A stock market simulator is a tool that lets you try out a trading platform before committing real money. To avoid wasting time, it’s best to test the simulator that matches your needs so you can get to know the financial markets it offers. Here is a complete overview of the best stock market simulators for learning the basics of trading.
The Best Trading Simulators
Trading is an activity with strong profit potential. However, to save time, you should first practice with stock market simulators on a demo account. This table lists the best stock trading simulators.
Broker | Maximum leverage | Demo account duration | Minimum deposit on a live account | |
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 | 1:30 | 30 days | $1,000 |
On related topics, our articles “Stock Market Simulation” and “Free Trading” are a good complement to this guide.
The Best Stock Market Simulators by Market
In addition to the many trading software packages already available, brokers offer investors demo accounts so they can run trading simulations. To do this, they let them use a free stock market simulator. In other words, they provide demo accounts so traders can get familiar with the trading platform by placing trades on the best-known financial assets.
Vantage
Vantage is the best broker for investing in Forex. It helps many beginners become trading professionals. Its program and services give investors solutions that make Forex investing easier.
The Vantage simulator gives traders access to more than 40 of the most liquid Forex currency pairs. It takes advantage of the exceptional liquidity of the major currency pairs to offer every investor a professional-grade trading experience. Beginners can also quickly become very active Forex traders on international markets. It is also a good paper trading platform to help you with your trading simulation.
Vantage is one of the brokers offering the lowest spreads on the market. Even though most currencies can be traded commission-free, spreads apply to all of a trader’s trades. Generally speaking, pricing varies from broker to broker. Vantage’s spreads allow investors to improve their performance and increase their percentage returns on the markets.
With the Vantage platform, investors can analyze and trade at any time, without time limits or constraints. It provides access to all currency pairs 24 hours a day. All the biggest investors want to take advantage of the volatility of global markets. Vantage is therefore the go-to stock market simulator for trading anywhere, at any time.
Once traders have mastered strategies for currencies and financial products on Forex, the gains and income they can generate become almost unlimited. Vantage therefore offers Forex trading courses. To support the traders on its platform, Vantage has set up a section dedicated to training its clients in Forex trading.
The aim of this section is to help beginner traders understand the world of Forex trading and discover its advantages.
Another strength of Vantage is its 500:1 leverage, a tool that lets you multiply your gains. In principle, the higher the leverage, the more money a trader can make. Some platforms severely limit leverage, but Vantage offers traders huge profit potential. Using 500:1 leverage multiplies your investment capacity by 500. A real advantage for Forex traders who want to earn large returns.
Best Simulators by Type of Trading
Although these simulators are the most recommended for trying out trading, they are not all suited to the same type of trading. While eToro is known for its performance in social trading, Vantage is much more popular for manual trading. It is therefore important to understand these different criteria to guide your choice.
Social Trading and Copy Trading: eToro
eToro is the international leader in social trading and copy trading. On the eToro platform, you can read the opinions of other platform users to optimize your market entry strategies. eToro is the benchmark in social trading because its founders built a social network bringing together traders from all over the world.
Speculators who sign up to the platform can talk to each other and share their views. The most interesting part is that you can access it for free by joining the eToro user community.
eToro also has the CopyTrader feature, which lets traders copy the positions of professional traders. This helps beginners limit their losses by learning from people who already have the necessary experience.
In addition, with eToro copy trading, you can select the trader you want to copy based on predefined criteria. You can choose by the trader’s level of gains, level of risk or location. Beyond this information, every investor on the interface has a profile description to guide your choice when copy trading.
In short, eToro introduced social trading and copy trading to help its users succeed on the stock market more easily.
Manual Trading: Vantage
To go from beginner to professional, it is essential for traders to start their career with manual trading. This style of speculation requires traders to carry out all the key analysis themselves before opening a position. That way, if they fail, they can learn from their mistakes and improve.
Vantage specializes in manual trading through its partnership with the MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4 manual trading platforms.
