are paper trading and stock simulators the same thing 
paper trading is a form of stock simulation in that it involves buying and selling stocks without using real money this type of simulation involves writing out trading requests on paper nowadays paper trading can be done using electronic simulators online the bottom linetrading can be very risky as the potential for loss is huge but the same can be said about the possibility of making big returns one way to help mitigate losses while raising the potential for gains is to try paper trading this form of stock simulation allows you to test out and practice how to buy and sell stocks without putting up any capital before you do so in real life using a real account in order for it to work you must be realistic buy and sell the stocks you would in real life using the same amount of capital you d deposit into a real account 