About Paper Trading Accounts
Instructions
How Paper Trading Accounts Work
Note: You cannot convert a Paper Trading Account to a Live Account, as it has already been connected to your Live Account. Only Free Trial accounts can be upgraded from paper to full-access. To do so, please read this article: Upgrade to full account.
- Paper Trading accounts work just like production accounts. You can use most order types, trade all instruments available through our IBKR TWS trading platform, and experiment with almost every aspect of TWS.
- The Paper Trading interface clearly indicates that you are working in a simulated account. If you do not see this, you are trading in a production account and will be liable for all trades that fill.
- New individual account holders automatically receive a paper trading account. Existing account holders with a paper trading account can log into TWS with their production account credentials and select either a production or paper trading account. Note that Advisors, Brokers, Advisor and Broker clients, Hedge Funds, Administrators, Referrers and residents of India and Japan will still have to log in to their paper trading accounts with their paper trading account credentials.
- Trades entered into a paper trading account will not actually execute on any exchange or settle at a clearing house. However, the simulated price of the executions will be determined by real market prices and sizes.
- Trading permissions, market data subscriptions, base currency, and other account configurations are the same as specified for your regular account.
- A paper trading account statement will be available by logging into Client Portal with the Paper Trading Account login and accessing the Reports menu.
- All paper trading accounts start with USD 1,000,000 of paper trading Equity with Loan Value, and this equity will fluctuate as if the trades had executed in the real market.
- You may reset your paper cash equity at any time in Client Portal to up to five times your production account's value. Please note that reset requests should be entered before 4pm ET in order to take effect the next business day.
Limitations
Although a Paper Trading Account simulates most aspects of a production account, you may encounter some differences due to its construction as a simulator. These differences include but are not limited to:
- No support for some order types including: VWAP, Auction, RFQ, and Pegged to Market.
- Fills are simulated from the top of the book; no deep book access.
- Limited combo trading.
- Stops and other complex order types are always simulated in paper trading, which may result in slightly different behavior from a production account.
- Penny trading for US Options is not supported. Orders can be submitted by will not receive a penny fill.
- The trade simulator will reject the remainder of any exchange-directed market order that partially executes. This may or may not match the behavior of a real-world exchange. Market orders received while there is no quote on the opposite side will be held until the first partial fill.
- Mutual Fund trading is not supported in a Paper Trader Account.
Additional Resources
Learn About Paper Trading Accounts at IBKR Campus
Learn About the Client Portal Interface at IBKR Campus