How it works
You register with an email address, choose a platform such as MetaTrader 5, cTrader or the broker's own app, and receive a login for an account holding a virtual balance, often $10,000 or $100,000. Prices, spreads and order types are the broker's real ones, so what you see is close to what you would get with real money.
Demo accounts are free and take a few minutes to open. Many expire after a period of inactivity, commonly 30 days, while some brokers keep them open indefinitely; the FrugalFX broker pages note which is which.
What a demo is good for
Use a demo to answer practical questions you cannot answer from a website.
- Whether the platform is one you can actually use, on desktop and on your phone.
- What the spreads look like at the times you trade, including around news.
- How the order tickets, stop losses and partial closes work.
- Whether your strategy or expert advisor runs correctly on this broker's feed.
Where a demo misleads
Demo fills are usually perfect, with no slippage and no requotes, and demo trading carries no emotion. Both flatter your results. Treat the demo as a test of the broker and the platform, not as proof that a strategy makes money. Some brokers also run demos on a separate server with slightly different pricing, so compare spreads on a small live account before drawing conclusions.
Demo accounts as offers
Because a demo costs nothing and nearly every broker has one, FrugalFX lists free demo accounts as evergreen offers on broker pages. It is the honest answer when a broker has no promo code: the saving is not a discount, it is avoiding a deposit with a broker you have not tried.
Where to go next
Trading forex, CFDs and other leveraged products involves significant risk. This guide is general information, not investment advice. FrugalFX earns affiliate commissions on some links.