[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":987},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker":3,"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker-related":160},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"category":144,"date":145,"description":146,"draft":147,"extension":148,"meta":149,"navigation":147,"path":150,"related":151,"seo":156,"stem":157,"term":158,"updated":145,"__hash__":159},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker.md","What Is TradeLocker? The Prop Firm Platform, Explained",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":136},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,32,49,52,56,59,67,71,74,77,81,88,101,105,128],[10,11,12],"p",{},"TradeLocker is a browser-based trading platform licensed to brokers and prop firms, who put their own brand on it and issue it to clients instead of a desktop terminal. If your firm gave you a login to a trading screen that runs in a tab and carries their logo rather than a MetaQuotes one, it is very likely TradeLocker underneath.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"how-it-works","How it works",[10,19,20],{},"There is no terminal to install and no MQL layer. The platform runs in the browser and everything reaches it over a REST API and a websocket stream, which is the reason it appeared and the reason it spread through the prop firm market so quickly: a firm can hand a new client a working account through a link, with no download, no VPS and no installer to support.",[22,23,28],"pre",{"className":24,"code":26,"language":27},[25],"language-text","Browser (or the firm's white-labelled app)\n    ↕ REST + websocket\nTradeLocker infrastructure\n    ↕\nBroker or prop firm liquidity and account records\n","text",[29,30,26],"code",{"__ignoreMap":31},"",[10,33,34,35,38,39,42,43,48],{},"Authentication is by email, password and server name, and every request against ",[29,36,37],{},"\u002Ftrade\u002F*"," carries an ",[29,40,41],{},"accNum"," header identifying which of your accounts it refers to — one login can hold several. There is no read-only credential equivalent to the MetaTrader ",[44,45,47],"a",{"href":46},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-mt4-investor-password","investor password",": the platform issues one set of credentials, and a tracker that connects has to hold them.",[10,50,51],{},"That is a real difference and worth stating plainly rather than glossing. On ShowMyTrades the password is encrypted server-side with AES-256-CBC before storage and is never returned to the browser, and the connection only ever reads. But the credential model is the platform's, not ours, and it is stricter on MetaTrader.",[14,53,55],{"id":54},"why-it-matters","Why it matters",[10,57,58],{},"Prop firm traders have been in an odd position. An evaluation or a funded account is exactly the kind of record worth publishing — it is recent, it is rule-bound, and someone else has already checked it — and until now there has been no way to publish it at all, because no tracking service reads TradeLocker.",[10,60,61,62,66],{},"The consequence is a whole population of traders whose only proof is a screenshot of their firm's dashboard, which is the weakest form of evidence there is. See ",[44,63,65],{"href":64},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-verified-track-record","what a verified track record is"," for why that matters more than it sounds.",[14,68,70],{"id":69},"what-the-data-shows","What the data shows",[10,72,73],{},"TradeLocker is the newest platform on ShowMyTrades, live here since July 2026, alongside MT4, MT5 and cTrader.",[10,75,76],{},"The figure that matters is not ours, it is everyone else's: no other track record service in this category reads a TradeLocker account at all. For a trader on a prop firm that issues it, the choice is not between platforms — it is between a public record and none.",[14,78,80],{"id":79},"where-you-see-it-on-showmytrades","Where you see it on ShowMyTrades",[10,82,83,84,87],{},"A TradeLocker account carries the id prefix ",[29,85,86],{},"tlk-"," and produces the same public page as any other: stats panel, charts viewer, monthly returns, currency pair breakdown, and the verification badges in the header. Profit, commission and swap come from the platform's own closed-trade history rather than being derived, so the cost lines are the real ones.",[10,89,90,91,95,96,100],{},"Two absences, for the same reason as ",[44,92,94],{"href":93},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader","cTrader",": no terminal diagnostics, because there is no terminal, and no ",[44,97,99],{"href":98},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-magic-number","magic numbers",", because the platform has no MQL layer to stamp them. Where a numeric strategy id is present it is mapped into the magic number field; where it is not, trades land in the Manual bucket.",[14,102,104],{"id":103},"common-misunderstandings","Common misunderstandings",[106,107,108,116,122],"ul",{},[109,110,111,115],"li",{},[112,113,114],"strong",{},"\"TradeLocker is a broker.