Among forex trading platforms, MT4 still holds a significant share of the market. However, looking back a decade, MT4 virtually dominated the entire forex trading platform market. So why, over time, have more and more forex brokers abandoned MT4 in favor of another platform — MT5?
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First, the MT5 platform uses a more powerful underlying algorithm.The MT5 platform uses MQL5, an upgraded version of MT4’s MQL4. As a result, the MT5 platform boasts computational speeds far exceeding those of the MT4 platform. Over time, an increasing number of complex algorithmic models that closely reflect real-market conditions have been developed; without sufficient computational power, the platform may not be able to support these algorithms.Therefore, to enable clients to conveniently use various algorithmic models for trading—and to help investors obtain backtesting results more quickly after using backtesting tools—brokers have good reason to consider adopting the MT5 platform.
Second, the MT5 platform offers more powerful auxiliary features. As a product that was only introduced in 2010, MT5 naturally has more robust trading support features than MT4.According to official information, MT5 comes with 38 built-in technical indicators and 44 drawing tools, far exceeding the 30 technical indicators and 24 drawing tools included in MT4. Furthermore, as the market continues to evolve,an increasing number of older technical indicators and tools are no longer suitable for today’s market environment, whereas the new technical indicators and tools introduced in MT5 are specifically designed for the current market. Consequently, clients seeking access to a wider range of more useful technical indicators are also switching to the MT5 platform.Additionally, the MT5 platform features a tool not available on MT4: the economic calendar. The introduction of the economic calendar eliminates the need for clients to search through various financial websites item by item for useful data, allowing them to analyze the magnitude of market impacts using rigorous and professional investment and financial knowledge.Before the introduction of the economic calendar, this professional yet extremely time-consuming process was clearly only feasible for a small minority of clients. As the forex trading market has gradually opened up and its audience has broadened, an increasing number of clients lacking systematic knowledge of forex trading have appeared on major platforms. The MT5 platform’s economic calendar feature is clearly more user-friendly for this type of client.Consequently, while the MT5 platform’s wider range of advanced technical indicators and charting tools attracts more experienced investors, its economic calendar appeals to a growing number of novice traders. Naturally, an increasing number of brokers are choosing the MT5 platform.
Third, the MT5 platform offers far more tradable instruments than the MT4 platform. When it was first designed, the MT4 software was created specifically for forex trading. However, as the trading market has continued to evolve, trading products have undergone constant updates and iterations,an increasing number of trading products that attract investors have been excluded from the MT4 platform. In contrast, the MT5 platform was designed from the outset with a wide range of financial products in mind; consequently, it can offer clients a broader selection of trading products, making it more appealing for clients to trade on the MT5 platform.
Compared to the MT4 platform, the MT5 platform features more powerful algorithms and a wider range of auxiliary functions; it even offers significantly more tradable instruments than MT4, so brokers are naturally eager to try the MT5 platform.
