MetaTrader 5 ships with 38 built-in technical indicators, by MetaQuotes' own count, and traders who want more turn to the MQL5 Market or the free MQL5 Code Base, both built up over the platform's fifteen-plus years. eTrader ships with a smaller built-in set, RSI, MACD, Ichimoku and others, and traders who want more write their own in eTrader Code. The size of the library is the obvious difference. What actually matters to a trader writing a custom indicator is the language underneath it, and that is where the two platforms diverge the most.
We build eTrader, so we are not neutral here, and we say so upfront: MetaTrader's third-party library is bigger than ours by any measure, because it has existed for a lot longer. This comparison is about what each platform's own documentation says a trader gets when they sit down to write one.
The short version
| MetaTrader 5 | eTrader | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | MQL5, syntax similar to C++, per MetaQuotes' own documentation | Tide, eTrader's own language, close to JavaScript, Python, Swift or C by its manual's own description |
| Built-in indicators | 38, per MetaTrader 5's own help pages | A smaller built-in set including RSI, MACD and Ichimoku |
| Where indicators are read | A handle requested once, values copied from a buffer on each tick | A typed value assigned once, for example let trend = ema(close, 50), kept current automatically |
| Type safety | Standard C++-style types; no built-in distinction between a price and a lot size | Separate price and lots types; mixing them fails to compile |
| Distribution | MQL5 Market (paid) and MQL5 Code Base (free), both public and long established | Indicators run in a trader's own eTrader Code account; no public marketplace |
| Backtesting | MetaTrader's Strategy Tester, multi-threaded on MT5 | Backtested on the firm's own real price history inside eTrader Code |
| Where it draws | Next to built-in indicators on the MetaTrader chart | Next to built-in indicators on the eTrader chart, on web, Mac, iPhone and Android |
Writing an indicator in MQL5
MetaQuotes' own documentation describes MQL5 as object-oriented with syntax similar to C++, built for indicators, expert advisors and scripts that share one runtime inside MetaTrader 5. A custom indicator declares its output buffers up front, sets their plotting style with functions such as SetIndexBuffer, and fills them tick by tick or bar by bar in an OnCalculate event. Reading another indicator's values from inside your own means requesting a handle, for example from iMA for a moving average, and then copying values out of it with CopyBuffer. This structure has stayed largely the same since MQL5 replaced MQL4, and it is well understood by a large community: the MQL5 Market and the free Code Base between them hold a library built up over more than a decade, and most published indicators list their source so a trader can study or adapt them.
Writing an indicator in Tide
Tide skips the handle-and-buffer step. An indicator is written as a typed expression, and the manual's own example, let trend = ema(close, 50), is the whole declaration. There is no separate registration of an output buffer and no manual request to refresh it: the value is simply current on every new candle. The type system is the other real difference. Tide gives prices and lot sizes their own distinct types, and the manual states plainly that passing a volume where a price belongs is the most common way an automated strategy loses money, a mistake that, in Tide, does not compile rather than one that fails silently at runtime. eTrader Code's editor flags errors as they are typed, and every indicator or robot backtests against the firm's own real price history before it can run live, a process we walk through in building custom indicators in eTrader Code.
Where MetaTrader is genuinely ahead
Size and history are real advantages, not marketing. A trader who wants a specific, well-known indicator, or a specific strategy already published and reviewed by other traders, is more likely to find it built and tested on MQL5 than written from scratch anywhere else. The MQL5 Market gives independent developers a storefront and gives buyers reviews and a track record before they pay for anything. None of that exists yet for eTrader Code, because eTrader is a newer platform without the years needed to build the same public library.
Where the two languages actually differ in daily use
Once a trader has written a handful of indicators in both languages, the practical differences show up less in what is possible and more in how many ways there are to get it subtly wrong. MQL5's handle-and-buffer model asks a developer to manage indicator lifecycles by hand, request the handle in OnInit, release it in OnDeinit, check that CopyBuffer actually returned enough values before reading them. Skipping any of those steps compiles fine and can still produce a wrong or missing value at runtime. Tide's model removes that category of bug by keeping the indicator's value current automatically and by refusing, at compile time, to let a price and a lot size be confused with each other.
Which one to pick
A firm whose traders already depend on specific MQL5 indicators keeps MetaTrader available for exactly that reason, and most established firms end up running more than one platform for this reason alone. A firm or a trader starting fresh, without an existing library to protect, gets a smaller but more strictly typed language in Tide, and a route into automation that does not require code at all: an AI Trader built from blocks in eTrader AI, for traders who want the logic without writing an indicator or a robot themselves. Traders comparing the languages directly can also read our Tide vs MQL5 breakdown.
"MetaTrader's library took over a decade to build. We are not going to pretend our smaller one is bigger. What we can offer instead is a language where a price cannot be mistaken for a lot size."
— The SGHK Team
Key Takeaways
- MetaTrader 5 ships with 38 built-in indicators, per MetaQuotes' own help pages, plus the MQL5 Market and Code Base built up over more than a decade.
- MQL5's own documentation describes it as C++-like, reading indicators through a handle and a buffer; Tide reads closer to JavaScript or Python, with an indicator as a single typed value.
- Tide's separate price and lot types catch a common class of trading bug at compile time rather than at runtime.
- eTrader has no public indicator marketplace yet; MetaTrader's MQL5 Market has one built over more than ten years.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many built-in indicators does MetaTrader 5 have compared with eTrader?
MetaTrader 5's own help pages list 38 built-in indicators. eTrader ships with a smaller built-in set including RSI, MACD and Ichimoku, with more added through eTrader Code as custom indicators.
Is Tide harder to learn than MQL5?
Tide's own manual states that anyone who has written JavaScript, Python, Swift or C can read it immediately, without the handle-and-buffer setup MQL5 requires to read another indicator's values. MQL5's own documentation describes its syntax as similar to C++, which suits developers already comfortable with that style.
Can I buy indicators for eTrader the way I can on the MQL5 Market?
Not yet. eTrader has no public indicator marketplace. Indicators are written in eTrader Code and run in a trader's own account. MetaTrader's MQL5 Market and free Code Base have been open for more than a decade and hold a large public library.
Does eTrader catch coding mistakes before an indicator runs?
Yes. The eTrader Code editor flags errors as they are typed, and Tide's separate types for prices and lot sizes mean a value in the wrong place fails to compile rather than causing a wrong result later. Every indicator and robot also backtests on the firm's real price history before it can run live.
Do I have to choose one platform for custom indicators?
No. SGHK's Broker CRM and Prop Firm CRM connect to MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DXtrade, Match-Trader and TradeLocker as well as eTrader, so a firm can offer MetaTrader for its established indicator library and eTrader for traders who want a stricter, more modern language. Book a demo to try eTrader Code directly.
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.