\""," It is not, and it holds no money. It is the software your broker or prop firm licensed, the same relationship MetaQuotes has with MetaTrader.",[109,117,118,121],{},[112,119,120],{},"\"My firm built this themselves.\""," Most did not. The white-labelling is thorough enough that many traders never learn the platform's name until they go looking for a tracker that supports it.",[109,123,124,127],{},[112,125,126],{},"\"An EA will run on it.\""," No. There is no MQL runtime. Automation happens through the API, not through a program dropped into a terminal folder.",[10,129,130,131,135],{},"If your firm runs TradeLocker, ",[44,132,134],{"href":133},"\u002Ftradelocker-tracking","TradeLocker tracking"," covers what connecting one involves and what ends up on the public page.",{"title":31,"searchDepth":137,"depth":137,"links":138},2,[139,140,141,142,143],{"id":16,"depth":137,"text":17},{"id":54,"depth":137,"text":55},{"id":69,"depth":137,"text":70},{"id":79,"depth":137,"text":80},{"id":103,"depth":137,"text":104},"Platforms","2026-08-20T00:00:00.000Z","TradeLocker is the browser platform many prop firms issue instead of MetaTrader. How it works, why it exists, and how a track record gets published from one.",true,"md",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker",[152,153,154,155],"what-is-metatrader","what-is-ctrader","what-is-a-prop-firm","what-is-a-funded-account",{"title":5,"description":146},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-tradelocker","TradeLocker","9MR2iPdazMbR9_jtudY9MLf0A3R6oT5WgsumnsfSnqw",[161,376,576,702],{"id":162,"title":163,"body":164,"category":363,"date":364,"description":365,"draft":147,"extension":148,"meta":366,"navigation":147,"path":367,"related":368,"seo":372,"stem":373,"term":374,"updated":364,"__hash__":375},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account.md","What Is a Funded Account in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":165,"toc":356},[166,174,176,187,190,196,208,214,217,219,227,230,232,244,259,270,272,275,302,315,321,323,349],[10,167,168,169,173],{},"A funded account is a trading account whose capital belongs to a firm — in the retail market, a ",[44,170,172],{"href":171},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm","prop firm"," — rather than to the trader using it, operated under written risk rules and a profit split. The trader holds a mandate, not ownership: no right to withdraw the capital, no discretion to exceed the limits, and no account once a limit is broken. Everything else follows from that.",[14,175,17],{"id":16},[10,177,178,179,182,183,186],{},"There are normally two phases governed by the same rulebook. The ",[112,180,181],{},"evaluation"," is a paid attempt on a simulated account of a stated size, ending when the profit target is reached, a risk limit is breached, or a time window expires. The ",[112,184,185],{},"funded"," phase begins after a pass. The rules do not relax — usually they are identical or tighter — but realised profit is now split, typically in the trader's favour, and paid on a defined cycle.",[10,188,189],{},"Two families of rule decide the outcome, and they fail in different ways.",[22,191,194],{"className":192,"code":193,"language":27},[25],"Loss limits       daily floor, reset each session\n                  total floor, static or trailing, never reset\nConsistency rule  largest day's profit \u002F total profit \u003C= cap\n",[29,195,193],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,197,198,199,202,203,207],{},"The ",[112,200,201],{},"loss limits"," are hard stops. A trailing total floor moves up with every new equity peak — it ratchets in one direction only — so a good week leaves less room than the week before it, and an account can be closed while still showing a profit. The daily floor is the tighter of the two and is tested every session; it has its own entry, the ",[44,204,206],{"href":205},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit","daily drawdown limit",".",[10,209,198,210,213],{},[112,211,212],{},"consistency rule"," is discussed less and removes more traders than most expect. It caps how