MetaTrader 5 — MT5 — is the most powerful retail trading platform available today. It handles forex, stocks, futures, commodities, options, and crypto all in one place. This guide explains every major feature, who MT5 is best for, how it compares to MT4, and how to get set up fast — even if you’ve never placed a trade before.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

  • MT5 supports more asset classes than MT4 — including stocks, futures, and options — making it the more versatile platform.
  • It has 38 built-in technical indicators, 21 timeframes, and a built-in economic calendar.
  • Automated trading uses MQL5, which is faster and more capable than MT4’s MQL4.
  • MT5 is free to download — your broker provides access as part of their service.
  • A free demo account lets you practice with virtual money before risking anything real.

What Is MetaTrader 5?

MetaTrader 5 is a multi-asset trading platform developed by MetaQuotes Software and released in 2010. It was built as a successor to MT4, but it’s not just an upgrade — it’s a different platform designed for a broader range of markets.

While MT4 was built primarily for forex, MT5 was built from the ground up to handle exchange-traded assets like stocks and futures alongside forex and CFDs. This makes it the preferred platform for traders who want to access multiple markets from a single login.

MT5 is available as a desktop app for Windows, a browser-based WebTrader, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. The desktop version is the most capable — use it for analysis and strategy development. The mobile app is good for monitoring open trades on the go.

MT5’s Key Features Explained

21 Timeframes

MT5 gives you 21 chart timeframes, compared to MT4’s 9. The additional timeframes — M2, M3, M4, M6, M10, M12, M20, H2, H3, H6, H8, H12 — give traders more flexibility in spotting entry and exit points without switching between the default intervals.

For most traders, the standard timeframes (M1, M5, M15, H1, H4, D1) will cover 90% of their analysis. But the extra granularity is genuinely useful for scalpers and algorithmic traders who need precision timing.

6 Pending Order Types

MT5 adds two order types that MT4 doesn’t have:

  • Buy Stop Limit — places a buy limit order when the price rises to a specified level. Combines a stop and a limit in one order.
  • Sell Stop Limit — the mirror image. Places a sell limit order when price falls to a specified level.

The other four — Buy Limit, Sell Limit, Buy Stop, Sell Stop — work the same as in MT4. The two new types are most useful for traders who want very precise entry conditions in fast-moving markets.

Depth of Market (DOM)

MT5 includes a Depth of Market panel — a live view of pending buy and sell orders at different price levels. This is standard in stock and futures trading and was absent from MT4. If you’re trading exchange-traded instruments, DOM gives you a real-time view of market liquidity that candlestick charts alone can’t show.

Built-In Economic Calendar

MT5 integrates an economic calendar directly into the platform. You can see upcoming high-impact news events — central bank decisions, employment data, inflation reports — without leaving the platform. In MT4, you’d need a separate browser tab or a third-party plugin for this.

Technical Indicators and Charting

MT5 comes with 38 built-in technical indicators, organized into five categories:

  • Trend indicators — Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, Parabolic SAR, Ichimoku
  • Oscillators — RSI, MACD, Stochastic, CCI, Momentum
  • Volume indicators — On Balance Volume, Money Flow Index, Volumes
  • Bill Williams indicators — Alligator, Fractals, Awesome Oscillator
  • Custom indicators — downloadable from the MQL5 marketplace

The MQL5 marketplace has thousands of additional custom indicators, many free. The selection isn’t quite as large as MT4’s MQL4 marketplace yet, but it’s growing fast.

MT5’s charting tools include trend lines, channels, Fibonacci tools, Gann tools, and Elliott Wave tools — everything a technical trader needs. You can open up to 100 charts simultaneously on the desktop version, each with independent timeframes and indicator sets.

Automated Trading on MT5

MT5’s automated trading system uses MQL5 — a faster, more capable programming language than MT4’s MQL4. MQL5 supports object-oriented programming, which makes writing complex strategies cleaner and more efficient.

MT5 automated trading comes in two forms:

  • Expert Advisors (EAs) — fully automated systems that open and close trades based on your rules, 24/7
  • Scripts — single-action programs that execute a specific task once (e.g. close all open positions)

MT5 also runs a multi-currency Strategy Tester — a significant upgrade from MT4. In MT4, the Strategy Tester runs one instrument at a time. In MT5, you can backtest strategies that trade multiple instruments simultaneously, which is essential for portfolio-level automated strategies.

Important: MT4 EAs written in MQL4 do NOT run on MT5. The two languages are not cross-compatible. If you’re migrating from MT4, you’ll need to rewrite or purchase MQL5 versions of your EAs.

