Best Demo Investment Trading Accounts In 2024 - Our Pick (2024)

Advertiser Disclosure

Updated: Apr 9, 2024, 4:11pm

Important Disclosure: The content provided does not consider your particular circ*mstances and does not constitute personal advice. Some of the products promoted are from our affiliate partners from whom we receive compensation.Read More

If you require any personal advice, please seek such advice from an independently qualified financial advisor. While we aim to feature some of the best products available, this does not include all available products from across the market. Although the information provided is believed to be accurate at the date of publication, you should always check with the product provider to ensure that information provided is the most up to date.Read Less

Capital at Risk. All investments carry a varying degree of risk and it’s important you understand the natureof the risks involved. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back lessthan you put in.Read More

Where we promote an affiliate partner that provides investment products, our promotion is limited to that oftheir listed stocks & shares investment platform. We do not promote or encourage any other products such ascontract for difference, spread betting or forex. Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposedto currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing which may affect the value of theinvestment in sterling terms. You could lose money in sterling even if the stock price rises in the currencyof origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange ratecharges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection asin the UK.Read Less

{{ showSummarySection ? hideSummaryText : showSummaryText }}

We carried out research on a wide range of demo trading accounts and have listed our findings below.

Details about the accounts we chose, and how we ranked the providers, can be found in our methodology.

Other companies operate in this sector, but each of the stock recommendations for this feature has been suggested for us by an expertinvestment professional. Remember, that investing in individual stocks comes with no guarantees and that share prices can fall as well as rise

We applied two main criteria in selecting our pick of the best demo trading accounts:

• Does the provider offer the option of trading directly in shares, rather than only via derivatives?
• Does the provider charge a fee for opening a demo account?

We compared features across the leading demo accounts, with the greatest weight given to the size of virtual funds, any time limit and the choice of investments.

We also considered whether the account was easy-to-use, as well as the quality of research and option of advanced trading tools.

We overlaid this research with editorial judgment to arrive at our Forbes star ratings.

A demo trading account, or trading simulator, offers investors the opportunity to practise buying and selling investments online. It aims to replicate ‘live’ trading as closely as possible.

Demo trading accounts provide investors with virtual funds, typically up to £100,000, which they can use to place trades. Investors can monitor the performance of their portfolio in real time and learn to make timely trading decisions.

Most demo accounts offer a selection of shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) across UK, European and US markets.

Some accounts also offer trading in alternative assets, but these can be highly speculative and bring the risk of making significant losses.

The advantages of demo trading accounts include:

• Learning in a risk-free way: investors are trading with virtual, rather than real, money, without the risk of making actual losses.
• Improving trading skills: investors can develop their trading skills over time without the worry of losing money, helping to build confidence.
• Trying new strategies or investments: investors can experiment with different strategies and investment types to see if they are successful.
• Getting to know the platform: investors learn how to use the platform, and any tools, before investing with real money.

However, there are also some disadvantages to consider:

• Replicating unrealistic trading behaviour: it’s difficult to simulate real-life trading behaviour when investors aren’t trading with their own money. Investors may be tempted to make knee-jerk decisions when faced with actual losses, whereas virtual traders may be more willing to ‘wait and see’ if their portfolio dips into the red.
• Trading in higher-risk assets: virtual traders may trade in higher-risk instruments than they would otherwise, particularly for demo accounts offering leverage. This is trading using borrowed money from the provider to place higher-value trades, typically used with derivatives.
• Ignoring individual goals: while demo accounts are a useful way of developing trading skills, investors should consider their own objectives, and appetite for risk, before starting to trade with their own funds.

Once they are confident enough to invest their own money, would-be traders may want to open a general investment or trading account.

To help with this, we’ve looked at our pick of the best trading accounts for beginners and the best platforms for day trading.

However, there are a variety of tax-efficient alternatives which allow investors to pay no income tax on dividends or capital gains tax on any profit made on buying and selling shares. This may be of particular interest given the significant reduction in the capital gains allowance over the next two years.

With this in mind, we’ve also researched our pick of the best Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) and Junior Stocks and Shares ISAs (JISAs).

However, in the case of SIPPs and JISAs, investors are not able to access the money until a certain age.