A CRM does not talk to a trading platform by magic. It talks through an API, and the three platforms brokers and prop firms most often connect to expose very different things, to very different audiences, under very different access rules. This is a reference comparison of what each one actually is, not a ranking.
MT5 Manager API
MetaQuotes builds the MT5 Manager API for its licensed brokers, not as a public developer product. It is not published with open documentation the way a typical REST API is; access and technical detail are distributed to brokers directly, which is itself a fact worth knowing before planning an integration around it. Through it, a broker's back office or CRM performs server-side operations such as account and group administration, deposits and withdrawals, and reading trading and reporting data, and MetaQuotes' own broker materials describe the platform's back-office layer as covering role-based access, risk management and dealing desk configuration that a CRM integrates against. A firm building on MT5 should expect to go through MetaQuotes or its own broker relationship to get manager-level credentials and documentation, not to find them on a public developer site.
cTrader Open API (and Spotware's other APIs)
Spotware takes the opposite approach on one of its APIs and publishes the cTrader Open API as, in its own words, "a free, secure and public API to build custom trading applications" on cTrader, with documentation at help.ctrader.com covering accounts, symbols and trading messages in detail. Spotware also offers several other APIs for different jobs: a WebServices API with REST endpoints for creating and managing trading accounts and balances over plain HTTP, a Manager's API described as giving brokers full control over server entities to automate back-office operations, a Reporting API for real-time event streams and on-demand snapshots used in analytics and reconciliation, and FIX API connectivity for both liquidity and order routing. A CRM builder on cTrader picks the API that matches the job: Open API for client-facing trading apps, Manager's API for back-office automation, Reporting API for compliance and analytics.
eTrader CRM API
The eTrader CRM API is how a firm's CRM, its own or SGHK's Broker CRM or Prop Firm CRM, connects to eTrader Broker. A firm copies an API key from eTrader Business, follows the API documentation to plug it into the CRM, and accounts and trades start syncing. The API covers accounts and account groups, trading, the eTrader Dealing Desk (including split routing, P/L date ranges and liquidity provider status) and money manager settings for MAM and PAMM. Once connected, trading accounts open directly from the CRM and balances and trades stay in sync without a separate reconciliation step.
| API | Provider | Access model | What it exposes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MT5 Manager API | MetaQuotes | Distributed to licensed brokers, not public documentation | Account and group administration, deposits and withdrawals, trading and reporting data |
| cTrader Open API | Spotware | Free and public, documented at help.ctrader.com | Accounts, symbols, orders and trading data for building client-facing apps |
| cTrader Manager's API | Spotware | For brokers, back-office access | Full control over server entities for automated back-office operations |
| eTrader CRM API | SGHK | API key issued per firm from eTrader Business | Accounts and account groups, trading, Dealing Desk (split routing, P/L, LP status), MAM / PAMM settings |
Why the access model matters as much as the feature list
A public, documented API changes how a firm plans a build. With cTrader's Open API, a developer reads the documentation, gets a sandbox and starts building before any commercial conversation happens. With the MT5 Manager API, the firm has to go through MetaQuotes or its broker relationship first, so the technical planning and the commercial relationship move together, not separately. The eTrader CRM API sits in between: a firm gets the API key and documentation as soon as it is set up in eTrader Business, without a public developer portal, but also without the licensing gate a Manager API requires.
What to check before building against any of these
Whichever API a firm builds against, the same checklist applies. Is the documentation public or does it require a signed agreement first. Is there a demo or sandbox environment to test against before touching live accounts. Does the provider version its API and give notice before a breaking change. Does it support webhooks or does the CRM have to poll for changes. And what happens to existing integrations if the firm ever changes CRM or adds a second platform, since a rebuild from scratch is a real cost most firms underestimate the first time.
For a firm connecting eTrader specifically, the practical answer is that the CRM API documentation and the API key live in the same place, eTrader Business, and SGHK's own Broker CRM and Prop Firm CRM come with eTrader connected before that step is ever needed. See our related guide on broker API trading for how that connection is used day to day, and FIX API explained for the liquidity side these CRM APIs do not cover.
Ask any vendor, ours included, to walk through a live API call before signing. Book a call to see the eTrader CRM API connected to a test CRM.
"An API is a promise about a future you do not control. Read the versioning policy before the feature list."
— The SGHK Team
Key Takeaways
- The MT5 Manager API is distributed by MetaQuotes to licensed brokers rather than published as an open developer product.
- Spotware publishes the cTrader Open API as free and public, alongside separate WebServices, Manager's, Reporting and FIX APIs for different jobs.
- The eTrader CRM API exposes accounts, account groups, trading, the Dealing Desk and money manager settings through a key issued per firm in eTrader Business.
- Access model matters as much as the feature list: a public API lets a developer start building immediately, a licensed API ties the technical and commercial relationship together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the MT5 Manager API publicly documented like the cTrader Open API?
No. MetaQuotes distributes the MT5 Manager API and its documentation to licensed brokers rather than publishing it as an open developer resource, while Spotware publishes the cTrader Open API's documentation at help.ctrader.com for anyone to read.
Can a CRM connect to more than one of these APIs at once?
Yes. Most broker and prop firm CRMs, including SGHK's Broker CRM and Prop Firm CRM, connect to eTrader and to other trading platforms in parallel, so a firm can run more than one platform from one CRM rather than choosing a single API to build against.
What does the eTrader CRM API expose that a Manager API does not?
The eTrader CRM API includes the eTrader Dealing Desk's own settings, such as split routing, P/L by date range and liquidity provider status, and MAM / PAMM money manager settings, because those products are native to eTrader rather than third-party add-ons.
Does using an open API like cTrader's mean less vendor risk?
Public documentation makes a build easier to start, but it does not remove vendor risk on its own. Check the versioning policy, rate limits and how much notice the provider gives before a breaking change, whichever API a firm chooses.
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.