Web Trader MT5 
MetaQuotes realized that MT4, despite its many great features, was geared towards a narrower outlook on retail trading, and built MetaTrader 5. MT5 was introduced in 2010 as a multi-asset trading platform, capable of trading exchange-traded stock, futures, and options on top of the currency and commodity markets that MT4 could always have handled.
The platform is far more powerful than MT4 on nearly every metric – more timeframes, more indicators, more order types, faster backtesting, an integrated economic calendar, and support for both “hedging” and “netting” account types.
MT5 is not a universal replacement for MT4, even though it’s the newer platform. Both platforms are based on different programming languages; MT4 supports a huge number of Expert Advisors and custom indicators that will not port over to the other platform. Additionally, MT4 broker support is broader in the forex and CFD sector. It is essential to know what MT5 provides and the benefits of MT4 to enable traders to make a well-informed decision on which platform they should use, not assuming newer is better.
This guide is designed to explain what MetaTrader 5 is, important features, what you can trade in this platform, how to trade with MT5 as a beginner, how to use the platform to trade gold and CFDs, and the comparison between MT5 and MT4.
Quick Answer
MetaTrader 5 is a multi-asset trading platform created by MetaQuotes, the forerunner of MT4. It offers trading in forex, stocks, futures, CFDs, and metals. The key changes include 21 timeframes, 38+ built-in indicators, a built-in economic calendar, and netting account support. However, MT5’s trading platform, MQL5, is incompatible with MT4’s EAs and indicators.
What Is MetaTrader 5?
Developed by MetaQuotes Software Corp and released in 2010, MetaTrader 5 is a multi-asset trading platform that is designed to offer a wider variety of financial instruments than its predecessor, MT4, and provides enhanced technical analysis and automated trading tools.
MT4 is designed to be a forex platform. MT5 was designed from scratch to expand the trading product scope beyond forex, CFD, and metals to include exchange-traded equities, commodity futures, financial futures, and options. This multi-asset foundation is the defining architectural difference between the two platforms.
MQL5: A Different Programming Language
MT5 uses MQL5 as its programming language for Expert Advisors (EAs) and custom indicators. MQL5 is not backward compatible with MQL4 — EAs, indicators, and scripts developed for MQL4 can’t be used on MQL5, and vice versa. This incompatibility is the most practically relevant obstacle for traders who are thinking of moving from MT4 to another platform.
If you have spent time developing or buying MT4 tools, then you will have to invest in development or repurchase of MT4 tools when migrating to MT5.
MQL5 is a more advanced language than MQL4; it is faster and supports object-oriented programming, which allows for more complex trading algorithms. It is also a more powerful development environment for traders wishing to create their own EAs or indicators from the ground up. The incompatibility is a real hassle for traders who want to continue using MT4.
Availability
MT5 is free and is offered through regulated brokers. It comes in desktop, web, and mobile versions, with choices of Windows, browser, and iOS/Android versions. However, not all of the brokers that offer MT4 offer MT5, and while MT5 adoption has increased a great deal in recent years, MT4 brokers have a larger market share.
Key Features of MT5
MT5’s feature set is a significant improvement of MT4 in several regards: additional analytical tools, improved backtesting capabilities, different account types, and built-in market data that MT4 does not have.
| Feature | MT4 | MT5 |
| Timeframes | 9 | 21 |
| Built-in indicators | 30+ | 38+ |
| Pending order types | 4 | 6 |
| Depth of market (DOM) | Not available | Available |
| Economic calendar | Not built in | Built in |
| Account types supported | Hedging only | Hedging and netting |
| Strategy tester | Single-threaded | Multi-threaded (faster) |
| Programming language | MQL4 | MQL5 |
| Asset class support | Forex, CFDs, metals | Forex, CFDs, metals, stocks, futures, options |
21 Timeframes
MT5 supports 21 different timeframes, including all the intermediate ones not offered in MT4, like 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, and others between the standard MT4 time frames. This enhanced set is best suited for scalpers and day traders looking to have more fine-grained control over the time frame in which they analyze charts, and for algorithmic traders who wish to test out their strategies on a broader spectrum of timeframes.
Depth of Market
MT5 has a Depth of Market (DOM) panel displaying the order book of the supported instruments — the queued buy and sell orders at different price levels. The visibility of possible incoming orders will help all active traders to have more context about the price dynamics that can take place in the near future, which MT4 does not offer. DOM data is most useful to traders who trade liquid futures markets where the order book is of value.
