Take Profit Trader Review 2026: Day One Payouts Are Real (But There’s a Catch)

Bottom Line Up Front: Take Profit Trader built their entire brand around one killer feature: withdraw from day one of your funded account. No 5-day waiting periods, no minimum profitable days, no payout windows, just hit the buffer requirement and pull your money. The trade-off? You’re trading a simulated PRO account (not live capital) until they invite you to PRO+, which requires $5K in profits. With an 80/20 split (90/10 at PRO+), a straightforward 1-step evaluation that can be passed in 5 days, and 4.4 stars on Trustpilot from 6,700+ reviews, TPT sits in the “fast and flexible” tier of futures prop firms. Founded in 2021 by former pro hockey player James Sixsmith, they’re newer than TopStep or Earn2Trade, but they’ve quickly carved out a niche for traders who value immediate access to profits over everything else.

Important things to note with Take Profit Trader:

During the challenge period, your Max-Loss trailstop method is the EOD drawdown, which trails your max loss value every day by the end of a day. However, once you pass the challenge and move to the Pro Account, your trailstop method will move to intraday real-time calculation which also considers unrealized profit as the high-watermark level, so you can get stopped out intraday. This is a huge disadvantage because it is more likely to get stopped out with the intraday method.

Another downside is the buffer zone for funded accounts, which requires to make it beyond the buffer zone before you can withdraw money. Basically, that means that the profit share at the beginning is 0/100, so 0% for you until you make it above the buffer zone and then you can only withdraw the amount above the buffer if you want continue trading.

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

What Is Take Profit Trader, Really?

Take Profit Trader (TPT) is the upstart challenger in the futures prop firm space. They launched in 2021, which makes them babies compared to TopStep (2012) or Earn2Trade (2016), but they’ve grown fast by solving one specific problem that drives traders absolutely insane: payout delays.

Most prop firms make you wait. Wait 5 days. Wait 10 days. Wait for the “payout window.” Wait for “minimum profitable days.” TPT said “screw that” and built their entire platform around instant access to your earnings.

The founder, James Sixsmith, has an interesting backstory. He was a professional hockey player who retired and dove into trading. Like most new traders, he got destroyed initially. But he eventually became profitable and founded “Trade Context” (a trading education company) in 2015 before launching TPT in 2021.

The company is based in Orlando, Florida. They’re US-registered, they use Tradovate as their regulated broker (NFA-regulated for live accounts), and they’ve been transparent about their process. Are they as established as TopStep? No. But they’re legitimate, they pay out (we’ll get to the Trustpilot evidence), and they’ve funded thousands of traders.

TPT’s value proposition is simple: Get funded fast, get paid fast. Everything else, the rules, the account structure, the platform, is built around speed and simplicity.

The Evaluation: One Step, Five Days Minimum

TPT runs a straightforward 1-step evaluation they call the “Test” phase. No 2-step nonsense. Pass once, get funded.

The Five Account Sizes

You pick your starting capital, and that determines everything, monthly cost, profit target, drawdown limit:

$25K Test Account

• Monthly fee: $150
• Profit target: $1,500 (6%)
• Maximum trailing drawdown: $1,500 (6%)
• Max position size: 3 minis / 30 micros

$50K Test Account

• Monthly fee: $170
• Profit target: $3,000 (6%)
• Maximum trailing drawdown: $2,000 (4%)
• Max position size: 6 minis / 60 micros

$75K Test Account

• Monthly fee: $245
• Profit target: $4,500 (6%)
• Maximum trailing drawdown: $3,000 (4%)
• Max position size: 9 minis / 90 micros

$100K Test Account

• Monthly fee: $330
• Profit target: $6,000 (6%)
• Maximum trailing drawdown: $4,000 (4%)
• Max position size: 12 minis / 120 micros

$150K Test Account

• Monthly fee: $360
• Profit target: $9,000 (6%)
• Maximum trailing drawdown: $4,500 (3%)
• Max position size: 15 minis / 150 micros

Notice the profit target is a consistent 6% across all account sizes. That’s reasonable, not asking you to double the account or pull miracles.

Also notice there’s no daily loss limit. TPT removed this in January 2025. That’s huge. Most firms have a hard daily stop that’ll freeze your account for the day. TPT only cares about the end-of-day trailing drawdown.

