Expert has no extra daily cap beyond the $3,000 trail
The published comparison line is 3% on the day and 3% on the maximum. On Expert those two percentages collapse into one end-of-day trailing floor of $3,000. There is not a second intraday leash sitting under it. The floor updates from the closed session and can lock at the starting balance plus $100. FundingPips Standard keeps a $5,000 day and a static $10,000 that does not trail, taken from the higher of balance or equity at 00:00 UTC+3.
Expert's minimum is one trading day and the target is 6%, or $6,000. FundingPips wants $8,000 and then $5,000 across three days. A trader who tries to make the futures $6,000 before the cash open settles is the trader the firm warns about. One oversized NQ position on the first candle can print the whole trail. The $249 you saved versus a FundingPips fee does not refill it.
Starter keeps a 40% rule that Expert threw away
Starter pays after five winning days and applies a 40% consistency rule. Forty percent of a $6,000 target is $2,400. Expert drops that rule, which is why a one-day pass is even legal. Mix the two plans up and you will either overtrade Expert into the trail or undertrade Starter and then discover the payout still wants the 40% shape. The first $10,000 can be paid at 100%, then 90%. Expert withdrawals run about every 14 days.
FundingPips pays Tuesday at 60%, bi-weekly at 80%, on-demand at 90% with a score, or monthly at 100%. Its 45% score is for Zero and on-demand, not for the 2-step you are comparing with Expert. Open a Venasri account and write Expert or Starter on the card. The fee is the same conversation. The rule is not.
Flat before the Friday CME close
Futures positions must be closed before the Friday afternoon CME close, with the session rolling through 4:10 PM ET and 5:00 PM ET. There is no weekend hold to compare with a FundingPips swing. Evaluation news is allowed. Funded Starter and sim-funded tiers pick up tier-1 restrictions. EAs are allowed inside CME modification limits, on Tradovate, NinjaTrader, TradingView, or Quantower.
FundingPips is the MT5 book, with a five-minute funded news window and a source-ownership rule for full entry bots. Bot controls cover that login only. After the futures flatten, that is the hour gold is still moving in Dubai. Do not spend the FundingPips day repairing an NQ loss the trail already booked.
Leave $600 under the $3,000 lock
Equity Guard on Expert should flatten while the day's loss is still near $2,400, inside the $3,000 end-of-day trail. If the account has already locked the trail $100 above the start, a giveback to flat is almost the whole life of the book. Measure from the locked floor, not from the morning balance. FundingPips still flattens near $4,250 and needs a partial before UTC+3 when open profit is large.
One NQ point is $20. A 20-point stop on one contract is $400. Seven of those are $2,800, which is the flatten zone on a fresh trail. Four contracts with that stop are $1,600 each, and two losses are over. The one-day pass is available. It is not a reason to use the contract cap on the opening print.
