HERE IS A LIST OF FOREX BROKERS THAT OFFER FREE PRACTICE DEMO ACCOUNTS
Best Free Forex Demo Accounts in South Africa
A demo account is a type of account that a broker offers its traders to simulate real trading. The demo account is a special type that uses virtual funds instead of real money. This means a trader can access simulated trading conditions without risking their money. The demo account helps new traders understand the financial market and gain experience with no risk. Advanced traders can also use the demo account to test out new strategies before implementing them on the real account.
Today, we will look at some of the best free Forex demo accounts in South Africa. We will also look at the conditions of demo accounts such as the amount of virtual funds.
Best Forex Demo Accounts in South Africa
Exness
Exness has over 800,000 active traders worldwide making it one of the most popular brokers in the market. Understandably, the broker is widely popular among African traders. The broker's demo account can be accessed on either desktop, web platforms or mobile platforms, enabling traders to hone their skills on the go. Notably, the demo account avails a balance of $10,000 on the standard MT5 demo account. Once the balance is depleted, a trader can log in to the Exness personal area and click ‘set balance’ on the demo trading account in the ‘my accounts’ tab to recharge it.
Impressively, Exness is regulated in South Africa by the FSCA and well-known market regulators. The other regulators include the CySEC in Cyprus, the FCA in the UK, and the CMA in Kenya. With such regulators, it is easy to see why Exness is popular among South African traders.
Moreover, South African traders can choose various markets on the Exness broker site. The range of markets available ranges from forex, commodities, stocks, indices, and crypto. Traders can invest in the various markets on market-standard trading platforms the broker offers. The platforms include MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and Exness terminal. The variety enables the client to choose the platform that better suits their needs.
Lastly, Exness traders can choose a variety of real trading accounts if they want to trade with real money. The accounts include standard, zero, pro, and raw spread. The accounts are spread-based and spreads can go as low as 0.2 pips for major currency pairs on the standard account. However, they go even lower on the professional accounts with commissions involved.
FXGT
The second broker on our list that offers a free demo account to South African traders is FXGT. The broker allows its traders to open 2 demo accounts per account currency. When the virtual funds are depleted, a trader can recharge it. A trader should note that the demo account differs from the live account. Nonetheless, traders can access several global market products on FXGT. These include CFDs on forex, indices, energies, precious metals, and stocks. For platforms, South African traders can choose between MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.
Moreover, FXGT has several live account types for its traders that start from as little as 100 ZAR including the Pro, the ECN, the Mini, and the Standard+ accounts. The Mini account and the Standard+ features spread from as low as 1.0 pips with no commission. The Pro account features spreads from as low as 0.5 pips for major currency pairs with no commission. Finally, the ECN has spread from as low as 0.0 pips with a small commission of $6 per round turn on all FX assets.
FXGT is regulated in South Africa by the FSCA. The broker also has licenses from other regulators in the market. The other regulators include the FSA in Seychelles and the VFSC in Vanuatu.
Pepperstone
Pepperstone is another well-known broker in the South African market that offers a free demo account. Traders can learn and practice their trading with minimal risk before opening a real account. The demo account Pepperstone offers can be created on either the standard or razor setups. The account lasts for 60 days on the MT4 and MT5. In contrast, cTrader and TradingView demo accounts do not expire. Further, if a client has a live and funded account on MT4 or MT5, their demo account will not expire.
Pepperstone offers up to 50,000 virtual funds to its traders in any trading account currency provided by the Pepperstone entity. The maximum number of demo accounts a trader can have is 10 if they have an existing account and 5 if they do not have a live account.
On another note, Pepperstone offers two main accounts for its traders to choose from if they want to trade with real money. The standard account features spread from 1.0 pips for major currency with no commission. In contrast, the razor account features spreads from as low as 0.0 pips for major currency pairs with a small commission depending on the trading platform a trader chooses.
Pepperstone gives clients access to over 1,200 market products including forex, commodities, indices, shares, crypto, stocks, and energies. The platforms available to use include TradingView, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and Pepperstone Trading Platform.
Pepperstone is not regulated in South Africa but has regulations from other regulators in the market including the CMA in Kenya, the CySEC in Cyprus, the FCA in the UK, and ASIC in Australia.
XM.com
XM.com allows traders to keep their demo account parallel to their live account unlimitedly. This means that as long as a trader has a trading account, the demo account will not expire. The only disadvantage of a demo account is that it does not give a trader the feel for proper risk management. The solution to this is to open a demo account, learn the basics, and then open a real account. The trading accounts XM.com offers to its traders include micro accounts, standard accounts, XM ultra-low accounts, and shares accounts. Spreads on XM.com can go as low as 0.6 pips on the XM Ultra-low account with no commission required.
XM.com allows a trader to trade many market products on the same account. The various global markets available include forex, commodities, indices, stocks, shares, and energies. Traders can diversify their trading portfolio with over 1,000 trading instruments available. Apart from the variety of markets the broker also offers world-class trading platforms including MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and the XM Trading Point app.
Lastly, the broker has regulations and licenses from well-known regulators in the market. The broker is regulated by the FSC in Belize, the CySEC in Cyprus, the ASIC in Australia, and the DFSA in the DIFC.
FP Markets
Next on our list is FP Markets. The demo account is available to all types of traders on the MT4 trading platform. Additionally, the demo account comes with a balance of $100,000 in virtual funds to help traders gain experience, and test new strategies and skills with no risk. The demo account on FP Markets will not expire if a trader uses it regularly.
FP Markets gives clients access to over 10,000 tradable assets. The list of tradable assets includes forex and CFDs on indices, commodities, stocks, bonds, and ETFs. Additionally, the markets can be accessed on various advanced trading platforms the broker offers. The platforms include MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Iress, and TradingView.
The real accounts offered by FP Markets for its traders to choose from include standard and raw accounts. The standard account features spread from as low as 1.0 pips for major currency pairs with no commission. On the other hand, the raw spread commission starts from as low as 0.0 pips with a small commission of USD 3 per side per lot.
Meanwhile, FP Markets is regulated by the local regulator in South Africa, the FSCA. On top of that, it operates under the supervision of the CySEC and the ASIC.
Benefits Of Using Demo Account
Demo accounts have a lot of benefits for both new and advanced traders. Here is a list of a few of the benefits of the demo account.
South Africans have access to some of the best free demo accounts on various broker sites. These demo accounts have a lot of benefits and should not be overlooked. A demo account helps new traders gain experience while advanced traders can use them to test out new strategies. The brokers on this list offer free demo accounts, feature some of the tightest spreads in the market, and a variety of trading instruments. On top of that, they have regulations from reputable organisations.
Nonetheless, this is not a full-scale list and other reputable brokers did not make the list. A trader should not only pick a broker because they offer a free demo account. They should make sure the broker is regulated, has a variety of trading instruments, and has the best trading platforms. Ultimately, it's upon a trader to choose a broker that better suits their needs.