The Rules (Simple by Design)

TPT deliberately kept their evaluation simple. Here are the core rules:

Rule 1: Hit Your 6% Profit Target Make your profit goal. There’s no time limit, take as long as you need (though you’re paying monthly, so dragging it out costs you).

Rule 2: Don’t Exceed Maximum Position Size Each account has contract limits. $50K account = 6 minis or 60 micros max. Go over this even by one contract, and you’re instantly disqualified. The system will reject orders that exceed limits, but don’t rely on that, manage it yourself.

Rule 3: Don’t Hit End-of-Day Maximum Trailing Drawdown This is the killer. Your max drawdown trails your account’s peak balance, and it’s calculated end of day.

For the $50K account, your trailing drawdown is $2,000. If you close the day at $51,000, your new minimum is $49,000 (51,000 – 2,000). If you close at $48,900, you’ve breached, evaluation over.

The critical part: “end of day” means you can be down more than your max drawdown intraday and recover before 4 PM CT. This is way more forgiving than firms using intraday hard stops. (However, keep in mind, once funded with the Pro account, the trailstop method will move to intraday, which is not that cool.)

Rule 4: Trade Approved Products During Approved Hours You can trade CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX futures. Trading hours: 6 PM – 5 PM ET (23 hours daily).

No holding overnight, all positions must be closed by market close.

Rule 5: Be Consistent (The 50% Rule) No single trading day can account for more than 50% of your total profits.

Example: You’re on the $50K account with a $3,000 target. You have a monster day and make $2,000. That’s 66% of your target, which violates the 50% rule.

Solution: Keep trading until your total profits hit $4,000 or more. At that point, your $2,000 day is 50% or less.

This is the same consistency rule TopStep and Earn2Trade use. It’s designed to prevent “lottery ticket” trading. One huge winner doesn’t prove you can trade, repeatability does.

Rule 6: Trade at Least 5 Days You need a minimum of 5 trading days before you’re eligible to pass. So even if you nail your profit target in 2 days (it happens), you have to trade 3 more days to prove consistency.

Rule 7: Trade Once Per Week If you go 7 days without placing at least one trade (held for 1+ minute), your account is considered inactive and may be closed. This prevents people from subscribing and ghosting.

Rule 8: No Trading Bots Expert Advisors (EAs) and automated trading systems are prohibited. All trading must be manual or discretionary. They’re trying to avoid high-frequency algo strategies that might exploit their sim environment.

What’s NOT a Rule (And Why It Matters)

• No daily loss limit (removed January 2025)
• No scaling plan during evaluation (you can trade max size from day one)
• No minimum time requirement (pass in 5 days if you can)
• News trading allowed (during Test phase, restricted once funded)

The lack of a daily loss limit is legitimately huge. You can have a -$1,500 morning and fight your way back to positive by end of day without getting locked out. Most firms would freeze your account at the daily limit and force you to wait until tomorrow.

After You Pass: The Three-Tier System

This is where TPT gets interesting, and where the “day one withdrawals” marketing needs some context.

PRO Account (Stage 1): Sim Trading with Real Payouts

Pass your Test, pay a one-time $130 activation fee, and you’re in a PRO account. Setup is fast, usually 1-2 business days.

Here’s the crucial part: The PRO account is still simulated. Your orders aren’t hitting the real market. But the profits you make are real, and TPT pays you out based on your sim performance.

How does this work? TPT takes data from all their PRO traders’ activity and uses it to inform their actual trading through partner firms. Your profitable sim trading generates real P&L for them, and they share that with you. It’s similar to TopStep’s Express Funded model.

PRO Account Rules:

• Same maximum trailing drawdown as Test
• No profit target (trade however you want)
• No consistency rule (the 50% rule goes away)
• Still no overnight holds
• News lockout: Can’t trade 1 minute before/after Tier 1 news events (FOMC, NFP, etc.)
• Must trade at least once per week
• Trailstop method now intraday, not longer end of day

The Buffer Zone (Critical to Understand):

Here’s where the “day one withdrawals” claim gets nuanced. You can’t actually withdraw immediately when you hit PRO. You need to build a “buffer” first.

The buffer equals your maximum drawdown. For a $50K account with a $2,000 drawdown, you need to reach $52,000 before you can withdraw anything.

