Learn to trade
Real prices, real spreads, real options pricing — starting with $10,000. Stop paying the market to teach you.
LIVE MARKET PRICES
Free to start · No card required · Live NYSE & NASDAQ data
Explore all markets →
THE PROBLEM
The market is not a classroom.
It's an exam you haven't studied for.
You lose money before you learn anything.
Markets teach, but they charge for every lesson, and they bill immediately. The cost of learning by doing is paid in real money before any of it makes sense.
Watching tutorials is nothing like real trading.
You can watch every video ever made about trading and still freeze the first time a position moves against you with your own money on it. Knowing and doing are different skills.
You have no idea if your strategy actually works.
Without data, gut feelings masquerade as strategy. Most traders can't tell if they are genuinely skilled or just got lucky—until the market makes them find out the hard way.
THE SOLUTION
Everything you need to master markets
The same adrenaline. The same data. Without the same financial pain.
Live markets. Real stakes. Zero financial risk.
Trade on the same live data feeds used by professional desks. Every price tick, every news event—completely real. The only thing that isn’t real is the financial pain when you make a mistake.
Performance analytics that prove your edge.
Every trade you make is logged, analyzed, and fed back to you as actionable insight. Discover your actual win rate, best strategies, and the exact conditions where you thrive.
Earn status. Build credibility. Get noticed.
The leaderboard transforms skill into social proof. Rank up, earn badges, and build a verified trading track record that speaks louder than any resume or Discord flex.
THE PRODUCT
This is the real thing, on real prices
Pick a symbol. Everything below is live market data — the same feed every order in the app is priced against.
- Live prices
- The same market feed the app prices orders against.
- Real spreads
- Fills cross the bid-ask, so a wide spread costs you.
- Full options chains
- Every strike and expiry, priced properly.
- No real money
- Nothing to deposit, nothing to lose.
HOW IT COMPARES
The fastest way to start paper trading
thinkorswim and Webull are excellent platforms with more instruments than we have. Both also want you to open a brokerage account first. Stock Picks does not.
Tap any row to see why it matters — including the three where we lose.
| Feature | Stock Picks | thinkorswim paperMoney | Webull paperTrade | TradingView |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Free to useEvery platform here has a free simulator. Nobody should pay to practise. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Free tier |
Brokerage account requiredThis is the real difference. paperMoney is a feature of Schwab's platform, so you need a Schwab account to reach it, and paperTrade sits inside Webull's app. Both are onboarding funnels for a brokerage. We are not a broker, so there is nothing to open. | No | Schwab account | Webull account | No |
Identity or phone verificationBrokers are legally required to verify who you are before opening an account, even a simulated one, because it lives inside a regulated platform. We hold no money and route no orders, so we ask for a username and a password. | No | Yes | Email + phone | |
Time to your first tradeMeasured from landing on the site to placing an order. Brokerage signup means identity checks and approval, which is minutes at best and a day at worst. | Under a minute | Account approval | Account approval | A few minutes |
Real-time US stock pricesLive NYSE and NASDAQ data, including real bid-ask spreads, so a wide spread costs you the way it would in a funded account. TradingView's free tier is delayed for many exchanges. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Paid plan |
Full options chainsEvery strike and expiry, calls and puts, with breakevens. TradingView's simulator does not cover options. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
Built for the phonethinkorswim is a desktop platform with a mobile companion; its full capability lives on the desktop. We are built for a phone first. | ✓ | Desktop-first | ✓ | Desktop-first |
Futures and forexWe do not have these and they are genuinely useful. If you need futures or forex, thinkorswim or Webull is the better tool. | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Desktop platformWe run in a browser but there is no installable desktop application. thinkorswim desktop is far more powerful than anything we offer. | Web only | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Starting balanceOurs is deliberately modest. $100,000 of simulated money teaches position sizing that will not survive contact with a real account; $10,000 is closer to what a first funded account looks like. | $10,000 | $100,000 | Virtual funds | Configurable |
Comparison based on each provider's publicly documented features as of September 2026. thinkorswim and paperMoney are trademarks of Charles Schwab & Co., Webull and paperTrade of Webull Financial LLC, and TradingView of TradingView Inc. Stock Picks is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them. Features change; check each provider for current details.
Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle PlayWHAT YOU GET
Everything real, except the risk
Live prices, real spreads, real options pricing. Open an account and check any of it in under a minute.
PRICING
Invest in your skill, not the market
Less than one bad trade. Cancel anytime.
- ✓$10,000 virtual portfolio
- ✓Real-time stock & crypto prices
- ✓Basic performance dashboard
- ✓Public leaderboard access
- ✓5 open positions at a time
- ✓Community forum access
- —Advanced analytics
- —Strategy backtesting
- —Prediction markets
- —Portfolio competitions
- ✓Everything in Starter
- ✓$100,000 virtual portfolio
- ✓Advanced analytics suite
- ✓Strategy backtesting
- ✓Prediction markets access
- ✓Unlimited open positions
- ✓Private leaderboard groups
- ✓Monthly skill reports
- ✓Priority support
- —Team portfolios
- —White-label reports
- ✓Everything in Pro
- ✓Unlimited virtual capital
- ✓Team portfolios (up to 10)
- ✓White-label performance reports
- ✓API access
- ✓Custom competitions
- ✓Dedicated account manager
- ✓SLA-backed uptime
- ✓Onboarding sessions
All plans include a 14-day free trial of Pro. No credit card required to start.
REFERRAL PROGRAM
Teach your friends to stop paying tuition too.
Every trader you bring to Stock Picks earns you a free month of Pro. There is no cap. Refer 12 friends, get a full year free. It compounds just like good trades do.
1 month Pro free per successful referral
Share your unique referral link. Works on social, DM, or email.
Your friend signs up and completes their first 10 practice trades.
You get 1 month of Pro free. They get a $25K virtual portfolio boost.
Stock Picks is an educational trading simulator. It is not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, or financial institution, and it is not a member of FINRA or SIPC. No securities are bought or sold, no orders are routed to any exchange or market maker, and no real money is ever deposited, held, or withdrawn.
Account balances are simulated. Market prices, quotes and options data are supplied by third parties and may be delayed, incomplete or inaccurate. Simulated fills assume liquidity that may not exist in a real market, so results obtained here can differ materially from the results of trading a funded account.
Hypothetical performance is not indicative of future results. Nothing on this site is investment, tax or legal advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Trading real securities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.