a payout any day (min $500), no funded consistency rule
- LucidLive: real capital up to $750K, 90/10
- Choosing a DLL at checkout lowers price and reset cost
Watch out for
- Consistency varies: 50% in Flex/Daily eval, 40% Pro Funded, 20% Direct
- Daily funded: flat 1 min before/after Red Folder news — violation is a hard breach
- Household account limits and a profit target between payouts on Pro and Direct
Promotions recorded in the dataset
- Public code VAULT — Lucid's site banner: "For the best deal use code: VAULT". Confirm the final price at checkout. (Check provider)
- Limited-time offer: Pro 50K $115.40 — Limited-time offer on Lucid's site, end date not shown - check provider. (Check provider)
VAULT Best-deal code shown on Lucid's site banner Public promo (not a partner code) · manually verified Sep 29, 2026 on the official site
Visit Lucid ↗ Full rulebook →Topstep
- Best for EOD traders — EOD drawdown on every account · checked Oct 1
The industry veteran (since 2012, $1B+ paid out). Trading Combine → XFA → LFA, traded on TopstepX only.
Pros
- Longest-running firm, $1B+ in payouts
- 2 payment paths + RTA with doubled payout caps
- Back2Funded — reinstate an XFA without a new Combine
- No dollar cap on LFA payouts
- Same-day payouts for US traders
Watch out for
- Closed platform — TopstepX only
- $149 activation on the standard plan; one LFA only
- 55% Combine consistency
- Strict single max-loss rule at every stage
Promotions recorded in the dataset
- No firm-wide promo listed right now.
How to choose between them
- Drawdown: Lucid — EOD (Daily funded: intraday); Topstep — EOD. EOD drawdown only moves on the daily close, intraday drawdown also trails open profit.
- Consistency: Lucid — Flex/Daily 50% in eval · Pro funded 40% · Direct 20%; Topstep — 55% in Combine · XFA Consistency 40%. Check whether the rule applies in the eval, when funded, or both.
- Real cost: Lucid is one-time with no activation fee; Topstep is monthly with activation $149 or no-fee plan. Add resets to the math.
- Payouts: Lucid — Any day once eligible; Topstep — 5 winning days $150+ · LFA daily after 30 days.
Explore the comparison
See the futures prop firm comparison table, browse individual firm data, or read our comparison methodology.