Comparison of MT4 and MT5 trading platforms
In 2005, the MetaQuotes released the MetaTrader 4 trading platform, and it became the most popular in its segment due to its functionality and ease of use.
In 2010, an improved MT5 platform appeared, but it could not overtake the previous version in popularity. Let’s analyze why MT5 couldn’t replace the MT4 platform despite many unique features.
MetaTrader 4
The secret of Metatrader 4’s success is a combination of functionality, ease, usability, and customizable interface. The platform is intuitive – it is not overloaded with unnecessary information, panels, or buttons. Some functions are the same in the menu on the toolbar and in the drop-down menu that pops with the right mouse button.
What you need to know about MT4:
- The platform is designed for Forex trading, financial instruments like CFDs on currencies, stocks, stock indices, assets of commodity markets, and cryptocurrencies.
- MetaTrader 4 is a single-threaded platform for 32-bit operating systems. It works on 64-bit operating systems as well, but compatibility issues may arise.
- The platform supports over 30 languages of the world.
Another secret of the popularity of MetaTrader 4 is marketing and technical support from the MetaQuotes developer. The company is constantly improving the platform code.
Benefits of MetaTrader 4
The main advantages of MT4 in comparison with other platforms are discussed below:
- Functionalities. The platform provides three modes of order execution, nine order types, including trailing stop, 30 built-in technical indicators, and nine timeframes.
- Possibility of programming in MQL4. The platform allows you to add custom tools – scripts, expert advisors, and indicators. They can be created in the MetaTrader platform editor.
- The presence of a tester. With its help, you can test manual and automatic strategies on historical quotes, evaluate their effectiveness and record the results of a backtest for statistics. No other platform has such functionality, apart from MT5.
- Community of traders supports. MQL5.com is one of the largest trading communities where you can copy signals, discuss strategies, and develop indicators, advisors, and scripts. The MQL4 language became in demand and convenient for writing unique trading systems.
- Safety. The data transmission between the trader and the server remains protected; the platform uses a 128-bit encryption system built on a unique algorithm using a digital signature. Even if a Trojan virus penetrates a computer, the platform is protected from hacking.
MetaTrader 5
MetaTrader 5 was released in early June 2010. The developers believed that MT5 will completely replace MT4, just as MT4 replaced all previous versions in its time. At some point, MetaQuotes even decided to abandon MT4 support and license sales in favor of promoting a new version of the terminal. But “something went wrong.” MT5 did not find the same support among traders as MT4, despite the innovations and improvements. Therefore, MetaQuotes decided to support both versions. Metatrader 4 is still the most famous Forex platform.
What is the difference between MT4 and MT5, and what to choose for a beginner and professional trader?
Benefits of MetaTrader 5
In MetaTrader 5, the developers have tried to improve the technical analysis functionality, the tester, and the principle of order execution. Something turned out to be more convenient.
Why is MT5 better than MT4?
- Glass of prices. While in MetaTrader 4, it is almost non-functional and rarely used, in MetaTrader 5, it has been turned into a full-fledged trading tool. The developers have added volumes to it, which are visible when trading on the stock market. In MT5, the Depth of Market displays information about the nearest orders of buyers and sellers with a step of price change and volumes of orders at specified quotes.
- Order accounting system. A netting system has been added to Metatrader 5. Only one order is displayed on the chart – the average value of all open positions for one asset. It’s convenient – you don’t need to keep track of a large number of transactions.
- Tester. The multi-currency function is an additional feature to the MT5 tester, the backtest statistics have been expanded. The results of testing and optimizing an EA or indicator in MT5 have become more accurate due to the introduction of forward testing. What was tested in MetaTrader 4 for 20 minutes, with the same parameters in MetaTrader 5, it is tested for 5 minutes.
- Timeframes. Several non-standard time intervals have been added to Metatrader 5. In Metatrader 4, this issue was solved by installing an additional script.
- Technical analysis. The number of basic indicators has been increased. In MT4, they have to be added manually. There are also two additional pending orders – Buy Stop Limit and Sell Stop Limit.
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