A while ago a reader asked us: Are there any no deposit brokers for CFDs, Forex & or Spread Betting? A no-depost account means one where you can trade the markets without risking any money. The only way to trade the markets without making a deposit is to open a demo account, where you can test a trading platform’s features before committing real funds.
Most brokers offer a demo account where you can trade without depositing funds first. Then yes there are plenty.
However, if you are asking if there are any brokers that allow you to trade the financial markets with no money on account and make real profits the answer is no.
Or indeed, if you are asking if there are any brokers that offer a welcome bonus with no deposit. The answer is again no. Welcome bonuses for CFDs, Forex and Spread Betting are banned by the FCA.
Demo accounts are great if you just want to practice the process of putting trades on, experiment with stop losses and technical analysis levels.
However, there are lots of brokers that offer demo accounts where you can trade without making a deposit.
Brokers that offer demo accounts for spread betting, CFDs and forex trading:
- City Index – excellent trading signals and a breakdown of what markets you win and lose when trading (City Index review)
- IG – great allrounder (IG Review)
- CMC Markets – great sentiment tools and technology
- Saxo Capital Markets – for slightly more experienced traders (Saxo Capital Markets Review)
- Spreadex – good for customer service (Spreadex Review)
You can read our reviews of the different products that these brokers offer here:
However, it is important to note that trading in a simulated environment is very different from trading with real money.
However, odd it may seem, some traders will do well in demo accounts and they lose money in real accounts. The internet is awash with theories that brokers do this deliberately because they are b-booking your trade and profiting from when you lose money.
The reality, however, is that demo traders may be suffering from beginners’ luck, or even adopting a no emotion trading strategy. Not having a strategy is one of the main reasons traders lose money.
Going Live From A Demo Account
The most common mistakes when moving from a demo account to a live account are:
- Not cutting losses
- Not running winning trade
- Overtrading
- Over leveraging
You may also find this article on why most financial spread betting customers lose money useful.
Demo Account Tips
We’ve written a few guides on a demo account trading strategy that may be helpful:
- Top CFD trading strategies
- Three top forex trading strategies that may actually work
- Four spread betting strategies that actually work and some decent brokers to try them with
It’s always worth opening more than one demo account as, whilst all brokers offer access to the same underlying markets that platform can differ dramatically. Although most MT4 brokers offer the same MetaTrader 4 platform they differ quite a lot if a broker has it’s own proprietary financial spread betting, CFD or forex trading platform.
If you are new to trading and looking to experiment with a trading platform here are some top tips to getting started on a trading broker demo account:
- Start small
- Never trade with money you can’t afford to lose
- Trade the products you understand best.
- If you don’t understand what moves a price you’ll have very little chance of making money
Popular Demo Account Markets
You can read our guides to the most traded instruments on trading accounts and CFD, Forex and Spread betting demo accounts here:
- How to trade commodities
- Best UK shares for trading
- The top ten forex pairs to trade
- Best indices for trading and why
A final note on demo accounts for trading:
You won’t get full access to live prices, research or added value with a demo account. They are generally used to give you an idea of the look and feel of a trading platform. To get the full features you may have to open a live trading account.
