Paper trade on live prices before real money
A backtest knows how the story ended. Paper trading does not — it runs your rules forward on live prices, against candles nobody has seen yet, with imaginary money. It is the only test that can surprise you, which is exactly why it is the one worth doing.
20 free creditsNo card required
Forward, not backward
The difference matters more than it sounds. In a backtest every candle to the right of the entry already exists, and a rule tuned until the history looks good has learned the history rather than the market. Paper trading removes that advantage completely: the next candle has not happened yet.
Real prices, imaginary money
The strategy runs on the same live prices the terminal streams. Entries fill, stops sit where the rule put them, targets hit or do not, and the whole thing is logged the way a real session would be — without a rupee or a dollar at stake.
- FillThe entry the rule actually took, at the live price.
- HoldWhere the stop is parked while the position is open.
- ExitTarget, stop or rule exit, logged with the price.
When a strategy has earned live
There is no score that promotes a strategy automatically, and that is deliberate. You look at the paper log, decide whether it behaved the way the backtest promised, and take it live yourself. A system that promotes strategies on its own is optimising for engagement, not for you.
What paper trading still will not show you
Slippage on a thin book, a gap straight through your stop, a broker outage, and — the big one — how you behave when the money is real. Paper trading removes the errors of logic. The errors of nerve are still entirely yours, and they are usually the expensive ones.
Paper trading questions, answered
What is paper trading?
Running a strategy on live market prices with imaginary money, so you can watch how it behaves in real time without risking anything.
How is it different from a backtest?
A backtest replays candles that already exist, so a rule can be tuned until history looks good. Paper trading runs forward on candles that have not happened yet, which is the only way to find that out.
How long should I paper trade a strategy?
Long enough to see it meet the conditions it was built for more than a handful of times, and ideally in more than one kind of market. A week of one-way trend proves very little about a range.
Does paper trading cost credits?
You start with 20 free credits and no card; your plan sets the monthly allowance after that.
Does a successful paper run mean the strategy works?
It means it has not failed yet, on the conditions it has met so far. That is genuinely valuable and it is not a guarantee — trading carries a real risk of loss whatever the log says.
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Start with 20 free credits
No card, no trial countdown. Build a strategy, backtest it on real candles and see the terminal with your own instruments before you decide anything.