VOL. XCIV, NO. 247
★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★
PRICE: 5 CENTS
Sunday, October 5, 2025
Best Free Paper Trading Tools for Investors
Every product on this page includes a genuinely free tier, so you can plug trusted paper trading software into your workflow without swiping a card.
We filtered our full directory to focus on the 7 free paper trading platforms investors lean on today. Community voting keeps the rankings honest, while editorial picks highlight standout experiences for research, screening, and execution. Use this shortlist to compare pricing limits, supported platforms, and capabilities before graduating to paid upgrades.
More ways to explore
Want the full picture? The main category page covers 10 total paper trading tools, and the broader Find My Moat directory spans more than 205 investing platforms.
Top 7 picks
7 picks- 1
A global, multi-asset charting and trading platform with advanced analytics, strategy backtesting, and broker connectivity. Features include Pine Script® v6 for custom indicators, server-side alerts, options chains with strategy builder, and multi-asset screeners. Real-time data feeds are sold as add-ons, with availability and pricing varying by exchange and region.
Category votes onlyPricing: Free, SubscriptionPlatforms: Web, Mobile, Desktop - 2
Real-time options flow and dark-pool analytics built for active traders. Free plans view delayed data; paid tiers stream live flow, with annual plans unlocking data downloads. The public API is sold separately, and “Periscope” (market-wide SPX exposure) is available as an add-on.
Category votes onlyPricing: Free, SubscriptionPlatforms: Web, Mobile, API - 3
A multi-asset broker combining traditional investing with social trading. Known for CopyTrader™, Smart Portfolios, and a $100K demo account. In the U.S., stock and ETF trading is commission-free, options trade at zero commission or contract fees, and crypto carries a 1% fee with state restrictions. CopyTrader is limited to crypto in the U.S., while Smart Portfolios require a $500 minimum investment. Copying other traders starts from $200.
Category votes onlyPricing: FreePlatforms: Web, Mobile - 4
Free financial education site best known for its dictionary, guides, and market explainers. Includes a paper-trading Simulator with $100k virtual cash that supports stocks, ETFs, options, and select crypto on NYSE/Nasdaq (quotes delayed ~20–30 minutes). Investopedia Academy courses were discontinued in June 2024, with past purchasers given access instructions via email.
Category votes onlyPricing: FreePlatforms: Web - 5
A global financial-news portal from Dow Jones that combines market data, news, analysis, and investor tools. Real-time Nasdaq last-sale quotes are included, while most other intraday prices run on a standard 15-minute delay. Premium newsletters and in-depth articles are gated behind a subscription. Mobile apps extend the experience with push alerts and watchlist syncing.
Category votes onlyPricing: Free, SubscriptionPlatforms: Web, Mobile - 6
QuantConnect runs on the open-source LEAN engine, giving quants and systematic traders a unified workflow from research to backtesting to live deployment. You can run everything locally or in the cloud. Historical data down to tick and second resolution is available on paid tiers, and live-trading notifications scale by plan (from a handful per hour to thousands). Some broker and data feeds—like Trading Technologies futures or premium vendors—are only unlocked at higher tiers.
Category votes onlyPricing: Free, SubscriptionPlatforms: Web, Desktop, API - 7
A Docker-based research, backtesting, and live-trading platform built around Jupyter. The free tier is limited to research, while paid plans unlock live and paper trading along with bundled US minute-bar data. Broader global datasets are available via third-party providers. Its tight IBKR integration brings advanced order types, while real-time market data can be streamed from IBKR, Polygon, or Alpaca.
Category votes onlyPricing: Free, SubscriptionPlatforms: Web, API
Ready for the full lineup? Compare all 10 paper trading tools, including premium upgrades and advanced tiers.
View full Paper Trading listingsInformation
About Me
Hey! Thanks for stopping by. I'm an independent investor with a soft spot for coding and the stock market - especially value investing (as you can probably tell from the tools I've collected here, haha). Hopefully you'll find something useful or interesting along the way.
Find me here:
- Twitter / X: @Jera_Value
- Substack: Jera Value
Got questions or suggestions? I'm all ears!
Missing a Tool?
Discovered a gem I don't have here yet? Drop the link below and I'll check it out ASAP. Tagging me on X works too! Can't wait to see what you've found!
Starred Tools
These are my top picks. Tools I've tested thoroughly and found to be excellent. They do their job really well, and I use them a lot. If you're not already familiar with them, I highly recommend checking them out.
Tested Tools
These are tools I've tried and found to be solid, but not standout. Think of them as passing an initial quality screen: worth exploring, though not all will be exceptional.
Curation & Accuracy
This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).
Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.