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FDE Comp Explorer
Forward Deployed Engineer compensation, decomposed. Pick an employer tier (frontier lab, Palantir, AI infra, vertical startup, big tech, defence), a level and a market, and see the base/equity/bonus split rather than one headline number — plus the reported band, the confidence label on the underlying source, and the six questions that change what any offer actually means. A transparent multiplier model with its anchors and sources stated, not a scraped table.
An entire deployment, end to end.
Where frontier-lab FDE roles are concentrated. Every headline number you have seen is from here.
Equity-dominant, and that equity is an estimate about a future liquidity event. The bar is the highest in the market: multi-hour take-homes, a defended design review, and a values round that fails more candidates than the coding does.
Anchored on: Perspective 2026 FDE compensation report (~1,200 respondents)
Equity is 62% of this package. That portion is an estimate about a liquidity event that has not happened. Compare offers on the cash line first, then decide separately how much you believe the equity.
Six questions that change what these numbers mean
- Is any of this variable, and on what? Quota or OTE means a pre-sales-shaped role, whatever the title says.
- Units, strike price, latest preferred price, last round date, vesting, refresher policy.
- Travel expectation — in writing. Travel is uncompensated cost.
- How many customers at once? One deep engagement is a different job from six shallow ones.
- Is any part of my review utilisation-based? The clearest early signal of the services trap.
- Who is on-call, and for how long after handoff?
This is a transparent model, not scraped data. Each tier has a published anchor for a senior FDE in a major US market, scaled by a level multiplier and a market multiplier, then shown as a band whose width reflects how good the underlying source is. Frontier-lab and startup figures come from self-reported survey and anecdotal data and are directional only; the Palantir anchor is self-reported levels.fyi data. Verify anything decision-critical against the posting’s own range where pay transparency applies — that is first-party data and it beats everything on this page.
Forward deployed engineer pay is not one number, and this explorer refuses to pretend it is. Pick an employer tier, a level and a market, and the estimate splits into base salary, annualized equity and bonus, with a band whose width reflects how good the source behind that tier is. It is a transparent multiplier model with its anchors stated, not a scraped table.
What it computes
Each tier has an anchor: total compensation for a senior FDE in a major US market. Level and market scale it, and the tier's own shares split it.
total = anchor × level_mult × market_mult
equity_share = min(0.75, equity × geo_damp × level_lift)
geo_damp = 0.75 if market_mult < 0.9, else 1
level_lift = 1.08 if level_mult ≥ 1.5, else 1
equity = total × equity_share
bonus = total × bonus_share
base = total − equity − bonus
band = total × (1 − spread) to total × (1 + spread)
cash = base + bonus| Tier | Anchor | Equity | Bonus | Spread | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier labs | $450K | 62% | 4% | ±22% | practitioner survey |
| Palantir | $225K | 30% | 8% | ±14% | self-reported (levels.fyi) |
| AI infra and platforms | $330K | 45% | 6% | ±25% | survey / anecdotal |
| Vertical AI startups | $240K | 40% | 3% | ±28% | anecdotal |
| Big tech and consulting | $260K | 30% | 12% | ±16% | standard SWE bands |
| Defense and gov integrators | $190K | 5% | 6% | ±18% | anecdotal |
Level multipliers are Junior 0.5, Mid 0.72, Senior 1.0, Staff 1.55 and Principal 2.05. Market multipliers are SF / NYC 1.0, US other 0.85, London / Dublin / Berlin 0.62 and India 0.3. Amounts under $1M print in whole thousands and larger ones as $X.XXM. The base and equity percentages are rounded and bonus takes the remainder, so the three always add to 100.
A worked example
The explorer opens on Frontier labs, Senior, SF / NYC.
- Total:
450,000 × 1.0 × 1.0 = 450,000, shown as $450K. - Equity share: the market multiplier is not below 0.9 and the level multiplier is not 1.5 or more, so the share stays at
0.62. Equity is450,000 × 0.62 = 279,000, or $279K (62%). - Bonus:
450,000 × 0.04 = 18,000, or $18K (4%). - Base:
450,000 − 279,000 − 18,000 = 153,000, or $153K (34%). - Band:
450,000 × 0.78 = 351,000to450,000 × 1.22 = 549,000, shown as $351K to $549K. - Cash you can spend this year:
153,000 + 18,000= $171K. Equity is at least 45%, so the warning appears.
