Practice first

The demo account: practice with virtual money

A demo account lets you learn to trade with pretend money on real market prices. This page explains what it is and how to open one with just an email and a password.

A demo account is a free practice account. You trade with virtual money — numbers on a screen, not real cash — so mistakes cost nothing. Opening one takes an email and a password, and there is no time limit on how long you can keep using it.

What a demo account is

“Demo” is short for demonstration. It is the same trading platform you would use with real money, except the account is loaded with virtual money. Virtual money is play money: you can open trades, watch them gain or lose, and your real bank balance never changes.

It is free — nothing to deposit, nothing to cancel later. And there is no time limit: stay on the demo for weeks or months, and nobody will push you to move on.

How close is it to real trading?

Very close in the mechanics. The demo shows the same market prices as a real account, runs on the same platform, and uses the same buttons. Buy and sell orders work the same way, and the charts move for the same reasons. Learn where everything is on the demo, and nothing will look unfamiliar later.

What is honestly different

Two things change the moment real money is involved, and it is better to know this now:

Your emotions. Losing virtual money feels like losing points in a game. Losing real money feels bad — and that feeling pushes people into rushed decisions a demo never tested them on.
Real losses. On a demo, a bad trade costs nothing. On a real account, the loss is real money leaving your balance.

That is why the honest rule is: demo results don’t guarantee real-account results. The demo teaches you the mechanics. Only careful, small real trades teach you the feelings.

How to open a demo account

Go to the sign-up page

Use the button at the bottom of this page. It opens the official Exness website, where the demo lives.
Enter an email and a password

That is all a demo needs. No identity documents — those are only asked for later, and only if you ever decide to open a real account.
Choose “Demo”

When the platform asks which account you want, pick the demo. It comes filled with virtual money, and you can start practicing right away.

One honest note: the demo button on this page is a partner link. It leads to the official Exness website, and this site may earn a commission if you later open a real account — the demo itself costs nothing either way. Wherever you sign up, check the address bar first: it should say exness.com.

What to practice on the demo

Do not just click around — give yourself a plan. These five exercises cover the skills a first real trade will need:

Open a trade. Pick one market, choose the smallest size the platform allows, and press buy or sell. Feel how an open trade behaves. The first trade page walks through this step by step.
Set a stop-loss. A stop-loss is an automatic exit: the platform closes your trade by itself if the loss reaches a level you set. Practice adding one to every trade, with no exceptions.
Close a trade on purpose. Decide in advance where you will take a small gain or accept a small loss — then actually close there, instead of waiting “a little longer”.
Count your risk before you click. Use the practice calculator to see how much a trade could lose before you open it. Knowing the number beforehand is the habit that protects you later.
Keep notes. After each trade, write one line: what you did, why, and how it ended. A week of notes will teach you more than a month of random clicking.

When are you “ready” for real money?

There is no fixed number of weeks, and anyone who names one is guessing. Readiness is about habits, not time. An honest checklist:

You can open, manage, and close a trade without hunting for the buttons.
Every trade you open has a stop-loss — automatically, without reminding yourself.
Before each trade, you already know how much you would lose if it goes wrong.
You have been through a losing streak on the demo without doubling your size to win it back.
You have notes from your demo trades and can say what you would repeat and what you would stop doing.

If any point is missing, that is not a failure — it is simply the next thing to practice. The demo will wait. And when you do move to real money, the risk basics page explains how to keep the first steps small.

Quick questions

Do I need to deposit anything for a demo?

No. A demo account is free. You sign up with an email and a password, and the platform gives you virtual money to practice with. No deposit, no documents — just an email and a password.

Can I go back to the demo after starting real trading?

Yes, and it is normal practice. Many traders keep a demo account open alongside their real one — to test an idea, learn a new market, or rebuild confidence after a losing streak, all without spending real money.

Keep going

Your first trade

A calm, step-by-step walkthrough of placing your very first demo trade.

Place a demo trade

Practice calculator

See how much a trade could lose before you open it — from your own numbers.

Count your risk

Risk basics

The simple safety rules that decide whether a beginner survives the first year.

Learn the rules

Ready to try it yourself?

Open a free demo, get virtual money, and practice for as long as you like. No deposit, no documents, no time limit — real money can wait until you are ready.

Open a free demo at Exness