It is worth stressing that manual trading also suits professional speculators. However, by adopting this approach, traders will need to develop the skills required to succeed, mainly on the psychological side. Since they decide when to open and close a position, they need self-control to avoid making bad decisions.
Manual trading is ideal for gaining a solid command of the financial markets. With this method, you have to monitor price movements regularly to identify good opportunities. This helps traders become familiar with the market’s recurring patterns over time. Fortunately, Vantage provides its users with all the tools needed for in-depth analysis of price changes in financial assets.
Trading Simulators by Time Horizon
The criteria for choosing a stock trading simulator are not limited to the type of trading. They also take into account how long trades last. For long-term positions on stocks, eToro remains ideal. For the short term, however, it is better to use the Vantage and Axi platforms. Why this distinction?
eToro for Long-Term Stock Investing
On eToro, even beginners can take long-term positions despite the high level of risk. The platform is well suited to long-term trading thanks to its CopyPortfolio feature and its access to the most influential US stocks.
CopyPortfolio is an option introduced by eToro that lets you copy professionals trading over the long term. The interface generally offers three types of CopyPortfolio.
The Top Trader CopyPortfolio
This category brings together the best traders on the platform, selected for their impressive performance. With this feature, speculators can copy these experts’ strategies to take long-term positions. This option is recommended because stocks are very volatile and can move by more than 10% on a single position. By relying on these professionals’ experience, traders limit their risk of losses.
The Top Trader CopyPortfolio is divided into 4 categories. First, the quarterly gainers, who are the 50 best investors in each three-month period. Next, the active traders, who generally hold more than 50% of their capital in stocks. Third are the trending traders, the ten traders with the most copiers. The last group, called CopyPlus84, is based on low-risk traders who had the most copiers in the previous month.
Market CopyPortfolios
These are sets of CFD stocks, ETFs or commodities selected for investors. These financial instruments are chosen according to specific criteria so that traders can make money by investing in these assets. Traders are free to choose the sectors that interest them to open long-term positions. With Market CopyPortfolios, speculators can generally choose between:
- Major banks
- Large companies (such as Apple, Facebook, eBay…)
- Gaming companies
- Stock indices (the Dow Jones 30, Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, China 50, Euro Stoxx 50, DAX30, AUS 200)
- US market ETFs
- And more
This option lets traders choose from the 800 most profitable stocks offered by the broker. This stock portfolio simulator lets you diversify your investments.
Diversifiez votre patrimoineInvestissez dans l’artDes tableaux originaux, pièces uniques signées par l’artiste. Un actif tangible, loin des écrans et des cotations.Voir les tableaux →The Partner CopyPortfolio
This includes external financial institutions and trading professionals who are invited to share their investments. Traders who want to open long-term positions can rely on them to limit the risk of losses. They will be able to find the right strategies to increase their gains through copy trading.
Ultimately, CopyPortfolio is an excellent tool for long-term investing in the stock market. However, this strategy requires opening several trades that generate money at the same time. As a result, using this service requires minimum capital of $5,000. In addition, instant withdrawals are not possible, so traders need to be patient to benefit from their returns.
Vantage or Axi for the Short Term
Vantage and Axi are the most widely used investment simulators for short-term positions. This type of speculation lasts at most one week and requires fast execution. With Vantage and Axi, investors have access to the best fast-trading platforms, including MT4 and MT5. With these two interfaces, opening and closing positions is easy.
For short-term trading, you can choose between the H1 and M5 timeframes. In other words, the trader analyzes market movements over one hour (H1) or five minutes (M5). In the first case, a position can stay open for a week, while in the second it will last no more than a day.
You should also know that three trading styles are available for opening short-term positions.
Swing Trading
This is the longest of the three. Here, the trader can hold a position for several days or even one to two weeks. It targets large profits and therefore requires detailed technical analysis of the market to identify good opportunities. Swing traders invest in the financial product of their choice according to its upward or downward trend. It is best to follow the chart’s movement using the trend lines available on MT4 and MT5.
