A new broker usually starts platform shopping by comparing chart features, then discovers the real decision is somewhere else: who is allowed to hold a licence for this platform, how does it connect to a liquidity provider, does a CRM plug into it without custom development, and what happens to mobile clients when an app store changes its rules. Answer those four questions first, then rank the platforms.
Licensing: who actually controls your terminal
Every platform on this list is controlled by the company that built it, which sets the terms a broker signs and can change them. MetaQuotes licenses MetaTrader 4 and 5 directly and enforces those terms on its own schedule, as brokers and prop firms alike experienced in 2024. Spotware licenses cTrader, Devexperts licenses DXtrade, and Match-Trade Technologies licenses Match-Trader, each under its own commercial terms. eTrader is licensed from SGHK with pricing quoted for the firm on a call rather than published as a list price. None of that makes one model wrong, but a broker should read the licence terms first and treat the feature page as secondary, before committing client-facing infrastructure to it.
Liquidity connection: what the platform expects from day one
A platform's job is to take a broker's own liquidity provider connection over FIX and turn it into prices, depth and fills for clients. Some brokers start without a liquidity provider at all and use a platform's own price feed while they finalize a provider relationship; eTrader supports that path directly. Others already have a provider under contract and only need a clean FIX connection and reliable execution reporting. Confirm which situation applies before comparing anything else, since a platform that assumes one and not the other adds delay later.
CRM integration: plug in or build from scratch
A broker's CRM has to open accounts, sync balances and trades, and expose account groups, leverage tiers and swap terms without a bespoke integration project. MetaTrader offers a Manager API, cTrader has its own integration layer, and eTrader exposes the eTrader CRM API covering accounts, groups, trading and dealing desk settings. A broker running its own CRM should ask for API documentation and a sandbox before signing, not after.
Mobile app strategy: whose name is on the app
MetaTrader, cTrader and eTrader publish their own apps, and clients pick the broker's server inside them, which means no App Store or Google Play listing, no developer account and no store review sits on the broker's side. DXtrade goes the other way with DXtrade Mobile, a native app a broker brands entirely as its own. Neither approach is wrong, but a broker should decide deliberately rather than assume a white-label app is required.
1. eTrader
eTrader combines the platform, the price feed and the dealing desk in one licence, with pricing quoted per firm on a call. Clients get native apps for iPhone, Android and Mac and a full trading terminal in any browser under the broker's own server name and logo, no separate app-store work required. The eTrader Dealing Desk routes orders A-book, B-book or by hybrid rules, with split routing dividing a single order between the liquidity provider and the house book. The eTrader CRM API exposes accounts, groups, trading and desk settings to whichever CRM the broker runs, including SGHK's own Broker CRM.
The trade-offs: eTrader is the newest platform here, its third-party indicator and robot library is smaller than MetaTrader's, and robots are written in Tide, its own language, so anything built for another platform is rewritten rather than imported.
2. MetaTrader 5
MetaTrader 5 remains the platform with the widest bridge and liquidity provider support and the largest MQL5 library. A broker assembles its CRM, bridge and dealing desk from other vendors around it, and licensing terms are set by MetaQuotes on its own schedule.
3. MetaTrader 4
MetaTrader 4 still carries a large base of traders and a long history of MQL4 robots. New broker licences are generally directed to MetaTrader 5 or a white-label arrangement instead of a standalone MT4 server, which makes it better suited to a broker adding a second platform than one starting fresh.
4. cTrader
Spotware's cTrader gives clients Level II depth of market and algorithmic trading in C#. A broker connects its own liquidity provider and CRM around it, since cTrader itself is the terminal and matching layer, not the back office.
5. DXtrade
Devexperts licenses DXtrade as a white-label platform, mobile app included, that a broker brands entirely as its own. A broker still assembles its CRM and liquidity connections separately, and DXtrade's trader community is smaller than MetaTrader's.
