What is the difference between MT4 and MT5 trading platforms? Which is better?

MT4 and MT5 developed by MetaQuotes
Differences of MT4 and MT5 platforms
Details of the differences of MT4 and MT5 platforms
Which one is better? MT4 or MT5?
Forex Trading Platforms? What is it?
- Each Forex trading platform is different
What do Forex Trading Platforms provide?
Things to Consider When Selecting the Best Trading Platform Software

MT4 and MT5 developed by MetaQuotes

MetaQutoes, the developer of both of the trading platforms MT4 and MT5, now has decided to focus on their work on MetaTrader5 since the end of 2016.

Now there is about one hundred of Forex brokers with MT5 in the world though, you might see MT4 and MT5 very similar in terms of usability and in a visual way.

But MetaTrader5 is actually much “Improved” from MetaTrader4 in many aspects.

List of MT5 Trading Account Types

Differences of MT4 and MT5 platforms

Please refer to the below table to find out the differences between MT4 and MT5.

	MetaTrader5	MetaTrader4
Partial Order Filling Policies	Available	Not Available
Types of available Order Fill Policy	Fill or Kill, Immediate or Cancel, Return	Only Fill or Kill
Number of Pending Order Types	6	4
Depth of Market Window	Available	Not Available
Time&Sales Window(Exchange data)	Available	Not Available
Number of Technical Indicators	38	30
Number of Graphical Objects	44	31
Number of different Time frames	21	9
Economic Calendar on Platform	Available	Not Available
Sending Attachments via Email	Possible	Not Possible
Transferring Funds between Accounts	Possible	Not Possible
MQL5.community Chat Option	Available	Not Available
Type of available Strategy Tester	Multi-threaded + Multi-currency + Real ticks	Only Single thread
Netting Account Type	Available	Not Available
Number of Symbols	Unlimited	1,024
Supported Market Financial Instruments	Forex, CFDs, Futures, Options, Stocks, Bonds	Only Forex and CFDs

It is a notable fact that MetaTrader5 accepts financial instruments other than Forex and CFDs.

Now the MT5 is available also for general stock exchange markets.

With the technology advances, the new platform’s base is simply improved and has become more available.

You can find the list of currently available MetaTrader5 trading accounts from here.

For the list of MT4 and MT5 brokers, please visit the page below.

List of MT4 and MT5 Brokers

Details of the differences of MT4 and MT5 platforms

There are many differences and updates made for the new trading platform, MT5.

By looking at the comparison table above, you may still find it difficult to choose one of the platforms.

Both trading platforms, MT4 and MT5 have advantages and merits for users.

Below, we will compare each feature of MT4 and MT5.

1. When MetaTrader platforms were introduced?

MT4 (MetaTrader4) trading platform was introduced in 2005, and since then it has been used by majority of online Forex and CFD brokers.

MT4 has become the most used and popular trading platform in the world.

MT5 (MetaTrader5) was introduced in 2010.

MT5 is the new version of MetaTrader, and has many more tools and options than MT4.

MT4 and MT5 were developed by the same company, MetaQuotes.

MT5 was later developed by MetaQuotes, and has many advanced tool and options though, when it comes to the choice of the platform between MT4 and MT5, the preference can be divided mainly depending to the user interface.

List of MT5 Trading Account Types

2. Available financial markets on MT4 and MT5

Both MT4 and MT5 trading platforms are used for trading online, and act as intermediaries of the markets (brokers) and the users (traders).

On the MT4 trading platform, you can invest in Forex products (FX currency pairs) and a few types of CFDs (Contract for Differences).

The CFD products may include various markets such as Metals, Commodities, Indices, Stocks and Bonds.

The number of financial instruments (products) available for trading on MT4 terminal is limited to 1014, although there is only a handful of brokers which offer over 1000 financial instruments for online traders.

On the other hand, on the MT5 trading platform, you can invest in Forex products (FX currency pairs), CFDs, Options (Binary Options) and Stocks.

