Paper trading — main functionality
Paper trading is a demo account to practice trading with no deposits and no real money involved — just your skills, tested in close-to-real market conditions. This risk-free trading simulator is a great way to apply both your technical and fundamental analysis as you build confidence and deepen your understanding of the financial markets.
CONTENTS:
- What is paper trading
- Why paper trade
- How to activate your paper account
- How to place a paper trade
- The Leap
What is paper trading
Paper trading, also known as demo trading, is a tool that lets you practice buying and selling assets with simulated money.
We always state that developing a unique strategy is crucial — it should align with your personal approach, take into account your stress-resistance, and perform well with the assets you're willing to trade. And here, everything is essentially the same, except that you can train without risk. Our system tracks your orders and positions, so you can see how profitable your strategy is. You can explore the tradingverse with all of its chart types, indicators, drawings, and many other tools.
Why paper trade
Markets can be really complex, and there's no approach perfect for all conditions. Various tools may contradict each other: indicators, drawings, and metrics all behave differently.
Paper trading gives you an opportunity to experiment with methods — from standard chart analysis to custom Pine Script® indicators and strategies — and see how your ideas perform in real-time scenarios.
Whether you're day trading forex, futures, crypto, or building a long-term stock portfolio, every asset class has its own rules. Practice helps you find what fits.
How to activate your paper account
From Supercharts, click the "Trade" button in the top-right corner.
You'll see brokers available in your region. Paper Trading is available everywhere, for everyone — you'll never miss it.
Click "Paper Trading" → "Connect" → and you're all set.
How to place a paper trade
Our simulator works with many asset types available on TradingView — you can trade stocks, forex, crypto, commodity and index futures, and much more.
Placing orders is available via:
- Order ticket: A trading panel where you can enter order details, such as side, quantity, order type, price, and risk settings, before placing a trade
- Depth of market: A trading interface that shows available buy and sell orders at different price levels, helping you see market liquidity and place orders quickly
- Chart trading: TradingView feature that allows to place trades directly on the chart without distraction
The Leap
When you've learned how paper trading works and feel ready to test your skills on another level, join The Leap — our virtual trading competition with your fellow traders from all around the world and real-money prizes up for grabs.
It allows you to find out the effectiveness of your trading strategies and compare your results with others.
No initial deposits, no broker fees, or hidden charges are needed to compete for real-money prizes.
Make sure you explore competition rules before starting, as each of them is unique and allows for trading different assets.
Paper trading in a nutshell
Paper trading is a risk-free trading simulator. No fees, no tricks — available for every TradingViewer to study both charting and trading.
Market analysis is a comprehensive study, which may take time to learn. You'll probably need to adjust your strategy, and not once. We recommend you take your time and don't rush to risk your hard-earned money.
Explore our other guides on trading and charting tools in our knowledge base to make your trading flexible and build your confidence in markets.
Before diving deep into real money trading, test your skills in The Leap — our risk-free worldwide trading championship.
When you feel confident in the markets, you can choose any of our top brokers and take your journey in the tradingverse to the next level.
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