6. Match-Trader
Match-Trade Technologies bundles Match-Trader with a client office, payments and its own copy-trading app, sold as one B2B package, closer to a single-vendor model than MetaTrader or cTrader.
7. TradeLocker
TradeLocker runs on TradingView charts with a built-in risk calculator on the ticket. By its own account it is newer than MetaTrader and cTrader and its algorithmic trading tools are still growing.
| Platform | Made by | Liquidity model | What the broker still has to assemble |
|---|---|---|---|
| eTrader | SGHK | Included feed, or the broker's own liquidity over FIX | Little: platform, feed option and dealing desk are bundled |
| MetaTrader 5 | MetaQuotes | Broker's own liquidity provider over a bridge | Bridge, CRM, dealing desk, MAM/PAMM plugin if needed |
| MetaTrader 4 | MetaQuotes | Broker's own liquidity provider over a bridge | Same as MetaTrader 5, plus new licences pointed elsewhere |
| cTrader | Spotware | Broker's own liquidity provider | CRM, dealing desk, MAM/PAMM module for cTrader if needed |
| DXtrade | Devexperts | Broker's own liquidity provider | CRM, liquidity connections, payment stack |
| Match-Trader | Match-Trade Technologies | Broker's own liquidity provider | Less: client office and copy trading ship with the platform |
| TradeLocker | TradeLocker | Broker's own liquidity provider | CRM, dealing desk, deeper algo tooling as it matures |
Putting it together
A new broker with no liquidity provider signed yet should weight the liquidity-connection question heavily and look hardest at eTrader or a platform with a comparable feed option. A broker that already has a provider and a CRM under contract should weight the CRM integration question instead, and confirm the API documentation exists before assuming any platform will fit. Read what a forex CRM actually needs to do and how liquidity works for a retail broker before signing anything, and check how a broker's API connects to its trading platform if custom integration work is on the table. This list sits inside the wider comparison of MetaTrader alternatives if MetaTrader itself is still on the shortlist.
See eTrader's own dealing desk and CRM integration at broker.sghk.org, or book a call to walk through licensing terms directly with the team that sets them.
"New brokers compare charts first and licensing terms last. We would rather they read the licence before they pick the colour scheme."
— The SGHK Team
Key Takeaways
- Check licensing terms, liquidity connection needs, CRM integration and mobile app strategy before comparing chart features.
- eTrader bundles the platform, an optional price feed and the dealing desk under one licence, with the eTrader CRM API for whichever CRM the broker runs.
- MetaTrader, cTrader, DXtrade, Match-Trader and TradeLocker each leave the broker to assemble a different mix of bridge, CRM and dealing desk.
- Mobile strategy is a real choice: MetaTrader, cTrader and eTrader publish shared apps, DXtrade offers a branded one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best trading platform for a broker with no liquidity provider yet?
eTrader, since its own price feed lets a broker go live and connect a liquidity provider over FIX once one is under contract, without a platform change in between.
Do I need a separate CRM for every trading platform?
No. A CRM built against a platform's API, such as the eTrader CRM API or a MetaTrader Manager API integration, can run one back office across accounts, groups and trading data regardless of which platform a client trades on.
Does a broker need its own app store listing?
Not on MetaTrader, cTrader or eTrader. Clients install the platform's own app and pick the broker by name and logo inside it. DXtrade takes the opposite approach and ships as a fully white-label app instead.
How much does licensing eTrader cost?
Pricing is quoted for your firm on a call, based on the servers and add-ons your business needs, rather than published as a fixed list price.
About SGHK
SGHK is a FinTech company that designs and builds its own software for the trading industry: the eTrader trading platform, Launch your Broker and Launch your Prop Firm. Every product is written, hosted and supported in-house and licensed to trading firms, with the CRMs branded to them, all hosted by us in the cloud, managed by each firm and built to scale across clustered servers as our clients grow. Everything is encrypted, and each firm is the only one with access to its data and its clients' data.