7 Best Forex Demo Accounts for Beginners
FOREX (or foreign exchange) is a huge part of online trading with a massive daily turnover globally. When you trade in Forex, you are trading one currency against another. If you know where a currency is headed, you can hope to make trade accordingly. Forex is a fluctuating and often volatile space, with currency pairs constantly on the move.
But don’t risk your life’s savings by opening a real money trading account yet. You need to test your grasp of the training that you just had and gain an even more profound – more practical – understanding of this market.
That’s why a lot of brokers provide a demo account to traders to practice first without having to deposit funds. Demo accounts are excellent for beginners, or for traders that are new to the broker to test out their platform.
It’s also great for intermediate or advanced traders that want to test out their strategies without first committing real capital.
Since Forex is such a huge industry, it makes sense to choose carefully from the available brokers online. There are several key features to consider when looking for a broker. We would look for reliability and a good history, plus ideally a strong regulation.
Who Needs a Forex Demo Account?
I) Beginners looking for a risk-free trading environment to test their understanding of the forex market
II) Traders seeking to understand a new broker’s features, services, and proprietary trading platform
III) Traders looking to test and understand a new platform; such as MT4, cTrader, or other proprietary platforms
IV) Traders looking to experiment or perfect a new strategy
SEE ALSO: Best ECN Forex Brokers
Features of the Best Demo Accounts
• Trading platform, i.e. MT4, cTrader, NinjaTrader, etc.
• Time limit
• Trading balances and renewability of the allocated virtual currencies
• Ease of opening
• Trading tools, features, and execution speeds
• Leverage and number of trading pairs
• Types of accounts available
•Trading costs, i.e. spreads, fees, and commissions
The following list is compiled based on the best brokers available that also offer a demo trading account.
1. Avatrade
Registering for a Demo account with AvaTrade is easy as you can opt to fill in your account details or simply link it with your Google or Facebook Profile.
After registration, the online forex, and CFDs brokerage present you with the option to host your free demo account on either the conventional MT4 and MT5 trading platforms or their proprietary AvaOptions web trading platform.
The AvaTrade Standard demo account is funded with $100,000 virtual cash. Additionally, it is only valid for 3 weeks and so any unused virtual funds in your demo account will expire after 21 days.
Unlike most other forex brokerages, however, AvaTrade will always extend this period if you contact their customer support asking for an extension.
Alternatively, you can simply create another demo account since the broker maintains no limit to the number of demo accounts associated with one email.
Pros
•Avatrade hosts a multiplatform demo account with numerous premium trading tools and technical indicators
• Access $100,000 virtual funds with extendable demo account deadlines
• The account mirrors almost all the features of a live trading account including spreads, number of forex pairs, and market analysis tools
Cons
• Doesn’t take into account significant aspects of live trading like slippage and forex prices recorded during off-market trading hours
• The broker doesn’t accept U.S clients
2. FBS
You only need your name and a valid email to create a demo trading account with FBS that’s hosted on the MT4 trading platform.
The demo account expires in 90 days for FBS European clients and 45 days for international traders. The upside to this is that there are no limits to the number of demo accounts that you can link to one email. You, therefore, are free to create a new demo account as soon as one expires.
Pros
• FBS trading platform
• Offers relatively extended practice time for demo accounts – up to 90 days
• You are free to create a new Demo account as soon as one expires
• Access all the premium trading tools and technical indicators associated with a live trading account
Cons
• FBS Capital is a CFD brokerage and, therefore, doesn’t accept U.S clients
• One may consider their educational and training resources limited
SEE ALSO: Best EA Forex Robots
3. Etoro
eToro joins the long list of brokerage firms that don’t limit the amount of time you can spend practicing on their demo account as you prepare to start trading.
The platform supports a free forex demo account everywhere outside the US, while for US customers you can get a free crypto trading account to hone your skill with.
The only noticeable difference between the real and demo eToro trading accounts is the type of cash used to trade.
With eToro, you only need to register with the broker once, as the online securities broker maintains a unified registration form for both real and practice accounts. This means that you don’t need separate login details to access the demo and real trader account.
Pros
• The eToro trading platform is available in web, desktop, and app versions.
• You gain access to over 50 currency trading pairs
• Fastest trade execution speeds and access to near-real-time market data
Cons
• Payout from the platform can take longer than other providers
• In the US you can only trade cryptocurrency
4. Deriv
Deriv’s demo account mimics a live trading account. Traders have access to the same functions, features, and options that they normally would on a live trading account.
The only exception is that the demo account is risk-free as traders make use of virtual funds to conduct their trading. Due to this, traders cannot withdraw any profits which are made on the demo account.
Pros
• Demo account sign-up fully digital
• Sign-up completed in minutes
• MetaTrader platform offered
• Adequate virtual funds offered
• Variety of accounts offered, each with their demo account
Cons
• None noted
SEE ALSO: Best & Free Backtesting Software For Forex Traders
5. XM
The XM demo account features will depend on the trading platform that the trader uses, whether MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, in conjunction with the demo account.
In other words, the demo account features can be accessed through the trading platform and will depend on XM’s offering with regards to asset classes, financial instruments, spreads, leverage, and so on.
Pros
• Demo account sign up fully digital
• Sign up is quick and hassle-free
• Metatrader 4 and Metatrader 5 are reliable, user-friendly trading platforms
Cons
• None noted
6. IQ Option
Upon signing up to a demo account, customers are given $1,000 of virtual capital with which to trade. Digital options are one of the simplest methods to trade commodities, stocks, and currencies.
With sound trading strategies, there is a good likelihood of making a profit. Nevertheless, there are also many common mistakes for the new trader to make, so the demo account works similarly to the real one, allowing the user to experience the technical analysis charts just as on the real platform.
Pros
•Regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)
• Easy and convenient method of opening an account
• Wide range of trading instruments
• No deposit and withdrawal fees
Cons
• Does not provide MT4 and MT5 trading platforms
• Not available for traders in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and other countries
7. InstaForex
The InstaForex demo account features will depend on the trading platform that the trader uses, in this case, MetaTrader 4, in conjunction with the demo account.
In other words, the demo account features can be accessed through the trading platform and will depend on InstaForex’s offering with regards to asset classes, financial instruments, spreads, leverage, and so on.
Pros
• Demo account sign up fully digital
• Sign up is quick and hassle-free
• Metatrader 4 is a reliable, user-friendly trading platform
Cons
• None noted
The Verdict
You need a demo account to gain a deeper understanding of your preferred broker, their trading platform, their operations, key trading tools, and indicators.
One of the most important things that you get to learn from interacting with a demo account is the number of trading pairs available.
It will also help you get to know the number of trading and analysis tools fronted by the brokers and how to use them.
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