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How does Darwinex Zero work? A trader pays a subscription, trades a virtual account, and after a calibration stage that track record becomes a DARWIN: an investable index that can receive notional capital allocations and, later, investors on Darwinex. This page explains each step, the plans and the rules that can cost a track record, from the official Darwinex Zero pages, for traders who want to understand the model before signing up; it is not investment advice.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 55% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Futures, Stocks and ETFs are not suitable for all. They are also complex instruments and have a high risk of losing money quickly due to leverage. Futures, Stocks and ETFs do not have negative balance protection and losses could exceed the deposited balance of your account. (risk warning of Sapiens Markets EU Sociedad de Valores SA (Darwinex, CNMV), as published on 2026-10-29)
The plans, the full rules and the help center are on the Darwinex Zero website.
How does Darwinex Zero work: the key numbers
Darwinex Zero charges a subscription instead of asking for a deposit. The price depends on the account type and on where the subscriber lives: euros for Europe and the UK, US dollars for the rest of the world. The pricing page states that all prices include taxes.
| Plan | CFD account, Europe & UK | CFD account, rest of the world | Futures account, Europe & UK | Futures account, rest of the world |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly subscription | €45 | $50 | €50 | $56 |
| 1-year pack, paid in advance | €420 | $480 | €480 | $552 |
| 3-year pack, paid in advance | €1,080 | $1,260 | €1,260 | $1,476 |
Cash instruments and crypto CFD accounts cost the same as the CFD account on every plan. Futures prices include the market data fee, and restarts are not included in the packs.
| Rule | Darwinex Zero |
|---|---|
| Virtual equity | $100,000 on a CFD account, $1,000,000 on futures or cash instruments accounts |
| Calibration before the DARWIN exists | 25 risk-equivalent trading decisions over at least 15 trading days, with no minimum return |
| Calibration time limit | 90 days from subscription, for inactivity (an account that keeps trading can take longer) |
| DARWIN risk target | 3.25% to 6.5% monthly VaR, set by the Risk Engine |
| DarwinIA SILVER | minimum rating 75; allocations from €30,000 to €375,000, each for 3 months |
| DarwinIA GOLD | more than 8 months of signal history plus a return and drawdown condition; allocations from €50,000 to €500,000, each for 6 months |
| Performance fee | 15% of the net profit on allocated capital, above the high-water mark |
| Restart | equivalent to the cost of 1 monthly subscription |
| Failed payment | account cancelled if the payment cannot be processed within 7 days |
Checked against the official Darwinex Zero pages on 2026-10-29.
What is Darwinex Zero?
Darwinex Zero is a subscription service built on the technology of Darwinex, the broker. Instead of depositing money, the subscriber pays a fee, trades an account with virtual funds and takes part in monthly seed capital allocation programs, which pay performance fees on the return generated with the capital assigned. The help center puts it this way: “You do not risk your own capital, as you do not deposit funds to a live trading account.” The subscription itself is a cost, paid whatever the trading result.
Opening an account needs no KYC documentation: registration, a payment method and the first monthly payment. Who can subscribe, according to the help center: any adult with an internet connection and a card or PayPal account; no geographic restrictions, though payments may be restricted in some countries. One exception is on the pricing page: Residents of Spain must pass a knowledge test to open a CFD account.
The trading account runs on MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, or on TradingView, if it is selected when the subscription is opened (a free TradingView account is enough). The help center lists these markets: CFDs on Forex (42 currency pairs), CFDs on commodities (XAGUSD, XAUUSD, XNGUSD, XTIUSD), CFDs on 10 indices, CFDs on US stocks (approx 800), CFDs on US ETFs (approx 100), CFDs on cryptocurrencies (BTC, BNB, ADA, DOGE, ETH, XRP, SOL), CME and Eurex futures, and cash US stocks & ETFs, each on its own account type; the help center flags that article as possibly out of date, and the full list is on the Darwinex Zero assets page. Maximum leverage on a CFD account is up to 30:1 on forex and up to 20:1 on indices.
