Paper trading lets you test strategies with virtual capital in real-time market conditions. QuanterLab provides three paper trading modules, each designed for a different type of strategy.
Classic Paper Trading (PT003MRSB)
Designed for configs saved from the Strategy Builder modules (Mean Reversion, Momentum, Crossover, Breakout). Access it from the Dashboard or the Execution ribbon.
How It Works
- Import a config — The module reads your saved strategy configs from the Execution ribbon. Click on a config to load it
- Create a project — Group related configs into a project (e.g., "MR Strategies"). Assign capital to the project
- Deploy instances — Each config becomes an instance with its own ticker and allocated capital. Click Deploy to start scanning
- Monitor — The instance scans live market data, evaluates your entry/confirmation/exit conditions, and auto-executes trades when signals trigger. The price chart, indicator chart, and signal log update in real time
Capital is managed at the project level. When you create a project with $50,000 and deploy 5 instances at $10,000 each, the project pool depletes as instances deploy capital. When a position exits, the capital (plus or minus P&L) returns to the project pool.
Advanced Paper Trading (PT004UBPT)
Designed for configs saved from the Overlay/Builder (UB001UNIV). It supports the full indicator catalogue with full entry, confirmation, and exit condition layers.
Key Differences from Classic
- Indicator support — Classic supports the family-specific indicators. Advanced supports every indicator in the platform
- Three condition layers — Entry, Confirmation, and Exit are fully independent with different indicators possible on each
- Three indicator charts — The monitoring view shows separate charts for entry indicator (gold), confirmation indicator (orange), and exit indicator (red)
- Direction support — Long or Short trading as configured in the Overlay/Builder
Deploying an Advanced Instance
- Save a config from the Overlay/Builder (the "Save to Ribbon" button in the backtest results)
- Open Advanced Paper Trading from the Dashboard or Execution ribbon
- Click on your saved config to import it
- Set the ticker, capital amount, and click Deploy
- The instance loads historical data, computes all indicator values, and begins scanning for signals
All paper trading instances survive Docker restarts. Running instances are automatically restored and resumed. Your positions, capital, and trade history are preserved in the database.
Monitoring Your Instances
All active paper trading instances appear in the left sidebar of every page. You can see at a glance:
- Instance status — SCANNING (waiting for entry), LONG (in a long position), SHORT (in a short position), IDLE (stopped)
- Current P&L — Live unrealized profit/loss percentage for open positions
- Instance type — MR (Mean Reversion), UB (Universal Builder), ST (Stochastic Methods)
Click on any sidebar instance to jump directly to its monitoring page.
Common Workflow
- Backtest first — Always run a thorough backtest before paper trading. Use Out-of-Sample testing in the Overlay/Builder to validate
- Start small — Begin with one or two instances to understand how the system works in real time
- Monitor the signal log — Each instance maintains a log of every signal evaluation. Use it to understand why trades trigger or why conditions are not yet met
- Use stop-losses — Always configure stop-loss in your strategy config. Paper trading executes SL/TP automatically
- Track in My Projects — Add your paper trading configs to a project and use the timeline and notes to document what you observe
Further Reading
Related QuanterLab articles
Try it in QuanterLab
Paper trade for at least 3 months before deploying real capital. Live results that diverge from backtest are information — investigate before scaling up.