much of total profit may come from one day or trade, on the reasoning that a single outsized position is not repeatable. A candidate can hit the target, break no loss limit, and still fail because 60% of the gain arrived in one afternoon.",[10,215,216],{},"Around these sit smaller conditions: a minimum number of trading days, rules on holding through scheduled news or over the weekend, scaling plans that raise the allocation after consecutive payouts. All are contract terms and vary.",[14,218,55],{"id":54},[10,220,221,222,226],{},"A funded account converts risk management from a preference into a pass\u002Ffail test. On your own account a 15% ",[44,223,225],{"href":224},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown","drawdown"," is unpleasant and recoverable. On a funded account with a 10% floor the same path is terminal: the recovery never happens, because there is no account left to recover in.",[10,228,229],{},"Which is why the figures a firm cares about are rarely the ones a results page leads with. Return is the headline; the depth and the daily shape of the decline decide whether the mandate survives.",[14,231,70],{"id":69},[10,233,234,235,238,239,243],{},"Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history, ",[112,236,237],{},"38.2%"," have at some point been ",[44,240,242],{"href":241},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-maximum-drawdown","more than 20% below their peak",". Measured against 20% — looser than almost any retail rulebook — close to four in ten would already have failed, and these were trading with no rulebook at all, where nothing forced a position closed. These figures describe accounts published here, not traders in general.",[10,245,246,250,251,254,255,258],{},[44,247,249],{"href":248},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-recovery-factor","The returns those risks bought",": median time-weighted return ",[112,252,253],{},"+3.2%",", with ",[112,256,257],{},"63.0%"," of accounts positive. The constraint, not the return, is what most candidates run into first.",[10,260,261,264,265,269],{},[112,262,263],{},"37"," accounts here are ",[44,266,268],{"href":267},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-unlisted-account","unlisted"," — published at their own link but kept out of every listing, which is the setting a candidate uses to send a record to a firm without putting it on the site.",[14,271,80],{"id":79},[10,273,274],{},"There is no funded-account module here and no integration with any programme. What the account page provides is the measurement.",[10,276,198,277,280,281,284,285,288,289,293,294,297,298,301],{},[112,278,279],{},"Account Stats"," panel shows ",[112,282,283],{},"Drawdown",", computed on equity so floating losses on open positions are included, next to ",[112,286,287],{},"DD on Balance",", computed on closed trades only. That pair matters here more than anywhere: rulebooks generally measure on equity, so a strategy that holds losers open reads well on ",[44,290,292],{"href":291},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-drawdown-on-balance","drawdown on balance"," and fails on the first figure. The same panel carries ",[112,295,296],{},"Avg Daily %"," and ",[112,299,300],{},"Avg Monthly %",", the baselines a consistency rule measures a standout day against.",[10,303,198,304,306,307,310,311,314],{},[112,305,283],{}," view in the charts panel plots, day by day, how far equity sat below the running peak balance — the shape a total or trailing floor reads. For the consistency question, the ",[112,308,309],{},"Monthly Returns"," table shows whether gain is spread or concentrated, and its ",[112,312,313],{},"Calendar"," view resolves that to individual days.",[10,316,317,318,320],{},"Visibility is set per account: published, private, or ",[112,319,268],{}," — reachable by direct link and excluded from listings. Owners can also hide individual modules, so a page missing a section is a choice rather than an absence of data.",[14,322,104],{"id":103},[106,324,325,331,337,343],{},[109,326,327,330],{},[112,328,329],{},"\"Once funded, the money is mine.\""," It is the firm's throughout. Only the paid-out share of realised profit becomes yours.",[109,332,333,336],{},[112,334,335],{},"\"The funded phase is easier than the evaluation.\""," The limits are usually the same or tighter. What changes is that failing now costs an income stream rather than a fee.",[109,338,339,342],{},[112,340,341],{},"\"I only need to avoid the daily limit.\""," The total floor ends most accounts, and a trailing one tightens as you win.",[109,344,345,348],{},[112,346,347],{},"\"A big winning day is progress.