Introduction
Today, traders conduct their trades in the forex market online through the Internet and there is no need to be present at a specific time and place as in the past. But in order to carry out transactions online, it is necessary to use a trading platform means software that connects the user’s account with the broker and also with the market. There are several trading platforms available that allow trading in the forex market. In the meantime, the three platforms MT4, MT5 and cTrader are particularly popular among traders, so it will follow details of each and their comparison.
Introducing and comparison of popular trading platforms MT4, MT5 and cTrader
Many traders are familiar with the three platforms MT4, MT5 and cTrader due to their easy access and common use in the forex market, and therefore many forex brokers have also tried to offer their services on one or more of them. In the following, each of them will be introduced and expressed the characteristics of each.
MetaTrader 4 (MT4)
MT4 is a forex trading platform developed by MetaQuotes in 2005. This allows trading in both demo and real accounts. In both cases, real-time price data is supported and has good validity.
It is possible to trade all assets in the forex market, including currency pairs, commodities, cryptocurrencies, stocks, options and futures in MT4, and each broker can trade all or part of them according to their business policies. The technical analysis tools in this platform are almost complete and include things such as various indicators, trend lines, Fibonacci levels, support and resistance lines and many others.
Since this trading software was introduced in the early 2000s, it is not surprising that its environment is so old that it does not attract the user’s attention at first glance. But despite its old and not very attractive appearance, it has advanced features that attract the attention of every audience. Among other things, this platform has the possibility of using the MQL4 programming language, which allows users to program their custom indicators and automatic robots by coding in this format and use.
MetaTrader 5 (MT5)
The latest version of the MetaTrader platform is MT5, which is a completely different version from 4 and is not considered an upgrade, but another version with different features that can be said to be designed for traders with a different taste.
This platform was developed in 2010 by MetaQuotes. According to the company, the designing and production of this platform took 3 years, which is significant compared to version 4, which took only 20 months.
Comparison of MT4 and MT5
Although there is not much difference in appearance between these two platforms, there are some other differences that will be mentioned in this section.
The MT5 programming language is MQL5, while the MT4’s is MQL4 which has its own facilities and features, so it makes these two platforms have significant differences from each other.
Two new types of pending orders have been added in MetaTrader 5, which are a combination of stop and limit orders. In addition, MT5 have more and diverse timeframes. Time frames on this platform has increased from 9 to 21.
In both MT4 and MT5 backtesting is available, but in version 5, the possibility of
multi-string backtesting is also provided that the trader can test several strategies at the same time and check and compare the results.
The addition of an economic calendar to the user panel is another advantage of MT5, which allows traders to view the calendar at the same time as the chart view and use it to perform fundamental analysis and market sentiment in their transactions.
cTrader
cTrader by Software Systems Ltd. designed and developed in the UK. This platform was initially designed with ECN trading accounts, so due to the speed and accuracy of executions, over time, it became common among traders particularly scalpers.
The second level pricing on this platform has made the traders have a good outlook of the market depth so the price movement is more transparent for them. In addition, it is possible to evaluate trading strategies on this platform and every trader can test his strategy as well as his designed robot in this software.
New appearance of this platform compared to MetaTrader 4 and 5 has made it popular with many traders, especially beginners. The technical analysis tools of this platform are more user-friendly and traders can easily analyze and annotate their desired chart using features.
How to choose the right trading platform ?
Choosing the type of trading platform depends on two important factors: the broker and the type of trades.
The first point is a forex broker, because each broker supports certain trading platforms. In other words, if a trader has chosen his broker in terms of desired services, it should use the platforms supported by it. Therefore, it can be concluded that one of the factors influencing the choice of a forex broker is the platforms supported by the broker.
The second point is the type of trading that the trader intends to do. If the trader is a scalper, then the speed and accuracy of orders are very important, so in this case, using CTrader can be a good option. If the design of the trading robot is in the mind of the trader, using CTrader and MT5 will be options.
For beginners who naturally should not engage in scalping, using MT4, which has the minimum tools required for placing orders can be a suitable option.
This should be said choosing the type of platform is completely a personal decision, which is chosen by the trader according to the knowledge of the features and tools of the platform and also according to the type of broker support.
Installation the trading platform on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone
In general, the way to install and set up various trading platforms in Windows, Mac, android and iOS operating systems are similar, therefore the general steps of installing the platform which are common to all operating systems are discussed.
First, you should visit the broker website and select the desired platform in the trading platforms section. For example, as shown in the picture, in ePlanet broker, there are two platforms available in the trading platforms section: CTrader and MT5. The user can choose according to his personal preferences.
After selecting the type, the options on which operating system the trader intends to install and run the trading platform will appear on the screen. according to the figure, the CTrader can be installed and used on four operating systems: Windows, Android, iOS and the web. By clicking on them, the corresponding software will be downloaded, installed and run on the desired operating system. For example, it can be seen in the picture that the CTrader for Windows has been downloaded and is being installed on this operating system.
After installing you must enter the username, password and server name of the trading account that you registered earlier in your broker in the login an account section, so wait for the connection to the server. After connecting you can make trade.
Advantages and disadvantages of using smartphone trading platforms
Using a mobile phone to carry out trading activities has advantages that have made it common among traders. But when we look at the feedback of using this tool to make transactions, we realize that despite its attractive appearance, there are also disadvantages.
Easy access to the price chart and trading platform at any place and time, the possibility of monitoring and managing open positions, as well as checking alerts to enter the positions are some the advantages that make using phones attractive for trading activities.
However, according to many professional traders, it is not recommended to trade using a phone because trading requires a very high concentration and it is obvious a trader who is in a public place (for example in the bus, subway, office, etc.) does not have the required level of concentration. Therefore, the trader would make mistake at any of the trading steps and there is no need to say how difficult and even impossible it can be to compensate. Of course, this does not mean that the trader should not use the features of the mobile phone for trading in the forex market, but the type of use of the smartphone in conducting this type of transactions should be limited.
In this regard, it is recommended not to use smartphone to enter a transaction or even exit positions, but it can be used to monitor the market, pay attention to predetermined alarms and perform some analysis.
Important points in account management on the trading platform
The key point for success in the market is capital management. It is safe to say without capital management even though having the best and most profitable trading strategies, sooner or later the trader will have to leave this market with the loss of his money. Therefore, almost all trading platforms display some amounts such as account balance, equity, free margin, etc. to monitor the status of the trading account which the account status is monitored by them.
During the trade, trader should pay attention to is not to allow the free margin to fall below a certain value. This factor approaching zero is a warning that should never happen to a trader.
In order to avoid a significant drop in free margin, several points should be considered. First, the number of open transactions should be managed and not allowed to exceed a certain limit. The second is size of trade. The selected volume for the transaction should be consistent with the principles of capital management in the trader’s strategy. Adherence to the principles of the strategy and its continuation is the key to account management (growth) and profit in this market.
Diversification of portfolio is also one of the policies that some traders use to manage their potential losses. If several trades be opened at the same time, preferably different and uncorrelated assets should be traded to distribute risk.
