Forex trading volume is massive thanks to the international trade and exchange that happens every day. However, there are many risks associated with forex trading. Demo accounts are a great way to test forex trading platforms before investing real money.
Demo accounts can help a newcomer to the market or a platform learn how the tools and trading options work on the platform. Let’s look at how these demo forex trading accounts work and which are the best.
Best Forex Trading Demo Accounts
We looked at dozens of FX demo accounts to find what the best ones were and who they would be best for. This list is what we came up with for the best forex practice accounts:
- AvaTrade – Best Forex Demo Account Overall
- Pepperstone – Forex Demo Account With Low Spreads
- eToro – Best Copy Trading Forex Demo Account
- Plus500 – CFD Forex Demo Account
- Forex.com – Good Forex Demo Account
- FXCM – Good Spreads Forex Demo Account
- IC Markets – Best Forex MetaTrader5 Demo Account
- IG – Best Practice Account for Platform Offerings
- TD Ameritrade -Best Forex Demo Account for US Traders
- ThinkMarkets – Best Mobile Forex Demo Account
2. Low Spreads
PFI Rating 4.9
1. Best Overall
PFI Rating 4.9
3. Copy Trading
PFI Rating 4.9
Overview
Check out this table to see how these forex demo accounts compare. AvaTrade has the best overall demo experience, while platforms like eToro, ThinkMarkets, and TD Ameritrade are best for unique segments of investors or markets.
| Forex Demo Account | Best For | Trial Period (Days) | Supported Assets | Demo Account ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Forex Trading | 21 days | Commodities, Digital Currnecies, Forex, Indices | $100,000 |
|
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Forex Copy Trading | Unlimited | CFDs, Digital Currencies, Forex, Stocks | $100,000 |
|
Pepperstone |
MetaTrader 4 account | 30 days | Commodities, Digital Currencies, ETFs, Forex, Indices, Shares | $50,000 |
|
Forex.com |
Overall demo experience | 90 days | Forex, Futures, Precious Metals | $50,000 |
|
FXCM |
Forex spread | 14 days | Commodities, Digital Currencies, Forex, Indices, Shares | $20,000 |
|
IC Markets |
MetaTrader 5 account | 30 days | Bonds, Commodities, Digital Currencies, Forex, Futures, and Indices | $5,000,000 |
|
IG |
Platform offers and deals | 30 days | Bonds, Commodities, Digital Currencies, Forex, Futures, and Indices | $10,000 |
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Novice traders | Unlimited | Bonds, Commodities, Digital Currencies, Forex, Futures, and Indices | $50,000 (refreshes when account goes below $200) |
|
TD Ameritrade |
American traders | 60 days | Bonds, ETFs, Forex, Futures, Indices, Mutual Funds, Options, Stocks | $100,000 |
|
ThinkMarkets |
Mobile traders | 30 days | CFDs, Commodities, Digital Currencies, Forex, Indices, Precious Metals, Shares | $25,000 |
AvaTrade
eToro
Plus500
Forex Demo Accounts In Detail
Below we list all the forex practice demo accounts and expand on the details of each demo account.
PFI Rating: 4.9/5
AvaTrade – Best Forex Trading Demo Account Overall
AvaTrade is an online trading platform offering several markets, including CFDs forex, stocks, and cryptocurrency. Based out of Dublin, Ireland, the company is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and offers services across Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Founded in 2006, AvaTrade focuses on customer service and education. The website offers several calculators and educational materials to help beginner and intermediate traders improve their understanding of markets and good trading practices.
AvaTrade offers one of the better virtual funding experiences thanks to the speed at which new demo accounts go online. Many people have their accounts online and ready to go within a few hours of signing up for the account.
AvaTrade has different tools and platforms to suit different traders, including desktop and mobile app versions of their platforms.
76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
PFI Rating: 4.9/5
Pepperstone – Best Low Spread Forex Trading Demo Account
Pepperstone is a trading platform based out of Australia, serving hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide. Founded in 2010, this forex broker has been around for a while.
Pepperstone won several awards for customer service and service excellence over the last decade. These awards come alongside Pepperstone's strict adherence to regulatory boards and committees, including ASIC, FCA, and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
Part of their customer service excellence comes from their 24/7 customer service, including email and phone support.
While many demo accounts offer integrations with MetaTrader4, Pepperstone is one of the best due to the platform packaging of the trading tools and its desktop and mobile apps. This practice account allows traders using a Pepperstone demo account to use these tools alongside their strategies and trading practice.
The minimum deposit is $0, and Peperstone offers a wide variety of deposit methods. Pepperstone is a safe and reliable forex broker regulated by top-tier authorities.
Forex trading fees are low. Pepperstone offers two account types: Razor and Standard.
