MongoTrader
How to Choose a Stock Market Simulator
A stock market simulator lets you trade with virtual money on real prices. But simulators vary wildly in quality — here's what actually matters, and how to tell a serious practice platform from a gimmick.
If you want to learn the markets, test a strategy, or get comfortable before funding a brokerage account, a simulator is the right tool. The catch: a simulator is only as useful as it is realistic. Below are the things worth checking before you commit your time to one.
What to look for
1. Real-time, clean market data
This is the single most important factor. If the prices are delayed, stale, or made up, nothing you learn transfers to real trading. A lot of "free market data" online is messy, inconsistent, or rate-limited. MongoTrader is built around a clean, reliable, aggregated data sandbox — normalized real-time quotes and historical candles you can actually build strategies on.
2. Full order types
Real trading isn't just market orders. A serious simulator supports limit, stop, stop-limit, trailing stop, and market-on-close orders — so you learn the tools you'll actually use. MongoTrader supports all of these.
3. Margin, shorting, and leverage
Risk management is half of trading. A simulator that models margin, short selling, and leverage teaches you buying power and downside the right way — before real money is at stake.
4. Breadth of markets
The more asset classes you can practice on, the more transferable your skills. MongoTrader covers 10: stocks, crypto, options, ETFs, REITs, ADRs, mutual funds, forex, indices, and futures.
5. A reason to take it seriously
The biggest weakness of paper trading is that without stakes, people get sloppy. The fix is competition. MongoTrader runs prize leagues with live leaderboards and real cash payouts, so there's a genuine reason to perform — pressure without financial loss.
6. Room to grow into automation
Once you understand the basics, the next step is automating strategies. A simulator that includes algorithm building — and ideally a developer API — grows with you. (More on that in our trading algorithms guide.)
Try a serious simulator free
Real-time data, full order types, 10 asset classes, and prize leagues — on a free account.
Start FreeFrequently asked questions
What is a stock market simulator?
A stock market simulator is software that lets you trade stocks (and often crypto, ETFs, options, and more) with simulated money against real market prices. It mirrors a real brokerage's order types and portfolio mechanics so you can practice without financial risk.
Are stock market simulators accurate?
The best ones are. Accuracy depends on data quality and execution modeling. MongoTrader uses real-time, exchange-grade aggregated market data and full order types including limit, stop, trailing stop, and market-on-close, so fills behave like the real market.
Is there a free stock market simulator?
Yes. MongoTrader is free to sign up and gives full trading access across 10 asset classes on real-time data. Optional Premium and Max tiers add research tools and more algorithm slots.