Account types and trading platforms

Once you have chosen a regulated broker, you will pick an account type and a platform.

Common account types

• Demo account — funded with virtual money. Always start here. It lets you learn the platform and test ideas with zero financial risk.
• Standard account — trades full-size lots, costs built into the spread.
• Cent/micro account — lets you trade tiny sizes with very little capital; ideal for going live cautiously.
• ECN/Raw-spread account — razor-thin spreads but a separate commission; favoured by active traders.
• Swap-free (Islamic) account — no overnight interest, for those who require it.

Platforms you will encounter

• MetaTrader 4 (MT4) — the long-time industry standard, especially for automated trading.
• MetaTrader 5 (MT5) — the successor: more timeframes, more asset classes, a better strategy tester. We dedicate an entire track to building and testing robots on MetaTrader and in Python.
• cTrader and various broker-proprietary platforms.

The right sequence

1. Open a demo account and learn the platform inside out.
2. Practise a defined strategy until it is consistent.
3. Go live with a small account you can afford to lose.
4. Scale up only after sustained, documented results.

Skipping straight to a large live account is the most common and most expensive beginner mistake.