So the timeline looks like this:

1. Pass 50K Challenge at $53,000 by reaching the profit target
2. Activate PRO account → Starts at the account size of the chosen challenge ($50,000)
3. Need to reach $52,000 ($50K + $2K buffer)
4. All profits >52,000 you can withdraw on a 80/20 profit split
5. The buffer can also be withdrawn*, but then the account gets closed

*50% of buffer can be withdrawn if your account is younger than 60 days, once its older, 80% of the buffer can be withdrawn

So “day one withdrawals” is technically true if you passed your Test with enough cushion above the starting balance. But if you barely scraped by at $50,100, you’d need to trade up to $52,000 before withdrawing, that’s not day one.

Withdrawal Details:

• Profit split: 80/20 (you keep 80%)
• Frequency: Unlimited (no waiting periods or minimum days)
• Processing: 24 hours to wallet, then 12 hours for payout approval
• Methods: Plaid (US banks), PayPal, Wise
• Fees: Free over $250, $50 fee under $250

Example: You have a $50K PRO account at $54,000 balance. You’ve cleared the $52K buffer. You can withdraw $2,000 × 80% = $1,600. You get $1,600, TPT keeps $400.

The Buffer Lockup:

The buffer itself ($2,000 in this example) stays locked until you close your account. If you terminate your PRO account:

• Within 60 trading days: You get 50% of the buffer
• After 60 trading days: You get 80% of the buffer

So that $2,000 buffer pays you $1,000 or $1,600 depending on when you close the account. This is why TPT recommends keeping the buffer intact and withdrawing everything above it.

PRO+ Account (Stage 2): Live Trading

If you generate $5,000 in profit in your PRO account, TPT will send you an invitation to upgrade to PRO+. This is live trading with real capital through Tradovate (their NFA-regulated broker partner).

Here’s the controversial part: That $5,000 profit you made to qualify? It’s now “frozen” and used as your PRO+ starting balance. Some traders see this as paying $5K for access to live trading. TPT frames it as “your money, now deployed in a live environment.”

The reality: You’re not losing the $5K, it becomes your trading capital in PRO+. But you can’t withdraw it unless you grow it or close the account.

PRO+ Account Benefits:

• 90/10 profit split (you keep 90%)
• No buffer requirement (withdraw from day one for real)
• EOD drawdown (stays end-of-day like Test, doesn’t switch to live trailing)
• Live market execution (orders hit CME, CBOT, etc.)
• Same news lockout as PRO

PRO+ Account Drawback:

• You need $5K locked to access this tier
• Still have max trailing drawdown (lose control of risk limits)

The upgrade from PRO to PRO+ is discretionary, TPT sends you an offer when they determine you’re ready. Most traders who hit the $5K threshold get invited, but there’s no guaranteed timeline.

Multiple PRO Accounts

You can have up to 5 PRO accounts simultaneously. Want to trade ES on one, crude oil on another, and NQ on a third? Go for it.

This is great for diversification or testing different strategies across accounts. Just remember each account needs its own buffer built before you can withdraw, and each requires the weekly trade activity.

The Platforms: 15+ Options (NinjaTrader, TradingView, Tradovate)

TPT supports a wide range of platforms. They don’t have a proprietary platform (like TopStep’s TopStepX), so you’re choosing from established third-party options.

Most Popular Platforms

NinjaTrader (license required after funding) The go-to for serious futures traders. Advanced charting, order flow, DOM, automated strategy support. Free during Test, but you’ll need to buy a license for funded accounts ($600-$1,200).

TradingView Web-based, accessible from anywhere, no download needed. Great charting, but execution can lag compared to desktop platforms. Many traders use this during evaluation then switch to NinjaTrader or Tradovate for funded accounts.

Tradovate This is TPT’s partner broker for PRO+ live accounts. It’s fast, lightweight, and built for futures trading. If you plan to reach PRO+, you’ll end up on Tradovate eventually, so might as well learn it early.

Data Feeds

TPT supports both Rithmic and CQG data feeds. Which you need depends on your platform choice. Most platforms work with either, but check compatibility.

Data costs: Platforms may charge for data subscriptions. Budget for this, it’s typically $50-$200/month depending on which markets you’re trading.

