MetaQuotes Software recently changed its pricing model to make MT5 a more attractive option whilst stopping its MT4 support. MT4 brokers began offering MT5 in greater numbers, and I have conducted an in-depth review of MT5 brokers.
Since MT5 is the trading platform and not a broker, traders must carefully evaluate the trading conditions which will vary from providers to provider and this guide should help decide who can offer the best possible solution based on individual requirements. We also outline the MT5 core features, cover the differences between MT4 and MT5, and highlight the pros and cons of MT5.
- FXTM, Best all-around broker with high floating leverage and fast execution.
- FP Markets, ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500.
- Eightcap, Competitive pricing + excellent daily videos.
- BlackBull Markets, Best ECN trading environment, with scalping and hedging.
- AvaTrade, Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreads.
Best MT5 Brokers Comparison
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Regulators | CMA, CySEC, FCA, FSC Mauritius, FSCA | ASIC, CySEC, FSCA | ASIC, CySEC, FCA, SCB | FMA, FSA | ASIC, BVI, Central Bank of Ireland, FFAJ, FSCA, KNF, MiFID |
Year Established | 2011 | 2005 | 2009 | 2014 | 2006 |
Execution Type(s) | ECN/STP, Market Maker | ECN/STP | ECN/STP, Market Maker | ECN/STP, No Dealing Desk | Market Maker |
Minimum Deposit | |||||
Average Trading Cost EUR/USD | 0.1 pips | 1.1 pips | 1.0 pips | 1.3 pips | 0.9 pips |
Average Trading Cost GBP/USD | 0.2 pips | 1.4 pips | 1.2 pips | 2.0 pips | 1.5 pips |
Average Trading Cost Gold | $0.18 | $0.21 | $0.12 | $0.90 | $0.29 |
Trading Platform(s) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Proprietary platform | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Proprietary platform, Web-based | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Trading View | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Trading View | Other, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Web-based+ |
Islamic Account | |||||
Negative Balance Protection | |||||
| Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website |
FXTM
In Summary Best all-around broker with high floating leverage and fast executionFXTM ranks amongst the most competitive MT5 brokers due to its ultra-competitive commission-based pricing environment. Traders in the FXTM Advantage account - which requires a $500 minimum deposit, get raw spreads from 0.0 pips, and pay a commission between $0.80 and $4.00 per 1.0 lot. Active traders benefit from an average execution time of 0.072 seconds and a price improvement where applicable, further enhancing the cost benefits.
Beginners can learn the basics of trading through access to high quality educational content and benefit from actionable trading signals. FXTM also developed its FXTM Trader app for mobile traders.
Pros & Cons
- Excellent commission-based Forex pricing environment and transparency
- Upgraded MT4/MT5 trading platforms plus proprietary mobile trading app
- Quality market research and educational content for beginner traders
- A highly regulated broker with a tier-1 license
- No cryptocurrencies and limited choice of commodities
FP Markets
In Summary ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500FP Markets upgrades the out-of-the-box MT5 with twelve plugins, and the popular Autochartist and Trading Central. It creates a competitive trading environment for manual traders, making it one of the leading MT5 brokers. NDD order processing, no requotes, high leverage and deep liquidity ensure clients have an edge when it comes to execution. Algorithmic traders get VPS hosting for low-latency, 24/5 market access.
Traders benefit from a competitive commission-based pricing environment with spreads from 0.0 pips and a separate commission ticket fee of $6.00 per round lot. There are also an impressive 1,000+ tradable instruments across asset classes. MAM/PAMM accounts cater to traditional account management services, while beginners can benefit from quality research, actionable trading signals, and educational content. Copy traders can use the proprietary FP Markets Copy Trading solution, Myfxbook Autotrade, or the embedded MT5 copy trading services.
Pros & Cons
- Choice of trading platforms and auxiliary trading tools
- Very competitive cost structure and excellent asset selection
- Low minimum deposit requirement and leverage of up to 1:500
- Well-regulated and trustworthy
- Availability of Iress geographically restricted
Eightcap
In Summary Competitive pricing + excellent daily videosEightcap is one of the top MT5 brokers, it features artificial intelligence system Capitalise AI, enabling the automation of strategies in a code-free environment. This unique trading tool, MT5 and Cryptocrusher (a dedicated cryptocurrency solution), makes Eightcap a highly competitive multi-asset broker. The 800+ trading instruments include 250+ cryptocurrency CFDs, and the commission-based pricing environment sees spreads as low as 0.0 pips for a competitive commission of $7.00 per round lot.
