Each platform is built for a different job. MT4 has the deepest EA and indicator ecosystem, MT5 adds more built-in tooling on top of that, cTrader is built around ECN-style execution, and TradingView is the strongest charting layer of the four. Which one you end up on usually comes down to what you’re already running rather than which interface you prefer.
MT4
MT4 is still the most widely supported platform among the brokers on our Brokers compare tool, and two decades of MQL4 development have made it the default target for most third-party EAs and indicators. Advanced Trade Manager, the trade management tool I use myself, is MT4-only for exactly this reason: that ecosystem depth is the main reason MT4 has stayed the standard rather than being replaced by its own successor. The interface hasn’t changed much over the years, which also means it’s lightweight, stable, and familiar to almost anyone who’s used a MetaTrader platform before.
MT5
MT5 adds more order types, more timeframes, a proper economic calendar, and a faster strategy tester, and MQL5 is the more capable language for building something new rather than porting an existing MT4 EA across. It isn’t fully backward compatible with MT4 tools, so plenty of traders end up running both: MT4 for an existing EA, MT5 for its extra built-in tooling. eWavesHarmonics, which I also use, runs on both, which is a fair sign that a tool’s core logic doesn’t have to be tied to one platform even when others are. Every broker we’ve reviewed supports both MT4 and MT5, so for most people this isn’t an either/or decision, it comes down to which platform the specific EA or indicator was written for.
cTrader
cTrader’s execution model and depth-of-market view are aimed squarely at ECN-style trading, and its interface is generally considered cleaner than MetaTrader’s. The catch is availability: of the brokers we track, only four in ten offer it (Pepperstone, IC Markets, FP Markets, and Fusion Markets, as of this writing), so it narrows your broker choice before you’ve picked a strategy. Worth it if you value the execution transparency and don’t mind the shorter list of brokers to choose from.
TradingView
TradingView’s real strength is charting and analysis, not execution, though a growing number of brokers now support trading directly from it. Around six in ten brokers we track connect to it. Pine Script is the easiest of the four platform languages to pick up for building custom indicators, and cross-device syncing is genuinely good since your layout follows you from desktop to phone. If most of your process is analysis and you only place orders occasionally, it can be the only chart you need open.
Choosing between them
An existing EA or indicator usually only runs on one platform, and that decides it before preference comes into it. If you’re not tied to a specific tool yet, cTrader’s execution model and TradingView’s charting are both solid reasons to build around them instead, but check broker support before committing: not every broker offers every platform, and picking cTrader or TradingView first can narrow your broker choice more than it looks like it will.
Every broker on our compare tool is tagged with which platforms it supports, so filter by the one you need before comparing anything else.
Nothing on this page is financial advice. Trade your own account, manage your own risk.