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# How Long Should You Paper Trade Before Going Live?
- URL: https://www.daytraderincome.com/how-long-to-paper-trade/
- Published: 2026-10-27T21:27:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-01T06:36:15.000Z
- Description: There's no magic number of days. Paper trade until you have a written plan, a meaningful sample of sessions and evidence you follow it. Here's the checklist.
- Author: Indy Karveli
- Tags: Getting started

**Short answer:** it's not about time, it's about evidence. Paper trade until you have a written plan, at least 30 sessions logged, a positive [expectancy](https://www.daytraderincome.com/what-is-expectancy/) after costs, and proof you followed your plan on most days. For most beginners that's a few months, not a few days.

## The go-live checklist

- **A written plan** you haven't changed in at least 30 sessions. See [how to build a trading plan](https://www.daytraderincome.com/how-to-build-a-trading-plan/).
- **At least 30 sessions logged**, every trade in points. [What a trading journal is](https://www.daytraderincome.com/what-is-a-trading-journal/).
- **Plan followed on most days.** If you broke your rules often, your results measure your discipline, not your strategy.
- **Positive expectancy after realistic costs**, with commission set in the simulator.
- **You know your worst stretch:** the biggest run of losing sessions and what it cost. That's the [drawdown](https://www.flltlt.com/blog/how-many-losses-can-drawdown-take/?ref=daytraderincome.com) you'll have to sit through for real.

## Why 30 sessions?

Ten trades tell you almost nothing; a few lucky days can look like a strategy. Thirty sessions isn't proof either, but it's enough to spot whether you follow your rules and whether the setup shows an edge. If the numbers are close, run another 30.

## When you go live

Start with the smallest size available, like one [micro contract](https://www.daytraderincome.com/micro-futures-explained/), keep the same log, and expect results to be a bit worse than paper. If real money changes how you trade, go back to the plan, not back to paper forever.

## Where to practice

[TradingView](https://www.tradingview.com/?aff%5Fid=1173482&ref=daytraderincome.com) (affiliate link) has a free paper trading account on real charts. My free course, [The Paper Route](https://www.daytraderincome.com/paper-route/), is built around exactly these 30 sessions.

*Education only, not investment advice. Most people who day trade lose money. Simulated results have limits. TradingView links on this page are affiliate links: if you sign up or upgrade, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. TradingView changes its plans and menus from time to time; check its site for what's current.*