How Paperfolio works
Paperfolio is a free paper-trading app for students and investing clubs. Practice investing with virtual money, learn the basics and compete with friends, without risking a dollar.
Web and iPhone: same account
Go to paperfolio.app on any computer or phone browser. Nothing to install.
Download Paperfolio from the App Store. You also get haptics, the share sheet and order notifications.
Log in with the same email on both, and your portfolio, trades, lessons and club are all there. Anything you do on one shows up on the other.
Getting started in 3 steps
- Create a free account on the web or in the app.
- Join your club with its invite code, or create your own club if you run one.
- Make your first trade, take the first lesson, and write down why you bought.
1. You get $100,000 in virtual cash
Every account starts with $100,000 of pretend money. You trade real U.S. stocks and ETFs at real market prices, but nothing you do touches real money. You can't deposit, withdraw or lose a dollar.
Made a mess of it? Reset your portfolio to $100,000 any time from Profile.
2. Placing a trade
Search a company on Trade, then choose Buy or Sell. You can enter a number of shares, or a dollar amount (fractional shares, like real brokerages).
Market orders buy or sell at the current price. Limit orders wait until the price reaches the number you choose. Stop orders trigger when the price drops (or rises) to a level you set.
Before anything happens you'll see a review screen with the estimated price, cost and the cash you'll have left.
Orders fill only while the U.S. market is open (9:30 AM–4:00 PM Eastern, Mon–Fri, except holidays). Orders placed outside those hours fill after the next open, the same as a real brokerage.
Each price is labeled Live, Delayed or Stale. If a price is stale (out of date), trading that stock pauses until fresh prices arrive, so nobody gets an unfair fill.
3. Learn as you go
Learn has short lessons, from “what is a stock” to P/E ratios, diversification and risk, each with a quick quiz. Passing earns XP.
Paperfolio also suggests lessons based on what you actually do. For example, if most of your money is in one stock, it points you to the diversification lesson.
4. Write down why (the trade journal)
When you buy, you can add a short thesis: why you think it'll go up, what could go wrong and a price target.
Later you come back and write what actually happened. Comparing your reasoning to the result is how real investors get better.
5. Join your club
Ask your club admin for the 6-character invite code, then go to Club → Join with an invite code.
Inside your club you'll find stock pitches (bull or bear), comments and votes, announcements, polls and meeting times.
Anything inappropriate can be reported or the person blocked from the ••• menu. Club admins review reports.
6. Compete fairly
Club admins can run weekly, monthly or custom competitions. They can be scored on plain return, on risk-adjusted return (rewarding steady gains, not lucky bets) or on the best investment thesis.
Everyone's starting value is locked when they join, results are calculated at the market close, and resetting your portfolio withdraws you, so nobody can game the leaderboard.
7. Your weekly recap
Every week Paperfolio shows how your portfolio did compared with the S&P 500, your biggest moves, which trades still need a written reason, and what to study next.
8. Ask the AI coach
Stuck on a term or wondering why a stock moved? The AI coach explains things in plain English and can look at your own portfolio.
It's a learning tool, not financial advice, and there's a daily limit on questions.
Good to know
- Paperfolio is a simulation for learning. It isn't a brokerage and nothing here is investment advice.
- Your account and data are yours: you can delete your account any time from Profile.
- Questions or problems? See Help & support.