Home › Market News › Copy That! What is a Trade Copier?
In this article you’ll learn:
Every trader knows the feeling of holding on for that big target. The trade pulls back, your P&L starts moving down, and your pulse spikes. You know the setup is good, but the longer you hold, the louder the voice in your head yells: “What if it reverses?”
Now imagine this: instead of sweating one oversized trade, you split your goal into smaller, manageable trades spread across several accounts.
That’s where trade copiers come in.
You might have heard of the term trade copying as an alert service. Where a “Guru” sends you their entries and exits, and you copy them. That is not what we’re talking about here (and we would never recommend doing that).
A trade copier is a tool that lets you place a trade in one account and automatically copy that order into your other accounts. It’s still your plan, your trading strategy, and your trade execution. You’re just running it across multiple accounts with one click.
Let’s break down exactly how it works.
At Topstep, we call them base hit traders. Instead of chasing home runs and trying to hit a big target in a single account, they break that goal into smaller trades that are easier to manage. They take what the market gives them, lock in those steady wins, and let them add up.
Let’s say your daily profit goal is $1,500. You could try to hit that with one big trade in a single account. Or you could break that goal into five smaller trades of $300 each across five accounts.
Same target. Very different trading experience.
With a trade copier, you can link accounts together so that when you place the trade once in your main (leader) account, it automatically copies to your other (follower) accounts. Each trade is lighter and easier to manage.
Breaking the target into smaller trades means:
Instead of forcing a home run trade, you’re letting a series of base hits get you there. Clean, controlled, and repeatable.
If you have been in the markets long enough, you know there is no such thing as “extra rewards” without extra risk. When you win across multiple accounts, those wins can stack up fast. But when you lose, it adds up just as quickly. A $300 loss in five accounts is $1,500 out the door in one move.
That’s why the best traders treat risk like part of the plan, not an afterthought. If you are going to spread trades across accounts, you need guardrails that keep things in check.
That’s where TopstepX comes in. It is a trading platform with a built-in trade copier and risk limit features designed to keep you in control:
With TopstepX, you can scale smarter. You trade your plan, and the platform enforces your risk rules automatically while using the built-in trade copier.
See it in action! Coach Robert breaks down the TopstepX Trade Copier in 5 minutes or less!
If you are new to prop trading, here is the crash course.
In a prop firm like Topstep, you do not start by trading your own money. You pay for a chance to prove your skill in a simulated environment, and when you pass, the firm moves you into a funded account where you can take payouts. At Topstep, you keep 90% of the profits, and the firm covers the losses.
You can learn more about Topstep here.
Once you are a funded trader, that is where a trade copier can help you scale. Prop firms like Topstep let you manage up to five funded accounts at once. This allows traders to link their accounts on TopstepX and 5x their opportunity (and losses if they’re not careful).
This is not about avoiding risk. It is about using risk more efficiently. You still trade with discipline.
You still follow your strategy. Now you are trading smaller across several accounts with technology that helps you scale your edge.
Copy Trade At Topstep Today
Trade copiers are not magic, and they are not shortcuts. They are tools that help you take the pressure off any single trade so you can stay focused on your setups.
If holding out for $1,500 in one trade feels like torture, stack smaller wins that add up to the same goal. With TopstepX, you get a trade copier built into the platform and risk features that keep you in control, so you can scale across accounts without adding stress to your day.
Trading is not about swinging once and hoping. It is about steady, repeatable base hits that build over time.
Learn more about how you can use a trade copier at Topstep, on TopstepX today!
A trade copier in trading is a tool that allows you to place a trade in one account and automatically copy it into other linked prop firm accounts. It is used by day traders who manage multiple accounts (lead account and follower accounts) and want to scale their strategies more efficiently.
No. Trade copying is not the same as following trade alerts or copying another trader’s signals. A trade copier only mirrors your own trades across multiple accounts, so you remain in full control of your strategy and execution.
Prop firm day traders use trade copiers to manage multiple live funded accounts more efficiently. By spreading trades across several accounts, they can use smaller position sizes per account, reduce stress on individual trades, and still work toward the same profit goals.
Yes. When trading with a trade copier, both profits and losses are multiplied across accounts. This is why risk management is critical and why preferred trading platforms like TopstepX include built-in risk features such as personal daily loss limits and contract caps to help traders stay disciplined.
TopstepX offers a fully integrated trade copier that works directly in the trading platform without third-party software. It includes risk management tools like trade brackets, daily loss locks, and contract limits, making it a safer and more efficient way to scale trades across multiple accounts.
