Thanks Andrew

I wasn't singling out the US since I see there are other countries excluded as well. Maybe if i knew this was Oanda's decision to limit the countries, then I could ask them if they could make an exception. It seems like it may be an underwriting situation where Oanda subsidizes part of the cost. Oanda does work with lot of other trading platforms and many of those can be used free of charge for Oanda's customers as well. It would be nice to see Zorro added to the list.

I really don't mind paying for the S version as I would any valuable software. However, it will take me time to get up to speed both in terms of Zorro and a viable strategy, and there are things in the features list that I feel would be ultimately helpful in a finalized strategy that I will never be able to test using the free version. Maybe the free version (except for the monetary limitations) is all anyone would need to create a great system, but without trying it out on the S version, I would never know. For example, trading forex is quite a bit broker dependent, meaning that if you develop a viable strategy for one broker, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work the same on another brokers platform. Things like stop hunting come to mind, as well as differences in costs such as slippage, etc. These costs are broker dependent regardless of the instrument being traded, so that in and of itself isn't a reason to use the S version or not, but how the broker handles things like stop hunting are different between brokers. I have experienced this first hand with Forex.com vs IB. For example, as a US investor, I can build a strategy for forex using all Oanda data and their simulation data is supposed to be exactly the same as their live data. But trying the same strategy with IB would require the S version, and therefore I would have to pay for the S version just to try it out with IB data, maybe only to find out it doesn't work after all.

I know OP systems has to cover their overhead and there are no free lunches, but in the introductory information it is clearly stated that Zorro itself is not a profit center per se and their ultimate goal is to empower users (i.e. individual traders like myself) to "Take Money from the Rich and Give it to the Poor" ... I am definitely not rich!

I know this is all waxing philosophically, but I wish there was something in between where individual traders could be exposed to the features of the S version, develop their strategies with the full compliment of what Zorro has to offer, and work toward becoming something more than just a free version user without the $7k/$30k limitation. Maybe an S version which doesn't allow you to trade "live" and make any money with it, until you actually go live, yet you can learn, test and build a strategy with all it has to offer.

I digress ... LOL

P.S. I am enjoying reading the Black Book