Built-In Economic Calendar
It’s important to note that MT4 does not rely on built-in economic calendar resources. The MT5 platform features an integrated economic calendar, which displays upcoming economic data releases, their anticipated impact, historical data, and consensus opinions. This integration eliminates the need for traders to switch between their trading platform and a separate browser window to follow the upcoming events, making event-based trading smoother.
Hedging and Netting Accounts
MT4 does not allow for any hedging accounts, meaning that the buyer and seller positions on the same fund or asset are not opened at the same time. Hedging and netting are supported in MT5. The net is automatically offset when there are opposing lots in the same instrument; for example, a 1-lot long position and a 1-lot short position in the same currency pair will net off against each other.
Which account type suits a trader depends on their strategy: hedging suits traders who want to hold simultaneous long and short positions as separate trades; netting suits those who prefer the cleaner account structure.
Multi-Threaded Strategy Tester
MT5’s strategy tester simultaneously executes multiple optimization passes on the processor cores, which can be done a lot faster than MT4’s single-threaded backtesting. This is a useful speed gain for traders creating and fine-tuning intricate EAs that utilize a lot of parameter combinations. MT5’s multi-threaded environment can perform what takes hours in MT4 in minutes.
What Can You Trade on MT5?
MT5’s most significant practical advantage over MT4 is its broader asset class support — the same platform can access forex, CFDs, gold, stocks, and futures depending on the broker’s offering.
| Asset Class | Available on MT4 | Available on MT5 |
| Forex (currency pairs) | Yes | Yes |
| Spot metals (gold, silver) | Yes | Yes |
| Commodity CFDs (oil, gas) | Yes | Yes |
| Index CFDs | Yes | Yes |
| Exchange-traded stocks | No | Yes (broker-dependent) |
| Commodity futures | No | Yes (broker-dependent) |
| Financial futures | No | Yes (broker-dependent) |
| Options | No | Yes (broker-dependent) |
Forex and Currency Pairs
MT5 supports the full range of forex instruments — major pairs, minor pairs, and exotic currency pairs — across all 21 timeframes with the full suite of built-in indicators and drawing tools. For forex trading specifically, MT5 and MT4 are functionally equivalent in most respects. The analytical environment is richer in MT5, but the core forex trading experience is well-served by either platform.
Gold Trading on MT5
Gold (XAUUSD) is one of the most actively traded instruments on MT5-enabled platforms. Gold is available as a CFD or spot contract depending on the broker’s offering. MT5 supports EA-based gold trading — automated strategies that execute based on gold price conditions — as well as custom indicators specifically designed for gold market dynamics. For dedicated gold traders who want automation capabilities, MT5’s more powerful MQL5 programming environment and faster strategy tester offer advantages over MT4. The MT5 gold trading guide covers gold trading on MT5 in detail, including EA approaches, signal-based strategies, trading hours, and specific risk considerations for gold CFDs on the platform.
CFDs on MT5
MT5 supports the full range of CFD instruments offered by the broker — indices, commodities, forex, and stocks via contracts for difference. CFDs on MT5 mirror the price of the underlying asset without requiring ownership of the physical instrument. Leverage applies to CFD positions, amplifying both gains and losses relative to the deposited margin. CFD trading on MT5 covers how different CFD instrument types function within the MT5 environment, including order management, margin requirements, and the specific CFD types available.
Stocks and Futures
The ability to trade exchange-listed stocks and commodity or financial futures directly within MT5 — using the same platform, charts, and analytical tools as forex and CFD trading — is the feature that most clearly distinguishes MT5 from MT4. A trader who wants to monitor and trade US equities, European stocks, commodity futures, and currency pairs from a single platform can do so within MT5, where MT4 would require separate platforms or broker arrangements for the non-forex instruments.
How to Use MT5 as a Beginner
Getting started with MT5 follows a straightforward sequence — the platform’s interface is intuitive once the main panels and functions are understood.
Download and Log In
MT5 is not downloaded from MetaQuotes, but from your broker’s website. The broker’s version is pre-installed with the broker’s server addresses. Once installed, you log in with your account number and password supplied by your broker, choose the correct server, and connect. MT5 auto-loads your account data, available instruments, and market prices. How to use MetaTrader 5 provides a step-by-step beginner’s guide to the entire MT5 user interface, from chart viewing to executing trades.
