What's different between "Balance" and "Equity" on MT4 and MT5 platforms?

The balance illustrates your closed positions Profit/Loss while the Equity is the real time calculation of Profit/Loss i.e. it takes into account both open and closed positions.

So the balance you are looking at is not the actual real-time amount of your funds.

Equity shows the real-time amount of your funds by considering also existing open positions’ profit and loss.

Even if you have got higher balance, you could have almost Zero equity in case you have got open positions with huge losses.

If you do not have any open positions, then MT4 will only show the balance but not equity as these balances are the same.

Please note that XM’s trading server will automatically triggers “Stop-Out” which will close(liquidate) all existing open positions if the margin level in your account reaches down to certain levels.

Not the balance, but the equity will directly affect the margin level in the calculation.

If you are not sure about the calculation, you are recommended to open a demo account and try it out with virtual money.

XM has a online calculator in the Official Website.