Investopedia Simulator Alternatives in 2026: Pick by What You Want to Practice
Six Investopedia Simulator alternatives sorted by what you want to practice: options, a real phone app, charts, a classroom game or lessons with practice. Free options and their limits.
Quick answer: The right Investopedia Simulator alternative depends on what you want to practice. For options and advanced orders, use a broker’s free paper account such as Webull or Schwab’s thinkorswim paperMoney; for charts, TradingView Paper Trading; for a class, The Stock Market Game; and if you are starting from zero and want lessons next to the practice, a learning app like UseFinLit (our own app).
Investopedia’s simulator is free and still the name most people search for. It runs in the browser, lets you join public games or create private ones with their own starting cash, and covers US stocks, ETFs and options (Three Investeers review of the Investopedia Simulator, 2026). It has no dedicated iOS or Android app, so on a phone you use the mobile site. If that works for you, you may not need an alternative at all.
People usually look elsewhere for one of five reasons. Below, each reason gets the tools that fit it, with what they do badly as well.
If you want to practice options and real order types
Broker simulators copy the real trading screen, so they are the closest thing to placing an actual order.
Webull paperTrade is free. Webull’s own page describes “unlimited virtual funds” that you can reset whenever you like, plus limit, stop, stop-limit, OCO and trailing stop orders, multi-leg options strategies and simulated margin calls (Webull paperTrade page, opened October 28, 2026). NerdWallet lists it with $1,000,000 in practice money (NerdWallet, updated March 18, 2026). The downside for a beginner: it is a trading app first. It assumes you already know what a stop-limit order is, and the same app is one tap away from real-money trading.
Schwab thinkorswim paperMoney gives you $100,000 in virtual buying power to trade stocks, options, futures and forex, and Schwab says it is free (Schwab paperMoney page, opened October 28, 2026). You need a Schwab account to log in. Without one, a 30-day Guest Pass includes paperMoney and needs no account, but it cannot be extended (Schwab Guest Pass page). thinkorswim is built for active traders, so expect a steep first week.
Interactive Brokers also offers a paper account, listed by NerdWallet with $1,000,000 in practice money and aimed at advanced users (NerdWallet, updated March 18, 2026).
If you want a real phone app
This is the most common complaint about Investopedia’s simulator. Webull and thinkorswim both have mobile apps; NerdWallet notes that Schwab paper trading needs the thinkorswim app, not the standard Schwab app.
It matters more than it sounds. In the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s latest investor survey, 80% of investors under 35 said they trade on a mobile app, compared with 46% of all investors (FINRA Foundation, NFCS Investor Survey, December 2025; survey fielded July to December 2024). If you will invest on your phone, it makes sense to practice there too.
If you mostly want to practice reading charts
TradingView Paper Trading is free and, according to TradingView, available to all users globally across almost every asset class on the platform, including stocks, forex, crypto and futures (TradingView support: Paper Trading main functionality, opened October 28, 2026). You turn it on from the Trade button in Supercharts.
The charting is the reason to choose it. It also has no curriculum: it simulates trades but does not explain what a P/E ratio is or why you might hold an index fund. Pair it with a learning source if you are new.
If you are a teacher or running a class competition
Investopedia’s private games are popular with clubs and classes. A long-running alternative built for schools is The Stock Market Game, a program of the SIFMA Foundation. Students start with a hypothetical $100,000 and trade stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and the program is offered “at little to no cost” (The Stock Market Game tour, opened October 28, 2026). It runs through teachers and programs, so it is less useful if you are learning alone.
If you are starting from zero and want to learn while you practice
A simulator shows you what happened to your trade. It does not tell you whether the reason you made it was any good, and that gap is real. In the same FINRA survey, investors answered on average 5.3 out of 11 basic investing questions correctly, and half said they would put money into an offer promising a “guaranteed, risk-free 25% annual return” (FINRA Foundation, December 2025). More practice trades do not fix that on their own.
This is the gap we built UseFinLit for, so read this part knowing it is our app. Lessons take about a minute each; the free first module starts with budgeting and includes lessons like “What is the Stock Market?” and “What is a Stock?”, each followed by a short quiz. The practice side is a virtual portfolio with 100,000 in virtual cash at near-live NYSE, NASDAQ and Borsa Istanbul prices, and AI reviews the reasoning behind your practice trades. It runs on iOS and Android, in English and Turkish.
