Published on September 20th, 2022 | by Sunit Nandi

MT4: Pros and Cons in 2022

The MetaTrader 4 is a popular trading platform that enables forex and stock trades and has attracted a wide following over the years thanks to its algorithmic trading capabilities. It has garnered good reviews and a broad community of users.

On the surface then, it looks like a no brainer to download the MT4 platform. It is not as simple as that, however, as the platform has a successor the MT5. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of MetaTrader 4, in particular in relation to MetaTrader 5.

Advantages of MT4

There are several reasons why MT4 is a compelling download. This can be checked by reading the reviews of the trading app on forums and consumer websites. With that said, let’s take a deep dive as to why MetaTrader 4 is still relevant to this day:

MT4 is free to download: yes that’s right, the app is free to download on any device. And if you follow this FxPro MT4 download link, you’ll be able to download the platform from an award winning company. FxPro scooped up the coveted “Best MetaTrader Broker” award in 2020, and has won many others too.
Very well supported: MT4 is very well supported as 750 brokers and banks use the platform on a day-to-day basis. This means you’ll have plenty of options when comparing MetaTrader brokers, and can find the one that’s best for you. It also means you’re more likely to enjoy lower trading fees and commissions.
Access trading robots: MT4 supports algorithmic trading which is the automation of buying and selling currencies, stocks and any other financial instrument. This is handled by trading robots known as Expert Advisors (EA). The platform can accomodate up to 100 Expert Advisors running at any one time. When configured correctly, this can be a powerful addition to your trading strategies. Please see reviews of MT4 for more information.
A vibrant community: the MetaTrader 4 community has a vibrant marketplace where you can buy and sell EAs and indicators, which help you make the most of the MT4 platforms. And as MT4 was released many years ago, it’s popular in trading circles and you should find it easy to get answers to any questions you may have. And it could even save you money if you have a time-critical query.

Disadvantages of MT4

There are two sides to every good trading app, so let’s now turn our attention to the “less than good” aspects of MetaTrader 4. These are:

MT4 is slower than MT5: MT4 can only execute one task at a time, whereas MT5 can run several tasks in parallel. This is because MT4 is an older piece of software, written at a time when computers were less powerful than they are today. This means that MT4 will take longer to accomplish all the tasks you need it to perform. This could be a problem if you are looking to use Expert Advisors, as they tend to have higher memory and speed requirements.
MT4 has fewer instruments: the MetaTrader 4 only supports up to 1024 instruments because of technical limiations. In practice, this places an artifical cap on the range stocks, indices, and currency pairs your broker can offer.
Harder to test Expert Advisors: Unlike MT5, MT4 doesn’t have a strategy module for testing Expert Advisors. This makes it much harder to test an EA in MT4. In fact, you could be flying blind, which isn’t a pleasant feeling when trading with real money.

And finally, we also wanted to call out that FxPro’s MT4 download isn’t suited to the latest version of the iOS operating system. If you’re a Mac user with the latest iOS software update, head to MT4’s official website to download the platform directly.

Now that we’ve covered the pros and cons of MT4 in detail, you might be wondering what to do next. If you’re new to the platform, why not use MT5 instead? It’s the latest platform and is safer than MT4. It also has a wide user community that’s growing by the day. And if you’re a seasoned MT4 users, why not give MT5 a go, even though there might be a bit of a learning curve at first

Tags: MT4, pros and cons, trading

About the Author

Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.