MetaTrader 4 (MT4) brokers also controlled the retail FX market. Without any hesitation, that goes. Although brokers are selling their trading tools, many also add MT4 as a fallback alternative to them. I will reflect on the primary drawback of MT4 in this article and suggest two of the better broker alternatives.
The reality that MetaTrader has become a synonym for online currency trading is straightforward. Integrating with a third-party tech vendor is much better than designing a platform from scratch. MT4 comes with a couple of clear weak points, though.
Lack of new features
Repetitive tasks, often, may become very stressful. That’s why many businesses delivering a solely online experience also come up with numerous changes. New additions allow things more fun and interactive for consumers. For starters, if you take a look at poker rooms, different tournaments and additional features are launched almost weekly. MT4 gets notifications very occasionally, though.
Lack of support
Today’s retail FX industry varies entirely from what it used to be a decade back. A broker needs to appeal to machine traders who have far higher aspirations. Until 2015, only Windows users had access to MT4. There was no forum focused on the internet. Therefore, both OSX and Linux users had to deal with the MT4 installation or use a brokerage that provided a more comfortable way to sell. Even today, when the online trading edition MT4 is available, its desktop equivalent is still much lower and can hardly be used for any serious trading. On top of that, there is no native OSX support yet.
Lack of focus
MetaQuotes (MQ), the maker of MT4, launched the newest platform, MetaTrader 5 (MT5), six years ago. Since then, MQ has tried to achieve two tasks simultaneously: 1) render MT5 approved by brokers and 2) expand the selection of MT4 functionality. Can a corporation concentrate on concurrently producing two related products? I scarcely question it.
Lack of independence
What is there more to this? Ok, if the brokerage’s only tech provider is MQ, there is little bargaining leverage remaining. There is nothing you can do if, one day, MQ chooses to impose an extra cost for an active customer. Even if a broker is one of the biggest, without sacrificing any substantial share of the revenues, MQ will quickly destroy its company. This is another reason you no longer see MT4 as the main forum for the top 10 biggest brokers.
Close-minded Policy
The platform is firmly isolated from the useful roles of modern times. Is it Apple or Microsoft that makes your laptop useful? Quite definitely not. The software that you should run on your operating systems has been used in the past to provide the most significant value. Millions of websites and network networks make the hardware useful in modern times. Your operating system is meant for a supporting role to run. MQ appears to have a rough time finding this out, unlike Apple and Microsoft. Third-party online trading sites, copy-trading services, upgraded 1-click trading terminals, and more became accessible a couple of years ago. MQ has, though, either prohibited them or restrained them.
Now picture, for a common, but not so useful, website, your brokerage invests tens of thousands in the development of fresh features. And then your brokerage is needed or not permitted to use the elements at all to delete the features from its MT4 distributive.