\""," Under a consistency rule it can be the reason a payout is refused.",[10,350,351,352,207],{},"For how these limits behave over a full account history: ",[44,353,355],{"href":354},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmaximum-drawdown-explained","maximum drawdown explained",{"title":31,"searchDepth":137,"depth":137,"links":357},[358,359,360,361,362],{"id":16,"depth":137,"text":17},{"id":54,"depth":137,"text":55},{"id":69,"depth":137,"text":70},{"id":79,"depth":137,"text":80},{"id":103,"depth":137,"text":104},"Brokers","2026-08-19T00:00:00.000Z","A funded account is capital owned by a firm and traded under a rulebook. Evaluation versus funded phase, the rules that end accounts, and real drawdown data.",{},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account",[154,369,370,371],"what-is-drawdown","what-is-drawdown-on-balance","what-is-an-unlisted-account",{"title":163,"description":365},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-funded-account","Funded Account","PK9Bug0k0UWhLwdsDy5-ftt0_ePtaAWrUqi7ezUXdjw",{"id":377,"title":378,"body":379,"category":363,"date":364,"description":566,"draft":147,"extension":148,"meta":567,"navigation":147,"path":171,"related":568,"seo":572,"stem":573,"term":574,"updated":364,"__hash__":575},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm.md","What Is a Prop Firm in Trading?",{"type":7,"value":380,"toc":559},[381,384,386,393,396,402,408,411,414,416,424,427,429,454,457,473,475,478,488,504,524,526,552],[10,382,383],{},"A proprietary trading firm — a prop firm — puts its own capital at risk through traders rather than managing money for outside clients. The trader supplies the decisions and receives a share of the profit; the firm supplies the capital and writes the rules that cap its loss. In the retail form that has grown since the 2010s, access comes through a paid evaluation rather than through employment.",[14,385,17],{"id":16},[10,387,388,389,392],{},"The retail model has two stages. A candidate pays a fee to attempt an evaluation on a simulated account of a stated size, reaching a profit target without breaking a risk rule. Passing leads to a ",[44,390,391],{"href":367},"funded account"," under the same rulebook, where realised profit is split between trader and firm.",[10,394,395],{},"Three limits do almost all of the failing, and only one of them is the target.",[22,397,400],{"className":398,"code":399,"language":27},[25],"Daily loss limit     = day's opening balance (or equity) x daily %\nStatic total limit   = initial balance x total %\nTrailing total limit = high-water mark x total %\n",[29,401,399],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,403,198,404,407],{},[44,405,406],{"href":205},"daily loss limit"," resets each session, so it constrains a single day's damage. The total limit is a floor under the account's whole life. Whether that floor is static or trailing changes the rule entirely: a trailing floor rises with every new equity peak, so profits tighten the constraint instead of loosening it, and a trader can be removed while still up on the account.",[10,409,410],{},"Secondary conditions usually include a minimum number of trading days, restrictions around scheduled news, limits on holding through the weekend, and a consistency rule capping how much of total profit may come from one day or trade. Profit splits commonly favour the trader; the figure, the payout cycle and any scaling plan are contract terms.",[10,412,413],{},"A prop firm is not a broker. The account belongs to the firm, the trader has no title to the capital, and most retail programmes simulate a broker feed rather than routing to the market. Which firms are sound, and how a programme is regulated, is not something a glossary can settle: read the contract and check the entity behind it.",[14,415,55],{"id":54},[10,417,418,419,423],{},"The rulebook inverts what most traders optimise for. On a personal account a deep drawdown is survivable if the strategy recovers. Under a prop rulebook, touching the limit ends the account regardless of what would have happened next: path beats outcome, which puts ",[44,420,422],{"href":421},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-position-sizing","position sizing"," and daily loss discipline ahead of entry quality.",[10,425,426],{},"The fee changes the incentive too: a candidate who has paid for an attempt is under pressure to reach a target inside a window, and that pressure produces oversized positions.",[14,428,70],{"id":69},[10,430,431,432,434,435,438,439,442,443,446,447,449,450,453],{},"The