A demo account helps you learn a trading platform with simulated funds. Treat it as a place to test a process and understand the controls, rather than a shortcut to proving future returns.
Trading Online FX does not operate a demo platform. Provider terms differ, and live forex and CFD trading can cause substantial losses.
Before the first practice order
- Check which broker entity supplies the demo and whether its live account is available in your country.
- Choose an account currency and simulated balance that make your calculations meaningful.
- Read the instrument specification: contract size, pip size, minimum position, size increment and hours.
- Find the spread, commission and financing information.
- Locate balance, equity, used margin and available margin.
Learn the difference between your platform login and any separate provider account portal. Do not share either password or authentication code with a third-party educator or signal seller.
Session 1: learn the controls
Practise entering, changing and cancelling a pending order. Open and close a small simulated position, locate its fill price and inspect its history. Identify how a buy and sell are quoted, and which price triggers your chosen order.
Write down where to find the provider’s execution policy. A market order, limit order and stop order behave differently; read our trade-mechanics guide before using them.
Session 2: practise the calculation
Use a hypothetical $2,000 USD balance and a $10 loss budget. With EUR/USD and a 25-pip stop, a $10-per-pip standard lot gives a calculated size of 0.04 lots before costs. Reproduce the calculation in our position-sizing guide and check whether that size is available.
The $10 budget is an exercise, not a recommended risk level. Fees, gaps and slippage can make a real loss larger than planned. Margin is collateral, not the maximum loss.
Session 3: compare plan with result
Before a practice trade, record the instrument, direction, reason, intended entry, stop, size, costs and exit rule. Afterward, record what actually happened. Explain a difference rather than changing the plan retrospectively to fit the outcome.
Review process questions: did you use the intended size, understand the costs and follow the exit rule? A single profitable result cannot answer whether the method is reliable.
Check what the demo leaves out
Ask the provider which execution conditions, financing adjustments, order rejections and margin close-out behaviour are simulated. Never assume that every demo reproduces all live-account features.
For example, IG’s UK help page lists differences in its demo, including slippage and some adjustments. This is evidence about that provider’s stated simulation, not a description of every demo account.
Build a journal without chasing a target return
Keep a consistent sample of practice observations and record mistakes as well as successes. Avoid resetting the balance whenever a trade loses. If you do reset it for a new exercise, mark the reset so you do not mix different samples.
Readiness questions
- Can I place, amend and cancel orders without guessing?
- Can I explain size, margin, costs and possible loss?
- Have I checked the exact live entity, protections and withdrawal terms?
- Do I understand the limits of simulated results?
There is no required number of practice days or profitable trades that proves suitability. Staying with education or deciding not to trade are valid choices. Continue with the learning path, cost guide and risk explanation.