The MAM/PAMM module is available for licensed account managers, and Eightcap connects to the TradingView community with 30M+ members. Offering traders’ access to countless trading ideas, strategies, and discussions. Other highlights include VPS hosting, high leverage, deep liquidity, and superb order execution statistics able to support demanding algorithmic traders. A lucrative partnership program caters to passive income seekers at Eightcap.
Pros & Cons
- Low minimum deposit and high leverage of up to 1:500
- Competitive cost structure
- Excellent technology infrastructure and seasoned management team
- Daily research and quality educational content
- Limited leverage in some areas
BlackBull Markets
In Summary Best ECN trading environment, with scalping and hedgingBlackBull Markets maintains a superb trading infrastructure and a huge 26,000 tradable instruments from its MT5 trading platform, placing it amongst the leading MT5 brokers. Demanding traders can get FIX API access, supporting third-party connections to the trading infrastructure and deep liquidity at BlackBull Markets. BlackBull Social, ZuluTrade, Myfxbook Autotrade, and embedded MT5 services support copy trading. Traders can connect to the active TradingView community with 30M+ traders and Autochartist upgrades MT5.
VPS hosting is available but requires the ECN Prime account which has a minimum deposit of $2,000. As far as trading costs go it is a competitive commission-based pricing environment with spreads from 0.1 pips for a commission ticket fee of $6.00 per 1.0 round lot. The ECN Standard account features reasonable spreads and commission-free costs without a minimum deposit requirement.
Pros & Cons
- ECN/NDD execution model with deep liquidity
- Institution-grade pricing for retail traders via proprietary price aggregation
- ZuluTrade and Myfxbook for social trading
- Leverage of up to 1:500
- Limited deposit options
AvaTrade
In Summary Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreadsAvaTrade is one of the most regulated MT5 brokers, authorized in nine jurisdictions. Traders can automate strategies in a code-free environment via Capitalise AI, algorithmic traders get VPS hosting. AvaSocial and DupliTrade cater to copy trading, alongside the embedded MT5 service. Beginner traders benefit from the spun-out SharpTrader Academy, a leading educational platform with excellent courses. The Trading Central plugin upgrades the core MT5 trading platform.
The commission-free cost structure on 1,250+ instruments, including options and ETFs, remains reasonably priced. AvaTrade also maintains a leading partnership program which has 70,000+ partners from 150+ counties and 250M+ commission payouts made to date, ideal for passive income generation. Competitive leverage is available, but this depends on the regulatory environment and geographic location of traders as to the allowance.
Pros & Cons
- High-quality educational offering via SharpTrader
- Excellent choice of trading platforms catering to various trading needs
- Broad asset selection and cross-asset diversification opportunities
- Well-regulated and trusted broker with oversight from a central bank
- Trading costs competitive but nothing special
What is MT5?
MT5, developed by Cyprus-based and Russian-owned MetaQuotes Software, is a multi-asset trading software platform. Released in 2010, InstaForex became the first broker to offer MT5 trading accounts. MT5 was supposed to succeed MT4, which MetaQuotes Software released in 2005. MT5 failed to displace MT4 and is a distant second choice to the older platform but is more popular than the next popular platform choice, cTrader. MT5 has advanced features and upgrades, but the lack of backward compatibility with MT4 and less versatile trading infrastructure resulted in what some consider a failed successor to MT4. With hundreds of millions in development on 25,000+ MT4 custom indicators and trading robots, over twice the amount for MT5, existing traders including asset managers saw no reason to redevelop, repurchase or reinvest in MT5.
MetaQuotes Software spent 2013 and 2014 completely revising the MQL4 programming language to reach the level of MQL5. From build 600, MQL4 and MQL5 use the unified MetaEditor, which saw an increase in MT5 development but notably still trails MT4. Most brokers only offer MT4, and MetaQuotes Software began to up the pressure on brokers to switch to MT5, officially ending new technical support for MT4, but MT5 adoption remains slow.
