MetaTrader 4 or 5. Which One Is the King of Forex Trading？

MetaQuotes as a platform provider still dominates the market, countering the growing competition.

The MetaTrader 4 platform has been on the market for seventeen years and its revamped version, MetaTrader 5, for twelve. MT5 took almost a decade to overtake its older version in terms of server usage by brokers, according to MetaQuotes data. But, has it also become the retail traders platform first choice？ Which MetaTrader version is the king of Forex trading？ We are answering this question in the latest Quarterly Industry Report (QIR) by Finance Magnates Intelligence.

MetaQuotes Boasts MetTrader 5 Stats. It Has Finally Overgrown MetaTrader 4

On June 7, 2021, MetaQuotes reported that MT5 had become a more popular platform for the first time in history than MT4. More popular among brokers (this is an essential factor, that we will discuss later). The developer reported at the time that the number of lines of MetaTrader 5 code 'exceeded 7 million' when the previous version numbered ‘only 2 million’.

Once again, MetaQuotes presented a snippet of its statistics last November when it informed that MT5 was spreading its lead over MT4. The server utilization percentage of the older platform dropped to 36.7%, while it increased to 63.3% for the newer platform. “The MetaTrader 5 trading servers utilization by brokers is increased by a factor of 1.5, compared to the previous platform version ones,” MetaQuotes reported at the time.

“MT4 was primarily built for the forex markets. With its simple interface and ease of use. It is well suited for beginner traders. MT5, on the other hand, can handle multi-asset trading, including CFDs, stocks, options and futures. Today, with traders increasingly looking to diversify their investments, multi-asset trading has become an important way for brokers to attract clients,” said Charlotte Day, the Creative Director at Contentworks Agency.

MetaTrader 5 Gains Traction, but MetaTrader 4 Is Still the King of Forex Trading*

While MetaTrader 5 has indeed become the more popular choice among brokers (could it be any other way in a situation where brokers can no longer buy MT4？), turnover statistics among retail Forex traders suggest that good ol MetaTrader 4 continues to dominate the FX/CFD industry.

Over the past few years, it can be seen that some traders have switched to MetaTrader 5. However, statistics still favour the older version of the platform. In the third quarter of 2019, 91.4% of FX volume was generated by MetaTrader 4.

In subsequent quarters this value gradually decreased to reach 74.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021, more than two years later. The downtrend is clearly visible, but at that pace, MT4s dominance could be unthreatened for a very long time.

*Please note, that the data may not illustrate an accurate or complete picture of the retail trading industry. They are based on information that brokers provide to Finance Magnates Intelligence and which support both platforms.

Notwithstanding the above, MetaQuotes as a platform provider continues to dominate the market, effectively countering the growing competition. Charlotte Day looks at this phenomenon from a marketing perspective. She thinks that MT4/MT5 still remains the most popular traders choice due to “the trust that MetaQuotes has been able to garner over the years.”