About Paper Trading Accounts

Instructions
How Paper Trading Accounts Work

Note: You cannot convert a Paper Trading Account to a Live Account. To explore our trading platforms and Paper Trading before opening and funding an account, sign up for a Free Trial Account. You can upgrade your account when you are ready. Navigate to our FAQs to learn more.

  • Paper trading accounts simulate most aspects of live accounts, including margin functionality, leverage, and maintenance margin requirements. Some limitations compared to live trading do exist.
  • A paper trading account will not be opened until your account has been funded.
  • The Paper Trading interface clearly indicates that you are working in a simulated account. If you do not see this, you are trading in a production account and will be liable for all trades that fill.
  • New individual account holders can request a paper trading account by following the steps outlined here. Existing account holders with a paper trading account can log into TWS and select either a production or paper trading account.
  • Trades entered into a paper trading account will not actually execute on any exchange or settle at a clearing house. However, the simulated price of the executions will be determined by real market prices and sizes.
  • Trading permissions, market data subscriptions, base currency, and other account configurations are the same as specified for your regular account.
  • A paper trading account statement will be available by logging into Portal with the Paper Trading Account login and accessing the Reports menu.
  • All paper trading accounts start with USD 1,000,000 of paper trading Equity with Loan Value, and this equity will fluctuate as if the trades had executed in the real market.
  • You may reset your paper cash equity at any time in Portal to up to five times your production account's value. Please note that reset requests should be entered before 4pm ET in order to take effect the next business day.
  • Paper Accounts may be closed due to inactivity. If so, please take the steps outlined here to reapply.
Limitations

Although a Paper Trading Account simulates most aspects of a production account, you may encounter some differences due to its construction as a simulator. These differences include but are not limited to:

  • No support for some order types including: VWAP, Auction, RFQ, and Pegged to Market.
  • Fills are simulated from the top of the book; no deep book access.
  • Limited combo trading.
  • Stops and other complex order types are always simulated in paper trading, which may result in slightly different behavior from a production account.
  • Penny trading for US Options is not supported. Orders can be submitted by will not receive a penny fill.
  • The trade simulator will reject the remainder of any exchange-directed market order that partially executes. This may or may not match the behavior of a real-world exchange. Market orders received while there is no quote on the opposite side will be held until the first partial fill.

  • Only existing clients can request a Paper Trading Account. If you are not yet a client and would like to explore our trading platforms and software, you can get started with a Free Trial Account.

 

Additional Resources