I prefer micro accounts over demo accounts. Demo accounts are good until I know how to use a trading platform. But once I have an idea of how to use a trading platform, getting live trading experience is better. We learn more when we go through real emotions because our real money is at risk. And that’s what makes us real forex traders.
It depends on your purposes. If you want to learn trading, demo account will be of no help for you, unfortunately. There are many aspects which a trader can experience only during trading real money and one of them is psychology. I don't know how about you, but I am always indifferent when I trade demo. I don't care whether I'll win or lose, however, it is completely different from trading real money. While trading real money I have some connection to the trading account and I really want to to become bigger after each trade I do. THat is why, I experience lots of emotions during a trading session. Such emotions should be dealt with and this is a certain skill which every trader should possess because emotional factor does a lot of harm to the quality of the decisions that you make in forex. That is why it is impossible to learn trading on demo account. More than that, there are no slippages, spreads and commissions, requotes and so on in demo account. These things can get lots of your profits and they can even make you lose lots of money. They need to be calculated and it is better to learn it from trading microlots. Demo account is cool for testing your new trading ideas. After trying them on demo account when you don't lose anything can you decide whether such ideas have any connection to the reality or not.
With 100K demo equity it's easy as ABC. Large equity allows to tolerate drawdowns, capital constraints in live trading should not be underestimated.
In my opinion, before starting a Micro account, beginners, need to use a demo account because there is more advantage as preparation mainly about the risk. Demo account is free of the risk, a beginner can learn how to use the platform trading, explore the all feature and implemented without any risk, then if he already confident to start, Micro account is low-risk option type account, maybe not all broker offer micro account, but my FXOpen broker offers a Micro account with smallest 0.01 micro-lots, before use STP, I am using Micro account
Demo account helps to understand how platform works however it's useless if you want to lean or build profitable trading systems. IMO backtesting capabilities of MT4 or MT5 is quite modest I'd rather go to python simulations.
when a trader kick off Forex i think its more appropriate to trade in a demo account , after passing 3 months they should on micro account. its a perfect combination
There are so many traders talking about the big difference between demo and real trading, and has the question why in real get fail, while in the demo they easily to success, there are some factors as the reason, mainly about psychology or emotion