Some new entrants to the ultra-competitive brokerage market became exclusive MT5 brokers, but they can only serve traders not explicitly needing MT4-based trading solutions. Like MT4, MT5 fully supports algorithmic trading and has an embedded copy trading platform. It is available as a desktop client, a lightweight web-based option, and a mobile app. MT5 introduced a multi-asset functionality versus the Forex-focused MT4, but most brokers had already transformed MT4 into a multi-asset trading platform with fewer assets but sufficient for most traders.
MetaTrader 5 Desktop Platform
The MT5 desktop platform is the one most traders use, as it unlocks the full potential of MT5. It requires a download file, available from MT5 brokers and installation, which takes less than a minute. MT5 features superior trading tools for technical and fundamental analysis, an advanced ‘Market Depth’ feature, netting and hedging accounting modes, and one-clock trading. Traders can open up to 100 charts, which limits advanced algorithmic traders, as robots require charts to function.
The MT5 charting system features 21 timeframes, ensuring technical analysts have the necessary tools to analyze price action. It also comes equipped with 80 built-in technical indicators and analytical objects. Competitive MT5 brokers provide clients with free plugins to enhance the trading experience and try to offer a competitive edge. The MT5 desktop platform includes a detailed economic calendar, it allows messaging including attachments, supports algorithmic trading, features a copy trading system, a strategy tester, and a marketplace with 10,000+ custom indicators and trading robots.
Conclusion:
The MT5 desktop platform is the go-to choice for demanding MT5 traders who require the maximum potential MT5 offers.
MT5 Web Platform
The MT5 web platform is a lightweight alternative to the MT5 desktop platform, ideal for beginners with the most basic requirements. Most MT5 brokers offer it and besides a trading account, it only requires an internet connection to trade. Unlike the MT5 desktop platform it does not support algorithmic trading. Traders can conduct market analysis with 30 technical indicators and 24 graphical objects from any browser on Windows, Linux, and macOS devices. Since the MT5 desktop platform is not heavy on system resources and offers the powerful trading portal most traders want, the MT5 web platform is not that important for most traders.
Conclusion:
Beginner traders can use the MT5 web platform to familiarize themselves with the trading conditions of MT5 brokers and begin their trading journey, but they should ultimately move to the MT5 desktop platform to get all the features and benefits of a more powerful tool.
MT5 Mobile App
The MT5 mobile app is available for mobile phones and tablets on Android and Huawei devices. Apple removed MT5, and MT4, from its App Store in September 2022. The removal was allegedly because of connections with Western sanctions on Russian interests, while MetaQuotes Software claims its removal was related to non-compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines. Like the MT5 web platform, traders get 30 built-in indicators and 24 analytical objects but no algorithmic trading. All MT5 brokers offer the MT5 mobile app due to growing demand.
While the MT5 mobile app supports most trading functions, most traders use it to monitor portfolios or manage copy trading settings. The small screen sizes of mobile apps make them typically unsuitable for analysis. Typically, profitable traders do not trade using mobile apps alone, making them a potential trap for beginners if used for anything besides monitoring portfolios on the go. Traders from emerging and frontier markets often use mobile apps for trading. Most use only one device and make mobile apps their primary choice due to versatile non-trading use.
Conclusion:
The MT5 mobile app is a lightweight trading platform ideal for monitoring portfolios on the go and adjusting copy trading settings.
MetaTrader 5 Demo Account
The MT5 trading platform offers traders the flexibility they require from their MT5 demo accounts. This includes setting the desired portfolio leverage and demo account balance, the lowest default balance is $3,000 or a currency equivalent. The most competitive MT5 brokers offer unlimited deposit settings from their secure back office, allowing traders to treat their MT5 demo account like a live portfolio.
There is no time limit or restrictions on the number of MT5 demo accounts a trader has but MT5 brokers may apply them, including portfolio customization. Since MT5 supports algorithmic trading, signal services and copy trading, the MT5 demo account and strategy tester are essential to many MT5 traders.
Regulation & Safety
MT5 is a trading platform and the developer, MetaQuotes Software is duly registered in Cyprus. It is a pioneer in trading technology, with its first product launch in 2000 and the firm has established itself as the global market leader for retail margin trading. The regulation and safety of traders are the sole responsibility of MT5 brokers that offer the platform. Therefore, traders must register with a trustworthy MT5 broker like the ones reviewed above, to ensure they manage their portfolios with a safe counterparty.
