Paper trading vs backtesting: what each one teaches

Paper trading usually means watching current markets and placing simulated trades in real time. It is useful because you experience the waiting, distraction, and slow pace of an actual trading day.

The drawback is volume. You may only get a handful of meaningful trade decisions in a day, and your feedback loop can be painfully slow.

Backtesting uses historical market data, so you can compress time. Instead of waiting all day for one setup, you can work through many sessions and build a larger sample.

Manual backtesting is especially useful when you want to practice recognition, entry timing, trade management, and review across different market conditions.

Trading replay combines the speed of historical backtesting with the uncertainty of live paper trading. You are using past data, but you cannot see the future candles until you advance.

That makes replay a strong bridge between passive chart review and real-time practice.

• Use replay when you need more reps.
• Use live paper trading when you need to practice patience in real time.
• Use journaling for both so your results are comparable.

Candlune focuses on replay because new traders often need far more decision reps than live market hours can provide. The app lets you practice simulated trades on historical XAUUSD candles, then review the decisions in a journal and dashboard.

It is paper trading in the sense that no live money is involved, but it is built around historical replay rather than broker execution.