The stocks you can trade on MT5 terminal are not limited to CFDs, but you can also invest in actual stocks (shares).

Unlike MT4, MT5 trading platform supports various exchange markets including stocks, futures, bonds and options.

The number of financial instruments (products) you can invest on MT5 is unlimited.

List of MT4 Trading Account Types

3. Available Time Frames of Price Charts on MT4 and MT5

mt5 metatrader5 price chart tiem frame

When it comes to the number of ways you can show the market price, the traditional trading platform, MT4 offers only 9 time frames.

The available time frames of price charts on MT4 include the followings.

M1 (1 minute)
M5 (5 minutes)
M15 (15 minutes)
M30 (30 minutes)
H1 (1 hour)
H4 (4 hours)
D1 (1 day)
W1 (1 week)
MN (1 month)

On the other hand, MT5 has expanded this feature with the number.

Th MT5 terminal supports 21 time frames of price charts which are:

M1 (1 minute)
M2 (2 minutes)
M3 (3 minutes)
M4 (4 minutes)
M5 (5 minutes)
M6 (6 minutes)
M10 (10 minutes)
M15 (15 minutes)
M20 (20 minutes)
M30 (30 minutes)
H1 (1 hour)
H2 (2 hours)
H3 (3 hours)
H4 (4 hours)
H6 (6 hours)
D1 (1 day)
W1 (1 week)
MN (1 month)

List of MT4 and MT5 Brokers

4. Number of Pending Orders on MT4 and MT5

Pending orders on MT4 and MT5 trading platforms are the same as booking orders at the certain prices in the future.

Pending orders can be programmed by the traders in many ways, such buy at the certain price and sell at the certain price later.

Pending orders won’t be executed in case the market price doesn’t reach the price traders have set.

MT4 trading platform supports 4 types of pending orders which are:

Buy Stop
Buy Limit
Sell Limit
Sell Stop

mt4 types of pending orders

On the other hand, MT5 trading platform supports 6 types of pending orders, adding 2 more to the original pending orders of MT4.

The available pending orders on MT5 trading platform are:

Buy Stop
Buy Limit
Sell Limit
Sell Stop
Buy Stop Limit
Sell Stop Limit

mt5 types of pending orders

List of MT5 Trading Account Types

5. Programming languages of MT4 and MT5

Programming Languages run the platforms such as MT4 and MT5.

Although the developer of the both platforms are the same (MetaQuotes), the programming languages used for the platforms are different.

These programing languages are designed to develop trading robots and other additional features including technical indicators, scripts and function libraries.

MT4 supports MQL4 programming language.

Programmers use MQL4 to develop trading programs and scripts based on the order system.

MQL4 requires multiple functions for performing each trading operation, and it more simplistic than MQL5 (the programming language used for MT5).

Programs (MQL4) for MT4 cannot run on MT5.

On the other hand, MT5 supports MQL5 programming language.

MQL5 language is used to implement a positional system, and it more efficient and easier to use comparing to MQL4.

With MQL5 language, traders can write and alter scripts.

By using the MQL5 language, trading operations are done by sending trade requests using just one function.

List of MT4 Trading Account Types

6. Availability of Hedging Orders on MT4 and MT5

MT4 trading platform supports only “hedging account type” (or FIFO which is “First In and First Out).

MT5 trading platform supports both “hedging account type” (by requests) and “netting account type”.

MT5 does not support hedging and implements FIFO by default.

Note that the availability of the account types can be varied depending on the broker you trade with. For more information, please contact your broker for the available options.

7. Technical Market Analysis on MT4 and MT5

When it comes fo the technical analysis tools, MT4 offers technical tools which allow you to analyse markets of any complexity level.

The available technical tools comprise of 30 built-in indicators, over 2,000 free customer indicators and 700 paid indicators.