Navigating the Interface
MT5’s interface has several main panels. The Market Watch window lists all available instruments and their current bid/ask prices. The Navigator panel provides access to indicators, EAs, scripts, and accounts. The chart window is where price action is displayed, and analysis is applied. The Terminal panel at the bottom shows open positions, pending orders, account history, and the built-in economic calendar.
Opening a Chart and Adding Indicators
Right-clicking any instrument in the Market Watch window and selecting Chart Window opens a new price chart. The default display is a candlestick chart on H1 (1-hour) timeframe. The timeframe can be changed using the timeframe buttons at the top of the chart or by right-clicking. Indicators are added by dragging them from the Navigator panel onto the chart — a dialogue box then allows the indicator’s parameters to be configured before it appears.
Placing a Trade
Click the chart and press F9 or right-click the chart and select Trading > New Order to make a trade. An order dialogue offers a choice of instrument, order type (market or pending), lot size, stop loss, and take profit. The trade is executed immediately when executed as a market order at the current price. For pending orders, the trade triggers when the price reaches the specified entry level. Defining stop loss and take profit levels before confirming every order is a risk management discipline worth building from the first trade.
Using the Strategy Tester
MT5’s strategy tester allows EAs to be tested against historical price data before live deployment. To access it, go to View > Strategy Tester (or press Ctrl+R). Select the EA, instrument, timeframe, and date range, then click Start. The tester runs the EA through the historical data and produces a report showing every trade taken, the profit or loss on each, maximum drawdown, and overall return across the tested period. As with MT4, backtest results don’t guarantee future performance — but they provide a meaningful starting point for assessing whether an EA’s logic has merit.
Real-world example: A trader new to MT5 downloads the platform through their broker’s website, logs in with demo account credentials, and spends two weeks exploring the interface before placing any live trades. They open EUR/USD on the H4 timeframe, apply the built-in MACD and moving average indicators, and practice placing pending limit orders with predefined stop loss and take profit levels. They run a simple moving average crossover EA through the strategy tester on the previous year’s data before deciding whether to activate it on the live account. By the time they transition to live trading, the platform mechanics are familiar enough that execution decisions aren’t complicated by interface uncertainty.
MT5 Gold Trading and CFDs
Two of the most actively traded instruments on MT5 platforms are gold (XAUUSD) and CFDs across indices and commodities — and MT5 offers specific advantages for both.
Gold on MT5
Gold trading on MT5 benefits from the platform’s enhanced analytical environment. The 21 available timeframes allow traders to analyze gold price action from a 1-minute intraday perspective to monthly charts without leaving the platform. The built-in economic calendar means gold traders can see upcoming US inflation data, Federal Reserve decisions, and dollar-related events — all of which significantly affect gold prices — directly within MT5 without switching to external sources.
For EA-based gold trading, MT5’s faster strategy tester makes optimizing automated gold strategies more practical than in MT4. Gold’s price behavior is distinctive enough that many traders develop gold-specific EAs — strategies that respond to XAUUSD’s particular volatility characteristics, session behavior and sensitivity to macroeconomic events — rather than applying generic forex EAs to the gold market.
CFDs Across Asset Classes
CFD trading on MT5 covers the same instrument range as on MT4 for brokers offering both — indices, commodities, forex — with the addition of stock CFDs and futures CFDs where the broker’s offering supports them. The operational experience of CFD trading on MT5 is broadly similar to MT4: the trader selects the instrument, chooses a direction, sets position size and stop loss, and executes. The additional order types in MT5 (six pending order types vs four in MT4) give traders more precise entry condition control, particularly useful for breakout or range-boundary strategies where exact entry conditions matter.
MT4 vs MT5: Which Should You Use?
The decision between MT4 and MT5 depends on two key points: what types of assets you trade and whether you rely on existing MT4 tools.
| Feature | MT4 | MT5 |
| Forex and CFD trading | Full support | Full support |
| Exchange-listed stocks | Not supported | Broker-dependent |
| Commodity and financial futures | Not supported | Broker-dependent |
| Built-in indicators | 30+ | 38+ |
| Timeframes | 9 | 21 |
| EA programming language | MQL4 | MQL5 (not compatible) |
| Broker support | Wider | Growing, but narrower |
| EA/indicator community | Larger library | Smaller but growing |
| Economic calendar | External | Built in |
| Account types | Hedging only | Hedging and netting |
| Best for | Forex/CFD traders | Multi-asset traders |
The Case for MT4
MT4 remains the better choice for traders who trade forex and CFDs exclusively, have existing MT4 EAs or indicators they rely on, or trade with a broker that offers MT4 but not MT5. The larger community of shared tools in MQL4, wider broker support, and the accumulated familiarity of years of MT4 use are real advantages that MT5’s technical improvements don’t negate for this profile of trader.
