Nowadays, new strategies are being used to get great returns from different digital assets. However, some of these strategies can be risky, and that is why, before investing, it is better to test the strategy without risk.

That is the case of paper trading, where you can trade without risking real money. This guide will review the best paper trading platforms in Australia and their main features.

What Is Paper Trading?

It is simulated trading on paper. Those interested in trading would write down the positions they would take if they were trading and then add up all their imaginary trades and get a result.

With paper trading, you have the possibility of using worthless digital money instead of being forced to use your own money. But, of course, this is still trading with real market data.

This is a great way to do two things, the first is to try out a new trading strategy, and the second is to practice without the need to use real money, so losing money this way is not a big dilemma. Another advantage is that you can start again from scratch at any time. You just need to reset your account balance.

There is no real money to be made here. The profit you get from paper trading in Australia only exists in a market simulation account.

Advantages Of Paper Trading

Paper trading has many advantages because it helps traders be much more successful. When you use a simulator with real market data, you can see if a strategy is successful or needs to change something.

When we refer to success, we mean if it provides continuous returns, all this without using real money. If a strategy does not work as expected, you can avoid losing large sums of money.

But it is not only focused on testing strategies. There is also the possibility of testing new platforms. For example, most brokers have charts and a live trading order entry system. This way, you can understand the order execution procedure in-depth before you put your money in.

Here are some other advantages of paper trading:

Trade Without Major Risks

This practice allows you to analyze all your strategies and see if you risk loss. Then, when you trade without the risk of losing real money, you can draw better strategies and know when to act in the market.

You Can Practice Before Trading

With practice, you can gain experience trading any type of digital asset. In addition, you can learn in a safe and quiet environment by accessing a simulator.

You Can Gain Confidence

Paper trading can also be seen as a way to gain confidence and see the rewards of hypothetical profits. This is intended to give the investor full confidence when it is time to do it with real money.

Use Statistics

Paper trading over several weeks or a month generates valuable statistics about the new strategy and market approach.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Paper Trading Strategies

It is important to know that if you are thinking of using paper trading, there are strategies that can help you. In the subsequent part of our article, we will discuss some important strategies that you should know and then apply to a paper trading account in Australia.

Swing Trading

This strategy involves several days. The objective of this strategy is to profit when there are changes in momentum. That said, you can then enter a position when two things happen. The first is that there is a large reversal, and the second is a breakout. Consequently, a large price movement can be generated, so it is important to hold the position.
It is necessary to close an operation oscillating once the price movement starts a downward trend to protect the obtained yields.

Price Action Trading

Price action trading is based mainly on price data, leaving aside technical indicators. This is because, in the market, there is rapidity in terms of price changes. These changes provide information to determine where the price will go, while technical indicators are always behind the market, so it is left aside.

This action can greatly help practice paper trading in Australia because buyers and sellers can look at the same asset but have different interpretations of its performance and price.

Scalping

If you are a trader looking to day trade, perhaps scalping is perfect for you. It consists of making trades in a short time. The idea behind scalping is to trade at the beginning of a move when you are supposed to be in the best position in the market.

Scalping is a popular day trading strategy that involves making many short-term trades. The idea behind scalping is to trade at the beginning of a price move when it is most likely to be strong and directional. Although tThere is no need to wait for the trade to complete. Instead, you are looking to exit before the price movement can begin to trend downwards.

To achieve success in this strategy is to make several trades and keep losses to a minimum. However, this strategy gives small returns, so it is important to calculate everything so that an operation does not end with the profits obtained by paper trading.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

How to Choose the Best Paper Trading Platform

All platforms do not work the same, even if they give you access to a simulator. Therefore, choosing the best paper trading platform is extremely important because you need to make sure that you get the best returns and profits when paper trading. Therefore, it is important to analyze some parameters when choosing a platform for paper trading in Australia:

Amount Of Money

This is a very important point to start with. So the first thing you should know is how much is the amount available to use; in some platforms, a range is already established, while in others, the user is the one who decides the amount to use.

It is of utmost significance that you use your account as if it were the size of your trading account that you use in the real world. What you are looking for is to make similar operations; in this way, you can also be close to what you intend if you use leveraged operations and know your possible return.

No Time Limit

When you use any platform for paper trading, you may have no time limit for trading on the demo account. Therefore, it is essential to make certain that it is possible to restart the account. In some cases, it is necessary to reach a balance of $0 to be able to restart the demo account. If this is not potential, it is advisable to contact the customer support team so that they can suggest to you what to do to restart the account.

