MetaQuotes released MetaTrader 4 in 2005 and MetaTrader 5 in 2010, and fifteen years later new prop firms still ask which one to launch on. The short answer most firms hear today is MT5, or a white-label arrangement built on it, rather than a standalone MT4 server. The longer answer is that the two platforms trade off legacy against features, and licensing risk sits underneath both of them regardless of which one a firm picks.
What MT5 added over MT4
MetaTrader 5 came out five years after MT4 and added more timeframes for chart analysis, a market depth window, and both hedging and netting position accounting, so a firm can offer clients the position-by-position hedging model familiar from MT4 or the netted, single-position model exchanges use. MT5's strategy tester runs multi-threaded and can test across multiple symbols and time periods using real tick data, which matters to a prop firm validating rule-based evaluation logic or an algo desk backtesting a portfolio of robots rather than a single pair.
Robots and indicators on MT5 are written in MQL5, a newer language than MT4's MQL4, with its own strategy tester and its own section of the MQL5 Market. For a new prop firm building its evaluation and funded-account rules around one platform, MT5's netting and hedging modes and its faster tester are the features that show up most often in vendor comparisons.
What MT4 still has that MT5 does not replace
MT4's advantage is not a feature on a spec sheet. It is fifteen years of MQL4 robots, indicators and scripts, and a generation of traders who learned to trade on that exact interface starting in 2005. The MQL5 Market and community host a large library across both versions, but a trader who has run the same MQL4 expert advisor for a decade has a real reason to want a broker that still offers it, and some prop firm applicants specifically look for platforms where their existing MT4 tooling works without modification.
That familiarity is why MT4 has not disappeared even though MetaQuotes released its successor fifteen years ago. It is a legacy advantage, not a technical one, and it matters most to firms whose target trader base is already deep in MT4-specific automation.
The short version
| Area | MetaTrader 4 | MetaTrader 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2005 | 2010 |
| Scripting language | MQL4 | MQL5 |
| Position accounting | Hedging only | Hedging and netting modes |
| Strategy tester | Single-threaded | Multi-threaded, tests across multiple symbols on real ticks |
| Market depth | Not included | Included |
| Where new prop firms are usually pointed | Rarely offered as a new standalone server | MT5, or a white-label arrangement built on it |
| Real advantage | The largest base of legacy MQL4 robots and trader familiarity | Newer feature set: timeframes, depth of market, hedging and netting, faster testing |
Licensing is the risk either version carries
Whichever version a firm chooses, the platform belongs to MetaQuotes, and MetaQuotes sets the licensing terms for both. In early 2024, a number of prop firms had to change or add a platform at short notice after MetaQuotes enforced its licensing terms more strictly; several of the firms affected added DXtrade, Match-Trader, TradeLocker or cTrader rather than depend on MetaTrader alone. Apple had already pulled both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 from the App Store in September 2022, and they were not back until March 2023, which is its own separate reminder that a platform a firm does not control can disappear from a client's phone with no warning to the firm running it.
Neither MT4 nor MT5 is exempt from that risk, since both run under the same vendor's licence. A firm picking between them is choosing a feature set and a trader base, not choosing its way out of vendor dependency. Read our breakdown of what changed in the 2024 prop firm licensing changes and the 2022 App Store removal for the full timeline, and check the current terms directly with MetaQuotes before committing a launch date to either version.
What new prop firms are told today
New prop firms researching a launch are generally pointed to MetaTrader 5, or to a white-label arrangement built on MT5, rather than a standalone MetaTrader 4 server. That reflects MT5's newer feature set more than any technical failing in MT4, and it is consistent with how the market has moved since 2010: new firms build on the newer version, while a meaningful slice of traders and robot developers keep working in MQL4 on brokers that still support it. A firm targeting algorithmic traders with existing MQL4 libraries should confirm MT4 availability specifically before assuming MT5 covers the same trader base.
A second platform without the same vendor risk
Firms that want a second platform precisely to avoid depending on one vendor's licensing decisions also look at eTrader, cTrader, DXtrade, Match-Trader or TradeLocker. eTrader bundles a price feed, dealing desk, MAM / PAMM and copytrading with native apps for iPhone, Android and Mac and a full trading terminal in any browser, though it is the newest platform on this list and robots have to be rewritten in Tide rather than imported from MQL4 or MQL5. SGHK's Broker CRM and Prop Firm CRM connect in one click to MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, DXtrade, NinjaTrader, Match-Trader and TradeLocker as well as eTrader, so a firm can run either MetaTrader version next to a second platform without changing its CRM.
"A prop firm picking between MT4 and MT5 is picking a feature set and a trader base. It is not picking its way out of depending on one vendor's licence."
— The SGHK Team
Key Takeaways
- MT5 adds more timeframes, market depth, hedging and netting modes and a multi-threaded strategy tester over MT4.
- MT4's real advantage is fifteen years of MQL4 robots and trader familiarity dating to 2005, not a technical edge over MT5.
- New prop firms are generally pointed to MT5 or a white-label arrangement built on it rather than a standalone MT4 server.
- Licensing risk sits under both versions equally: the 2022 App Store removal and the 2024 licensing enforcement both affected MT4 and MT5 firms alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should a new prop firm launch on MT4 or MT5?
Most new prop firms are pointed to MT5, or a white-label arrangement built on it, because of its newer feature set: more timeframes, market depth, hedging and netting modes and a faster strategy tester. A standalone MT4 server is less commonly offered to new firms today, though MT4 remains relevant where a firm's target traders depend on existing MQL4 robots.
What is the real difference between MT4 and MT5 for a prop firm?
MT5 adds depth of market, hedging and netting position accounting and a multi-threaded strategy tester that can test across multiple symbols on real tick data. MT4's advantage is the size and age of its MQL4 robot and indicator library and the trader base that has used it since 2005.
Does switching from MT4 to MT5 remove vendor risk?
No. Both platforms are licensed by MetaQuotes, so both carry the same dependence on one vendor's terms. The September 2022 Apple App Store removal affected both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, and the 2024 licensing enforcement pushed firms on both versions to add other platforms.
What do firms add alongside MT4 or MT5 to reduce that risk?
Many run a second platform. cTrader, DXtrade, Match-Trader, TradeLocker and eTrader are common additions, each with a different trade-off in features, branding and automation tooling. A CRM that connects to more than one platform, such as SGHK's Broker CRM or Prop Firm CRM, lets a firm run MetaTrader next to a second platform without switching its back office.
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.