Darwinex Zero is a commercial name of Tradeslide Technologies Ltd, a company registered in the United Kingdom with number 14398381. Its website footer states: “Tradeslide Technologies Ltd is an introducer appointed representative of Tradeslide Trading Tech Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 586466).” The service itself is a different matter. The help center says: “The services provided by Zero are not subject to financial regulation.” The subscriber buys access to a virtual account and, at the same time, supplies trading signals; according to Darwinex Zero, neither is a regulated activity. The trading accounts run on an execution feed with the same conditions as Darwinex, the regulated broker.
NatureLaw Research is an affiliate of Darwinex Zero through its Affiliate Program: this is the relationship the disclosure at the top of the page refers to. Taking part in the program does not mean that Darwinex Zero endorses, sponsors or checks the content of this site. The descriptions below come from Darwinex Zero’s public pages, checked on the date shown under the tables.
How the Darwinex Zero track record becomes a DARWIN
The track record starts with the first trade on the signal account, the trading account of the subscriber. Before a DARWIN exists there is a calibration stage, so that the Risk Engine can gather enough data on the trading style to set up the replica. The requirement is 25 risk-equivalent trading decisions over a minimum of 15 trading days, and there is no requirement in terms of return.
A risk-equivalent trading decision is not the same as a trade. Each position gets an exposure, its D-Leverage (Darwinex’s own risk measure) times the square root of its duration. The position with the largest exposure counts as one decision, and every other position counts as a fraction of one, in proportion to the square root of its exposure. What matters is therefore how positions compare with each other, not their absolute size: trades of similar size and duration each count as close to one decision, while a position much smaller or shorter than the largest one counts as only part of a decision.
The calibration has a time limit of 90 days from subscription, which the help center explains as a rule against inactivity: an account that keeps trading can take longer. Once the requirement is met, the DARWIN is created automatically the following Monday, and the trades made during calibration become part of its history. A trader with a live MT4 or MT5 account at another broker can also import that history during calibration, if at least 95% of the trades and of the return come from assets Darwinex offers; imported trades count toward calibration, but not toward the DarwinIA rating or GOLD.
What a DARWIN is
The help center defines a DARWIN as an independently risk-managed and investable index that replicates the trader’s signals, with the risk managed by the Darwinex Zero Risk Engine; every DARWIN starts at a quote of 100. The DARWIN copies when and what the trader trades, but not the size. The Risk Engine sizes each position so that the DARWIN’s risk stays between 3.25% and 6.5% monthly VaR (value at risk), and it can partially close a position that goes above its limits. A signal account that takes large risks is scaled down in the DARWIN, and a very cautious one is scaled up, which is why the help center warns that the results of the signal account and of the DARWIN may differ. The quote, and therefore the track record that counts, is the DARWIN’s.
DarwinIA SILVER: notional allocations and performance fees
Every DARWIN with an active subscription takes part in DarwinIA SILVER, a monthly ranking based on a rating that weighs the current month’s return (22%), the return over the last five months plus the current one (67%) and the maximum drawdown over the same six months (11%). A DARWIN with a rating of at least 75 at the end of the month receives an allocation of at least €30,000, rising with the ranking position up to €375,000, which stays invested for 3 months. To take part, a DARWIN must also have traded in the current or the previous month and must not be too correlated with other DARWINs.
These allocations are notional (or virtual): they are a commitment to pay the trader a share of the profit, not real money in the account. The trader receives a performance fee of 15% of the net profit an allocation generates above its high-water mark, calculated quarterly by default; a monthly calculation is a paid option, €12 or $13 a month on top of the subscription. Below the high-water mark no fee is due until the loss is recovered. Earned fees can be withdrawn from $100.
For a DARWIN with no DarwinIA allocation in the first 6 months of the subscription, the help center describes a credit for a €25,000 booster lasting 3 months. Boosters can also be bought, in sizes of €25,000, €50,000, €100,000 or €200,000 for a set period, as can a non-expiring permanent allocation of up to €100,000. They are notional allocations too, with the same performance fee, and a restart loses every type of allocation.