Tradable Assets

On the platform you select, you will find all the types of assets you are interested in trading. For example, if you are examining to trade sugar shares of The Hershey Company, your paper trading account may offer the possibility to make simulated trades for this company’s shares. In addition, all brokers may offer almost the same shares for trading in Australia.

Commission-free

Here it is important to choose a platform in Australia that is commission-free. This is the case for the vast majority of platforms. Besides commissions, there are also no commissions since you are not doing real trading. Of course, you don’t need to worry about commissions or any additional charges when you do paper trading.

You should pay attention to whether your preferred broker charges any fees for account inactivity. For example, if you only trade with paper and not for real for a considerable time, you may have to pay a high inactivity fee.

Educational Tools

Educational tools are a fundamental part of any platform. Everything from videos to guides is offered here. It is educational material, but trading tools can also help you make your experience much better. Another advantage is that it is also a way to gain knowledge and receive advice. All this can be done in the demo account, where you can visualize settings and patterns for trading. These tools can help beginners, while more experienced traders may not see it as relentless and rely on their knowledge.

Customer Service Available

Any trader may not need the customer service team for trading paper. However, it is always vital to have someone to help you in any complicated situation. Therefore, you should check if your trading platform has a customer service team ready to help you. In addition to this, you should be sure that help is also available for both live and paper trading accounts.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Platform Software

As for the trading software, they are completely different on different paper trading platforms. For example, some platforms have software that a broker has previously developed. This is excellent because if you want to explore and see how a new broker works, you can access charting tools and order entry. So, paper trading platforms are not exclusive to one broker, so you may find yourself needing to learn about a whole new software interface if, for some reason, you switch platforms.

Some paper trading brokers in Australia may work with famous software, such as MetaTrader 4 or 5. As a result, since several brokers can work with this software, you can transfer everything related to techniques between platforms.

Now having said that, you have to see that your platform is available for mobile devices so that you can do paper trade via a device.

Best Paper Trading Accounts In Australia

After analyzing all these important criteria, you must be wondering which is the best platform for you available in Australia. Below, we will analyze the five best platforms in Australia for paper trading in any market.

Given these criteria on what constitutes a good paper trading account, how can you find the best one for you? There are dozens of paper accounts available in Australia. To help you choose, let’s look at five of the best paper trading platforms you can get started with today.

1. eToro – The Best Platform For Trading Paper In Australia With 0% Commissions

eToro is our recommended platform for paper trading in Australia. This platform is 0% commission free and is regulated by the FCA. CySEC and ASIC, so if you ever decide to make any real money investments, you can rest assured that your investments will be safe from any fraudulent activity.

eToro currently has about 100 technical indicators and drawing tools available. Here it is possible to buy cryptocurrencies, stocks, and CFDs. Its minimum deposit is $10. To make this deposit, the platform offers many options, so you should choose the one that suits you best.

Its key feature is that eToro offers a social trading environment. It is very similar to the Facebook platform, where users can comment on posts, interact with each other, and learn from the more experienced ones if they are a beginner in the market. In case you are a beginner, this feature is perfect. On eToro, it is possible to do copy trading, which means you can copy the trades made by the more experienced members.

The only negative aspect about eToro is that paper trading is not available on their mobile application.

eToro fees

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

2. Libertex – Excellent Broker With No Spread And Integrated Trading Platform For Paper Trading In Australia

Libertex is another excellent paper trading platform to take into consideration. With over 2 million users in many countries, this platform was created in 1997. It is a fully regulated platform, thanks to CySEC, so the moment you decide to make real trades, you can be completely sure that your investments are safe from fraudulent activities. In addition, there is a wide variety of assets available such as the best cryptocurrencies, making it an excellent opportunity to use paper trading.

While there is no real money involved with paper trading, it is important to note that in comparison to eToro and Capital, Libertex does charge a commission for each transaction. It varies depending on the asset and the size of the trade. Here you must also pay the spread. This spread is very tight on this platform and is around 0.1% to 0.2%.

The deposit on this platform is 100 euros, so you must make the change to the Australian dollar and be able to calculate. All this can be done through an electronic wallet, or if you prefer, you can make a bank transfer or use a credit and debit card. So you have many options available to you at any time.

Libertex is available on their website as well as for mobile devices. Their software uses MT4 and MT5. Here, it is also possible to leverage where it can make large profits from the market.

Libertex fees

Your money is at risk.

4. AvaTrade - Best Platform For Practice Paper Trading In Australia

In AvaTrade, you have available the most popular options strategies where you can automatically see your possible profits and your potential losses from any trade.