On the other hand, the technical analysis offered in MT5 includes 38 technical indicators, 44 analytical objects, 21 time-frames and unlimited number of charts.

In terms of the available options of technical analysis, MT5 is much superior to MT4.

List of MT4 and MT5 Brokers

8. Market Depth window on MT4 and MT5

“Market Depth” lets you know how much trading volume (buy and sell orders) are available in the current market and at which price in the real time.

By referring to the Market Depth window, you can find out if you can place an order at all, the possibility of slippage and order rejection, by seeing how much liquidity is in the market.

On the traditional MT4 trading platforms, you can not use the Market Depth window.

On some MT4 web trader, you can use Market Depth window, but this option is limited with certain brokers.

On MT5 trading platforms, Market Depth window is built-in and available for all users.

The depth of market (DOM) in MT5, shows bids and offers financial securities at varying prices depending on volume.

List of MT5 Trading Account Types

9. Economic Calendar on MT4 and MT5

Economic Calendar is an useful tool to stay updated of the upcoming market events.

The Economic Calendar shows political, economic, corporate and other events that may affect the markets dynamically.

On MT4 trading platforms, Economic Calendar is not built-in, thus you cannot benefit from the feature.

MT5 trading platforms offer an economic calendar, and it delivers macro-economic news from various countries that may have an impact on financial instruments prices.

Not just the in-built Economic Calendar, but MT5 also features news, schedules, expected impacts and market forecasts.

By combining with “one click trading” feature, you won’t miss out market opportunities on MT5.

List of MT4 Trading Account Types

10. Web Trader of MT4 and MT5

The web trader of MT4 and MT5 are useful when you want to avoid downloading such RAM heavy software into your computers (devices).

The web trader is also a preferable option when you are using a public computer and want to use the platform temporarily.

Both MT4 and MT5 Web Traders are compatible with the same browsers and OS (Operational Systems).

The compatible browsers are:

Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Apple Safari
Internet Explorer
Opera
Microsoft Edge

The compatible Operation Systems are:

Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 8
Windows 10
MAC OS
iPhone and iPad (iOS)
Android (both mobile phones and tablet)

The availability of the web traders depend on the broker you trade with.

To access to MT4 and MT5 web traders, please visit your brokers’ official websites and find the direct links.

List of MT4 and MT5 Brokers

11. Partial Order Filling Policies on MT4 and MT5

“Partial Order Filling Policies” is in which a trade with the maximum volume that is available in the market is executed, not exceeding the volume requested in the order, while unfilled volume is cancelled.

“Partial Order Filling Policies” is supported only on MT5, but not on MT4 trading platforms.

12. MetaTrader Community Chat on MT4 and MT5

On MT5 trading platforms, you can chat with other traders and users of the MQL5 community through the platforms.

Through the embedded MQL5 Community Chat, you can get useful information from other traders and look for insights and trends/ideas of other traders.

Possibility to chat with other traders directly through the platform is available only on MT5, but not MT4.

List of MT5 Trading Account Types

13. Order Fill Policy on MT4 and MT5

The “Order Fill Policy” decides how you can set additional order execution conditions.

On MT4 trading platforms, the available Order Fill type is only “fill or kill”.

On the other hand, the available Order Fill types on MT5 is “fill or kill immediately” and “cancel return”.

The MT5 trading platforms give more possibilities when it comes to order filling.

14. Availability of 64 Bit Version of MT4 and MT5

If you are using a computer with 64-bit operating system but not 32-bit, then you may have stumbled upon with some problems when using MT4 trading platforms.

The MT4 supports only 32-bit operating system.

On the other hand, MT5 supports for the 64-bit architecture.

Which one is better? MT4 or MT5?

When comparing the platforms, MT5 clearly has more advanced features than MT4.

It’s down to personal preference.

If you are new to trading or just want to trade Forex, MT4 is simpler to use and more suitable for beginners.

IF you wish to access more versatile software, with all the additional features mentioned above, then MT5 is for you.