Holding Senior and SF / NYC fixed, the six tiers compare like this:
| Tier | Total | Band | Equity | Cash line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier labs | $450K | $351K to $549K | 62% | $171K |
| AI infra and platforms | $330K | $248K to $413K | 45% | $182K |
| Big tech and consulting | $260K | $218K to $302K | 30% | $182K |
| Vertical AI startups | $240K | $173K to $307K | 40% | $144K |
| Palantir | $225K | $194K to $257K | 30% | $158K |
| Defense and gov integrators | $190K | $156K to $224K | 5% | $181K |
Assumptions and limits
- The sources differ in quality. Frontier labs rest on the Perspective 2026 FDE compensation report (about 1,200 respondents), Palantir on levels.fyi FDSE data ($171K to $295K, median near $211K), and the startup tiers on scattered reports. Wider spreads mark weaker data.
- Equity is annualized grant value. For a private company it is a forecast about a liquidity event, not money.
- The equity damp is a threshold. It applies to every market below 0.9, which includes US other as well as the non-US markets.
- Shares are fixed per tier. Quota, OTE and commission plans are not modeled, so a pre-sales-shaped role will not look like one here.
- It is a snapshot of the anchors and sources named above, not live data.
How to use the result
- Compare offers on the cash line first. In the table, the $190K defense package carries $10K more cash this year than the $450K frontier-lab package: $181K against $171K.
- Choose the tier before the level. A senior FDE at a vertical AI startup ($240K) earns less here than a mid-level FDE at a frontier lab ($324K).
- Ask the six questions. Variable pay, equity terms, travel in writing, customers at once, utilization in reviews and on-call after handoff change what a number means more than the number does.
- Prefer first-party ranges. Where pay transparency applies, the posting's own range beats every estimate on this page.
How it works
- Total = tier anchor (senior, SF/NYC) × level multiplier × market multiplier.
- Splits the total into base, annualized equity and bonus, plus a cash-only line.
- Band width per tier reflects source quality; every tier shows its source and confidence label.
- Copyable summary card with the six questions to ask before comparing offers.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a forward deployed engineer make?
It depends mostly on the kind of employer. For a senior FDE in San Francisco or New York, this model puts total compensation at about $450K at a frontier lab, $330K at an AI infrastructure company, $260K at big tech or consulting, $240K at a vertical AI startup, $225K at Palantir and $190K at a defense or government integrator. Each figure comes with a band, and the frontier-lab and startup anchors rest on survey and anecdotal data, so treat them as directional.
Why does equity matter so much in an FDE offer?
At the top tiers it is most of the package. In the default view, a senior frontier-lab FDE in SF or NYC, equity is 62% of the $450K total, or $279K a year, while the cash you can spend this year is $171K. For a private company that equity is an estimate about a liquidity event that has not happened, which is why the widget warns whenever equity reaches 45% of the package and why it prints a separate cash line.
Does tier or level matter more for FDE compensation?
Tier, by a wide margin. Level multipliers run from 0.5 for a junior hire to 2.05 for a principal, but tier anchors already differ by more than two times at the same level, from $190K to $450K. In this model a senior FDE at a vertical AI startup ($240K) earns less than a mid-level FDE at a frontier lab ($324K). Choosing the tier, and judging the quality of its equity, outweighs a level step early in the career.
How does location change FDE pay in this explorer?
Every total is multiplied by a market factor: 1.0 for SF or NYC, 0.85 for the rest of the US, 0.62 for London, Dublin or Berlin and 0.3 for India. Any market below 0.9 also shrinks the equity share by a quarter. A senior frontier-lab package therefore reads $383K in the rest of the US, $279K in London, Dublin or Berlin and $135K in India, with equity falling from 62% to 47% of the total in all three.
Where do the FDE compensation numbers come from?
Each tier names its anchor and a confidence label. Frontier labs rest on the Perspective 2026 FDE compensation report, a practitioner survey of about 1,200 respondents. Palantir uses self-reported levels.fyi data for FDSE roles, a $171K to $295K range with a median near $211K. AI infrastructure and vertical startups use aggregated or scattered reports, big tech uses public software engineer bands, and the band width grows as the source gets weaker. It is a model, not scraped live data.
What should I ask before comparing two FDE offers?
Six things. Is any of the package variable, and on what, since quota or OTE means a pre-sales-shaped role whatever the title says. What are the full equity terms: units, strike price, latest preferred price, last round date, vesting and refreshers. What is the travel expectation, in writing. How many customers will you carry at once. Is any part of your review utilization-based. And who is on call, and for how long after handoff.