Risk Management on MT5

MT5 includes the same core risk management tools as MT4, plus a few extras:

  • Stop-loss and take-profit orders — set on every trade, every time. Non-negotiable.
  • Trailing stop — automatically moves your stop-loss as a trade moves in your favour, locking in profit progressively.
  • Margin monitoring — the terminal tab shows balance, equity, margin, free margin, and margin level in real time.
  • Netting vs hedging accounts — MT5 supports both. In netting mode, you can only hold one position per instrument (like MT4). In hedging mode, you can hold simultaneous long and short positions on the same instrument.

The hedging account type is a major MT5 advantage for traders who use strategies that require holding opposing positions simultaneously — something MT4 technically allowed through workarounds but never cleanly supported.

MT5 vs MT4: The Real Differences

People often assume MT5 is just a newer MT4. It’s not — they’re built for different purposes. Here’s the honest comparison:

  • Asset classes: MT4 = forex and CFDs. MT5 = forex, CFDs, stocks, futures, options.
  • Timeframes: MT4 = 9. MT5 = 21.
  • Built-in indicators: MT4 = 30. MT5 = 38.
  • Order types: MT4 = 4 pending types. MT5 = 6 pending types.
  • Automated trading language: MT4 = MQL4. MT5 = MQL5 (faster, not backward-compatible).
  • Strategy Tester: MT4 = single instrument. MT5 = multi-instrument.
  • Economic calendar: MT4 = no. MT5 = yes (built-in).
  • Depth of Market: MT4 = no. MT5 = yes.
  • EA library size: MT4 = larger (established since 2005). MT5 = growing fast.
  • Broker availability: MT4 = wider. MT5 = catching up quickly.

The verdict: If you’re trading forex and CFDs only, MT4 is simpler and has a deeper EA ecosystem. If you want to trade stocks or futures, or you’re starting fresh with automation, MT5 is the better long-term choice. For a detailed look at the older platform, see our complete MetaTrader 4 guide.

Getting Started on MT5 as a Beginner

MT5 is more feature-rich than MT4, which can feel overwhelming at first. The trick is to ignore most of the platform initially and focus only on the four things you need for your first 30 trades:

  1. Open a demo account — free, takes 5 minutes, no deposit required.
  2. Learn to place a trade — market order, with a stop-loss and take-profit set before you click buy or sell.
  3. Read one chart type — start with candlestick charts on the H1 (1-hour) timeframe.
  4. Apply one indicator — try a 20-period moving average. When price is above it, the trend is up. Below it, the trend is down.

That’s it for month one. Don’t try to learn EAs, custom indicators, depth of market, and multi-timeframe analysis all at once. The traders who blow their accounts fastest are usually the ones who over-complicate everything before they’ve mastered the basics.

Stay on the demo account until you’ve placed at least 50 trades and are profitable over a full month. Then move to a live account with the smallest possible lot size your broker allows.

How to Download and Set Up MT5

  1. Choose a broker that offers MT5. Most major forex and CFD brokers now do — check their platforms page.
  2. Open a demo account. You’ll receive a server name, account number, and password by email.
  3. Download MT5 from your broker’s website. Always download from the broker directly, not a third-party site.
  4. Install and launch. On first launch, select your broker’s server from the list — it should appear automatically if you downloaded from the broker’s site.
  5. Log in with your account number and password. MT5 will connect and display live or demo market data within seconds.

Mac users: MT5 has a native Mac app, unlike MT4. Download it from the App Store or your broker’s website. It’s fully functional — no Wine or workaround needed.

Mobile: Search “MetaTrader 5” in the App Store or Google Play. Log in with the same credentials. The mobile app covers order placement, basic charting, price alerts, and position monitoring — but not EAs or advanced analysis.

Common Mistakes New Traders Make on MT5

These are the most common errors — and all of them are avoidable:

  • Skipping the demo account — there’s no shortcut here. Trade demo until you’re profitable. Moving to live too early is the #1 cause of fast account losses.
  • Trading without a stop-loss — every trade needs one. “I’ll watch it manually” is how accounts blow up overnight.
  • Using too much leverage — MT5 allows very high leverage. Use the minimum you need, not the maximum available.
  • Overtrading — more trades does not mean more profit. Entering trades without a clear setup is just gambling.
  • Ignoring the economic calendar — major news events cause extreme volatility. Check MT5’s built-in calendar before placing trades near scheduled announcements.
  • Chasing losses — if you hit your daily loss limit, stop. Log off. Come back tomorrow. Revenge trading almost always makes losses worse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MetaTrader 5 free?

Yes. MT5 is free to download and use. Your broker provides access as part of their service. Some EAs and custom indicators on the MQL5 marketplace have a cost, but the platform itself is free.

Can I use MT4 EAs on MT5?

No. MT4 EAs are written in MQL4 and are not compatible with MT5’s MQL5. If you want to run a strategy on MT5 that was originally written for MT4, it needs to be rewritten or you need to find an MQL5 version.