Day Trading
Shorter than swing trading, this style requires quick decision-making. This ability is essential to enter the market at the ideal moment and benefit from upcoming gains. Unlike swing trading, day trading positions must be closed by the end of the day. Although this investment method offers huge profit potential, it also carries the risk of significant losses.
Scalping
Scalping lets traders profit from market movements down to the second. Positions are held for very short periods and each trade yields only small gains. A trader who makes good trades can accumulate considerable income in a single day. However, this trading style is time-consuming, because the speculator has to watch every market movement.
Simulators by Mobile Device
To give their clients a better experience, stock market simulator platforms have launched mobile apps. You can therefore find stock market simulators on Android and iOS. For example, Axi’s platforms are available in versions for phones. There are also downloadable applications for PCs and Macs, such as eToro.
Here is a table showing the different stock market simulator apps by device.
Broker | Device Types | |
 | iOS, Android phone, tablet Mac, Windows | |
 | iOS, Android phone, tablet Mac, Windows | |
 | iOS, Android phone, tablet Mac, Windows | |
 | iOS, Android phone, tablet Mac, Windows | |
| iOS, Android phone, tablet Mac, Windows |
Stock Market Simulators by Platform
To let traders test their services or try their hand at trading, brokers rely on platforms. There are many interfaces that let you trade on a demo account under the same conditions as a live account. However, they do not all have the same features and strengths. The most widely used by stock market simulators are MT4, MT5, eToro, xStation and ProRealTime.
MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4
Used by many brokers such as Vantage, these platforms are very popular for their powerful technical analysis tools. Both interfaces give traders access to almost all financial products, with either manual or automated trading. Although the two programs are similar, they do not offer the same features.
Platforms | Programming language | Number of pending order types | Number of execution types | Ease of use and navigation | Analysis tools | Number of indicators | |
 | MQL 4 | 4 | 3 | Very easy | 33 | 30 | |
 | MQL 5 | 6 | 4 | Slightly harder | 68 | 38 |
Using the MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms offers many advantages.
Besides the completely free software download, you can also access them online without downloading anything. The MT4 and MT5 apps are compatible with Apple, Windows, Android, Linux, tablets and computers.
The analysis and charting tools are also easy to use, an advantage for beginner traders.
Both platforms can also be connected to trading robots for automated trading. Not only do they offer more precise timeframes, they also keep a history of executed orders so you can analyze your strategies.
xStation
With access to all financial markets, xStation is also a very popular platform for trading simulation. This software also has advanced analysis tools for a detailed study of upcoming stock market movements. It is therefore effective for practicing trading for free before moving to a live account.
xStation users can also see the positions of other traders on the platform to refine their own strategy. In addition to an economic calendar for following announcements, the software has a built-in calculator for your various trades.
With its ten technical indicators, xStation allows quick and easy identification of market opportunities. Traders who use it also benefit from real-time data on market movements. These two features are among the reasons why the platform is one of the most widely used worldwide.
Like its peers, xStation is available on several devices such as Mac, PC, tablets, Android and mobile phones. You can therefore open positions from anywhere, at any time.
eToro
Specializing in the stock market, eToro is the international leader in its field. Used mainly by the broker eToro, the platform offers a wide range of features that help traders learn all the necessary basics. With the demo account, beginners can practice on CFD stocks with the same opportunities as a live account. You can also run simulations with Paper Trading.
Although the simulation is close to reality, traders can only invest part of their capital. The margin is set at 20%. These limits imposed by eToro are designed to help traders develop the right habits of a professional trader.
eToro is a stock market simulator accessible to everyone, from beginners to experts. The interface is easy to use and was designed to help traders find their place in the world of the stock market. The platform allows unlimited use of the demo account, giving speculators time to get familiar with the stock markets.
Even on a demo account, the trader is subject to the rules set by eToro’s regulators. Traders can therefore get used to the realities of stock market trading with eToro before deciding to trade for real. Another distinctive feature of eToro is its online training program supporting trading newcomers. Although theory alone is not enough to make money on the stock market, it contributes a great deal to finding your feet in this world.