drawdown distribution across accounts published on ShowMyTrades shows how binding these limits are. Median deepest ",[44,433,225],{"href":224}," is ",[112,436,437],{},"9.7%",". Only ",[112,440,441],{},"38.5%"," of accounts have stayed under 5% ",[44,444,445],{"href":241},"peak-to-trough"," for their entire life, ",[112,448,237],{}," have gone past 20%, and ",[112,451,452],{},"17.6%"," past 50%. These figures describe the public accounts here with trading history, not traders in general.",[10,455,456],{},"Put plainly: at least 38.2% of these accounts would have breached any total loss limit set at 20% or tighter, and almost every retail rulebook is tighter than 20%. They were trading with no rulebook at all, where a deep drawdown is an inconvenience rather than a termination.",[10,458,459,460,463,464,467,468,472],{},"Running several accounts at once is normal here: ",[112,461,462],{},"699"," users have more than one account connected and ",[112,465,466],{},"429"," trade across more than one broker. ",[44,469,471],{"href":470},"\u002Fguides\u002Ftracking-multiple-accounts-portfolio","Keeping an evaluation, a funded account and a personal account side by side"," is the ordinary case.",[14,474,80],{"id":79},[10,476,477],{},"ShowMyTrades does not run prop-firm programmes and has no module that tracks evaluation rules. What it provides is the evidence a candidate needs in order to document performance.",[10,479,198,480,280,482,484,485,487],{},[112,481,279],{},[112,483,283],{},", measured on equity so floating losses on open positions count, next to ",[112,486,287],{},", measured on closed trades only. Most rulebooks measure on equity, so the first is the figure that maps to a limit.",[10,489,198,490,492,493,497,498,500,501,503],{},[112,491,283],{}," view in the charts panel plots, for each day, how far equity sat below the account's running peak balance. That is the shape a ",[494,495,496],"em",{},"total"," or trailing limit reads, not a daily one — for day-level detail, the ",[112,499,313],{}," view of the ",[112,502,309],{}," table shows each individual day's result, and Monthly Returns is also where a consistency rule becomes checkable.",[10,505,506,507,297,512,515,516,519,520,523],{},"The header carries what a firm can check independently: the ",[44,508,509],{"href":64},[112,510,511],{},"Track Record",[112,513,514],{},"Trading Privileges"," badges, green when granted, alongside ",[112,517,518],{},"Real Account"," or ",[112,521,522],{},"Demo Account"," and the account's autotrading share.",[14,525,104],{"id":103},[106,527,528,534,540,546],{},[109,529,530,533],{},[112,531,532],{},"\"Passing an evaluation means the capital is mine.\""," It never is. It remains the firm's, under the same rules, and the account can be closed for a rule breach at any point.",[109,535,536,539],{},[112,537,538],{},"\"A trailing drawdown works like a normal drawdown.\""," It does not. It follows equity upward, so a profitable week can leave less room than the week before it.",[109,541,542,545],{},[112,543,544],{},"\"The profit target is the hard part.\""," The loss limits are. Targets are usually reachable; the limits remove candidates who would have reached them.",[109,547,548,551],{},[112,549,550],{},"\"Simulated capital means simulated results.\""," The decisions and the risk discipline are real, and so is a record of them. Only the fills are not.",[10,553,554,555,207],{},"For how a record like this is read by someone who did not produce it: ",[44,556,558],{"href":557},"\u002Fguides\u002Fverified-vs-unverified-track-records","verified vs unverified track records",{"title":31,"searchDepth":137,"depth":137,"links":560},[561,562,563,564,565],{"id":16,"depth":137,"text":17},{"id":54,"depth":137,"text":55},{"id":69,"depth":137,"text":70},{"id":79,"depth":137,"text":80},{"id":103,"depth":137,"text":104},"A prop firm puts its own capital at risk through traders under a rulebook. How evaluations, profit splits and loss limits work, and what real drawdowns show.",{},[155,569,570,571],"what-is-a-daily-drawdown-limit","what-is-position-sizing","what-is-a-track-record",{"title":378,"description":566},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-prop-firm","Prop Firm","PzDE4KdbNDkjttAPE6kUyqbcj4czhI_BPUQrAJsKcTg",{"id":577,"title":578,"body":579,"category":144,"date":145,"description":693,"draft":147,"extension":148,"meta":694,"navigation":147,"path":93,"related":695,"seo":699,"stem":700,"term":94,"updated":145,"__hash__":701},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader.md","What Is cTrader? The Platform and How Tracking