The whole debate around whether MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 is better, should settle around the fact that both platforms come with a variety of trading tools that can be useful in certain conditions.
Choosing the right platform is key for a beginning trader, especially now that market volatility is rising on the back of renewed COVID-19 uncertainty, which makes the case for a solid solution, providing fast trade execution, multiple order types, and other tools to cope with challenging conditions.
Simplicity or advanced features?
Most experts will very likely agree that MT4 is a trading solution with a simple interface - one that could be the right fit for someone trying out a platform for the first time. It has enough trading tools to be used for any asset, now that a lot of upgrades have been implemented.
When it comes to MT5, however, the platform is more complex, and although it shares a lot in common with MT4, MetaQuotes managed to take things to a higher level. Some of the enhanced features will be shared in the following sections.
Order types
The issue of order types solutions is key nowadays, as there are so many retail traders involved in the markets. Some of them have full time jobs and treat trading as a part-time occupation solely. A limited time spent monitoring prices means there is a greater need for complex order execution.
In the case of MT4, traders can use 4 order types (buy stop, buy limit, sell stop, sell limit), while with MT5, the number has been bumped up to 6 (buy stop-limit and sell stop-limit on top of the prior 4).
MQL4 vs. MQL5
Despite all the similarities between the two platforms, when looking underneath some differences emerge. One of them has to do with the programming language used to build Expert Advisors (EAs), which enable traders to automate the trading process partially or even fully.
A key issue that emerged when MT5 was introduced deals with the transition towards MQL5, which is a completely different programming language, as compared to MQL4, which is still being used for MT4. Traders still complain that they can’t export EAs from MT4 to MT5, and need to rewrite codes from scratch.
Other differences
Since the present period is very unusual, as stock prices are high, bond volatility is higher than stock volatility and retail traders show irrational exuberance when getting involved in what’s called “meme stocks”. Thus, a beginner should be aware of these and also leverage all the platform tools at their disposal.
Transitioning to MT5 comes with a higher number of technical indicators, more time frames, better trade execution, multi-threaded strategy testers, an embedded MQL5 community chat, and other features, which altogether means traders can now have more tools when analyzing markets.
Also, one should not ignore the fact that MT4 has also gone through several upgrades and it is no longer a platform designed for FX trading. Although there are fewer trading tools, this is a multi-asset trading solution as well.
