A demo and a live account can use different specifications, execution conditions and costs. Before transferring settings, compare those inputs for the actual provider and product. This guide focuses on the technical comparison; the guide to decisions beyond demo considers decisions and behaviour after those differences have been separated.

A demo setting may use a different unit

Do not transfer only the number from an automated system’s settings. In two hypothetical specifications, the same point count means a different price distance.

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A demo setting may use a different unitWith a point of 0.00001, 100 points equal 0.001, or 10 pips. With a point of 0.0001, they equal 0.01, or 100 pips. At 0.1 lot and 1 USD per pip, model losses are 10 and 100 USD.Same entry: “100 points”Symbol APoint: 0.00001100 pts = 0.0010010 pipsLoss: 10 USDSymbol BPoint: 0.0001100 pts = 0.0100100 pipsLoss: 100 USDBoth: 0.1 lot. Pip value: 1 USD.Check specifications before copying.
Hypothetical EUR/USD specifications: a pip is 0.0001 in both cases, one lot is 100,000 EUR, account currency is USD and volume is 0.1 lot. The stop fills exactly at its level, without extra fees or slippage. No actual demo/live pair is said to have these differences. MT5 specifications distinguish digits, contract size and point-based parameters, and the order form can express stop distance in points.
The same point count can mean a different stop distance after the specification changes.

Before reproducing a plan, compare the actual stop price, monetary effect of a move and volume. The symbol name and the same entry of “100” do not establish equal risk. Record distance as a price change and a monetary amount in the journal to detect unit errors.

What is different mechanically

Start with the things you can measure with a stopwatch and a calculator:

Demo versus a live account · mechanical differences
SlippageDemo and live execution can differ. Measure signed slippage for your broker, symbol, size and trading period; no universal average is established here.
RequotesDepend on execution mode and broker settings in both environments; a demo label alone does not rule them out.
Order executionDemo and live processing can differ. Neither label establishes zero latency, perfect fills or guaranteed liquidity.
Swap pointsCheck symbol specifications and posted entries in each environment. Holding-period charges and credits depend on instrument, direction and rollover terms; they are not universally a nightly debit.

Demo and live costs can differ; no universal extra half-to-two-pip range is established here. Hypothetically, one additional pip on each of 100 equally sized EUR/USD round trips totals 100 pips: USD 1,000 at one standard lot per trade or USD 10 at 0.01 lot. Measure the actual difference for the same broker, symbol, size and period.

Set virtual capital, account currency, leverage and position limits to the conditions you intend to investigate. If the platform cannot change its starting balance, track a separate hypothetical capital limit in your journal. Check minimum volume and its step: a small planned cash amount can still be incompatible with the smallest permitted position and stop distance. Calculate the exposure rather than sizing from a generous simulator default.

Record decisions as well as mechanical differences

Real losses can change decisions, but reactions differ between people and virtual losses can also feel uncomfortable. The following are examples of thoughts worth recording if they occur; they are not observations about every trader. Keep the planned stop, volume and decision reason alongside the actual action:

  • "Maybe it will come back, I will give it a bit longer"
  • "I will add to the position to make it back"
  • "I am not setting a stop loss this time, it would only get hit anyway"
  • "I cannot close this at a loss — I am not ready to admit I was wrong"

Compare actions with the written plan before assigning a cause to a loss. A moved stop or larger position is an observable deviation; a weaker live result can also reflect market conditions, execution, charges or sampling variation. Neither a demo profit nor the first weeks of live trading isolate these causes on their own.

What a demo result can and cannot establish

A profitable simulator record does not establish that the same result will hold on a live account. Compare execution, costs, position sizes and adherence to the process rather than assuming a conversion rate from demo success to live success. In its 2018 product-intervention analysis, ESMA reported that 74–89 percent of retail CFD accounts lost money in the examined samples. The remaining accounts cannot all be labelled profitable without separating break-even accounts.

Inspect requested and actual prices, position size, all posted costs and adherence to the plan. IG UK documents a simulator that omits slippage, some price/size rejections, interest and dividend adjustments and specified margin close-outs. ThinkMarkets separately lists features that may differ. These are provider descriptions, not a universal demo model. A position closed by a live margin rule may miss a later recovery that remains visible in a simulator; subtracting a small average fee from its final result would not reconstruct that path.

How to move from demo to live without a disaster

Four steps that put the transition in order:

  1. Calculate a compatible position: compare available capital, planned loss, stop distance, costs and minimum volume. How much money you need explains the arithmetic. A cent account may have different units, but its name alone does not establish a hundredfold contract reduction. If the minimum position exceeds the plan, no trade is a valid outcome.
  2. Document parameters and any change: compare the same strategy version under genuinely comparable specifications. A 30-day period does not validate a demo result; changes in size, leverage, instruments or execution need to be recorded separately.
  3. Keep a journal with planned and actual trades, costs, rule deviations and any decision-related feelings. Review the evidence without assuming that four weeks must reveal one recurring psychological cause.
  4. Reassess size from adequate evidence. A positive or flat 30-day result alone does not establish a repeatable edge or justify doubling capital. Review costs, losses, process adherence and sample limitations against a written risk plan.

What to do when it stops working — and why going back to demo is not a defeat

  • After a risk-limit breach or repeated plan deviation, stop new trades and investigate the records. Five consecutive losses alone do not diagnose failure, and a two-week break does not guarantee recovery of discipline or strategy performance.
  • After changing strategy rules, label the new version and test the conditions relevant to it. Do not combine different entry or exit rules as one unchanged sample. Testing duration alone does not establish reliability.
  • When available attention changes, reassess whether you can carry out the plan and risk controls. Reducing exposure, further simulation or pausing entirely are possible decisions; a personal event does not dictate one response for everyone.

Simulation can help rehearse controls and investigate a changed plan without risking real trading funds. It does not repair a strategy automatically or predict the next live result. Continue only when the recorded issue and remaining uncertainties are understood; continuing on demo or deciding against live trading remains a valid outcome.