76.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
PFI Rating: 4.9/5
eToro – Best Copy Trading Forex Demo Account
eToro is one of the bigger names in social trading, including forex. We ranked it as the #1 Copy Trading Platform. Founded in 2007, eToro was the answer to questions about bringing investing and forex knowledge to the general public.
eToro Demo account has an unlimited trial period and comes with $100,000 in virtual funds.
eToro is regulated by the Cypress Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commissions (ASIC).
In addition to its online platform, eToro also offers a mobile app. While eToro is incompatible with third-party trading programs, it offers everything you need on its proprietary platform.
77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
PFI Rating: 4.8/5
Plus500
Plus500 is a CFD broker that offers CFD trading of several assets, including forex. Based in Israel, Plus500 came about in 2008 and was eventually listed with the London Stock Exchange. Plus500 is regulated by top-tier regulators worldwide.
The demo account for Plus500 will look sparse compared to some other demo accounts. This lack of features comes from the fact that Plus500 does not bundle extra tools or software outside its trading tools with the demo account.
While this will look slim for advanced traders, Plus500 has a demo account that will appeal to new traders the most because of that lack of features. Without extras to get in the way, new traders can use a Plus500 demo account to focus on forex strategies rather than tools.
Additionally, Plus500 reloads its demo accounts when they dip below $200, encouraging traders to stick with one account instead of creating several demo accounts across multiple platforms.
86% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
PFI Rating: 4.8/5
Forex.com
Forex.com is a forex and contract for difference (CFD) broker launched in 2001 by GAIN Capital Holdings. In 2020, the company became a part of the StoneX Group after it purchased GAIN Capital Holdings.
The platform launched as a market maker for the forex and precious metals markets, eventually growing into a spread electronic communication network broker (ECN) as the platform expanded into other markets like cryptocurrency and paper assets.
The website is licensed to work across North America, Europe, and Australia, following the guidelines and regulations for each nation’s regulatory boards and commissions.
While Forex.com doesn’t excel at one facet with its demo account, the website offers plenty of above-average services. The fees are upfront and clear for each user, and their spreads are reasonable compared to other platforms.
Additionally, Forex.com has great customer service and educational tools on its website, including 24/7 online support.
71.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
PFI Rating: 4.7/5
FXCM
FXCM is a market maker and broker for a variety of asset classes. Founded in 1999 in New York, FXCM now operates out of London. FXCM is regulated by ASIC, FCA, IIROC, and CySEC.
In addition to forex, FXCM offers CFD trading, digital currency, indices, and other instruments as part of its demo account. The demo account has a lower virtual deposit amount and trial length than other platforms on this list, making the time crunch to explore their several tools and trading platforms difficult.
However, FXCM has one of the better forex spreads on the market. While other platforms can have a spread of one or more pips, FXCM regularly maintains a 0.1 to 0.2 pip spread. This reduced spread means more of your money is committed to trades.
71.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
PFI Rating: 4.7/5
IC Markets
IC Markets is another popular market maker. Based out of Sydney, Australia, the platform supports several assets outside of forex for its demo account. Their trading platform is available in 140+ countries. IC Markets is regulated by ASIC, CySEC, FSA, and SCB.
Setting up a demo account takes an average of one day, the standard rate for most forex platforms. The platform provides a large amount of virtual funding to give new accounts plenty of capital to experiment with, including the 65 pairs of currencies they offer.
However, the big draw to IC Markets is its integrations with MetaTrader5 and MetaTrader4.
As one of the few platforms with this integration, IC Markets will appeal to anyone using this tool. While MetaTrader4 has its perks, the updates that come from a new version cannot be ignored.
71.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
PFI Rating: 4.7/5
IG
Though it started as a spread-betting website, IG is now one of the top forex platforms for traders across the globe. Founded in 1974 in the UK, the company changed its name to IG after listing on the UK Stock Exchange in 2000.
Traders can use the platform to trade forex, CFDs, and options, though only UK citizens can take advantage of forex spread bets. This restriction is due to the platform following the guidelines of regulatory boards like ASIC, and CFTC from the United States, and FINMA of Switzerland.
While IG offers little time and money to explore its demo account, the demo has several offerings that make it appealing for forex. The demo account comes with MetaTrader integrated.
The platform offers great spreads on forex
74% of retail client accounts lose money when trading CFDs, with this investment provider.
PFI Rating: 4.8/5
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is an American-based market maker offering tools and investment educational materials to its users. Founded in 1971, the Omaha, Nebraska company started as a stockbroker before offering other trades such as forex and futures.
Much like Plus500, TD Ameritrade has a sparse listing of integrations with outside tools. Instead, the broker offers several tools related to the United States markets to help traders take advantage of signals from the U.S. Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve.
While the account doesn’t offer much outside assistance, the demo account has a longer trial period and virtual funds than most brokers on this list. This fact, along with the company’s basis in the United States, makes it great for American citizens looking to practice forex trading.
The lack of options for American citizens comes from the strict guidelines in place by the SEC. Many foreign companies have difficulty meeting these criteria, resulting in fewer American options.
