Time limits
While neither firm forces you to pass within a specific month, they both limit your progress through minimum trading requirements. At FunderPro, you cannot rush an Instant account; you are forced to trade for at least 5 profitable days where each day must achieve a minimum of +0.5% profit. On their Classic and Pro tracks, you are also tethered to minimum trading days displayed on your dashboard. Orion Funded imposes a 4-day minimum trading limit on its Standard, Swing, and Select evaluations, preventing you from advancing even if you hit the profit target on day one. Furthermore, FunderPro imposes a strict 30-day inactivity rule: if you don't place or close a trade for a month, your account is terminated with no option for a refund.
Weekends and news
Trading freedom is heavily curtailed when the markets are most volatile or closed. At FunderPro, you cannot hold positions over the weekend in Challenge or Funded accounts unless you pay for the "Swing Add-On"; without it, everything must be closed by Friday afternoon. News trading is also restricted in their Funded and Instant accounts unless you have specific add-ons, and even then, a 2-minute "no-trade" window applies around major releases. Orion Funded also restricts news trading on its Nova, Standard, and Select funded accounts, banning any execution 2 minutes before or after high-impact events. If you trade news on an Orion Zero account, you aren't banned, but you are penalized: you lose half your profit, as the split drops to 50% for those specific trades.
Where you can trade from
Geography acts as a hard barrier for both firms. FunderPro does not allow traders from Afghanistan, Belarus, Central African Republic, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, South Sudan, Russia, and specific regions of Ukraine (Crimea, Donetsk, etc.). Orion Funded has an even more extensive list of exclusions, including its own headquarters' home, the United Arab Emirates. You cannot trade from Orion if you are in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, or several island nations like Fiji and Grenada, effectively barring residents of these regions from accessing their capital.
What the platform limits
The technical environment restricts your strategy and your tools. FunderPro limits you to MetaTrader 5, TradeLocker, and cTrader; if you rely on MetaTrader 4, you cannot trade here. They also prohibit third-party EAs on Instant accounts unless you own the source code. Orion Funded restricts you to MetaTrader 5 and Match-Trader. Orion is particularly restrictive regarding strategy: Martingale is strictly prohibited, as is "tick scalping" and any HFT (High-Frequency Trading) designed to exploit the simulated environment. You cannot use Orion to copy signals from third parties or external services, limiting you strictly to your own manual or automated execution.
What the rules cost you
The financial structure of these firms limits your ability to recover your initial investment or maintain a large safety margin. FunderPro's "Classic" $100,000 challenge costs $539, and you cannot get that money back until you successfully pass and claim your first reward; Pro Challenges offer no refund at all. Their drawdown is fixed at 10%, but on Instant accounts, it becomes a 6% trailing drawdown, which limits your flexibility as the "floor" moves up with your profits. Orion Funded makes you wait even longer for your money: the evaluation fee is only refunded with the fourth payout. Additionally, Orion's Nova model might look cheap with a $7 entry, but it hides a massive limitation: you cannot access the funded stage without paying an activation fee (e.g., $669 for a $100k account).
Restrictions that add up
The combined effect of these rules creates a restrictive environment for the trader. In FunderPro, the 30-day inactivity rule combined with the news trading restrictions means you are forced to find trades even in quiet markets, but you are banned from the most liquid moments unless you pay for extras. In Orion Funded, the 20% "Best Day" consistency rule on Zero and Nova accounts, combined with the 4th-payout refund delay, means you cannot rely on a single windfall to get paid; you are forced to trade with extreme consistency over several months just to see your initial fee returned. These layers of rules ensure that any deviation from a very specific, high-frequency but low-volatility style results in account loss or withheld profits.
Frequently asked questions
Which firm is more expensive to get a $100,000 account, FunderPro or Orion Funded?
FunderPro is generally more expensive upfront for a standard two-step evaluation, charging $539 for a $100,000 account. Orion Funded's Standard $100,000 challenge costs $629. However, Orion's "Nova" model has a deceptive cost: while the entry is only $7, you must pay a $669 activation fee after passing to get funded, making the total cost for Orion Nova ($676) significantly higher than FunderPro's standard offer.
Which firm has stricter news trading rules, FunderPro or Orion Funded?
Both firms are restrictive, but Orion Funded is arguably stricter for most users. In Orion's Nova, Standard, and Select funded accounts, you are prohibited from opening or closing trades within 2 minutes of news. FunderPro also restricts news in funded accounts, but they offer a "Swing Add-On" that allows more flexibility. Notably, Orion Zero accounts penalize news trades by reducing the profit split to 50%, whereas FunderPro simply restricts the execution.
How do the refund policies compare between FunderPro and Orion Funded?
FunderPro is faster in returning your investment, as the fee is credited back after you pass the challenge and claim your first reward (on Classic and One-Phase accounts). Orion Funded is much more restrictive, as the fee is only refunded with your fourth payout, forcing you to remain profitable and active for a much longer period before seeing your money back.
Which firm imposes more restrictions on trading strategies like EAs and Martingale, FunderPro or Orion Funded?
Orion Funded is more restrictive regarding specific strategies, as it strictly prohibits Martingale and tick scalping across all accounts. FunderPro allows Martingale and EAs more broadly, provided you own the bot and it does not exploit technical latencies. Orion also limits EA usage to your own proprietary strategies and bans third-party signal copying, which FunderPro is generally more lenient with outside of their Instant program.