Platform Costs

• Test accounts: Most platforms are free to use (though data feeds may cost extra)
• PRO accounts: Same, mostly free platform access
• PRO+ accounts: You’ll pay for Tradovate access and CME data ($105/month is standard)

The lack of a proprietary platform is both good and bad. Good: you’re not locked into a potentially inferior tool. Bad: you’re managing your own platform costs and compatibility.

What Trading This Actually Feels Like

Let me walk you through a typical evaluation journey with TPT, because the marketing doesn’t capture the day-to-day reality.

You buy the $50K Test for $170. The account activates immediately. You fire up NinjaTrader and connect to the Rithmic feed. Your dashboard shows:

• Current balance: $50,000
• Profit to target: $3,000 remaining
• Max trailing drawdown: $2,000 (minimum balance: $48,000)
• Days traded: 0 of 5 minimum

It’s Monday. You trade ES. You go long 3 contracts at 4,500. Market rips to 4,512. You’re up $1,800. You close. Great start.

But wait, $1,800 is 60% of your $3,000 target. You’ve triggered the consistency rule. You need to keep trading until your total profit hits $3,600 or more, at which point $1,800 is 50% or less.

Tuesday. You trade more cautiously. You make $400. Total profit: $2,200. You’re at $52,200.

Wednesday. You make $600. Total profit: $2,800. You’re at $52,800.

Thursday. You make $300. Total profit: $3,100. You’ve hit the target! But you’ve only traded 4 days. You need 5 minimum.

Friday. You trade defensively. Small scalps, just trying to add a day without giving back profits. You make $50. Total: $3,150. Days: 5.

You submit for approval. Within a few hours, you get the notification: “Congratulations! You passed the Test.”

You pay the $130 activation fee. Two days later, your PRO account is live with $53,150 starting balance.

Your buffer requirement: $52,000. You’re above it. You have $1,150 above the buffer available for withdrawal.

You request $1,000 withdrawal (keeping $150 as cushion). You get 80%: $800 to your bank account.

Processing: 24 hours to your TPT wallet, then 12 hours for payout approval. Total: 36 hours from request to bank account.

This is what “day one withdrawals” looks like in practice. You can’t literally withdraw on the first day of PRO (unless you passed Test way above buffer), but once you clear the buffer, the payout speed is legitimately fast.

Now you’re trading your PRO account, trying to build toward that $5K profit to qualify for PRO+. You make $2,000 over the next month. You withdraw $1,600 (80%). Your account is at $53,550.

Three months later, you hit $58,150 total ($8,150 in profits from the original $50K). You’ve cleared the $5K threshold. TPT sends you a PRO+ invitation.

You accept. Your PRO account closes. Your PRO+ account opens with your current balance: $58,150. But remember, the first $5K of that is “locked”, it’s your PRO+ starting capital. You now have $3,150 in profit above the $5K threshold, and you’re trading live capital on Tradovate.

From here, you keep 90% of profits with no buffer requirement. Every dollar you make above $58,150 can be withdrawn at 90%.

The Pass Rate: TPT Says 20.37%

TPT publishes an annual “trader success rate” of 20.37%. That’s roughly 1 in 5 traders passing the Test phase.

This is significantly higher than TopStep (12.4%) or Earn2Trade (10.42%). Why?

Several factors:

1. No daily loss limit makes it easier to recover from bad mornings
2. EOD trailing drawdown is more forgiving than intraday stops
3. 5-day minimum is fast (other firms require 10-15 days)
4. Simple rules mean fewer accidental disqualifications

But here’s the catch: Most traders who pass are stuck in PRO accounts. Very few make it to PRO+.

TPT doesn’t publish what percentage of PRO traders reach PRO+, but based on Trustpilot reviews and community discussion, it seems like less than 10% ever generate the $5K in sim profits needed for the invitation.

So the path looks like:

• 20% pass Test → PRO
• ~2% of original traders reach PRO+

This makes sense. If you can consistently generate $5K+ in a sim account, you’re already a legitimately skilled trader. Most people get stuck cycling through PRO accounts, making small profits, withdrawing, blowing the account, restarting.

The Trustpilot Reality Check: 4.4 Stars from 6,700+ Reviews

Let’s dig into what actual users are saying, because TPT’s Trustpilot has some revealing patterns.

What People Love

Fast payouts: This is the #1 praise. “Same-day payouts are king,” “got my money in 24 hours,” “fastest withdrawals in the industry.” TPT delivers on their core promise.