DarwinIA GOLD and investor capital
A DARWIN with more than 8 months of signal history that meets any one of the return and drawdown conditions, for example 1-year return > 20% and Return/Drawdown > 2.5, moves up to DarwinIA GOLD. There the ranking depends on the current month’s return only, and allocations go from €50,000 to €500,000, for 6 months. A GOLD DARWIN is also published on Darwinex and opened to investors, with a 15% performance fee on the profits made with their capital. A DARWIN that no longer meets the criteria goes back to SILVER the following month. History imported from another broker does not count toward GOLD.
Darwinex Zero vs Darwinex
Darwinex is the regulated broker: a live account, a deposit of the trader’s own money, identity checks, and the risks of trading with real funds. Darwinex Zero is the subscription: virtual equity, no deposit, no KYC documentation. The two share the DarwinIA programs, and only DARWINs that reach GOLD manage investors’ capital on Darwinex.
A DARWIN can move from Darwinex Zero to Darwinex. The help center lists three requirements: country of tax residence available at Darwinex, a DarwinIA allocation or a minimum return of 2% in the last 5 months, and CFD account type only. The live account needs a minimum deposit of 1,000 USD, EUR or GBP. The move cannot be reversed and cancels the Zero subscription; the DARWIN keeps its whole track record, its allocations and its investors. One detail matters for the DARWIN: the Zero CFD account starts with $100,000 of virtual equity, and the same lot sizes on a smaller live account mean more leverage, so the migration process asks how much capital the live account will hold and adjusts the historical risk of the signal account accordingly.
The risk warning at the top of this page is the one Darwinex publishes for its EU entity, Sapiens Markets EU Sociedad de Valores SA, regulated by the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV). It concerns CFDs and other leveraged products traded with real money on Darwinex, which is where a DARWIN goes after a migration; the Darwinex Zero subscription itself trades virtual funds.
Darwinex Zero rules: what is allowed and what is not
Allowed
- Any trading style: the help center describes trading without any restriction on the trading activity, nor any specific return & drawdown targets, whatever the instruments, volume or trade duration.
- Several Darwinex Zero accounts, one per strategy, each with its own username and email.
- Paying the subscription by credit card, PayPal or with performance fees not yet withdrawn.
- Restarting at any time, with an active or a cancelled subscription.
Not allowed or limited
- More than one subscription on the same account.
- Importing history after the DARWIN has been created, or from a demo account, a TradingView account or a Darwinex account.
- Connecting an existing MT4 or MT5 account to TradingView: a TradingView account has to be opened as such.
- Highly correlated DARWINs in the same DarwinIA edition: only the one with the higher recent return takes part.
- Moving a futures or cash instruments account to Darwinex: migration is only available for the CFD account type.
What can cost a Darwinex Zero track record
- A restart. It closes the current track record and the associated DARWIN and starts a new trading account from scratch, with a new calibration stage; it cannot be reversed, and allocations are lost with it.
- A cancellation. Access lasts until the end of the billing period, then the MetaTrader signal account is closed. The track record is deleted unless the subscription is reactivated before the next payment date.
- A failed payment. If the payment cannot be processed within 7 days, the account is cancelled, and the help center says this cannot be reversed.
- Two quiet months. A DARWIN with no trade in the current and the previous month is left out of DarwinIA SILVER until it trades again.
- Reading the signal account instead of the DARWIN. Allocations and fees follow the DARWIN, whose size is set by the Risk Engine, not the signal account.
- Refunds of the prepaid packs. The pricing page FAQ and the Refund Policy describe them differently; the official terms are the ones that apply.
Where to start
The plans, the help center and the sign-up are on the Darwinex Zero website. The discount code TRENDFOLLOWING_20 gives a 20% discount; the public pages do not say which plans it applies to, so the price Darwinex Zero shows before payment is the one that counts. Darwinex Zero accepts subscribers from any country, though payments may be restricted in some; moving a DARWIN to Darwinex depends on the country of tax residence.
FAQ
What is Darwinex Zero?
