By Thomas | financial enthusiast
My investing diary: special entry.
I made a deliberate decision a few years ago: before I put real money into any new strategy, I paper trade it first. Simulate. Test. Understand what I'm doing without paying tuition to the market.
That decision led me to download both Webull and Thinkorswim within the same week. I had opinions by the end of that week, and they've shifted a bit since. Here's what I actually found.
What Paper Trading Is and Why It Matters
Paper trading is simulated investing with fake money. You execute real trades in real market conditions, but no actual money changes hands. It's the closest thing to flying a simulator before getting in a real cockpit.
Both Webull and Thinkorswim offer free paper trading. Both give you access to real market prices to trade against. Neither requires a funded account to use the paper trading feature. That's genuinely remarkable — professional-level practice tools, free, available to anyone.
I used paper trading to test a momentum strategy for six months before putting a single real dollar behind it. Saved me from what I now realize was a flawed approach. The paper trading loss was educational. A real loss would have been painful.
Webull: Clean, Mobile-First, Beginner-Friendly
Webull's paper trading gives you $1,000,000 in virtual funds to start. That number sounds absurd for a beginner, but it means position sizing is a choice, not a constraint. You can allocate your fake million however you want and practice allocating realistically.
The UI is clean. Genuinely. Charts load fast, order types are clearly labeled, the mobile app is one of the best in the industry for a free product. Level 2 quotes — the order book showing bid and ask depth — are free on Webull, which is unusual. Most platforms charge for that.
Webull is good for stocks and crypto paper trading. If you want to practice buying individual equities, ETFs, and some crypto — Webull handles this elegantly. The learning curve is shallow. I opened the app and understood the layout within minutes.
For beginners who are just starting out, don't know what a put option is, and want to practice buying and holding stocks or ETFs: Webull is the better starting point.
Thinkorswim: Professional Grade, Steep Curve, Extraordinary Depth
Thinkorswim is now on Schwab following the TD Ameritrade acquisition. The platform has been around for decades and was built by traders, for traders. It shows.
The paper trading environment is called "paperMoney" and it uses real-time market data — the same data the real platform uses. This is significant. Some paper trading simulators use delayed data. Thinkorswim's simulation is as close to real trading conditions as you can get without using real money.
The charting capabilities are staggering. Every technical indicator you've ever heard of, plus hundreds you haven't, are built in. You can stack multiple studies, create custom alert conditions, backtest strategies on historical data. There's a scripting language called thinkScript that lets you write your own custom indicators and strategies.
I'll be honest: the first time I opened Thinkorswim, I closed it again. Too many buttons. Too much information. I felt like I'd sat down in the cockpit of an Airbus A380 when all I'd ever flown was a paper airplane.
But I came back to it. Because when I started doing deeper research for the COWLS Corner strategy analysis on this site, I needed the tools it offered. The scan functions, the options chain visualizations, the ability to simulate complex multi-leg option spreads — none of that is available in Webull.
The Options Trading Difference
This is the most important functional distinction.
If you want to learn options trading — understanding calls, puts, spreads, straddles, covered calls — Thinkorswim is the only serious choice. Its options analysis tools are genuinely professional-grade. You can visualize the profit/loss curve of a position, see how it responds to changes in volatility and time, model complex multi-leg strategies before you execute.
Webull has options, but the tooling is basic by comparison. For a beginner who just wants to buy a call option and see what happens, fine. For actually understanding options deeply? Thinkorswim is in a different class.
I paper traded covered calls on Thinkorswim for two months before I did it with real money. Understanding the theta decay visually — watching time eat into my position's theoretical value — taught me more than any article ever could.
Mobile vs Desktop Reality
Webull is genuinely better on mobile. The app is responsive, fast, and well-designed. If you're the type who checks your portfolio on the train, Webull is more comfortable.
Thinkorswim has a mobile app, but it's a trimmed-down version. The full power of the platform lives on the desktop client. If you want to use Thinkorswim properly, you're sitting at a computer. That's just the reality.
Neither has an account minimum. Neither charges for paper trading. Both are legitimately free to use.
Which One I'd Recommend for Different Situations
For a complete beginner who wants to practice stock and ETF investing: start with Webull. The lower friction means you actually use it. An intimidating platform that you never open is worse than a simpler one you engage with daily.
For someone who wants to learn technical analysis deeply, practice options strategies, or build and backtest systematic approaches: Thinkorswim. There's no real alternative at the free price point.
My own path: I started on Webull for its clean interface and got comfortable with the mechanics of trading. Then I moved to Thinkorswim when I needed more analytical depth for the COWLS Corner research. I still use Webull for quick mobile checks and crypto trades.
You don't have to choose just one. Both are free. Install both and see which one fits your brain.
The only wrong move is to skip paper trading altogether and learn your lessons with real money. haha — not actually funny, but you know what I mean.
Have you tried paper trading before going live with real money — and if you skipped it, do you wish you hadn't?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Webull or Thinkorswim better for beginners?
Webull is significantly more beginner-friendly. Its interface is cleaner, mobile-first, and less overwhelming than Thinkorswim's multi-panel desktop environment. Thinkorswim is designed for active traders who need advanced options analytics, scripting (thinkScript), and multi-leg strategy builders. If you're learning your first trades or testing a basic strategy, start with Webull — you can always migrate to Thinkorswim when you're ready for professional-grade tools.
Does Thinkorswim have free paper trading?
Yes. Thinkorswim (TD Ameritrade, now part of Charles Schwab) offers a full paper trading simulation with $100,000 in virtual money, access to real-time streaming quotes, options chains, and nearly every tool available in the live platform. You need a Schwab brokerage account to access it — but opening the account is free with no minimum balance required.
Is Webull paper trading free and real-time?
Yes. Webull's paper trading account is free, requires no deposit, and uses real-time market data — the same data feed as the live trading platform. You start with $1,000,000 in virtual cash and can trade stocks, ETFs, and options with fractional shares. No account required to use the mobile paper trading simulator.
Which platform has better charting — Webull or Thinkorswim?
Thinkorswim wins decisively on charting depth. It offers over 400 built-in studies, full scripting via thinkScript, backtesting on historical data, and multi-timeframe analysis. Webull's charts are clean and functional with about 50 indicators, sufficient for most retail traders. For serious technical analysis, pattern scanning, or building custom indicators, Thinkorswim has no equal in the free broker space.
Can I use Thinkorswim without a TD Ameritrade or Schwab account?
No longer. Thinkorswim is now exclusively part of the Charles Schwab ecosystem following the 2020 TD Ameritrade acquisition. You need a Schwab brokerage account to access the platform. However, opening an account is free with no minimum balance, and Schwab charges $0 commissions on stock and ETF trades. The paper trading mode is accessible within the platform once your account is active.
