Demo vs real
Two separate systems that share a look and almost nothing else. Confusing them is the most expensive mistake available here, so this page is blunt about every difference.
Side by side
| Demo | Real | |
|---|---|---|
| Money at stake | None. The balance is issued by us. | Yours. |
| Where it lives | /demo | /trade |
| Prices | Live, from Robinhood Chain | Live, from the order book |
| Markets | Tokenized equities and crypto on Robinhood Chain | Major crypto perpetuals |
| Who holds funds | Nobody — there are none | You. We never take custody. |
| Fills | Instant at the quoted price | Against real resting orders |
| Slippage | None | Real |
| Order book depth | Not modelled | Real |
| Funding payments | Not charged | Charged and received |
| Liquidation | Simulated, at a fixed threshold | Real, by the venue's risk engine |
| Can you lose money | No | Yes, up to your margin |
| Can you withdraw | No | Yes, at any time |
What demo is genuinely useful for
- Learning what leverage does to a liquidation price before it costs anything.
- Getting familiar with the terminal so you are not learning the buttons with money on.
- Watching how a position behaves through a real price move.
What demo cannot teach you
- Execution. Slippage and partial fills do not exist in demo.
- Funding drag. Holding a real position through funding periods costs money.
- Your own behaviour. Nobody panics over a demo balance. The hardest part of trading is not modelled.
One thing that is real in demo
Opening a new demo market costs a genuine on-chain payment. That is deliberate: it is what stops the market list filling with junk. The market it creates is still demo-only. See Fees.