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Open a free demo trading account with us
Practise with €30,000 in virtual funds
Our demo trading account lets you trade without risking real money, balancing authentic market experience and risk-free learning. With over 2,000,000 accounts worldwide¹, trader are using our demo account to develop skills, test strategies, understand market dynamics and gain confidence.
Why choose our demo trading account?
Our demo trading account gives you:
Immediate access to our comprehensive online trading platform, completely free with no time limit – you can keep the account open indefinitely
€30,000 in virtual funds, ie no real monetary value, to practise trading in an environment that’s based on our award-winning platform2
Real-time data from 17,000+ global markets, including shares, indices, forex, commodities and more
What is a demo trading account?
A demo trading account or trading simulator is a virtual trading environment that mimics real market conditions without financial risk. It provides an authentic market experience – excluding the use of any real money – offering access to live market data, advanced trading tools and comprehensive educational resources.
A demo trading account helps you gain practical experience and confidence as a market participant before you transition to live trading. If you create a live account, or you already have one open, you can still use our trading simulator.
Demo trading accounts or trading simulators are often referred to as ‘practise trading accounts’. They’re also called ‘paper trading accounts’ because they let you ‘paper trade’. ‘Paper trading’ is a term that historically described the practice of recording theoretical trades on paper to test trading strategies.
We provide you with sophisticated trading simulations that mirror real market conditions in every aspect, except the real money being risked.
When you open a demo trading account with us, you’ll get:
- Immediate access to our comprehensive online trading platform, completely free
- €30,000 in virtual funds to practice with
- Real-time data from 17,000+ global markets, including indices, forex, shares, commodities and cryptocurrencies
What our clients say
FAQs
Is trading with a demo account worth it?
Using a trading simulator can be invaluable, regardless of your experience level as a trader. A demo trading account can help you in several ways that could increase the probability of favourable outcomes when taking market positions. These include developing your skills, building your confidence, testing different market approaches, and familiarising yourself with different financial instruments and platform features.
But it’s important to note that even with thorough planning and preparation, markets could still turn against your positions and lead to losses. Even experienced traders aren’t exempt from incurring losses.
Can I use the IG demo trading account for free?
Yes, you can use our demo trading account for free – there are no hidden costs or usage restrictions. When you sign up, you'll receive immediate access, along with €30,000 in virtual funds. You'll have unrestricted access to real-time market data across more than 17,000 markets, allowing you to practise trading in real market conditions for as long as you need.
How does a demo trading account differ from a live account?
A demo trading account closely mirrors real trading conditions that are accessible through a live account. But there are some differences that stem from there being no involvement of real money in the former.
Positions taken using a trading simulator aren’t subject to some factors that can affect outcomes in live trading. For example, a trading simulator operates without the possibility of margin calls and automatic position closures. Other aspects that affect outcomes in live trading, but not in paper trading include out-of-hours price movements, slippage and dividend adjustments.
It's important to note that actual market conditions and execution speeds may vary when you transition to live trading. This is due to factors such as market impact, execution infrastructure, liquidity and trading psychology.
Is €500 enough to start trading?
While it's possible to open a live trading account with €500, it could be useful to build a solid understanding of how the markets work before trading with real money. Practising on a trading simulator before opening a live account can help you understand important concepts like risk management, trading costs and margin requirements.
Before committing real funds to trading, it's essential to develop and test your trading strategy, with due consideration to your financial goals and risk tolerance. With us, you’d trade using leverage – which comes with significant risk and complexity.
Leverage lets you open a bigger position with a relatively much smaller deposit called ‘margin’. When using leverage, both potential profits and losses are magnified to the full position size. So, you could incur losses rapidly. Your losses could even exceed the deposit you paid to open the position.
Can I withdraw money from a demo account?
No, you can’t withdraw money from a demo account since it operates with virtual funds designed purely for practise purposes. All profits and losses in our trading simulator carry no real monetary value. This allows you to experiment freely with different trading strategies without any financial risk, but it also means that any gains can’t be converted to real money.
How do I trade using a demo account?
You start using our demo trading account in these steps:
- Create your free demo account
- Access our trading platform
- Browse the available markets
- Do your research
- Place practise trades using virtual funds
- Monitor and close your positions
- Analyse your trading performance
Our platform includes integrated educational resources to support your learning process. Additionally, our customer support team is available to assist you if you need help getting started.
What is the difference between a demo trading account, trading simulator and paper trading account?
A demo trading account, trading simulator and a paper trading account are one and the same. They provide a financially risk-free environment where you can practise trading using virtual funds under real market conditions.
The term ‘paper trading’ comes from the historical practice of recording theoretical trades on paper, but modern platforms – like ours – have digitised this concept into sophisticated trading simulators that provide a modern and realistic trading experience.
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¹ Based on number of active trading and investment accounts with IG. Active accounts are those enabled for deposits and trading.
2 Best platform for the active trader, best multi-platform provider and best finance app as awarded at the ADVFN International Financial Awards 2024.
