Which Trading Platform is right for me: MT4 or cTrader?

The cTrader is an advanced platform and it is as good as Meta Trader 4 or even better. Still which trading platform to choose when trading Forex, cTrader or MetaTrader 4? There is a big debate on it. Many websites are comparing the two platforms. Few of them suggest Meta Trader 4 is a better choice as compared to cTrader, they argue about the security, reliability of MT4. On the other hand some articles suggest that cTrader, is much reliable and better because cTrader  is faster in terms of execution and it has advanced and better technical charting options. According to me, preference should be based on behavior of the trader and his trading needs.

cTrader- Here the best thing is the charting feature, if you use technical analysis for your trades then cTrader is the best. Trading execution is much fast as compared to MT4. I like the fact that cTrader can be a position based or a Ticket based platform. The cTrader has the Direct Market Access (DMA) feature that enables the Forex trader to submit sell or buy orders to the exchange without going through an intermediary. cTrader trading platform is much more advanced in view of the Level 2 market depth it offers compared to Meta Trader 4 which does not have this advantage at all. It offers a comprehensive assessment of market depth with three distinct views– Price depth, Standard  depth, and VWAP depth. These features help the users in closely tracking market liquidity for different price points, therefore helping traders make more precise entries. As mentioned, cTrader was designed to deliver a professional charting and fast execution experience. The visual interface of the software is neat and eye catching. No doubt, if you are a Forex trader and you have to stare at your screen for day and night, you rather do it with software that is much more reliable and eye catching.

“MetaTrader 4” is well known for being commonly used FX trading platform in the industry. MT4 is very reliable and has all the means for professional traders. There are a vast number of developers, who have developed many paid and free plugins to help users. Meta Trader 4 is ticket based platform. That means each order (Sell or Buy) is registered individually. So you might have as many open orders on the the sell-side or buy-side. You will need to go and close each order individually for your position to be squared. One more feature which is a very unique on MT4 known as “Close-by” option. You can close an open “Buy ticket” by another “Sell ticket” and square off your position. “MetaTrader 4” and all of its supporting programs including Trade copier, MAM and other programs, are very fast to load and light. MT4 was launched in 2005 and has not been up-to-date with relevant changes.

In the table below we have compared the two trading platforms in a quick overview.

CONCLUSION

 Both trading platforms certainly have their own strengths. The strength of cTrader lies in its remarkable user interface, sophisticated functionalities like market depth and multiple indicators and timeframes it serves. However, MT4 is popular for its simplicity, inbuilt tools, flexibility,  and Expert Advisors. cTrader is easy to adopt for newbies and a trader who has become accustomed to the cTrader platform might not be willing to switch platforms at a later stage unless they need additional features that cTrader is not able to offer. As compared to MT4’s Expert Advisors, cTrader platform provides its algorithmic trading tool known as cAlgo, which enables the users to program robots for creation of customer indicators, trade execution, back testing and performing strategies. The tool works on NET framework and  C# language.

So in terms of overall user experience, cTrader platform offers fierce competition for the market leader, Meta Trader4.