MT4 vs MT5: What's the Difference?
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) are the two most widely used retail trading platforms in the world, both developed by MetaQuotes. Almost every international broker — including XM and Exness — offers both. Despite the numbering, MT5 is not simply "MT4 version 2"; they are separate platforms with different strengths.
MT4: The Classic Standard
MT4 was released in 2005 and became the industry standard for forex trading. Its main strengths today are simplicity and its enormous ecosystem: thousands of custom indicators and automated trading programs (Expert Advisors, or EAs) have been written for MT4 in its MQL4 language over nearly two decades. If you plan to use a specific EA or indicator that only exists for MT4, that alone decides the question.
MT5: The Modern Platform
MT5, released in 2010, is faster and more capable. The key differences:
- More timeframes: 21 chart timeframes versus 9 in MT4.
- More order types: 6 pending order types versus 4.
- More markets: MT5 was built to handle stocks, futures and other exchange-traded instruments in addition to forex and CFDs.
- Depth of Market (DOM): MT5 can display order book data where the broker provides it.
- Better performance: MT5 is 64-bit and multi-threaded, making backtesting far faster.
- Economic calendar built into the platform.
MT5 uses the MQL5 programming language, which is not compatible with MQL4 — an MT4 EA cannot run on MT5 without being rewritten.
Which Should You Choose?
For most new traders in 2026, MT5 is the sensible default: it is actively developed, faster, and supports more markets. Choose MT4 only if you have a specific reason — usually a particular EA, indicator or copy trading service that requires it. Since brokers like XM and Exness offer both platforms on the same account infrastructure, switching later is possible, although positions do not transfer between platforms.
Trying Them Without Risk
Both platforms are free, and both XM and Exness offer demo accounts on MT4 and MT5. Opening a demo of each and spending a week with the charts is the most reliable way to find which interface suits you. See our XM review and Exness review for platform details.