Works",{"type":7,"value":580,"toc":686},[581,589,591,594,600,611,618,620,623,629,631,634,637,639,650,656,658,678],[10,582,583,584,588],{},"cTrader is a trading platform built by Spotware and licensed to brokers, in the same arrangement MetaTrader uses: the broker runs the server, you run the client. It is the main alternative to ",[44,585,587],{"href":586},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader","MetaTrader"," for retail forex and CFD accounts, and it is usually chosen by brokers who want to advertise their execution model rather than hide it.",[14,590,17],{"id":16},[10,592,593],{},"Three parts, as with any platform of this kind, but the split is different.",[22,595,598],{"className":596,"code":597,"language":27},[25],"cTrader Desktop \u002F Web \u002F Mobile   ← charts, cBots, client-side logic\n    ↕ FIX or Open API\nBroker server                    ← order matching, positions, balance\ncAlgo (C#)                       ← the language cBots and indicators are written in\n",[29,599,597],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,601,602,603,606,607,610],{},"Two differences matter in practice. Automation is written in ",[112,604,605],{},"C#"," rather than MQL, which brings a mainstream language and a debugger with it. And cTrader is ",[112,608,609],{},"position-based",": several orders on the same symbol merge into one position with one average price, where MT4 keeps every ticket separate. That single design choice changes how you count trades, and therefore how win rate, average trade length and volume are calculated on any record built from a cTrader account.",[10,612,613,614,617],{},"Access for third parties runs through the ",[112,615,616],{},"cTrader Open API"," with OAuth2 authorisation. You are sent to cTrader, you approve the connection there, and the tracking service receives a token. No password is handed over, and you can revoke the token from your cTrader account at any time — the tracker cannot place, modify or close an order with it.",[14,619,55],{"id":54},[10,621,622],{},"If you trade on cTrader and want a public track record, the platform choice has until recently been a dead end. The two best known tracking sites grew up around MetaTrader and neither connects a cTrader account, so the usual advice — connect it somewhere and send the link — was not available to you at all.",[10,624,625,626,628],{},"The OAuth route is also the cleanest of the credential models in this category. A read-only ",[44,627,47],{"href":46}," is safe but permanent until you change it; an OAuth token is revocable from the platform's own settings, without touching your trading credentials.",[14,630,70],{"id":69},[10,632,633],{},"ShowMyTrades connects MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradeLocker, and the cTrader accounts here carry exactly the same public page as the MetaTrader ones: broker-synced, verified, embeddable.",[10,635,636],{},"That is the whole point, and it is a short one. The two best known trackers in this category do not read cTrader at all, so a cTrader trader who wants a public record has had nowhere to put it.",[14,638,80],{"id":79},[10,640,641,642,645,646,649],{},"A cTrader account carries the id prefix ",[29,643,644],{},"ctr-"," and appears exactly like any other: the same stats panel, the same charts viewer, the same monthly returns table, the same ",[44,647,648],{"href":64},"verified track record"," badges.",[10,651,652,653,655],{},"Two honest differences. There are no terminal diagnostics — ping, packet retransmission, terminal build — because there is no MetaTrader terminal in the loop to measure. And ",[44,654,99],{"href":98}," do not exist in cTrader as they do in MQL, so every trade arrives in the Manual bucket rather than split by strategy.",[14,657,104],{"id":103},[106,659,660,666,672],{},[109,661,662,665],{},[112,663,664],{},"\"cTrader means better execution.\""," The platform exposes more about execution and is often paired with a raw-spread account, but execution quality belongs to the broker, not to the software. Measure it on your own account rather than assuming it from the logo.",[109,667,668,671],{},[112,669,670],{},"\"A cBot is an EA.\""," Same idea, different language and different runtime. A strategy written in MQL does not run on cTrader without being rewritten.",[109,673,674,677],{},[112,675,676],{},"\"Trade counts should match my MetaTrader record.