Recently, I started reviewing the best ways to practice before investing real money in the stock market, and I discovered something interesting: most people don't really know how to take advantage of the simulators available to them. So I thought I’d share what I’ve found.

Basically, there are two things you need to understand. First are pure stock market simulators, which are educational programs where you simply practice. Then there are demo accounts from real brokers, which give you access to the exact platform you would use with real money. Similar but not the same, right?

The key difference is that a simulator teaches you concepts, but a demo account shows you exactly how the platform behaves when you trade with CFDs, cryptocurrencies, forex, or whatever. It’s like the difference between watching a driving tutorial and actually getting into a real car in a simulator.

Now, what are they really for? Basically two things: learning and training. If you’re a beginner, you need to get familiar with everything. If you already have experience, you use the demo account to test new strategies without risk. I’ve seen professional traders who still use simulators before making major moves. It’s not just for beginners.

The assets you can practice with vary. In basic simulators, you have stocks, indices, and forex. But in demo accounts from serious brokers, you find everything: cryptocurrencies, ETFs, commodities, CFDs. It depends on where you practice.

My personal recommendation after trying several:

MyTrade has a demo account without time limit and with $50,000 virtual dollars. The good thing is you can switch between demo and real at any time, and it works well on both web and mobile. Perfect if you want to practice stock investing with a real simulator.

MarketWatch offers a pretty solid simulator, especially if you’re interested in learning by analyzing other people’s portfolios. It’s free and has a good community.

IG is one of the oldest brokers. Its demo account works with MetaTrader and you have thousands of assets. If you’re looking for something more professional, here you find it.

HowTheMarketWorks is the most educational there is. It trains half a million students a year. It has $100,000 virtual dollars and is designed for beginners to learn from scratch.

eToro is interesting if social trading appeals to you. Basically, you see what other traders are doing and can copy their moves. With the demo, you practice this risk-free.

Now, there’s a problem nobody mentions: when you practice with virtual money, you tend to be irresponsible. You make trades you would never make with your own capital. This is what they call “fragile euphoria.” Also, in a demo account, they give you tens of thousands of euros, but in real life, you might start with much less. That completely changes your way of trading.

If you’re going to use a demo account seriously, treat it as if it were real money. Take every move seriously. Combine it with learning, don’t just experiment randomly. And watch out: demo accounts aren’t just for beginners. Large investment funds use simulators constantly.

My final advice: use the demo account to test new ideas, to get familiar with the platform, to understand how investing works from scratch. But do it with discipline. It’s not a game. When you’re ready and feel like you’ve mastered the simulator, then go ahead and move to real money, but gradually. Patience is key here.