I don't think free paper trading is possible if you are using TS strictly as a IDE/charting tool. Which is why NT rox.
To my knowledge there is no demo of their software and papertrading is only available to their users and/or by folks for a premium fee. I seriously considered TS as a futures broker and strategy development playground but if I can't test the platform before I open an account, I won't touch them, and as such, have not touched them. Sorry, but a bunch of screenshots and videos don't even come close to getting a 'feel' for a futures trading platform or development environment. Besides, I am annoyed that TS spams the sh*t out of anyone who contacts them for information, and you have no easy way of removing yourself from their spamrolls -- so they're just blacklisted up at my ISP's mailserver. TS isn't a very customer-friendly company, in my opinion. Horrible marketing practices (spam) and next to no product demonstrations available makes them a non-starter in my book.
Pretty much what I am concluding. I won't pay them for the privlege of testing their platform. There should be a way to at least try it before you commit.
...and why I was using NT today and tomorrow to do some research on some ideas/setups of my own, because it's free for such purposes. It may not be as robust or elegant as TS, but I can't argue with the price and fact the NT folks seem to take a much different approach to NT marketing and support, as evidenced by their quite handy and PUBLIC support, dev, and discussion forums.
Not sure if this is an option or even pertinent to the discussion, but's here's what I am doing... The no free trial does suck; that's a given. However, they have a deal going where if you fund an account you get the software free for the rest of the year. I'm funding mine and going to evaluate the platform by paper trading for 3 months and see what I think. If it's not good or I don't like it, then I can walk away with no harm other than the market data fees (which you have to pay at many places, though not all..) Granted, you have to send the minimum deposit amount to open the account of $5,000 for futures...but I just thought this might be a way to give it a shot "for free" in a roundabout sort of way Hope that helps...
Yes, of course you can paper trade for free with Tradestation. Last time I checked you get TS for free if you set up a brokerage account with them (min $5,000). Earlier this year, TS rolled out a similator trading platform that runs with TS.... Contact Scott Fowler for more info at www.Tradestation.com. He was my rep when I used TS for a couple years. I still have my 2000i disks and they work fine.
You are better off using Ninja Trader if you ever plan on trading with a live account. TradeStation's data has been stale the past few months. TS will eventually will cost you a few grand when they go down and nobody answers the phone on the trading desk or customer service. DO NOT use them to execute.
LOL...that's why my brokerage account at Global Futures always matches my datastream from TS for the past 2 years...Can't vouch for the past few months but I would think TS would not put up with bad data. Their server farms are huge compared to E-Signal which has atrocious customer service, know-nothing staff, etc. etc. etc. (from my experience and my client's experience, anyway). Having a separate datafeed from your broker and a second datafeed from TradeStation is smart anyway...never depend on one server farm or datafeed for your trading. I would go ahead and papertrade with TS but never expect to clear trades with them....always use one of the top 3 market makers in your market to clear trades, not some small independent brokerage. If you don't have a spare $5k to stash at TS, you probably shouldn't be trading, imo...sorry...