Free prediction market games and simulators, compared (2026)
Updated · Written by Papermarkets, which is one of the products compared
There are two kinds of free prediction market game. Manifold runs its own simulated-money markets that anyone can create, so its prices come from its own players. Papermarkets, PolySimulator, PaperPicks and Oddpool mirror real-money venues instead, so you practise at the prices real-money traders are actually paying. Pick Manifold to ask your own questions, PolySimulator to test Polymarket bots through an API, PaperPicks for live sports odds on an iPhone, and Papermarkets to trade live Polymarket prices or run a private game against friends. None of them costs anything to play.
Side by side
| Papermarkets | Manifold | PolySimulator | PaperPicks | Oddpool | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Markets and prices | Polymarket's live markets and prices | Its own markets, created by users — not Polymarket's | Polymarket's live markets and prices | Live odds mirrored from real-money exchanges, including Polymarket | Polymarket and other real-money venues |
| You start with | $10,000 simulated money each monthly season | Ṁ1,000 simulated funds (mana) | $1,000 virtual USDC | $100 paper bankroll | $10,000 virtual cash |
| Cost | Free | Free; more mana can be bought | Free; paid tiers from $9.99/month for API limits and backtesting | Free; in-app purchases ($0.99–$98.99) buy more paper money | Free; paid plans closed to new subscribers |
| Sign-up | Google or Apple | Email or Google; no KYC or wallet | None needed; optional Apple sign-in | Account required | |
| Play with friends | Yes — private games with your own categories, balance and end date | Private topics and markets; its leagues are public monthly divisions | None found | Follow friends and see their bets; private leagues not stated | Not stated |
| Leaderboard | Yes, monthly season | Yes, plus monthly leagues | Yes, seasonal | Yes | Not stated |
| Real prizes or cash-out | No | Mana cannot be cashed out; it runs USDC prize drawings with a free entry (eligibility rules apply) | No | No | No |
| Platform | Web | Web | Web | iPhone only (iOS 26+) | Web |
“Not stated” means we could not find it on the product’s own site or documentation, not that it does not exist.
Each one, briefly
Papermarkets
Papermarkets is the one this page is written by. It mirrors Polymarket's markets at their live prices and settles every position on the real outcome. Its distinctive feature is private games: pick the categories, starting balance and end date, and share a link.
Best for: Practising on real Polymarket prices, and running a private game with friends.
Manifold
Manifold is the largest simulated-money prediction market, and the only one here where anyone can create a market. Its prices come from its own traders, not from a real-money venue, so they can differ from Polymarket's on the same question. Mana cannot be converted to cash, though Manifold now runs USDC prize drawings.
Best for: Asking your own questions and trading on anything, not just what the big venues list.
PolySimulator
PolySimulator mirrors Polymarket through its public API and is built for traders who want to test systematically: it has an API trading console, API keys and backtesting on its paid tiers. Paper trading itself is free, with a seasonal public leaderboard.
Best for: Testing Polymarket trading bots and strategies through an API.
PaperPicks
PaperPicks is an iPhone app with live in-play odds and player props from the real exchanges, an anonymous account created on first launch, and a feed of your friends' picks. Paper money can be bought in the app, which is worth knowing if you care about a leaderboard's fairness.
Best for: Following live sports odds on an iPhone with no account.
Oddpool
Oddpool's paper trading sits inside a prediction-market data product with an arbitrage scanner and whale tracking. It covers Polymarket alongside other real-money venues. Oddpool says it is no longer accepting new paid subscriptions; free accounts continue.
Best for: Traders who already use Oddpool's cross-venue data tools.
What about Polymarket itself?
Polymarket has no demo or paper-trading mode for regular users; every position on it is funded. Its US exchange has a sandbox, but only for approved API partners. To practise on Polymarket’s markets you need a simulator that mirrors them — here is how that works step by step.
How we compared
Every claim about another product comes from its own website, documentation or app store listing, checked on September 15, 2026. We left out anything we could not verify there. Papermarkets wrote this page and is not affiliated with any product on it, or with Polymarket. If something here is out of date, write to us from the about page and we will correct it.