The limits are worth knowing before you download. UseFinLit’s portfolio uses market buy and sell orders only: no limit or stop orders, no short selling, no options. It is a simulation, so you cannot trade real money in it; for that you need a broker. On the free plan you get 3 energy for practice trades, refilling 1 every 5 hours, and a limited choice of stocks. Premium ($4.99/month or $47.99/year) unlocks 600+ lessons in 32 modules, unlimited trades and unlimited AI reviews. The order types themselves (market, limit, stop, stop-limit, trailing stop) are taught in Module 2, “Stock Market Basics”, even though you then practice them in a broker simulator.
If you want the full feature-by-feature version of this comparison, it is in UseFinLit vs Investopedia.
A simple way to choose
Ask yourself what you will do in the next month.
If the answer is “place my first options trade”, open a broker paper account. If it is “understand what I am even buying”, start with lessons and keep the trades small and simple. If it is “run a contest for my class”, look at The Stock Market Game or Investopedia’s private games. Many people end up using two tools: one to learn, one to practice the exact screen they will use with real money. Our Top 5 Paper Trading Apps in 2026 post lines up the simulators side by side.
One warning that applies to every tool here: practice money changes behavior. A $100,000 or $1,000,000 balance you cannot lose makes big, concentrated bets feel normal. A useful habit is to set your practice balance close to the amount you would really invest, where the tool allows it, and keep a note of why you made each trade. UseFinLit’s Module 11, “Investor Psychology”, has a lesson on overconfidence that covers why this matters.
FAQ
Is the Investopedia Simulator still free?
Yes. It is free to join, and you can play public games or create private ones in the browser.
Does Investopedia have a simulator app?
No. There is no dedicated iOS or Android app; you use it through a mobile browser. Webull, thinkorswim and UseFinLit have phone apps.
Which alternative is best for practicing options?
A broker simulator. Webull paperTrade supports multi-leg options strategies, and thinkorswim paperMoney covers stocks, options, futures and forex. UseFinLit does not support options.
Can I paper trade without opening a brokerage account?
Yes. TradingView Paper Trading, the Investopedia Simulator and UseFinLit do not require a brokerage account, and Schwab’s 30-day Guest Pass gives paperMoney access without one.
Do paper trading results predict real results?
No. Schwab’s own paperMoney page notes that simulated performance does not ensure success in a live environment. Real money adds fees, slippage and emotions that a simulator cannot copy.
Learn How the Stock Market Works in 1 Minute
“What is the Stock Market?” is lesson 11 of UseFinLit’s free Module 1. It takes about a minute and ends with a short quiz.
Educational only, not financial advice.
Read Next
- UseFinLit vs Investopedia: the full head-to-head comparison
- Top 5 Paper Trading Apps in 2026: simulators side by side
- Microlearning vs Video vs Simulator: which learning method fits you
Author: Tuğçe Sezgin, Co-founder & Product Owner, UseFinLit.
Published: October 31, 2026 · Last updated: October 31, 2026
Sources:
- FINRA Investor Education Foundation, NFCS Investor Survey report (2024 survey, 4th edition), December 2025: finrafoundation.org
- Webull, paperTrade page, opened October 28, 2026: webull.com
- Charles Schwab, thinkorswim paperMoney page and Guest Pass page, opened October 28, 2026: schwab.com, schwab.com
- NerdWallet, “Best Paper Trading Platforms for 2026”, updated March 18, 2026: nerdwallet.com
- TradingView Support, “Paper trading: main functionality”, opened October 28, 2026: tradingview.com
- SIFMA Foundation, The Stock Market Game tour, opened October 28, 2026: stockmarketgame.org
- Three Investeers, “Investopedia Simulator (2026): Login, Mobile App & Honest Review”: stockmarketgame.net
Frequently asked questions
Is the Investopedia Simulator still free?
Yes. It is free to join, and you can play public games or create private ones in the browser.
Does Investopedia have a simulator app?
No. There is no dedicated iOS or Android app; you use it through a mobile browser. Webull, thinkorswim and UseFinLit have phone apps.
Which alternative is best for practicing options?
A broker simulator. Webull paperTrade supports multi-leg options strategies, and thinkorswim paperMoney covers stocks, options, futures and forex. UseFinLit does not support options.
Can I paper trade without opening a brokerage account?
Yes. TradingView Paper Trading, the Investopedia Simulator and UseFinLit do not require a brokerage account, and Schwab's 30-day Guest Pass gives paperMoney access without one.
Do paper trading results predict real results?
No. Schwab's own paperMoney page notes that simulated performance does not ensure success in a live environment. Real money adds fees, slippage and emotions that a simulator cannot copy.