The drawback of stock market simulators is that they do not let traders develop the psychological reflexes that come with trading. It is therefore advisable to consider investing through a live account after a while, so you can quickly acquire these skills, which are essential to your success.
ProRealTime
If you are looking for a trading platform to carry out the best technical analysis of the market, ProRealTime is the benchmark. Popular with French speculators, it owes its reputation to its exclusive analysis tools. The software offers a wide range of charts and real-time data to make your decision-making easier. It gives its users around a hundred technical analysis indicators.
In addition to real-time observation of trends, ProRealTime also allows automated trading. To stand out from its peers, the platform has introduced a variety of modules offering specific features.
ProRealTrend: with this module, traders can automatically draw a wide range of trend lines. They can draw both horizontal and diagonal lines. This makes it possible to identify the support and resistance levels on a chart.
ProBacktest: this feature helps speculators test various trading strategies, allowing them to evaluate their performance on past market movements.
ProOrder: this module applies the strategies set up in ProBacktest in real time. It enables fast order execution.
ProScreener: designed specifically for the Forex and stock markets, it performs a complete scan of the market the trader chooses. The main purpose of this tool is to help you gather information on the financial product. To make it easy to use, ProRealTime offers assisted creation so you don’t have to write programming code.
How Much Should You Deposit to Simulate?
To Learn How to Trade
Brokers generally set a deposit limit for stock market simulator accounts. It varies depending on the broker you have chosen. In demo mode, the trader uses only virtual money, so you can set your own capital while respecting the broker’s limits. It is recommended that it match your real capital, to put yourself in real trading conditions.
Even though it is fictitious money, it is better to choose a realistic amount and use your capital wisely. Remember that the purpose of the simulator is to help you try out trading. You should act as you would with a live account.
To Develop a Strategy
For a trader looking for a trading technique, the ideal would be to trade with real money. In that case, you need to consider two parameters: the amount you are prepared to lose and the limit set by the broker.
With a stock market simulator, it is possible to make gains. For example, with capital of $200 and leverage of 1:50, you can make a profit of $500 if the market rises by 5%. However, if the position turns out to be a losing one, the amount lost will be equivalent to the amount of the gains.
Although traders can earn some income with the simulator, live accounts offer more attractive profit potential. If you are planning to increase your weekly or monthly gains, it is therefore better to switch to a live account.
Advantages
Using a stock market simulator has several advantages for both amateur and professional traders. These are the main ones:
Trying out trading: this is the primary advantage and the main role of a stock market simulator. It lets you trade on a trading platform to get familiar with the world of trading. This is a real asset for newcomers, who can develop their analytical skills before moving to a live account.
Testing a wide range of trading strategies: all professional traders have an approach for identifying opportunities in the financial markets. With a stock market simulator, you can test every possible trading technique to find the one that fits the market. Trading platforms offer all the features needed to study stock market movements and understand how the market works.
Getting used to technical analysis tools: stock market simulators give you access to all the market analysis tools. Traders can test them to understand their role, then choose the ones that suit them best.
Understanding the importance of leverage: although the concept of leverage is easy to grasp, not all traders are aware of its impact. With a stock market simulator, investors can trade using leverage. They will see the profit potential offered by leverage of 500:1 or 100:1.
Trading risk-free: the money invested in demo accounts is virtual. As a result, you take no financial risk when opening positions. You can therefore trade without any limits.
Disadvantages
A stock market simulator certainly has its benefits, but using one also has drawbacks.
Traders’ emotions are not taken into account: since the money invested is fictitious, the speculator does not experience the emotions that come with losing money. They will therefore not develop the right reflexes when their positions run against market trends.
No brokerage fees: during the simulation, brokers’ charges are not taken into account when the trader assesses their profitability. On a live account, traders pay deposit, withdrawal, transaction and other fees.