TradingView Paper Trading: How to Set It Up and Use It
Short answer: TradingView paper trading is a free simulated trading account built into TradingView's charts. You place buy and sell orders on real market prices with pretend money. To turn it on, open a chart, click Trade, choose Paper Trading and click Connect. It works on the free plan.
How to set up TradingView paper trading
- Open a free account at TradingView (affiliate link) and sign in.
- Open a chart: go to tradingview.com/chart, or click Products, then Supercharts.
- Click Trade at the top right of the chart.
- In the list of brokers, choose Paper Trading, TradingView's own brokerage simulator.
- Click Connect. An order ticket opens on the right, and a Paper Trading panel appears at the bottom of the chart.
First, fix the balance
The simulator starts with a large default balance. That's a trap: with a pretend six-figure account, oversized trades feel normal. Reset it to what you'd really trade with. Here's how to reset TradingView paper trading.
How to place a paper trade
- Pick the symbol, for example MNQ1! for micro Nasdaq futures.
- In the order ticket, set the quantity. Use the size you'd really trade.
- Choose Market (fills now), Limit (your price or better) or Stop. See order types explained.
- Tick Take profit and Stop loss so your exit exists the moment you're in.
- Click buy or sell. Your position and its live result show in the Paper Trading panel.
What to know before you rely on it
- Fills are kind. Buys fill at the ask and sells at the bid, with no slippage. Real fills in a fast market are worse.
- Commission is off by default. Set a realistic one in the account settings so your results include costs.
- Futures data is delayed on the free plan. CME futures like NQ and MNQ show about 10 minutes late unless you add real-time data on a paid plan. More in TradingView futures data explained.
- Replay trades aren't saved. Trades you place during Bar Replay don't go into your paper account history.
- One position per symbol. New orders on the same symbol merge into one position.
Make it count
Paper trading only teaches you something if you treat it like real money: the same size, the same written rules, every trade logged. Read how to paper trade so it actually counts and is paper trading worth it?
Questions
Is TradingView paper trading free?
Yes. It's included on the free Basic plan. See is TradingView free?
Can you paper trade futures on TradingView?
Yes, including NQ, MNQ and ES. On the free plan the futures data is delayed. See how to paper trade futures.
Is TradingView paper trading realistic?
The chart and prices are real. The fills are kinder than real life, and losing pretend money doesn't feel the same, so expect live results to be a bit worse.
Want the whole thing in order? My free course, The Paper Route, takes you from a blank TradingView account to 30 logged sessions on paper.
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.
Indy Karveli — husband, dad of seven, day trader. Nasdaq futures, plain price, no indicators. Learned on paper first. More »
Read Next
The $25,000 pattern day trader rule is gone. Here is what replaced it, when it took effect, and what still applies to your account.
Read more »How options work for a beginner who wants to day trade them: calls, puts, the 100-share multiplier, same-day 0DTE options, what it costs, and the mistakes that empty accounts.
Read more »