The industry-standard retail forex trading platform, available in MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) versions, known for its charting, automated trading support, and near-universal broker availability.
MetaTrader is a suite of trading platforms developed by MetaQuotes Software. MT4, released in 2005, became the dominant retail forex platform worldwide and remains in active use despite its age. MT5, released in 2010, extends MT4 with additional order types, more built-in timeframes, a built-in economic calendar, and support for multi-asset trading (stocks, futures, options) alongside forex. The two platforms use different scripting languages (MQL4 and MQL5), so EAs and indicators are not directly interchangeable between them.
MT4's durability reflects several structural advantages. Its expert advisor framework allowed a massive ecosystem of free and commercial automated strategies to develop over two decades; that library alone keeps many brokers and traders on MT4 even as MetaQuotes has stopped selling new MT4 licences. Its charting tools - over 30 built-in technical indicators, nine chart types, multiple timeframes - cover most retail traders' analytical needs.
MT5 addresses MT4's limitations: depth-of-market (Level II) quotes, an economic calendar built into the terminal, hedging and netting account modes selectable at account level, more backtesting data granularity (tick-by-tick), and connectivity to equity and futures markets. The strategy tester in MT5 supports multi-currency backtesting across correlated pairs, which MT4 cannot do.
Alternative platforms - cTrader, TradingView, DXtrade, and proprietary broker platforms - have grown in adoption but MetaTrader remains the benchmark against which broker compatibility is often measured. Checking whether a broker offers MT4/MT5 connectivity before opening an account is standard due diligence for traders who rely on existing EAs or custom indicators.