A subscription service built on Darwinex technology: the subscriber trades a virtual account, the trades feed a DARWIN, and the DARWIN can receive notional allocations that pay performance fees. There is no deposit; the cost is the subscription.
Is Darwinex Zero a prop firm?
Not in the usual sense of a paid challenge. There is no evaluation with return and drawdown targets to pass: the help center describes trading without any restriction on the trading activity, nor any specific return & drawdown targets. The trader pays a recurring subscription, and the capital allocations are notional, paid out as performance fees on the profit they generate.
How does the Darwinex Zero track record work?
The trades on the signal account are recorded from the start. After the calibration stage (25 risk-equivalent trading decisions over at least 15 trading days) they become the history of a DARWIN, the track record that DarwinIA and investors look at. A restart or a cancellation not reactivated in time deletes it.
What are DARWINs on Darwinex Zero?
Investable indexes that replicate a trader’s signals with the risk set by the Darwinex Zero Risk Engine, between 3.25% and 6.5% monthly VaR, so that DARWINs can be compared on the same risk level.
How much does Darwinex Zero cost?
For a CFD account, €45 a month in Europe and the UK and $50 in the rest of the world; packs paid in advance cost €420 or $480 for one year and €1,080 or $1,260 for three years. Futures accounts cost more (table above), and boosters, the permanent allocation and the monthly high-water mark option are extra.
Darwinex Zero vs Darwinex: what is the difference?
Darwinex Zero is a subscription with virtual funds; Darwinex is the regulated broker, with a live account and the trader’s own money. A DARWIN can move from Zero to Darwinex if it meets the requirements, and the move cannot be reversed.
Is there a Darwinex Zero promo code?
The code TRENDFOLLOWING_20 gives a 20% discount. The public pages do not say which plans it applies to.
From the DARWIN to the lab
NatureLaw Research is the research blog of Nature Law, a lab that develops quantitative tools built on the principles professional desks use, adapted for private traders. Track records and DARWINs on Darwinex Zero are among the topics of the upcoming articles, which will describe what is actually done, with dates and the evidence on file. To see what the lab builds, visit naturelawtrading.com (opens in a new tab).
Sources
- Darwinex Zero, Pricing, https://www.darwinexzero.com/pricing, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, What is Zero?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/what-is-darwinex-zero, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Differences between Darwinex and Zero, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/darwinex-zero-versus-darwinex-classic, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Differences between Zero and other funding programs?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/darwinex-zero-versus-funding-programs, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Who can subscribe?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/who-can-subscribe, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, How much does it cost?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/pricing, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Is Zero regulated?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/darwinex-zero-regulation, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Subscription payments, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/subscription-payments, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, article on account restarts and multiple subscriptions, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/multiple-subscriptions, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Calibration stage, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/initial-training-phase, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, How to import a track-record from another broker into Zero?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/import-track-record, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, What is a DARWIN?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/what-is-a-darwin, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Difference between a DARWIN and its underlying signal account, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/difference-darwin-and-signal-account, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, How does the risk engine work?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/risk-engine, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, DarwinIA SILVER, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/darwinia-silver, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, DarwinIA GOLD, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/darwinia-gold, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Understanding Zero capital allocations, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/understanding-capital-allocation, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Performance fees, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/performance-fees, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Type of allocations available, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/type-of-allocations, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Boosters, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/zero-boosters-1, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Permanent allocation, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/permanent-allocation, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, How to migrate to Darwinex?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/how-to-migrate-to-darwinex, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, Type of trading accounts & assets available, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/trading-accounts-assets, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, What leverage does Zero offer?, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/darwinex-zero-leverage, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero Help Center, TradingView, https://darwinexzero.document360.io/docs/tradingview, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex Zero, Refund Policy, https://www.darwinexzero.com/it/legale/politica-rimborso, checked October 29, 2026.
- Darwinex (EU), home page and risk warning, https://www.darwinex.com/eu/, checked October 29, 2026.
Written by Stefano Mastria. Rules and prices checked against Darwinex Zero official pages on October 29, 2026.