MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are two of the most popular Forex Trading platforms.
But which one should you use? Moreover
If you're already using MetaTrader 4, should you switch to MetaTrader 5?
There are three main differences between MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5
number of markets, tools for market analysis,
and algorithmic trading
Today
We are going to walk you through each core difference.
So you get a better understanding of which MetaTrader version is the right one for you.
Stay tuned.
As you may know there is a big debate across Forex forums in regards to
MetaTrader 4
and MetaTrader 5.
Both versions were created by MetaQuotes a Russian software company, although some years ago.
It seemed like MetaTrader 5 was a failure and MetaTrader 4 was going to Prevail strongly forever
during the past couple of years.
The trend has reversed and MetaTrader 5 usage has been growing steadily.
Plus there is a significant number of Brokers promoting it.
This has raised some questions in regard to
MetaTrader 4 for continuity
now, let's jump to see the differences
number of markets
the main reason why many quotes developed MT5 is to enable access to markets
that are not available in MT4.
That includes major stock markets as well
MetaTrader 4 is great for the decentralized
open and highly unregulated global scale of the Forex market
and yeah, access to more markets can be beneficial for experienced traders that want to
trade shares from companies like Apple.
or Amazon,
However. For most Forex Traders,
this doesn't make much of a difference. Moving on to tools for market analysis.
The first difference here is related to chart timeframes: while MetaTrader 4 only offers nine
timeframes
MetaTrader 5 offers 21 timeframes.
This can give Traders an edge for a deeper analysis of the market.
Then we have indicators MetaTrader 4 offers 30 built-in indicators and 24 analytical objects.
Also, there are over 2000 free custom indicators and 700 available for purchase
in contrast, MetaTrader5 has 38 technical indicators, 44 analytical objects
and offers an unlimited number of charts.
MT4 has a limit of 128 charts.
Like to keep close track of economic events?
One of the most convenient features of MT5 is that it offers an economic calendar
with critical events that can impact the market
as MT4 doesn't have an economic calendar,
some Traders use the Forex Factory calendar
as a turnaround to track events or perform fundamental
analysis. Moving on to the third chord difference
algorithmic trading. MetaTrader 4 uses a programming language called MQL4
while MetaTrader5 uses MQL5.
MQL4
might be more suitable for beginners due to its simplicity when creating scripts indicators and
EAs
in contrast, mql5 is an object-oriented programming language,
or OOP,
based on C++,
which is more complex but gives professional algorithmic Traders more room for advanced commands and
calculations.
An important note here is that you cannot simply transfer your MQL4 code into
MQL5.
There is no backward compatibility
a high percentage of Traders use EAs or custom indicators and scripts in their trading,
moving these from MQL4 to MQL5 would be a very costly and time-consuming exercise.
On the other hand,
MetaTrader5 has two main advantages on this front
versus MetaTrader4, the multi-currency strategy tester and its speed for testing and optimization.
MT5 is hundreds of times faster.
So to sum up: MetaTrader4 remains the most popular and preferred Forex Trading platform for
beginners due to its simplicity and ease of use, MQL4 is more friendly to
get started with algorithmic trading and EAs.
However, MetaTrader5 has unique features and it seems that MetaQuotes is heavily invested in
MT5's
development.
The conclusion for experienced programmers is a bit different if you think you will need
the multi-currency strategy tester
as well as the very fast testing and optimization
then maybe give MT5 a shot.
However,
it will only be worth it if you can commit to building your systems from
scratch.