Still, TD Ameritrade has many of the functions of tools like cTrader and MetaTrader built into its platform, just listed as a proprietary tool instead of an integration.
PFI Rating: 4.8/5
ThinkMarkets
ThinkMarkets is the renamed company once called ThinkForex, a forex broker that helped traders access the forex market through digital tools. Founded in 2010, it is regulated by top-tier regulators.
The demo account for ThinkMarkets is a standard one. It provides all of the tools and integrations of a live account to new traders. As long as users don’t stay inactive for more than 30 days, they can trade as much as they want with the starting $25,000 virtual funds.
However, ThinkMarket’s main draw is its mobile platform. The iOS and Android apps for ThinkMarkets are among the best in the field due to their focus on designing for mobile devices. The apps have a clear and clean UI, and many of the integrations and tools you find on desktop trading applications work on ThinkMarkets, as well.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
Compare Forex Demo Accounts
To make understanding all this information easier, we compare the main features in the below tables. We started with a comparison of some features that will help traders know where they can trade and what tools they can use when trading forex:
| Platform | US Account? | Islamic Account? | Margin? | Leverage? | Copy Trading? | Trading Signals? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AvaTrade | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| eToro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex.com | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| FXCM | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IC Markets | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| IG | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pepperstone | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plus500 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| TD Ameritrade | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| ThinkMarkets | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Compare Demo Accounts – Trading Platforms Available
We also have this table to help you see how the brokers' trading platforms stack up against one another:
| Platform | Mobile App? | Proprietary Platform? | Desktop Version? | cTrader? | DupliTrade? | MetaTrader 4? | MetaTrader 5? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AvaTrade | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| eToro | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Forex.com | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| FXCM | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| IC Markets | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| IG | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Pepperstone | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Plus500 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| TD Ameritrade | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| ThinkMarkets | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Compare Customer Support
Below, you can compare the customer service offered.
| Platform | Email Support? | Phone Support? | Live Chat Option? |
|---|---|---|---|
| AvaTrade | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| eToro | Yes | No | Yes |
| Forex.com | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FXCM | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IC Markets | Yes | Yes | No |
| IG | No | Yes | No |
| Pepperstone | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plus500 | Yes | No | Yes |
| TD Ameritrade | No | Yes | Yes |
| ThinkMarkets | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The Risks and Rewards of Forex Trading
Forex trading is one of the more volatile markets to trade. Part of this is down to the nature of the asset traders' exchange, while other factors like macroeconomic trends affect currency exchange more so than paper assets.
For example, countries that tie their currency’s value to another nation, such as many smaller nations to the United States dollar, may be in trouble if the dollar had troubles. An investor tied up in a linked nation’s currency thus has exposure to more than one country’s variables.
Additionally, margin and leverage are more common in forex compared to other markets. While these tactics can help a trader succeed, they can also contribute to high average losses for the standard trader.
Still, there are benefits to looking into forex trading. For example, the currency will be something people need for a nation so long as that nation exists and maintains its economic system. This fact is why forex trading has such a high trading volume.
The margin and leverage strategies mentioned earlier can also help a trader make more than they otherwise could with the capital they have on hand. Greater gains can help an individual or trade firm increase its revenue faster than without using leverage. However, high leverage forex trading comes with high risks!
Should You Set Up a Forex Demo Account?
Overall, forex trading is a risky business to get into. It takes a calm, rational person to follow through on the strategies that tend to work in the forex market.
Learning how to apply these strategies and stay calm during losses is why many reputable forex brokers offer demo accounts. Traders, new and advanced, should look at demo accounts when considering a change in a platform or when entering the markets for the first time.
Some practice with the tools will help all traders focus on their goal of earning revenue.
FAQ
Are forex demo accounts legit?
Forex demo accounts are as good as the platforms they come from. If a platform follows the regulations set by their home nation’s regulatory board, demo accounts can be a great place to learn the trade. That is why researching forex trading platforms is important for success in the market.
Are forex demo accounts accurate?
The information and statistics you see in your forex demo account are accurate to the market on reputable platforms. However, trading with virtual money feels different than with real currency.
Thus, traders may not deal with the same emotional responses to trades in their demo account as they would in a real account.
How do you open a forex demo account?
Once you find a forex platform you like and believe is trustworthy, enter your information into their sign-up page. You will also need to verify an email address or phone number.
With your contact info verified, you can enter your forex account to handle any other steps unique to the platform and start trading.
Can you trade forex for free?
In a demo account, forex trading doesn’t cost any fees for each trade. However, once you migrate to a live account, you can expect to pay exchange fees for trades. The amount of fees depends on your platform, though.
How do I prepare for the step up to a live account?
The steps to turn a demo account into a live account don’t take much effort. Usually, traders must go into their settings and enable an option to take them onto the live market and clear out any remaining virtual currency.
However, emotions can run high in forex trading. Learning how to handle the negative emotions from losses will help traders succeed once they have their strategies set.
