There is no doubt that Metatrader, both in its MT4 and MT5 versions, is one of the most used trading platforms in the world. One of the reasons of Metatrader success is the ability to create custom tools and automations. In this article you will learn the main Metatrader program types.
What Are The Main Metatrader Program Types?
MT4 and MT5 have multiple customization capabilities. You can create your own tools coding in the MQL5, and different tools can serve different purposes.
The main Metatrader program types are three: Expert Advisors, Indicators and Scripts.
They all have different purposes and limitations, let’s see some more details.
If you want to see the official MQL5 documentation you can head to the program types here, but we will cover the important aspects in this article.
Expert Advisors
Expert advisors, also known in short as EAs, are MT5 programs that can automate your trading.
Because they are related to automation they are also commonly called trading “robot” or “bot”.
Expert Advisors can be coded in MQL5 language and can be very powerful tools.
Some of the most common use of MT5 EAs are:
- Strategy automation, that you can use to completely automate entry, exit and management of your trades
- Risk management, to manage positions, move stop losses or execute take profit, even when you are away from the charts
- Feature enhancement, to create special functions that are not available natively in MT5
The main advantage provided by Expert Advisors is that they run 24×7, becoming your “always-on” trading assistant.
The main challenge with Expert Advisors is that they can be complex to code, depending on what you want to achieve.
One limitation of EAs in MT5 is that you can only mount one EA per chart.
Some examples of MT5 Expert Advisors are MT5 One Click Order and MT5 Grid EA.
Indicators
Indicators are likely the second most used MT5 program type.
While indicators cannot open, close and modify trades in the platform, they can still provide significant value.
Indicators are commonly use to process mathematical operations and show data insights.
If you think about technical analysis, some of the most popular components are technical indicators like Moving Averages, RSI, Bollinger Bands.
These are graphical tools that allow traders to visualize and understand price movements in different ways.
Through MT5 Indicators you can create:
- Custom calculations
- Multi timeframe visuals
- Dashboards
- Custom alerts
Indicators, same as EAs, can run 24×7, and can update as new price data comes in.
To repeat the limitation, indicators cannot execute trading operations.
You can mount multiple indicators in a MT5 chart, however they will all share the same computing resource.
Some examples of MT5 indicators are MT5 Position Size Calculator and MT5 Engulfing Detector.
Scripts
Scripts can also be very useful MT5 programs, however they have one main limitation.
MT5 Scripts can execute trading operations, but they only run once one loaded on the chart, and they close once the operation is completed.
You could do the following through a script:
- Submit a batch of orders
- Close all current orders
- Execute a one time calculation
To say it in another way, you can see a script like a single use program.
You may think that scripts aren’t a big deal, but you will find out in your trading journey, that they can be very useful.
What Metatrader Program Type do I use?
You can see that MT5 has different types of programs available.
Now that you know they differences you can understand that the program type you use depends on your end goal.
If you want to visualize collated price data in your custom way, indicator is the way.
If you want to automate your entries and exits to trades, you need an expert advisor.
In case you have a repeated action to perform every now and then, I’d say the script is the right program.
As you learn more about MT5 and MQL5, it will become easier for you to decide the right tool to use.
Summary of Differences Between MT5 Program Types
| Expert Advisor | Indicator | Script | |
| Execution | Continuous | Continuous | Single run |
| Graphical Output | Possible | Possible | Possible |
| Trade Execution | Yes | No | Yes |
| Ideal For | Trading automation | Calculations/Price insights | One-time tasks |
| Limitation | One EA per chart | No trade execution | Single run |
Conclusion
In this article you learned more about the Metatrader Program Types and their differences. You need to pick the correct type for what you want to achieve and hopefully this helped you.
If you have any feedback or need any support please Contact Us.