Here you can also find a dedicated options trading platform called AvaOptions. You should note that you can only trade options with currencies, and it is impossible to trade with stocks. In AvaTrade, it is also possible to trade CFDs for currencies, invest in cryptocurrencies, commodities, and more than 100 stocks. When using a paper trading account, you immediately unlock the charting software available at Avatrade. This software is very simple and comes bundled with indicators such as MetaTrader 4. Using MetaTrader 4 for paper trading is an excellent method to practice the strategies thought out with forex signals.

This platform is completely free of any commissions and free to open an account. However, you should be cautious about the inactivity rate on AvaTrade. The inactivity fee is worth $50 per month and is applicable after three months without any real trading activity.

Likewise, the AvaTrade platform provides novice traders with various tools and resources, including access to over 250 financial tools and 24-hour cryptocurrency trading. In the account you're going to use to do paper trading, you'll have $100,000 of virtual funds.

AvaTrade fees

Your money is at risk.

5. Pepperstone – Regulated Broker To Paper Trading In Australia

Pepperstone was established in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. It is a platform that the FCA regulates. Here it is possible to trade CFDs and other assets without having to pay spreads. To develop the best paper trading strategies, it is possible to do it with a technical market analysis that includes charts of your choice's digital assets.

In case you want to trade with real money, it is important to know that here you will have to pay a commission of 3.50 dollars and that by doing so, you can have the best spreads. This is the case if you want to use a Razor account. But if you prefer, you can use a standard account with no commissions and lower spreads.

Here you will have access to an important diversity of markets. The digital assets traded on this platform are indices, currencies, and commodities. Deposits can be made by debit and credit cards, bank transfers, and PayPal, and there is no minimum deposit requirement. This broker is suitable for MT4, MT5, and cTrader.

Pepperstone fees:

Your money is at risk.

How To Start Paper Trading

Creating an account for paper trading in Australia is extremely simple. Let us walk you through the steps to open an account with eToro, a commission-free platform with various digital assets to trade right now.

Step 1: Open A Trading Account

The first thing is to open a trading account because you will immediately have access to a paper trading account when you open one. In order to do this process, you need to go to the platform's website. Once you are on the home page, you need to click on "Join now." You must then enter a username and password. In addition, you must provide basic information such as your date of birth, name, and email address.

eToro is a regulated platform, in which case you must confirm your identity. This step is not completely necessary but would be ideal if you plan to do real trading in the future. To complete this is very simple. You just need to upload a copy of the following options: passport or driver's license. Additionally, you need to attach a copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Step 2: Deposit Funds

The deposit of funds can be completed in different ways, from debit and credit cards to bank transfers. The recommendation is to find out which method is most convenient for you.

This is necessary even if you only want to trade with a paper account, but this money will not be threatened when you trade with paper, and you will be able to withdraw it later. The minimum deposit is 50 US dollars.

Step 3: Start Paper Trading

Now you should go to the control panel of the platform. You should click on a button called "REAL" and then select the virtual wallet to switch to paper trading. Then you will be able to see the balance available in the simulation account.

If you want to make any operation on paper, you only have to look for the asset in the control panel and click on "Operate." Then you must fill in the order where it is possible to place the amount of virtual money. After that, you can choose different stop levels or use leverage.

Once your paper trade is ready, you only have to click on the "Open Trade" button, and with this, you complete the simulated trade.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Conclusion

As we have seen throughout this guide, paper trading offers huge benefits that can help when you want to make real operations.

You can test new and different strategies and get to know how any type of asset in the market works before making a real investment. This is a safe way of trading, so that it can be very effective. However, it would be useful if the time to use it is with the approach you are trading with real money. Don't forget that the strategies mentioned in the article are very effective in the market.

What you are looking for with paper trading in Australia is to take as little risk as possible and be as successful as possible. Remember that this is with simulated money, so you can do it with confidence to develop your skills and get to know all the available tools on the platforms.

If you feel ready to get started, you can do so by opening an account with eToro.

eToro - Best Free Paper Trading Platform In Australia

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

 FAQs

Can you make money paper trading?

It is possible as long as you decide to make real trades because at that moment, you can apply all the strategies previously tested in paper trading and get better profits from the trades.

Is paper trading a good practice?

Starting with a paper trading account can help your learning process. But there are other benefits beyond just education. First of all, you don't run any risk, since you are not using real money and therefore you don't lose anything. Secondly, you gain confidence when making a trade and applying a strategy.

Is paper trading good for beginners?

Yes, because paper trading is buying and selling digital assets with virtual money. By doing this, it is possible to practice the strategies. But on the other hand, the platforms also have educational material that better understands the tools, charts, and indices when you are a beginner.

How do I start paper trading?

You only need to open an account on a registered platform like the ones explained in this guide. Remember that our recommendation is eToro.