A demo account lets you see an EA make mistakes with money that isn't real. But watching the balance go up doesn't tell you much. Here is what to look for instead.
Use the same conditions you'll trade
Set the demo up like your real account: the same broker if you can, the same leverage and a similar balance. Results on a large demo account with high leverage tell you little about a small live one.
What to check
- Does it open trades when the strategy signals? Compare the EA's trades with the strategy's public feed.
- Is the stop loss there from the start? Every trade should have its stop in place as soon as it opens.
- Is the size what you set? Work out your risk per trade by hand on the first few trades.
- Does it manage trades as described? Watch partial closes, stop moves and exits.
- Does your terminal stay on? If your PC sleeps, the EA stops. Better to find out now.
Wait for a losing run
A week of wins shows you very little. You want to see how it feels, and how your settings hold up, when several trades lose in a row. Take the strategy's deepest drawdown in R, multiply it by your risk per trade, and ask yourself if you'd stay calm through a fall of that size.
When are you ready?
There is no fixed number of weeks. You're ready when the EA has done what you expected across a good number of trades, you've seen some losses, and you could explain what it did and why. When you go live, start with a smaller risk than you plan to use long term.
A good demo doesn't promise good live results, because real fills and costs differ. It does remove setup surprises.
Next step
Choose a strategy from the live results, then follow the setup answers in our FAQ.