In a hurry? We summarized the article for you.
The #1 best paper trading tool from our selection is TradingView!
You’ll find all the feature, chart and data you need to backtest your strategy for free or for a very affordable price.
If you want to know more, go down on our more detailled analysis or jump to TradingView’s website to get started now.
Better to risk your hard earned money, you should train with paper trading apps. Learn what works in your market with the best paper trading apps and then make money trading.
| Software | Features | Pros & Cons |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Our review |
 |
|
Our review |
 |
|
Our review |
But you’ll also discover Thinkorswim, Tradestation, E*Trade, Webull, Capital.com, Plus500, IG & Interactive Brokers below.
Why start with paper trading?
Let us suppose that you want to start an investing career but you are scared of risks. So, what should you do? What should you do to develop yourself as an investor? Paper trading is the answer. If you want to practice trading without risks, stress, and emotional trauma, paper trading says hello! It is the best possible way to develop yourself as a professional investor and to gain confidence and market experience. Paper trading is the smartest solution that can develop your trading skills at the expense of nothing. Start with paper trading because of the following reasons:
- Get a general education about investing
- Practice placing trades and build portfolios
- Test and analyze new strategies before going live
- Learn to control emotions when investing
What is the difference between a paper trading app and a live trading app?
Some brokerage companies provide apps that support both, paper trading and live trading. Such apps have major advantages. As we all know that paper trading involves no money and paper trading apps do transactions based on virtual money. This is the first and foremost difference between a paper trading app and a live trading app. Moreover, those apps allow you to realistically simulate the stock market. The share prices of all stocks will be real but your transactions will be false.
What are the pros and cons of a virtual trading account?
Paper trading is a really useful tool in your arsenal if you want to practice before playing a trading game with real money. It has numerous advantages for novices. Despite having so many pros, like everything else, it has its limitations.
Pros of paper trading
- No risks: Paper trading costs you nothing and you can afford to make mistakes. It allows you to develop your own well-defined trading strategy by observing all the flaws when playing on practice mode.
- Simulated trading in No emotional trauma and stress: Real trading involves emotions such as fear, greed, stress, etc. Those risks are at arm’s length while practicing through paper trading. It allows you to focus on your strategy, analysis, and statistics.
- Practice under real market conditions: Paper trading is a great way to practice investing under real market conditions. Continuous practice allows you to develop your trading and analytical skills.
- Confidence: Paper trading helps novices to build confidence. Through a series of successful trades, beginners can get the confidence they need to start real trading.
Cons of paper trading
- Hidden costs: Paper trading platforms do not take hidden costs, slippage, and commissions into account. The real world of trading is so much different where traders have to deal with some real costs. Those hidden costs mean too much in reality.
- Emotional reality: Real trading involves emotions and it is a reality. Virtual trading eliminates emotions as nothing is at stake. It gets really challenging to put emotions aside when real money is at stake.
- Technical disorders: Paper trading platforms deal with ideal entries and exits. It misses the worst-case scenarios when algorithms fail in a computer-driven environment. So, technical disorders sometimes cause troubles in real trading but virtual paper trading platforms exclude such possibilities. It may cause some serious problems in live trading.
Key features of a great trading platform
The best paper trading platform needs to eliminate all the limitations mentioned before. In other words, the best trading app must be as near to live to trade as possible. For effective trading practice, you need to choose the best paper trading app that can give you the taste of real trading. The best paper trading platforms must have the following features.
Real-time and accurate market quotes
Old data is irrelevant in live trading, so you need real-time and accurate market data. A best paper trading platform will not delay more than twenty minutes on price quotes.
Excellent analytical tools
A best paper trading app or site must have particular analytical tools to help you in technical analysis. Excellent analytical tools enable you to try out new things such as new technical indicators and chart patterns. Several options of analytical tools mean several different ideas to try and learn.
User-friendly, effective, and functional interface
A best paper trading platform must have a user-friendly, effective, and functional interface. A complicated interface doesn’t help in learning and education. It takes time to check the interfaces of different platforms. However, it is always a good choice to find an interface that works well.
Realistic
The best paper trading platform needs to give a realistic user experience to users. It should look like real platforms where investors do business. Realistic platforms make users learn effectively.
What are the best paper trading platforms?
We have prepared a list of the best virtual trading simulators. All eleven picks are the best paper trading platforms. All of them offer features that any trader wants.
Thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade
Thinksorswim paper trading platform by TD Ameritrade is one of the best paper trading simulators. After the creation of an Ameritrade account, you get 2 different paper trading accounts. The first one is a standard margin account while the second one is an IRA account. Both accounts are with an initial virtual money balance of $100,000. Thinkorswim paper trading platform is particularly the best paper trading platform for options trading. Some commendable features include Strategy Roller and Options Statistics. It also gives traders access to over 400 technical indicators and CBO’s TradeWise options newsletter. All those features combine to give Thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade the top spot in the list of the best virtual trading simulators.
TradeStation
Visit the tradestation.com website
Another best virtual trading simulator belongs to TradeStation. You can use it to practice trading and develop your skills. It is also the best paper trading simulator for advanced investors. They can use it to check features like strategy automation, advanced orders, or any other features you don’t usually use. You can test new markets and new strategies with real-time data access. All those features certainly make it one of the best paper trading app.
E*TRADE
E*TRADE offers a paper trading platform that is among the best virtual trading simulators. The app, available on both, website and app, allows you to practice trading stocks, options, and other equities using virtual money. It helps you to develop your trading skills. It also helps you to learn how the E*TRADE platform works. Just create an E*TRADE account and start playing on the best paper trading platform.
Webull Paper Trading
Webull Paper Trading has all the features of the best paper trading simulator. It offers paper trading platforms on both versions, mobile app, and desktop. The app design is amazing with a dedicated screen for paper trading. The tool of the app follows the model of live trading. It makes your practice for real trading perfect. The app provides you an initial, although adjustable higher or lower, virtual money balance of $1 million. You only need to create a Webull account to use this one of the best paper trading app.
Interactive Brokers TWS Paper Trader
Interactive Brokers have a tremendous trading platform with several unique features. They also offer a virtual trading simulator with almost all the features of a live platform. Options Portfolio algorithm is the most key feature. It adjusts your account to the Greek risk dimensions and factors commissions and decay. Options Strategy Lab and Probability Lab are other amazing features of Interactive Brokers TWS Paper Trader. Such a collection of unique features make it one of the best paper trading apps.
eToro
Start trading stocks on etoro.com with 0% commission
Compatible with both iOS and android, eToro is one of the best paper trading apps. It offers various types of assets to learn to trade. eToro is extremely popular for mirroring live market conditions. With an initial virtual money balance of $100,000, eToro has all the features of the best virtual trading simulators.
What is great with eToro is it’ll let you many asset classes:
- Just click here to start trading stocks with 0% commissions
- Click here to start trading cryptocurrencies
- Click here to start trading ETFs
Plus500
Visit the plus500.com website
Plus500 is among the best paper trading apps for CFDs. It allows you to trade several financial instruments across most asset classes. Plus500 paper trading app gives you an initial virtual money balance of £50,000. Your balance is reinstated to the original amount as soon as your balance gets below £200. Plus500 leads you to unlimited practice to ensure your learning making it one of the best paper trading platforms.
IG
Visit the ig.com website
IG is the best paper trading app for android users. Their paper trading is only available on CFDs. IG comes with an initial virtual money balance of $10,000. It also reflects real market conditions to boost your trading learning. If you want to practice paper trading, the best paper trading platform like IG should be your choice.
AvaTrade
Visit the avatrade.com website or click here to directly reach the “Create a demo account” page
AvaTrade is among the best paper trading apps for options. Options are complex financial instruments best suited for advanced investors. Beginners find it difficult to trade options. However, the AvaTrade paper trading platform has made learning options easy without risking a cent. The app also grants you access to forex and gold forms of options. Hence, exposure to a market of your choice is also possible. You can practice different strategies to observe and analyze. What else do you need from already one of the best paper trading platforms?
Capital.com
Capital.com is the best paper trading site and app for currency traders. The app grants you access through a demo account for a period of 30 days. It also gives you access to numerous technical indicators, charting, and other features. The app has all the potential of the best paper trading platform and can help you practice, train, and learn well.
TradingView
Visit the tradingview.com website
TradingView’s OANDA is the best paper trading simulator for forex and CFD brokers. OANDA allows you to trade live or practice trading through your real account. You can practice trading in stocks, futures, bonds, indices, currencies, and cryptocurrencies. TradingView has it all for you to make you an expert trader without risking a single dime.
We loved Marwood Research’s course “Candlestick Analysis For Professional Traders“. Do you want to follow a great video course and deep dive into 26 candlestick patterns (and compare their success rates)? Then make sure to check this course!