\""," They will not. Position-based merging means a scale-in that MT4 records as four tickets appears as one position with one average price.",[10,679,680,681,685],{},"Connecting one takes about a minute: see ",[44,682,684],{"href":683},"\u002Fctrader-account-tracking","cTrader account tracking"," for the OAuth flow and what ends up on the page.",{"title":31,"searchDepth":137,"depth":137,"links":687},[688,689,690,691,692],{"id":16,"depth":137,"text":17},{"id":54,"depth":137,"text":55},{"id":69,"depth":137,"text":70},{"id":79,"depth":137,"text":80},{"id":103,"depth":137,"text":104},"cTrader is the main alternative to MetaTrader for retail forex. What it does differently, how OAuth authorisation works, and the real platform split we see.",{},[152,696,697,698],"what-is-an-mt4-investor-password","what-is-order-execution","what-is-a-verified-track-record",{"title":578,"description":693},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-ctrader","xtpx3lcZbxBN632V-c-yfKFtsTMTTwFY9UNJNBXKeSY",{"id":703,"title":704,"body":705,"category":144,"date":364,"description":978,"draft":147,"extension":148,"meta":979,"navigation":147,"path":586,"related":980,"seo":984,"stem":985,"term":587,"updated":364,"__hash__":986},"glossary\u002F5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader.md","What Is MetaTrader? MT4 vs MT5, Explained",{"type":7,"value":706,"toc":971},[707,710,712,715,721,727,730,807,815,817,820,828,830,853,860,862,877,894,905,936,938,964],[10,708,709],{},"MetaTrader is a trading platform built by MetaQuotes and licensed to brokers, who run their own servers and give clients the terminal to install. Two versions are in active use: MetaTrader 4, released in 2005, and MetaTrader 5, released in 2010. MetaTrader is not a broker and holds no money — it is the software layer between you and whichever broker issued your login.",[14,711,17],{"id":16},[10,713,714],{},"Every MetaTrader setup has three parts, and confusing them is the source of most support questions.",[22,716,719],{"className":717,"code":718,"language":27},[25],"Terminal (your PC or VPS)      ← charts, Expert Advisors, client-side logic\n    ↕ round trip measured as ping\nTrade server (your broker)     ← balance, order matching, server-held SL\u002FTP\nMQL (MQL4 or MQL5)             ← the language EAs and indicators are written in\n",[29,720,718],{"__ignoreMap":31},[10,722,723,724,726],{},"You log in with an account number, a server name and a password. There are two passwords against the same account: the master password, which can trade, and the ",[44,725,47],{"href":46},", which is read-only and is the standard credential for third-party verification.",[10,728,729],{},"What actually differs between the versions:",[731,732,733,748],"table",{},[734,735,736],"thead",{},[737,738,739,742,745],"tr",{},[740,741],"th",{},[740,743,744],{},"MT4",[740,746,747],{},"MT5",[749,750,751,763,774,785,796],"tbody",{},[737,752,753,757,760],{},[754,755,756],"td",{},"Language",[754,758,759],{},"MQL4",[754,761,762],{},"MQL5",[737,764,765,768,771],{},[754,766,767],{},"Accounting",[754,769,770],{},"Order-based: one order is one position",[754,772,773],{},"Deal and position based, netting or hedging",[737,775,776,779,782],{},[754,777,778],{},"Timeframes",[754,780,781],{},"9",[754,783,784],{},"21",[737,786,787,790,793],{},[754,788,789],{},"Markets",[754,791,792],{},"Forex and CFDs",[754,794,795],{},"Adds exchange-traded instruments and depth of market",[737,797,798,801,804],{},[754,799,800],{},"Strategy tester",[754,802,803],{},"Single symbol, single thread",[754,805,806],{},"Multi-symbol, multi-threaded, real ticks",[10,808,809,810,814],{},"They are not two versions of one product in any practical sense. MQL4 code does not compile as MQL5, an ",[44,811,813],{"href":812},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-an-expert-advisor","Expert Advisor"," does not port between them, and account history does not move. Migrating means starting a new account.",[14,816,55],{"id":54},[10,818,819],{},"Whichever version you run, the terminal is only the window. Your fills, your spread, your swap and your stop triggers are decided by the broker's trade server, and the same MT5 build produces different results at different brokers.",[10,821,822,823,827],{},"What MetaTrader does give you, and what has made it the default for two decades, is a machine-readable record that a third party can read directly from the broker. That is the whole basis of published ",[44,824,826],{"href":825},"\u002Fglossary\u002Fwhat-is-a-track-record","track records",": a read-only credential, an open feed, and no file the trader gets to edit on the way out.",[14,829,70],{"id":69},[10,831,832,833,836,837,840,841,297,843,845,846,849,850,207],{},"MetaTrader is very nearly the whole market we see. Of the ",[112,834,835],{},"10,000+ accounts connected