> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tickside.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Paper trading

> A simulated $1,000 that behaves like the real thing.

Paper trading is **off by default**. Turn it on in **Settings, Paper trading**
and two things appear: a **PAPER / LIVE** switch in the header, and a simulated
account with \$1,000 in it.

## What is simulated and what is not

The book is real. Prices, depth and the trades going through are the live
market. Only your orders are imaginary.

Fills, fees and P\&L behave exactly as they do live:

* A resting order fills when the market reaches it, not before.
* A crossing order pays the venue's taker fee, at the same rate.
* The P\&L is calculated the same way, from the same numbers.

<Note>
  Paper books are **per account**. Every account you connect starts with its own
  \$1,000, and you can reset it in Settings whenever the experiment is over.
</Note>

## Why start here

The gestures are the whole product, and they are quick enough to get wrong at
speed. Clicking into a price rather than away from it is the difference between
paying the fee and earning nothing; the stake mode changes what a number risks
by an order of magnitude. Both are cheaper to learn on paper.