Paper Trading vs Real Trading
Learn how Polycopy Paper Trading bots differ from Real Trading bots: simulated fills priced net of a 2.79% trading fee and 0.82% slippage, 7-14 day runs, the 10 active Paper bot limit, and Premium requirements for live execution.
Choose Paper Trading or Real Trading
Paper Trading is free for signed-in users and simulates an Auto Copy bot without placing real orders. Real Trading can place live Polymarket orders and requires Premium.
Pick a Paper run length
Paper Trading bots run for the length you choose at setup: 7 days by default or 14 days maximum. Pausing a Paper bot does not extend its end date.
Stay within the active Paper limit
You can run up to 10 active Paper Trading bots at once. Paused and ended Paper bots do not count toward the active limit.
Paper P&L is net of simulated fees and slippage
Paper Trading charges the costs a real trade pays, so the number you see is what you would have kept rather than a gross result. Every simulated entry is charged a 2.79% trading fee — Polymarket's fee plus the Polycopy builder fee — and fills at 0.82% worse than the best price on screen when the bot decided, which is how far real Polycopy fills land from that price. Open positions are valued at the price you could sell into, not the midpoint. A Paper bot showing a small profit is showing a small profit after costs.
Understand simulator limits
Simulated costs are calibrated averages, not a quote for your bot: the fee is a blended rate that runs higher on crypto markets and lower on sports, and simulated slippage does not grow with your order size. Paper bots also have no real queue position or market impact, and never fail on live order placement or wallet signing. Treat Paper P&L as a good-faith estimate of Real Trading, not a promise of it.
Start Real Trading separately
Starting Real Trading from a Paper bot creates a separate live bot after Premium, wallet, funding, and security checks. Paper P&L and Real P&L stay separate.