Paper Trading: How the Practice Account, Prices and Fills Work
Paper trading in CleaRank happens in the Trading Simulator: a practice account with $100,000 of virtual money, trading on real market quotes. This page explains which prices orders fill at, what the simulated spread costs, what happens when a market is closed, and how the account is valued. No real money is involved at any point.
The practice account
Every plan, including the Free plan, includes a Trading Simulator account funded with $100,000 of virtual money. On Free you have one practice account, on Pro up to three, and on Unlimited there is no set limit, each with its own trade journal. You can reset an account to start again; the reset asks you to type a confirmation word first, so it cannot happen by accident.
Quotes
The simulator trades on real market quotes that refresh every 30 seconds and can be up to a minute behind the market. Simulated fills use the same delayed quote. A status label tells you when quotes are delayed, when they have gone stale, and when the market is closed.
How orders fill
- Market orders fill at the delayed quote plus a small simulated spread: about 2 basis points on stocks, 5 basis points on crypto and 1 pip on forex. The Buy and Sell tiles show exactly the prices a fill would use, so the cost is visible before you send.
- Stop orders trigger when price reaches your level, then fill at market.
- Stop-limit orders trigger at one price, then fill at your limit price.
- Limit orders wait until price reaches your limit.
- Order groups: in a one-cancels-other group, the first order to fill cancels the rest. A one-sends-other order places a second order when the first one fills.
Buys fill at the ask and sells at the bid, so every position pays the spread going in and again coming out, and practice profit and loss is already net of it.
The depth ladder’s price levels are real, built from the delayed quote plus the simulated spread, but the quantities resting at each level are illustrative. CleaRank does not receive exchange order-book depth.
How the account is valued
- Equity, which the simulator calls Net Liq: cash plus open positions at the latest quotes.
- Today: how much the account value moved since yesterday’s close, counting open positions and trades closed today.
- Open P/L: what open positions are up or down at the latest quotes, after the spread.
- Available: money you can put into new orders, meaning equity minus the margin your open positions hold and the cash set aside for pending orders.
After a trade closes
Every closed simulator trade is written into the Trade Journal automatically, so the statistics there are built from the same fills you saw in the simulator.
Frequently asked questions
Is the money real?
No. The practice account holds virtual money. Nothing is deposited, traded or at risk.
Why did my market order fill at a different price from the last price?
Market orders fill at the delayed quote plus the simulated spread, buys at the ask and sells at the bid. The Buy and Sell tiles show those prices before you send the order.
What happens if I place a market order when the market is closed?
It is queued as a market-on-open order and fills at the next open, at whatever price the market opens at.
Is the depth ladder real market depth?
The price levels are real, built from the delayed quote and the simulated spread. The sizes resting at each level are illustrative, because CleaRank does not receive exchange order-book depth.
Do closed practice trades go to my journal?
Yes. Every closed simulator trade is written into the Trade Journal automatically.
Try it on a practice account
The Free plan includes a practice account, with no card needed.
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CleaRank tools are for education and analysis. Nothing in this guide is financial advice.