Choosing Your Trading Platform: MetaTrader4 vs MetaTrader5

Trading platforms by MetaQuotes remain fairly popular among traders all over the world. The most demanded products of the company are MetaTrader4 and MetaTrader5. Many think that MetaTrader5 is an improved version of its predecessor; however, these two terminals have a crucial difference. MT4 is meant for Forex exclusively, while MT5 is more universal, giving access to not only currency instruments but stock assets as well. As for other differences of the platforms, I will speak on them below.

Interface

When designing MT4, the developers left the interface of the platform well-known to users, though the platform has a principally different code. The new version provides access to the market depth that allows you to keep an eye on the current number of trades in the market.

Order types

In MetaTrader4, there are 4 types of pending orders, while the new version features 6, which allows to create more flexible trading systems.

The most frequent argument against MetaTrader5 used to be the lack of hedging. The improved version of the terminal has this option but you can still open positions without locking.

Also, in MetaTrader5, you can open trades by one click right from the trading chart.

Timeframes

MetaTrader4 gives access to 9 TFs - 4 minute TFs, 2 hourly TFs, 1 daily, 1 weekly, and 1 monthly ones. As for MetaTrader 5, there 21 TFs included. The variety of minute and hourly charts has been noticeably enhanced. You can choose a suitable TF in the Charts menu.

Copy Trading

In MT5, the function of copying the trades of the best traders is available via the Trade Alerts service. To use this option, traders can check the trading results of prominent traders, choose the most successful one(s), and subscribe to them. Subscription can be either paid or free. When a trader makes good profits, their chances to get subscribed on increase.

Trading instruments

MetaTrader4 is meant for currency markets only (Forex). MetaTrader 5 is a multimarket platform. It gives access to the stock, currency markets, operations with securities that can be carried out on several exchanges simultaneously.

Analytics

Both platforms feature various instruments of tech analysis, but in MT5, there are more. For example, the number of built-in indicators has increased to 38 (including one based on the Elliott Waves) from 30 in MT4. Chart types remain the same: bar charts, linear charts, and Japanese candlesticks. You can use up to a hundred of them simultaneously. If necessary, you can find additional indicators in the Library.

The modernized MetaEditor does not require special knowledge of programming from you and lets ordinary traders create indicators and expert advisors, while the Strategy Tester allows you to backtest them on different trading assets.

One obvious drawback is that expert advisors created for MT4 are incompatible with the new MT5 version. MT5 has fundamental analysis options - the Economic Calendar and the news feed; they represent important events in the financial world real-time. In the “old” version, you had to track the news elsewhere.

Server provision

In Mt4, there is 1 separate server that has no connection to other servers. In MT5, there are 4 - access, trading, history, and reserve copying. This speeds up all operations.

Notifications

To react to market events timely, MT5 features special sound alerts. You can also get notified via your cell phone or email.

Smartphone versions

The trading terminals are also available on smartphones with the same functions as on the PC. They are meant for two popular OSs - Android and iOS.

Closing thoughts

Choosing between MT4 and MT5 at once can be quite tricky. Your personal preferences are the key here, though more and more brokers prefer MT5, giving traders no alternative. Thanks to being universal, featuring various options and trading indicators, this terminal has a chance to fully replace its predecessor from the market.