Responsive customer support: Multiple reviews specifically call out support reps (Eghie, Cyrine, Kath, Ryan V, Mark, Ricardo Rios) for being helpful and solving problems. The live chat seems genuinely useful.

Clear, simple rules: Traders appreciate the straightforward evaluation. “No hidden gotchas,” “rules are easy to understand.”

CEO engagement: James Sixsmith (the founder) is active in the community and responds to traders. This is unusual for a prop firm and builds trust.

Refund policy: TPT has run promotions where they refund your first month’s fee when you make your first withdrawal. People love this.

No hassle after passing: Several reviews mention TPT doesn’t make you jump through hoops after you pass. You get your PRO account fast.

What People Complain About

Customer service delays: While some praise support, others complain about 3-4 day response times, especially during high-volume periods. The ticket system apparently deletes tickets sometimes, forcing traders to resubmit.

Platform issues: Traders report frozen charts, delayed data, “non-tradable symbol” errors, and connection problems. These seem to be platform-specific (Tradovate issues, mostly) rather than TPT’s fault, but it impacts the user experience.

News lockout enforcement: A few traders got their PRO accounts terminated for having positions open during news events. The rule is clear (1 minute before/after Tier 1 news = prohibited), but traders complain they had small positions open accidentally. TPT doesn’t forgive rule violations.

Buffer requirement confusion: This is a big one. Many traders don’t understand the buffer system until after they pass Test. They think “day one withdrawals” means immediate access, then discover they need to build the buffer first. TPT could do better explaining this upfront.

50 transaction per day limit (funded accounts): Some negative reviews mention a cap on how many trades you can place daily in PRO accounts. Active scalpers hate this. TPT hasn’t publicly disclosed this limit clearly.

Double billing issues: Several complaints about duplicate charges. TPT does refund, but it takes time and requires customer support interaction.

Data feed problems: Traders report losing access to live market data in their PRO accounts, getting stuck with delayed data until support resolves it. This can take days.

5 PRO account limit: If you’ve blown 5 PRO accounts, you can’t activate new ones until you close an existing one. This frustrates traders who want to keep passing Tests to rebuild.

The Scam Allegations (And Why They’re Mostly Noise)

Like every prop firm, TPT has “SCAM!” reviews. The patterns:

“They liquidated my account during news without explanation!”

• TPT’s news lockout rule is explicit: no trading 1 minute before/after Tier 1 news. If you had a position open (even accidentally), that’s a hard rule violation. Traders don’t like it, but it’s clearly stated.

“They took my $5K profit when I upgraded to PRO+!”

• Not exactly. The $5K becomes your PRO+ starting balance, it’s not confiscated. But it is locked as your trading capital. This is clearly explained in their terms, though many traders miss it.

“Customer support ignored my tickets!”

• TPT’s support is legitimately slow sometimes, especially during high-volume periods. But they do respond eventually, and they tend to resolve issues. “Ignored” usually means “took 5 days to respond” rather than actual ghosting.

“My buffer disappeared when my account closed!”

• If you close a PRO account before 60 trading days, you get 50% of the buffer back, not 100%. Traders don’t read the fine print and get mad when they receive $1,000 instead of $2,000.

The reality: TPT has been operating since 2021, they’ve funded thousands of traders, and they process daily payouts. If they were a scam, they’d have been exposed and shut down by now. Most negative reviews come from traders who broke rules they didn’t fully understand or had unrealistic expectations about sim trading performance.

The Hidden Costs: What You’re Actually Paying

Let’s break down the real all-in cost of getting funded and trading with TPT.

Evaluation Costs

• Test account: $150-$360/month depending on size
• One-time PRO activation: $130 (all account sizes)

Most traders need 1-3 months to pass (if they pass). Budget $300-$900 in evaluation costs.

Platform Costs

• During Test: Most platforms free (data feeds may cost $50-$100/month)
• During PRO: Same as Test
• During PRO+: Tradovate access + CME data ($105/month standard)

Reset Fees

TPT doesn’t publish reset fees prominently, but based on community discussion, they’re around $100-$150 per reset. You can also just let your subscription renew to keep trying (no reset needed if you haven’t violated rules, just failed to hit target).

