Spread betting demo accounts

Every major FCA-regulated provider offers a free demo funded with virtual money. It is the single most useful — and most misused — tool available to a beginner.

What a demo is for

Learning the platform: order tickets, stop and limit placement, margin display, closing partial positions. Making your mistakes where they're free. Testing whether a strategy survives contact with live prices for weeks, not days.

What a demo cannot teach

The two things that actually destroy accounts: emotion (virtual losses don't hurt, so demo discipline is easy) and execution reality (demos fill instantly at quoted prices; live markets slip and gap). Treat demo profits as evidence you understand the platform — not evidence you'll make money.

Using one properly

Set the demo balance to what you'd genuinely deposit, not the default £10,000+. Trade the same stakes you'd trade live. Keep a journal. If you can't stay disciplined for a month on a demo, the live market will be expensive tuition. Demo accounts are free on providers' own sites — see how to choose a provider before picking one.