> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.surgecardano.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.surgecardano.com/strategies/overview.md). # Choosing a strategy Surge offers five strategy types. Each is a bet on a different kind of market behaviour, and each has a different relationship with fees. This page helps you pick; each strategy has its own full page. ### At a glance | Strategy | You are betting on | Trades when | Wallets | Runs where | Pause persists across browsers? | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | -------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | | [Grid](/strategies/grid.md) | Price chopping inside a band | The price crosses one of your rungs | 1 strategy wallet | Surge servers, signed in your tab | No | | [DCA](/strategies/dca.md) | Time in the market | A fixed interval elapses | 1 strategy wallet | **Your browser tab** | No | | [Sequential arbitrage](/strategies/sequential-arbitrage.md) | Price gaps between DEX's | The gap covers all fees plus your minimum profit | 1 strategy wallet | Surge servers, signed in your tab | No | | [Parallel arbitrage](/strategies/parallel-arbitrage.md) | Price gaps between DEX's | The gap covers all fees plus your minimum profit | 2 strategy wallets | Surge servers, signed in your tab | No | | [Rule-based](/strategies/rule-based.md) | Your own price levels | The market reaches a level | 1 strategy wallet | Surge servers, signed in your tab | No | | [Cadence (Volume)](/strategies/cadence-volume.md) | Nothing. It executes a schedule. | Its timetable says so | 1–5 strategy wallets | Surge servers, signed in your tab | **Yes** | All five trade only while your tab is open. See [How non-custodial works](/getting-started/how-non-custodial-works.md). ### Choose by goal * You expect a token to move sideways for a while: **Grid**. It needs enough spacing between rungs to beat about 6–7 ADA of round-trip fees — the builder tells you the minimum investment for the range you chose. * You want to accumulate (or exit) a token gradually without watching the chart: **DCA**. Keep each order large enough that the flat fees (around 2–3 ADA per order) are a small fraction of it. * You have wallets on two or more DEX's and want to harvest the difference between them: **Arbitrage**. Choose [Sequential arbitrage](/strategies/sequential-arbitrage.md) for one wallet or [Parallel arbitrage](/strategies/parallel-arbitrage.md) for two. * You have specific prices in mind — "buy 200 ADA worth if it dips to X, sell half if it hits Y": **Rule-based**. Each level fires at its price or better, never worse. * You need to put a planned amount of buy and sell volume through a pool over a set period: **Cadence**. This strategy costs its fees in full by design and does not express a market view. ### What every strategy has in common * A **strategy wallet** that funds and signs it (see [Wallets in Surge](/core-concepts/wallets-in-surge.md)). * A **Required balance** panel in the builder that adds up trade budget, deposits and fees. * A **preview** or backtest before you commit. * Statuses **Running / Paused / Stopped / Completed**, plus **Archived** as a terminal read-only state. See [Managing strategies](/strategies/managing-strategies.md). * The same fee stack per order: Surge fee, batcher fee, network fee, refundable deposit, pool fee inside the price. See [Fee breakdown](/fees-tiers-and-staking/fee-breakdown.md). * Profit and loss measured from **actual fills** only. Grid, Arbitrage and Rule-based report realized P\&L per completed round trip and feed the dashboard and portfolio totals; Cadence shows a realized cash-flow figure on its own page only; DCA shows volume and fees but no P\&L. See [Profit and loss](/orders-and-transactions/pnl.md). ### Drafts and clones A builder remembers what you typed if you navigate away inside Surge (for example to the Wallets page to generate a wallet) and come back. Refreshing the page clears the draft. Grid, DCA, Arbitrage and Cadence strategies — live or archived — can be **cloned** into a pre-filled builder. `[VERIFY: rule-based plans do not have a clone option in the current build.]` --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.surgecardano.com/strategies/overview.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.