Withdrawal Fees

• Free: Withdrawals over $250
• $50 fee: Withdrawals under $250

So don’t withdraw $100 at a time, wait until you have at least $250 to avoid fees.

The $5K PRO+ “Entry Cost”

This is the big one. To access PRO+ (live trading with 90/10 split), you need to generate $5K in PRO profits. That $5K gets locked as your PRO+ capital.

Some see this as TPT taking $5K. Others see it as deploying your earnings into a live environment. The truth is somewhere in between, it’s your money, but it’s no longer liquid. You’re trading with it.

Total Cost to Get Funded

Let’s say you’re doing the $50K Test:

• Month 1: $170 (Test)
• Pass in Month 1
• PRO activation: $130

All-in to PRO account: $300

Compare that to risking $50K of your own capital. The prop firm model makes sense.

But if you want to reach PRO+ (live trading):

• $300 (to reach PRO)
• Trade for several months to generate $5K in sim profits
• $5K locked as PRO+ capital

Effective cost to live trading: $5,300

That’s a lot more expensive than the headline $300 suggests. But you’re also getting real $5K in trading capital (not just sim), so it’s not a pure cost, it’s locked equity.

Who Should Actually Use Take Profit Trader?

Let’s be brutally honest about who this is for.

This Is Perfect For:

• Traders who value fast payouts above everything else (that’s TPT’s killer feature)
• Scalpers and day traders who love the lack of daily loss limits
• People who want flexibility (5-day minimum, no scaling plan, unlimited withdrawals)
• Traders comfortable with sim trading (you’ll be in PRO for a while before PRO+)
• Anyone who hates waiting for payout windows or minimum day requirements

This Is NOT For:

• Traders who want live capital immediately (you need $5K in PRO profits to reach PRO+ live trading)
• People confused by the buffer system (it trips up a lot of traders)
• News traders (Tier 1 news lockout is strict in funded accounts)
• Beginners with less than 6 months experience (the 20% pass rate is generous but still challenging)
• Traders who need hand-holding support (customer service is responsive but slow during high volume)
• Anyone who wants maximum account sizes (capped at $150K per account, $750K total across 5 accounts)

How Take Profit Trader Compares to Competitors

Let’s put this in context.

TPT vs TopStep

• TopStep advantage: Better educational content, larger community, 90/10 profit split from day one, Live Funded accounts are truly live capital
• TPT advantage: Day one withdrawals (no waiting), no daily loss limit, faster minimum days (5 vs TopStep’s varies), cheaper monthly fees

TPT vs Earn2Trade

• Earn2Trade advantage: Free monthly resets (Career Path), structured account scaling, EOD drawdown in funded accounts
• TPT advantage: Faster evaluation (5 days vs 10), higher pass rate (20% vs 10%), day one withdrawals, no buffer in PRO+

TPT vs Apex Trader Funding

• Apex advantage: Cheaper evaluations (frequent 80-90% off sales), can pass in 1 day, more lenient rules
• TPT advantage: Better reputation, responsive support, daily payouts (Apex is slower), clearer rules

TPT vs Leeloo Trading

• Leeloo advantage: Instant funding (no evaluation), 100% profit split on Performance Accounts
• TPT advantage: Proper evaluation process teaches discipline, simpler structure, better support

The truth is, TPT carved out a specific niche: fast, flexible, focused on quick payouts. They’re not the cheapest (Apex), not the most established (TopStep), not the most educational (Earn2Trade), but they’re the fastest from pass-to-payout.

My Honest Take: Is Take Profit Trader Worth It?

After digging through everything, the program structure, the buffer mechanics, the reviews, the competitive landscape, here’s my genuine assessment.

TPT is legitimate. They’ve been operating since 2021, they process thousands of payouts, and the customer complaints are mostly about slow support or misunderstood rules, not missing payments or outright fraud.

The day one withdrawal marketing is true but nuanced. You CAN withdraw from day one of PRO… once you’ve built the buffer. If you passed Test with enough profit, you might literally withdraw on your first PRO day. If you barely passed, you’ll need to trade a bit more first. The payout processing is genuinely fast once you’re eligible (24-48 hours total).

The buffer system confuses people. TPT needs better upfront education about this. Too many traders get to PRO thinking they can withdraw immediately, then discover the buffer requirement. It’s all in the terms, but it’s not prominent enough in the marketing.

