There has been a lot of hype about MT5 not matching up to MT4 and many trading platforms and brokers continue to offer the latter. Most traders also seem to prefer M4. One would expect that MT5 would be better, being made by the same company (MetaQuotes Software Corporation) and also being the later version, but the debate continues. We help you make sense of the issues and choose the one that is best for your needs and preferences.
Popularity
More brokers offer their customers MT4 over MT5. It has been touted as the ‘golden standard’ for forex trading. Traders prefer it because it is user-friendly and malfunctions far less often than other options. You should note that some brokers lack compatibility with various platforms, including MT4, but offer them to traders via a software ‘bridge’. When this is the case, problems with the ‘bridge’ being slow or experiencing one or other malfunction can impact the way a platform works for the user. The problem does not lie with the platform, and it should not be judged accordingly when a bridge is at fault.
United States Legislation
The USA, through the CTFC, has implemented the ‘first in first out, ‘no hedging’, and ‘maximum leverage of 1:50’ rules that both limit and protect US citizens when trading. A US citizen is not permitted to trade with a broker who is not regulated by the CFTC and is required to submit audits annually. Even expats have limitations although they can still trade with an international broker. Compliance is assured with mt5.
Reasons for Using the Mt5 Platform
Other reasons for using the MT5 platform are that it gives traders options with commodities and stocks that are not available through MT4. The MT5 platform can also be used for intensive back testing offline.
MT5 is not a simple upgrade of MT4. It was specifically designed to use a centralized exchange that extends beyond forex and enters new markets, such as stocks, commodities, futures, and options.
The Main Differences Between MT4 And MT5
MT5 provides technical support, which is not available with MT4. However, MT4 has a huge online community that provides user support to each other. You can conduct multiple back testing with MT5 at high speed. MT4 makes provision for single back testing but the process is extremely slow. While MT4 offers traditional time frames, MT5 supports many more. The number of pending orders is four for MT4 and six for MT5. MT5 language works in MT4 but not vice versa. Only MT5 includes Depth of Market (DOM). MT5 also provides an economic calendar, which its predecessor doesn’t.
Looking at these key differences, it may seem surprising that so many traders cling to MT4 when MT5 clearly has more advanced features. However, it appears that the ease of use, stability, and community are attractions that weigh in favour of M4, or that traders are reluctant to undergo a learning curve to become comfortable with MT5.
At the end of the day, it is your personal choice.