Transaction Costs
Transaction costs depend entirely on the MT5 brokers and have nothing to do with the MT5 trading platform which is just the means of access. MT5 brokers can offer their traders competitive commission-based pricing environments with volume-based rebate programs, commission-free alternatives, or spread based commission-free cost structures. Traders must carefully evaluate all transaction costs, which transparent MT5 brokers should provide on their websites.
Forex traders should pay no more than $6.00 per 1.0 standard lot during the most liquid trading periods for EUR/USD to gauge the competitiveness of transaction costs at their preferred MT5 broker. They must also check swap rates on leveraged overnight positions, an often-overlooked trading cost for traders holding trades for longer than a day. The MT5 trading platform lists swaps, which will vary depending on the MT5 broker. The existence of positive swap rates (trader gets paid for holding a position overnight) indicates an environment reflecting actual market conditions, while its absence may indicate interference and manipulation by MT5 brokers.
Customer Support
MT5 brokers offer varying levels of customer support to traders. It can range from regular business hours to 24/7. Traders can always e-mail, but a broader approach includes live chat and phone assistance with a direct line to a customer service department. The MQL5 community is also highly active and provides help. MetaQuotes Software does not provide customer support to traders, as it only serves MT5 brokers. Traders should understand the difference between MT5, the trading platform, and MT5 brokers who are the custodian of their funds who set trading conditions using MT5.
MT4 vs. MT5 Comparison
MT5 offers notable improvements over MT4, but its lack of backward compatibility with MT4 has slowed its adoption despite the best efforts by MetaQuotes Software to force changes. Pure MT5 brokers are rare and usually they are new entrants to the market without an existing client base. MT4 traders with existing trading solutions cannot always switch to MT5 unless they make the necessary changes in the code.
The most notable differences between MT4 and MT5 are:
- MT4 has four order types versus six at MT5
- MT4 allows nine timeframes versus 21 at MT5
- MT4 features 24 graphical objects versus 44 at MT5
- MT5 supports partial orders
- MT5 provides an improved user interface over MT4, but requires third-party plugins (a shared feature with MT4)
- MT5 trade buttons include a tooltip with information covering trade volume at quoted prices
- MT5 displays market depth information in the terminal window and volume data with each price
- MT5 features an improved Journal tab
- MT5 allows hedging and netting, while MT4 only features hedging
- The MT5 Standard Library includes statistical functions
- The improved MT5 Strategy Tester includes advanced settings and supports 64-bit multi-threaded ’back testing’
Pros & Cons of the MT5 Trading Platform
Before traders decide on which MT5 broker to choose, they should evaluate the pros and cons of the MT5 trading platform itself.
The most notable pros of the MT5 trading platform are:
- Full support for algorithmic trading plus the MT5 Strategy Tester
- MQL5 coding language allows unlimited customization opportunities
- 10,000+ custom indicators and EAs
- Embedded copy trading and signal service
- Mobile app for Android and Huawei devices
- Light on system resources
- Six order types, including buy stop-limit and sell stop-limit
- 21 timeframes for flexible technical analysis
- 44 graphical objects
- 80 technical indicators covering the most used and reliable tools
- Market depth and volume data
- Two accounting modes consisting of hedging and netting
- Economic calendar and news feed
- Messaging tool with attachments
The most notable cons of the MT5 trading platform are:
- Lacks backward comparability with MT4
- Limited to 100 charts, which limits advanced algorithmic requirements
- Requires third-party plugins to transform the core MT5 into an innovative trading platform
- Dated user interface
- Limited availability
Bottom Line
MT5 is the second-most popular retail trading platform worldwide currently, but trails MT4 by a wide margin. MetaQuotes Software owns both, and while they appear similar on the surface, MT5 represents an upgrade over MT4, but the lack of backward compatibility with MT4 resulted in slow adoption. MetaQuotes Software began forcing customers to switch to MT5 with limited success, given the broad-based support for MT4 and its infrastructure.
MT5 brokers can offer competitive trading conditions and a technologically advanced trading platform but cannot cater to MT4 traders with existing trading solutions built on that infrastructure. While MT5 is slowly closing the gap to MT4 it remains an uphill battle, given the tens of millions of MT4 traders and asset managers who require the MT4 infrastructure. Brokers offering MT4 and MT5 usually have better trading tools for MT4, given their availability and the length of time the platform has been used in the market. The future ultimately belongs to MT5 once the slow migration passes 50% of active trading volume resulting in developers making the necessary code changes to move away from MT4 solutions.
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