PRO accounts are sim trading, not live. This is clearly disclosed, but worth emphasizing: you’re trading a simulated environment until PRO+. Your profits are real (TPT pays you real money), but your orders aren’t hitting the exchange. For some traders, this doesn’t matter. For others, it’s a psychological barrier, it doesn’t “feel real.”

The $5K lockup for PRO+ is controversial. Some see it as paying $5K for live trading access. Others see it as deploying earned capital into a live environment. Personally, I lean toward “it’s your money, but now it’s locked working capital” rather than a fee. But I understand why it frustrates traders who thought they could withdraw that $5K and THEN get invited to PRO+.

The 20% pass rate is encouraging. This is one of the higher pass rates in the industry, thanks to the lack of daily loss limits and the EOD drawdown calculation. If you have a working strategy, you’ve got a decent shot at passing.

The customer support is hit-or-miss. When it works, it’s great, responsive reps who solve problems. When it doesn’t, you’re waiting 5+ days for a ticket response. This is a growing pain for a newer firm trying to scale.

The platform issues are annoying but not deal-breakers. Data feed problems, frozen charts, connection issues, these pop up in reviews. Most seem platform-specific (Tradovate glitches) rather than TPT’s infrastructure. But it impacts the trading experience.

My Recommendation

If you’re an intermediate futures trader (6+ months experience, profitable months under your belt) who values speed over everything else, TPT is one of the better options in 2026.

The lack of daily loss limits is huge for traders who need room to work their way out of bad positions. The 5-day minimum means you can get funded in a week if you nail the evaluation. And the daily payout processing is genuinely the fastest in the industry.

But temper your expectations on two fronts:

1. “Day one withdrawals” usually means “day one after you’ve built the buffer”, not literally the first day of PRO
2. PRO+ access requires generating $5K in sim profits, which is harder than it sounds, and locks that $5K as working capital

If you’re newer to trading (< 6 months) or you’re looking for maximum educational support, TopStep is probably a better fit. If you want the cheapest evaluations, Apex runs better promotions. If you want structured account scaling, Earn2Trade’s Career Path wins.

But if you want to pass an evaluation in 5 days, withdraw your first $800 in 48 hours, and have the flexibility to pull profits whenever you want (once above buffer), TPT delivers on that promise better than anyone else.

Final Verdict: 4 out of 5 Stars

What Take Profit Trader Does Exceptionally Well:

• Genuinely fast payouts (24-48 hours from request to bank account)
• Day one withdrawal eligibility (once buffer cleared)
• No daily loss limit (huge for recovery trading)
• EOD trailing drawdown (more forgiving than intraday stops)
• 5-day minimum evaluation (pass fast if you can)
• Higher pass rate than most competitors (20% vs industry 10-15%)
• Simple, clear rules (no complicated multi-step evaluations)
• Unlimited withdrawal frequency (no waiting periods or payout windows)
• Up to 5 PRO accounts simultaneously (good for diversification)
• 90/10 profit split at PRO+ (competitive)
• Active founder engagement (James Sixsmith responds to community)

What Needs Improvement:

• Buffer system is poorly explained in marketing (causes confusion)
• $5K lockup for PRO+ access (controversial requirement)
• Customer support can be very slow (3-5 days during high volume)
• Platform issues (data feed problems, frozen charts, connection glitches)
• PRO accounts are sim trading (not live capital until PRO+)
• News lockout enforcement is strict (no forgiveness for accidental violations)
• Withdrawal fees under $250 are steep ($50 fee)
• 50 transaction per day limit (not clearly disclosed, frustrates scalpers)
• No formal educational content (just rules and platform access)

The Bottom Line: Take Profit Trader is the “fast and flexible” option in the futures prop firm space. They’re not the most established, not the cheapest, not the most educational, but they’re the fastest from pass to payout, and that’s their core value proposition.

If instant access to profits is your top priority and you’re comfortable with sim trading until you prove yourself (via $5K in PRO profits), TPT is one of the better choices in 2026. The 20% pass rate, lack of daily loss limits, and 24-hour payout processing make this legitimately trader-friendly.

Just go in with realistic expectations about the buffer system, understand that PRO accounts are sim trading, and don’t expect white-glove customer service. TPT is a scrappy, fast-moving operation that prioritizes speed over polish, which is exactly what some traders want.