The trading platform is the main tool for active investors and traders to invest in the stock market. Software designed for placing stock market orders from a personal computer, trading platforms have also been integrating analysis tools and news feeds for several years.
Having studied the prices of stock brokers, the functionalities and ergonomics of the trading platform will be decisive criteria in choosing the financial intermediary that an investor or trader will use on a daily basis.
Discover in this article our comparison of the best trading platforms 2022.
Meter 4
MT4 (Metatrader 4) is probably one of the best-known trading platforms among individual traders and is widely available from most online Forex and CFD brokers. The MT4 platform is only available in PC version under Windows, as well as Android and iOS for the mobile version and offers a simplified environment for traders with a fairly easy to use interface and for brokers with an infrastructure and an easy to implement back office. .
Founded in 2005 by Metaquote to replace the Metatrader 3 market analysis platform with the integration of an order entry module, the MT4 platform has undergone many changes in recent years, especially in 2009.
The Metatrader 4 platform was one of the first trading and technical analysis platforms that individual traders could use for free, which also explains the success of this software with stock traders.
Although the technology and design may seem from another era, the MT4 platform remains a popular trading platform for independent traders, mainly because of its robustness and the many tools available there.
Metatrader 4 trading platform
Source: MT4
The Metatrader 4 platform allows the passage of orders such as buy/sell on the market, stop orders, limit orders, trailing stop orders. The power of this trading tool comes from its almost unlimited customization options.
Thus, traders who have mastered programming in the MQL4 language can infinitely customize their working tool by creating new functions for placing orders, account management, analytics and even robot traders.
Those who can’t program are not forgotten with an App Store that gives access (free or paid) to thousands of tools developed by the community of MetaTrader 4 users.
We cannot talk about a trading platform these days without talking about the technical analysis tools it offers. While the MT4 platform has a wide choice of technical indicators and analysis tools available as standard in the software, it will also be possible to create custom technical indicators or find them on the internal market.
In particular, the MT4 platform has made it possible to democratize automatic trading among retail investors by offering the famous “Expert Advisor”, real trading robots accessible on this trading platform.
Traders looking for an easy-to-use tool that is versatile and interoperable with various brokers, integrates full-featured technical analysis functions, and/or enables automatic trading should be interested in the MetaTrader 4 platform.
Meter 5
The MT5 platform (Metatrader 5) was created in 2010 to replace its big sister, the MT4 platform. While the Metatrader 4 platform was a resounding success, the Metatrader 5 trading platform was an abject failure. Indeed, the community of nearly 12,000 traders/developers who have been highly involved in the development of tools, features, robot trader, technical indicator, etc. did it under the MQL4 language and not under the MQL5 language.
Metatrader 5 trading platform
Source: MT5
The Metaquote company has therefore chosen to develop the two platforms and languages that are almost identical today. The only difference that remains today between MT4 and MT5 is therefore not in the design and functionalities, but in the back office and infrastructure.
Indeed, the Metatrader 4 trading platform is designed only for Forex and CFD brokers, while the Metatrader 5 platform can be used by stock brokers or Futures brokers.
So if you intend to return to your trading habits on Metatrader 4, but want to switch to stocks or futures, Metatrader 5 is probably for you.
FXFlat TraderWorkStation
While the MT4 platform is very popular with individual traders, the TWS (TraderWorkStation) platform is used by a much wider category of players. The most sophisticated individuals are of course familiar with the TWS platform, but so are management companies and certain institutional investors.
With a much more complex interface to use than what’s available with other platforms, the strength of TWS lies in the unparalleled number of products available. TraderWorkStation is connected to more than 135 exchanges worldwide and allows trading on Action, ETF, Future, Option, Bond, etc.
The TraderWorkStation trading platform from FXFlat
Source: TWS from FXFlat
The TWS platform, which is particularly available at FXFlat, therefore offers access to almost all exchange products available around the world.
Although the TWS platform includes a technical analysis interface, the associated functionalities will not be as complete as what can be found with MT4, for example. On the other hand, the second strength of the TraderWorkStation trading platform lies in its many professional-level tools, such as:
- the Option Strategy Lab that allows you to create and enter simple and complex multi-leg option orders based on your price and volatility forecasts;
- the SpreadTrader which allows you to create your own spreads when trading futures or options (SpreadTrader on TWS allows you to quickly and easily manage futures spreads in a single window);
- the ScaleTrader, a tool that allows you to place a large number of order series and automatically buy at low prices or stop trading/revoke the order when prices are high.
These 3 tools are just one example of the dozens of tools available for traders and advanced investors to analyze and trade the markets like the professionals.
The TraderWorkStation trading platform is perfectly designed for traders who want to operate on exchanges around the world with a very wide choice of financial products. While the tools may require some learning to master, they will delight the most discerning traders and professional traders.
Test FXFlat’s TraderWorkStation trading platform for free
XTBxStation5
The platforms we’ve seen so far are consumer platforms that we can find with various online brokers, while this time we see a platform designed and available exclusively for XTB customers: xStation5.
The first obvious observation when you connect to this trading platform is the attention paid by the software publisher to design and ergonomics. Indeed, brokers who choose to develop their own trading platform have a desire to attract users by offering a more pleasant platform than what can be found elsewhere, for example with MT4.
So there is no doubt that traders will quickly and easily find their way around the xStation5 platform.
In terms of functionality, the xStation 5 trading platform brings together all the necessities a trader needs. Thus, we can underline the existence of a technical analysis interface that offers ample tools and indicators, an integrated economic calendar, news feeds and a stock screener.
Just like the MT4 platform and while customization is possible, it is not possible to create custom tools. Traders can easily find tools on xStation5 that meet the needs of 90% of traders.
XTB’s xStation5 trading platform
Source : XTBxStation5
What should delight the users of this trading platform is above all the simplicity of use and the speed of settlement.
Our advice is the following, open a demo account for free to test the platform and if it meets your needs, adopt it. Otherwise, if your requirements are not met, you may have to look at the other platforms we presented to you in this article, at the risk of spending more time to master it.
Test XTB’s xStation5 trading platform for free
eToro trading platform
To conclude this overview of trading platforms, let’s talk about the eToro platform. This trading platform, which has more than 20 million users worldwide, is distinguished from other trading platforms by a functionality that is central to the software, it is social trading.
Social trading, which allows you to follow the investment decisions of other users of the platform, is the main advantage of this trading platform. Few stock brokers allow this copy trading functionality and eToro is the world leader in this field.
Therefore, if you want to use the copy-trading aspect in your investment strategy, choosing eToro is undoubtedly a wise choice.
Otherwise, the eToro platform does not offer as many features as on other trading platforms. However, the eToro platform may suit investors and traders who are looking for the most classic features of a trading platform and want an easy-to-use tool.
We can therefore say that the eToro trading platform is ideal for investors and individual traders who want to invest in the stock market quickly and easily, even if it means later turning to other more advanced trading platforms as their needs arise.
eToro social trading platform
Source : eToro
Remember that most trading platforms are available for free in demo or paper trading version, for a limited time and sometimes without a time limit. It is therefore highly recommended to test different platforms to make sure you find what suits you before opening a real account.
Test eToro’s social trading platform for free
Image source: Freepik
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