Does Interactive Brokers Have Paper Trading?
Yes, Interactive Brokers offers paper trading alongside a live account or a Free Trial. Its practice mode was the first thing we set up, and we’d tell any new user to do the same.
Written ByChristian Harris
Christian is a seasoned analyst, leveraging his expertise in stocks, forex, and crypto to evaluate brokers worldwide. With hands-on trading experience and a strong focus on risk management, he helps traders find reliable platforms. Christian's work for BrokerListings.com has been cited in the Financial Times.
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Fact Checked ByTobias Robinson
Tobias is committed to helping traders find the right brokerage for their needs. He has tested 200+ brokers, spent 2,600+ hours using different platforms, and placed 2,100+ trades.
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Edited ByJames Barra
James is an experienced broker analyst with a background in financial services. He has spent 2,500+ hours testing brokers, used 35+ different platforms and apps, audited 120+ broker T&Cs, and verified 300+ regulatory licenses.
James Barra Profile PageJuly 22, 2026
Pros Of IBKR Paper Trading
- $1,000,000 in simulated funds to trade with. This sits amongst the largest virtual bankroll we’ve seen at any broker and you can replenish it in the client portal.
- A non-expiring account — it doesn’t time out after two weeks or 30, 60 or 90 days like the majority of demo accounts do.
- Access across TWS, the mobile app, and the API, so you can rehearse exactly how you’ll trade for real, including testing automated strategies before risking a penny. Lots of IBKR’s complex order types are also there for testing, though not all, such as VWAP, Auction, RFQ and Pegged-to-Market.
Tip: If you subscribe to live market data feeds in your live trading account, IBKR lets you share those live feeds with your simulator account. This gives you real-time data for paper trading without paying for a second subscription.
Limitations Of IBKR Paper Trading
- The biggest limitation is that you have to open a live Interactive Brokers account before you can apply for full paper trading. This doesn’t require funding as IBKR has no minimum deposit, but it’s an extra step some top-rated demo accounts don’t require. The exception to this is the Free Trial described below.
- Simulated fills are clean and near-instant, so they don’t always capture slippage or partial fills you’d meet in a thin live market. Treat paper trading results as directional, not gospel.
Free Trial Alternative
If you don’t need a paper trading account that runs alongside your live account, you can opt for the ‘Free Trial’. This is a better option for prospective clients.
Click the button (Free Trial) in the very top right hand corner of the IBKR website and with a few personal details (email, username, password), you can be up and running. It took us less than 60 seconds to sign up.
You can still try IBKR Desktop, TWS, and its mobile apps. After spending hours using it during testing, it proved reliable for getting familiar with the platforms and features, especially its ForecastTrader – a fairly novel solution designed for trading event contracts, and not something you’ll see on 90% of demo trading accounts.
The downside is that market data in the demo runs on a delay (10- 15 minutes) except for OTC spot FX and OTC spot Metals. This can make it less true-to-life for traders practicing fast-paced strategies like day trading.