to ShowMyTrades"," (August 2026), the overwhelming majority run ",[112,838,839],{},"MT4 or MT5",", alongside ",[44,842,94],{"href":93},[44,844,158],{"href":150},". Those accounts reach ",[112,847,848],{},"703 distinct broker servers"," and have produced ",[112,851,852],{},"15,436,464 synchronised trades",[10,854,855,856,859],{},"MT5 outnumbers MT4 by more than four to one here. That is a statement about the accounts arriving on this platform in 2026, not a verdict on either version; plenty of long-running MT4 records are still the better track record on the page. Across the public accounts on ShowMyTrades with trading history (August 2026), the ",[112,857,858],{},"median autotrading share is 99%"," — only possible because both versions run code natively, with no bridge, no API key and no third-party plumbing.",[14,861,80],{"id":79},[10,863,864,865,868,869,868,872,519,874,876],{},"The account header shows the platform as a badge — ",[112,866,867],{},"MetaTrader 4",", ",[112,870,871],{},"MetaTrader 5",[112,873,94],{},[112,875,158],{}," — beside the broker, the account currency, the leverage and the automation split.",[10,878,879,880,297,883,886,887,297,890,893],{},"When you add an account, the connection picker names the difference directly: ",[494,881,882],{},"MetaTrader 4 with EA",[494,884,885],{},"MetaTrader 5 with EA"," are marked recommended because updates are far more frequent, while ",[494,888,889],{},"MetaTrader 4 Direct Connection",[494,891,892],{},"MetaTrader 5 Direct Connection",", both still labelled Beta, sync from the broker using the investor password with nothing installed in your terminal.",[10,895,896,897,900,901,904],{},"That choice changes what the page can show, on either version. Only an EA connection produces the ",[112,898,899],{},"Terminal & Open Charts"," module, where the terminal reports on its own host and link and lists the charts and Expert Advisors currently loaded. On MT4 the same module is titled simply ",[112,902,903],{},"Terminal",", because the MT4 EA does not report the chart list at all — we show nothing rather than claim no charts are open.",[10,906,907,908,912,913,915,916,297,919,922,923,927,928,931,932,935],{},"Verification is version-neutral. The header carries a ",[112,909,910],{},[44,911,511],{"href":64}," badge, green once the read-only investor password is on file, and a ",[112,914,514],{}," badge, green once a pending order carrying your ShowMyTrades user ID in the comment field has been placed. Across the connected accounts, ",[112,917,918],{},"65 hold Track Record Verified",[112,920,921],{},"264 Trading Privileges Verified",". ",[44,924,926],{"href":925},"\u002Fguides\u002Fmagic-numbers-and-strategy-labels","Per-strategy reporting"," in ",[112,929,930],{},"Breakdown Statistics → By Magic Number"," is an MT4 and MT5 capability, because the ",[44,933,934],{"href":98},"magic number"," field is a MetaTrader concept.",[14,937,104],{"id":103},[106,939,940,946,952,958],{},[109,941,942,945],{},[112,943,944],{},"\"MetaTrader is my broker.\""," It is software your broker licenses. Deposits, withdrawals, spreads and execution are the broker's, and complaints go to them.",[109,947,948,951],{},[112,949,950],{},"\"MT5 is MT4 with more features.\""," It is a rewrite. EAs, indicators and scripts have to be rebuilt, which is why many working systems never moved.",[109,953,954,957],{},[112,955,956],{},"\"MT5 does not allow hedging.\""," It supports both netting and hedging; which one applies is set by the broker when the account is opened, and it cannot be changed afterwards.",[109,959,960,963],{},[112,961,962],{},"\"The platform decides my fills.\""," The trade server does. Two terminals of the same build, on two brokers, will not fill the same order the same way.",[10,965,966,967,207],{},"To turn a MetaTrader login into a record other people can check: ",[44,968,970],{"href":969},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-to-verify-your-account","how to verify your trading account",{"title":31,"searchDepth":137,"depth":137,"links":972},[973,974,975,976,977],{"id":16,"depth":137,"text":17},{"id":54,"depth":137,"text":55},{"id":69,"depth":137,"text":70},{"id":79,"depth":137,"text":80},{"id":103,"depth":137,"text":104},"MetaTrader is the platform most retail forex accounts run on. What separates MT4 from MT5, what the investor password does, and the real platform split we see.",{},[696,981,982,983,153],"what-is-an-expert-advisor","what-is-a-magic-number","what-is-a-vps",{"title":704,"description":978},"5.glossary\u002Fwhat-is-metatrader","MKdDWOKBnGlWX-ZwLgaS8-7RFBIRZWEdssYltOPR2Z8",1787415695325]