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When choosing a prop firm partner, traders have many choices. What makes SurgeTrader different from Funded Engineer?
Traders have many options to solve their challenge of undercapitalization. Specifically, though, why should you choose SurgeTrader vs. Funded Engineer? We’ve laid out the SurgeTrader vs. Funded Engineer differences below for you to make an informed decision.
 1 Phase Audition |
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 1 Phase Audition |
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|---|---|---|
| Date Established | August 2021 | April 2023 |
| Entry-Level Accounts ($25K – 50K) |  |
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| Mid-Tier Accounts ($100K – 250K) | |
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| Large Accounts ($500K) | |
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| $1 Million Accounts | |
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| Platforms: Both MT4 and MT5 | |
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| Minimum Time for Scaling Up | None | 3 Months |
| Wait Time for First Payout | None | 14 Days |
| Minimum Trading Days | None | None |
| Phase 1 Profit Target | 10% | 10% |
| Daily Loss Limit | 5% | 4% |
| Max Trailing Drawdown | 8% | 6% |
| Discount for Retries on Failed Auditions | 20% | None |
| Telephone Support Available | |
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| Affiliate Commissions Cutoff | None | 60 Days |
| Affiliate Commissions on Existing Customers | |
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* Logos and trademarks belong to their respective owners and are included here for comparison purposes only. This comparison is accurate as of November 06, 2023
SurgeTrader is different from Funded Engineer in several important ways. SurgeTrader offers exceptionally simple 1 Phase and 2 Phase funding models, where traders take an Audition with clear rules, no minimum trading days and no time restrictions.
With our 1 Phase program, SurgeTraders trade in their Audition account in a demo environment, where they must reach a 10% profit target, which is the same target amount that Funded Engineer requires in their 1 step challenge. But when it comes to the drawdown limits, SurgeTrader offers a more generous 5% daily drawdown limit and 8% maximum trailing drawdown, as compared to Funded Engineer’s tighter 4% daily and 6% trailing drawdowns. Those limits are the main contributors to passing or failing an Audition, and those extra few percentage points can make all the difference.
Beyond Funded Engineer’s much tighter drawdown limits, traders will also find the rules and time restrictions for scaling up accounts at Funded Engineer to be much more complex and restrictive than at SurgeTrader.
Firms like SurgeTrader offer Auditions in order to assess the skills of each trader who wishes to gain access to a funded account. The Audition process allows us to identify the best traders, and also protects our firm’s capital. Our rules for the 1 Phase Audition include an 10% profit target for the first phase, and we have no minimum trading days or maximum time limits. Funded Engineer’s 1 Step Turbo Challenge operates with these same limits, but their drawdown limits are much tighter. SurgeTraders operate with 1 full percentage point higher daily drawdown to work with, and an extra 2 percentage points of max trailing drawdown as well. These limits are what make or break most Auditions or challenges, so why purchase a challenge that does not give as much room for you to trade on your terms? Funded Engineer’s strict drawdowns are a primary reason why traders may prefer SurgeTrader’s Audition as their pathway to a funded account.
When we developed SurgeTrader, we asked ourselves, “How can we stand out?” The answer is incredible customer service that goes above and beyond our competitors. We’ve committed significant resources so that traders can speak to a live person and ask questions or get support by phone, chat or email. Funded Engineer do not publish a phone number, so there’s no way to easily get a live person on the phone to help you with complex issues that may arise. And, their team operates on Dubai business hours, which means for traders in the US and Canada, Funded Engineer’s support team is unavailable during your afternoon trading times.
Before you decide to partner with any trading firm, consider how soon after you make a profit on a funded account you can get your first payout. With Funded Engineer, you have to wait 14 days after you make your first trade before you can get paid. But with SurgeTrader, there is no wait time for your first payout. If you achieve a profit on the first day that you have a funded account, you can request your payout.
Passing an audition can be challenging. Sometimes the market moves against your trades, and you fail the audition and lose your account. At SurgeTrader, we want to encourage you to keep trading because even the most successful traders have blown an account (or several!) along their journey. We therefore provide a 20% discount on all retries of our Auditions. At Funded Engineer, they charge full price for the retries (they say this is because they don’t impose time limits…. But neither do we!).
When you achieve the profit target in SurgeTrader’s 1 Phase Audition, you will have the option to move directly into your funded account, or, choose to scale up to the next-largest account size, which is at least double the size of your current account. It does not matter how quickly or slowly you hit your profit target, you can scale up immediately once you achieve the required profit. That means you can move from a $100,000 account to a $250,000 account just as soon as you can pass the 1 Phase Audition (no minimum or maximum trading days!). With Funded Engineer, you will need to wait at least 3 months in order to scale up for the first time; you will need to process at least 3 withdrawals during that period and, you still must have a higher balance after these 3 withdrawals than your initial starting balance. Only then can you get your first scale up, and that will only be 25% of your original balance. So, on a $100,000 account, after 3 months, you would still only have a $125,000 balance to work with – just half the size of the funded account that you could have been awarded by SurgeTrader!
SurgeTrader has one of the strongest affiliate programs in the industry, offering commissions on every sale that uses an affiliate’s promotion code or link, for as long as that affiliate’s account remains open. At Funded Engineer, affiliates only earn commissions on orders from their referrals for the first 60 days that referral accounts are open, but not on any of their purchases after the 60 days expire. In addition, SurgeTrader affiliates earn commissions on their referral sales no matter if the referral might be an existing SurgeTrader; but at Funded Engineer, there are no commissions paid if a referral happens to already have an account.
Proprietary (prop) trading firms fill a critical role, providing traders capital to grow. But they won’t hand over their money to just anyone. Each company requires something different. So, how do you choose the right partner? Which questions should you ask?
We compiled a list of the top 15 questions you need to know before signing up with ANY prop firm.
Transparency is key to making an informed decision. Directly compare features from our competitors to see why SurgeTrader is one of the fastest growing prop firms worldwide.
* Standard profit share of 75% can be increased to 90% with add-on purchase.
** Standard Leverage can be increased up to 20:1 with add-on purchase & applies only to FX & metals.
Choose the account tier that works for you & start earning more on your trading activity.
* Standard profit share of 75% can be increased to 90% with add-on purchase. ** Standard Leverage of 10:1 can be increased up to 20:1 with add-on purchase & applies only to FX & metals.
* Standard profit share of 80% can be increased to 90% with add-on purchase.
** Leverage: FX & Metals 50:1 , Oils and Indices 10:1, Individual stocks 5:1, Cryptocurrencies 2:1
Choose the account tier that works for you & start earning more on your trading activity.
* Standard profit share of 80% can be increased to 90% with add-on purchase. ** Leverage: FX & Metals 50:1 , Oils and Indices 10:1, Individual stocks 5:1, Cryptocurrencies 2:1