List of MT4 and MT5 Brokers

Forex Trading Platforms? What is it?

In online Forex trading, traders and brokers communicate with each other by using a Forex platform.

This is a software application that allows both parties to do via PCs and the Internet what only a few years ago they might have been doing over the phone, getting trading prices, giving and executing buying and selling orders, and getting information about trends in the market.

The software platform may consist of a number of modules, each module being designed to accomplish a particular part of the process.

Client software – the application that is installed on a trader’s PC, or that may be made available to the trader via a web browser interface for either a PC or a mobile telephone connection

Each Forex trading platform is different

Forex platforms for trading differ in the functionality they contain and the way that they are offered to traders and investors.

Two brokers serving traders with the same underlying technology can “package” the platform in different ways.

They may choose to provide the platform with all the functionality already available from the technology provider, limit some functionality to different kinds of Forex accounts, or even extend the functionality with added value tools and features.

They may also provide the same platform functionality, but with different levels of minimum deposit and spreads and different selections of currency pairs that can be traded.

Besides broker choices on what will be offered, Forex platforms can differ in the way that they receive and process information, as well as the type of information they can handle.

Information on spreads
Some platforms accept streaming (real time) information from banks in order to offer tight bid/ask spreads and optimal trading liquidity.
Types of assets handled
Forex, contracts for difference (CFDs) and futures trading do not use the same set of platform functions as stocks and shares trading, for instance.

List of MT4 and MT5 Brokers

What do Forex Trading Platforms provide?

The information below concerns the trading interface seen by traders and investors.

The management interface for brokers with functionality such as managing groups of traders, databases and financial products is also important, but of less direct impact on traders and investors.

1. Forex analysis capabilities

The advantages of software applications are their power and speed in processing data and presenting the results to traders in the interface screen.

Forex platforms often offer a wide variety of tools for analysis (technical analysis indicators).

What is important is whether they offer the tools you want for your personal Forex trading strategy.

2. Presentation of information

Traders vary in how they like to see information displayed on their Forex platform screen.

Being able to switch between different types of display such as bar charts, line charts or candlestick charts is one way of handling this.

3. Trading statistics

Information on open trades, historical data on closed trades and account balance are some of the basics.

Like technical indicators, the trading statistics do not necessarily have to be very extensive

They simply need to provide you with the right information to help your trading.

4. Ease of use

Besides the screen layout, ease of use of Forex platforms also covers aspects like the number of clicks a trader needs to accomplish particular actions (the less clicks the better), online help and/or tutorials on how to use the platform, audible alerts and Multilanguage suppor

5. Automation possibilities

Scripts, wizards, automated actions triggered by conditions, and application programming interfaces (APIs) are all part of the capabilities of different platforms.

Platforms using the Financial Information exchange (“FIX”) protocol for example can then handle streaming data rapidly and safely and offer traders STP (Straight Through Processing), which reduces the trade settlement time significantly.

6. Types of order available

Opening and closing positions, of course, but also limit orders such as stop loss orders (closing the position if a certain level of loss is reached) are a minimum for forex platforms.

In addition to these functionalities, platforms also need to be robust and efficient enough to provide good rapidity of order execution (this depends on both the trader interface and the broker’s server), including during periods of news release, when the Forex platform as a whole may have to handle a large number of orders from different traders simultaneously.

7. Demo accounts

Available as a separate feature or built-in to the trader’s interface, demo accounts allow traders, whether new or experienced in Forex, to try out different strategies in a virtual environment before investing money in them.

Some platforms offer “practice mode” for similar requirements.

8. Customizability

As traders become more familiar with a Forex platform and more experienced in using different technical indicators, they may want to customize existing tools for their own purposes.

Other customizing includes the possibility of writing scripts for automating actions on the platform, either to save time and effort or to react to a trigger condition in the trader’s absence.

List of MT4 and MT5 Brokers