The Case for MT5
MT5 is the better choice for traders who want multi-asset access — particularly stocks and futures alongside forex and CFDs — or who are building new automated strategies and can start directly in MQL5 without compatibility concerns. For traders starting fresh without an existing MT4 tool library, MT5’s technical advantages (more timeframes, faster backtesting, built-in economic calendar, DOM, netting account support) make it the more capable long-term platform choice.
The EA Compatibility Decision
The most critical thing for lots of traders is the EA and indicator library. Staying on MT4 is the rational option if you have MT4 tools that are vital to your trading method and there are no MQL5 tools to serve the same purpose. However, MT5 is the preferable platform for trading if you’re building from scratch or your trading approach doesn’t rely on custom tools.
MetaQuotes reports that MT5 has gained significant momentum since its launch in terms of institutional and retail adoption, as trading volume on MT5 trading platforms has increased markedly year over year, as more and more trading firms are rolling out more MT5 services, or even replacing MT4 services with MT5 services.
Frequently Asked Questions
MetaTrader 5 is a multi-asset trading platform developed by MetaQuotes Software Corp, which was launched in 2010 as the successor to MT4. It offers forex, CFDs, stocks on exchanges, futures, and metals trading. MT5 EAs and Indicators are not backward-compatible, as it uses the MQL5 programming language. Available on Windows, web, iOS, and Android, and provided free through regulated brokers.
Download MT5 from your broker’s website, log in with your account information, and then connect to the broker’s server. Open a chart by right-clicking an instrument on the Market Watch instrument list, select indicators from the Navigator panel, and use the New Order function (F9) to place trades. When confirming any order, always place a stop loss and profit level—the ideal environment to learn the platform before actually trading is a demo account.
Yes — gold (XAUUSD) can be traded on most MT5 brokers either as a spot contract or CFD. MT5 provides the MQL5 gold trading environment, custom gold indicators, mobile price alerts, and all 21 timeframes analytical environment for gold trading using EA. The economic calendar is also a built-in feature for gold traders that allows them to follow USD-related events directly impacting gold price changes. Trading gold using MT5 is risky and may not be suitable for everyone.
CFDs on MT5 are based on the price of the underlying asset, such as an index, commodity, forex pair, or a stock, without the need to own the asset itself. Traders take a long position (buy) or a short position (sell). Leverage applies to CFD positions, amplifying both gains and losses. High leverage means losses can exceed the initial deposit. CFD trading on MT5 carries significant risk of loss.
MT5, in its technical sense, is more sophisticated, with more timeframes, more indicators, faster backtesting, a built-in economic calendar, and also support for stocks and futures. Nevertheless, MT4 has wider support from brokers, a greater collection of existing EAs and traders’ indicators in MQL4, and is altogether suitable for traders that trade Forex and CFDs. Neither is universally better — it depends on the asset types you are trading and if you’re using MT4’s inbuilt tools.
Conclusion
Traders seeking to access multiple assets, advanced analytics, and a quicker backtesting environment will find it more suitable to trade on the MetaTrader 5 platform. The 21 timeframes, 38+ built-in indicators, netting account support, built-in economic calendar, and stocks and futures are actual upgrades to MT4’s specification.
MT4 is still a solid option for those who want to trade forex and CFDs solely because of its extensive compatibility with different brokers, a rich library of MQL4 tools, and proven familiarity. The question is compatibility: If you have MT4 tools that you rely on, you’ll need to rebuild or replace these tools for MT5. MT5 is more powerful to use if you are beginning from scratch and don’t need to use any custom tools.
The first step is to get to know the interface and the way the platform works before you start trading real money. This beginner’s guide to MetaTrader 5 walks you through each of the platform’s primary functions, from setting up charts to placing orders and testing a strategy.
Note: This information is not intended to be investment advice. There’s a high risk of loss in trading.
Looking to go further? Read a how-to guide for MT5 or compare MT5 with MT4 to make a complete decision on the platform you should choose for your trading strategy.
CFDs are complex financial instruments and carry a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should ensure you fully understand the risks involved and carefully consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money before trading.
This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, financial guidance, or a recommendation to trade any financial instrument.
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