Topstep Scaling Plan Explained: Contract Limits by Account Balance

The Topstep scaling plan decides how many contracts you can hold in an Express Funded Account, and it starts lower than most traders expect. A new 50K XFA begins at a $0 balance and a 2-lot limit. That is two NQ minis, or twenty MNQ micros, total. Everything above that has to be earned one balance tier at a time.

Rules as of September 30, 2026. Topstep shows the tier chart as an image on its scaling plan help page (last updated July 16, 2026), so we cross-checked the numbers below against two current third-party write-ups. They matched. Your TopstepX dashboard is the final word for your account.

What is the Topstep scaling plan?

It is an XFA objective that sets your maximum position size from your account balance. The bigger the cushion you have built, the more contracts you can hold at once.

Three things trip people up straight away:

• It is an XFA rule. The Trading Combine uses a fixed maximum instead: 5 minis on a 50K, 10 on a 100K, 15 on a 150K.
• Your XFA balance starts at $0. The "50K" is buying power, not money in the account. The scaling tiers read the profit you have made since the account opened.
• It does not apply to Live Funded accounts. Those use Topstep's Dynamic Live Risk Expansion instead.

So a trader who passed a 50K Combine holding 5 minis opens the XFA and gets 2. Same person, same strategy, 60% less size. Plan for that before the first session, not during it.

Topstep scaling plan table: contract limits by balance

These are the Topstep contract limits in mini-contract equivalents ("lots"):

Read the table by account. The Topstep scaling plan 50K version tops out at 5 lots once you reach $2,000. The 100K needs $3,000 to reach its 10-lot ceiling. The 150K needs $4,500 for all 15.

The takeaway: a 150K XFA does not give you 15 contracts on day one. Below $2,000, a 50K, 100K and 150K XFA are within one lot of each other.

When your limit goes up (and when it goes back down)

Your max contracts do not change mid-session. Cross $1,500 at 10:15 ET on a 50K and you still have 2 lots for the rest of that session. The third lot is there when the next session opens.

The tier follows your balance, so it works in both directions. Finish a session back under a threshold and the lower limit is the one waiting for you next session. That matters after a losing day. A 50K trader at $2,100 who drops $200 is back to 3 lots, not 5.

Before each session, open the risk settings in TopstepX and read the number it shows for that session. Do not work it out from memory.

How micros and minis count toward Topstep max contracts

Topstep max contracts are counted in minis. Micros convert at 10 to 1:

• 1 NQ mini = 1 lot
• 10 MNQ micros = 1 lot
• 1 NQ + 5 MNQ = 1.5 lots

Two exceptions come straight from Topstep's page. Micro Silver counts at 5 to 1, not 10 to 1. Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether are capped at mini-equivalent sizes. If you trade either, check the limit before you size in.

The limit is on everything you hold at one time, across instruments. One NQ and one ES is 2 lots. On a fresh 50K XFA that is the whole allowance.

Five ways traders break the scaling plan by accident

Almost nobody breaks this rule on purpose. It happens in the middle of a trade.

1. Adding to a winner. You are long 2 NQ on a 50K XFA, it runs, you add 5 MNQ. That is 2.5 lots on a 2-lot account.
2. Two entry orders filling together. A limit order and a stop entry both sitting in the book fill in the same fast candle. Now you hold double what you planned.
3. Assuming the new tier is live. You crossed $2,000 at lunch and sized to 5 lots in the afternoon. The new limit starts next session.
4. Forgetting another market is open. A leftover ES position plus a fresh NQ entry counts as one combined position.
5. Treating Micro Silver like MNQ. Twenty Micro Silver contracts are 4 lots, not 2.

Topstep is lenient about genuine mistakes. According to its help page, an error corrected in under 10 seconds is ignored. Leave too many contracts on for 10 seconds or longer and the account may be reviewed. The 10 seconds is for fixing a mistake, not for size you meant to take.

How we'd size a 50K XFA around the scaling plan

The maximum is not a target. Treat each tier as a ceiling you do not have to touch.

Here is how we'd approach a fresh 50K XFA, trading NQ:

• $0 to $1,500 (2 lots): trade MNQ, not NQ. Ten MNQ is 1 lot, which leaves a full lot spare for mistakes. At $2 a point per MNQ, 10 micros is $20 a point, so a 25-point stop is $500.
• $1,500 to $2,000 (3 lots): stay on micros and add size only where the setup is strongest. The tier is a buffer, not an invitation.
• $2,000 and up (5 lots): 1 NQ mini ($20 a point) plus micros is enough for most intraday setups.

That plan grows slowly on purpose. The scaling plan is built to protect the cushion while it is thin. The traders we see get stuck are the ones who spend the whole allowance on every trade. One bad fill at full size puts them back a tier.

Sizing also feeds straight into your other rules. A single outsized day can wreck your ratio under the consistency rule, which we cover in prop firm consistency rule explained. The same pattern is behind most of the why traders fail prop firm evaluations list.

Before an entry, MyTradingBuddy Ai checks your screenshot against the plan you wrote, including your size cap for that session. You still decide and you still click. See MyTradingBuddy plans.

Topstep scaling plan FAQ

Does the scaling plan apply to the Trading Combine? No. The Combine has a fixed maximum (5, 10 or 15 minis by account size). The table above is for the XFA.

Is Topstep express funded account scaling the same for every product? Mostly. Everything counts in mini equivalents at 10 to 1, except Micro Silver (5 to 1) and Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether (capped at mini-equivalent sizes).

What happens if I go over by accident? Fix it inside 10 seconds and Topstep ignores it. Longer than that and the account may be reviewed.

Does my limit drop after a losing day? It follows your balance. Close a session below a tier and the lower limit applies from the next session.

Where do I see my current limit? In TopstepX's risk settings, for the next session. That beats any table, including this one.

Related reading

• How to pass Topstep: the Combine rules before you ever reach an XFA
• How to pass a prop firm challenge: our hub on process over edge
• Prop firm consistency rule explained

Nothing here is financial advice. The firm's live rulebook wins if it disagrees with this page.