Top One Futures vs ROMER

Top One’s ban on bots

Top One Futures doesn’t allow automated trading on any of its accounts. “At Top One Futures, we do not allow the use of Expert Advisors (EAs) or Bots on our accounts,” says its EA and bot article. The prohibited practices page goes further: “Use of any automated trading system, script, bot, Expert Advisor (EA), or high-frequency execution tool is strictly forbidden. All trades must be entered manually or semi-manually by the trader.” The terms and conditions also list bots, EAs and automated trading systems as prohibited. We found no page that defines “semi-manually”.

Fast trading is caught by a timer. “All trades must remain open longer than 10 seconds,” the prohibited practices page says, and the terms ban “High-frequency trading (HFT) or tick scalping (holding trades for less than 10 seconds).” The minimum trade time article is exact about it: a trade held 10.00 seconds breaks the rule and one held 10.01 seconds doesn’t, and closing any part of a position inside 10 seconds counts as a violation. A few short trades are tolerated. If roughly half or more of your trades or profits break the rule, Top One removes the profits from those trades. Latency arbitrage and quote stuffing are banned too. For firms that draw the line elsewhere, see which prop firms allow HFT.

You can trade from a VPS. “At Top One Futures, we permit the use of Virtual Private Servers (VPS) with static IP addresses for trading purposes,” its IP rules article says. You have to tell support in advance, give them the server’s IP address with an invoice from the VPS provider that shows it, and register that IP. With bots banned, a VPS at Top One is for a trader who places orders by hand and wants a stable connection. The same article contradicts itself on VPNs, calling them “not advised” in one section and listing “Using a VPN (strictly prohibited)” in its summary.

Accounts and list prices

Every product trades CME Group futures, including CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX contracts (instruments), through Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView or BlackArrow (platforms). All of it is day trading: asked about overnight holds, the help centre answers “No, traders must close all positions by 4:10 PM EST” (overnight rule). These are list prices from the home page on 1 October 2026.

Elite Daily is a monthly evaluation, $218 a month for 50K until you pass. “Unlike other plans, Elite Daily has no activation fee,” its overview says. The 50K has a $3,000 target, a $2,000 maximum loss that trails the end-of-day balance and a $1,000 daily loss limit. One article can’t decide what happens when an evaluation hits that limit: the daily loss limit article says a breach “results in a pause”, and its own summary says “Evaluation breach = failed account”. Funded Elite Daily accounts pay daily at 90%, from $500 up to $1,000 a request on 50K, with $2,500 left in the account as a buffer (payout rules).

Elite Access is a one-time evaluation that you can pass in a single day. The 50K is listed at $218, and after passing you pay a $189 activation fee (activation fees). Its funded payouts need five profitable days of at least $250, and each request is capped at $1,500 (payout requirements).

Two products skip the evaluation altogether. Instant Sim Funded is listed at $679 for 50K and Ignite at $398.

From sim to pre-live to live

Funded accounts are simulated. The home page says “any profits or losses in this account are simulated”, though they can still earn real payouts.

The path to live begins after three successful payouts from one sim funded account, or five on Elite Daily, when a risk manager reviews you and either keeps you in sim or moves you on. Top One says “most traders will first be placed in a pre-live trading environment that mirrors their Sim Funded account conditions”, and pre-live is still simulated. You can’t decline the move and stay in sim, and your other accounts close when it happens. A live 50K account starts at a $0 balance with a $2,000 end-of-day loss limit, no daily loss limit and no payout cap. “When a trader is moved to a live account, their profit split will go from 90/10 to 80/20.” Live traders also pay $140 a month per exchange for professional market data, and setting up the broker account takes two to three weeks.

What ROMER allows that Top One doesn’t

ROMER is the funded-trader program we run, so this page has a stake in the comparison. ROMER’s terms are planned.

The two firms take opposite views of automation. Top One bans bots in every form, and ROMER is built for them: bots, algos and HFT are allowed at every stage. Top One requires every trade to last more than 10 seconds. At ROMER the exchange’s message limits apply, and spoofing and other manipulation are banned. Algos run on our own hardware, placed in the exchange’s data centre (colocation).

Trading by hand is allowed at ROMER as well. Your hand orders go through our hardware at the exchange, but they still travel over the network from your own computer first, so they don’t get the speed an algo running on that hardware gets.

An algo reaches real capital after two simulated stages. Stage 1 lasts at least 3 trading days and asks for a 6% profit target with a 4% trailing maximum loss and a 2% daily loss limit. Stage 2, Verification, repeats the pass over at least 10 new trading days. At Top One, a risk manager reviews your payout history; at ROMER, selection comes after the second pass, and the best algos are then funded with our own capital on the real exchange. The trader keeps 80% of real profits, the same share as a Top One live account. Funding isn’t guaranteed.

Planned pricing for the $50K Pro plan is $249 a month with no activation fee, against $218 a month for Top One’s Elite Daily 50K. Our fee covers your algo’s place on our hardware in the exchange’s data centre. ROMER trades futures and digital-asset derivatives.

Which trader goes where

If you trade futures by hand, hold each trade for more than 10 seconds and are happy to be flat by 4:10 PM EST, Top One gives you a choice of monthly or one-time evaluations, daily payouts on Elite Daily and a 90% share while you’re in sim.

If any part of your strategy is automated beyond what “semi-manually” could cover, Top One rules it out, and ROMER is designed for it. Funded Futures Network is another futures option for a slower bot, since it allows automation at its own discretion.