Pros and Cons of both platforms
Charting is an essential part of trading. Having a proper platform for conducting an extensive technical analysis can make or break a trader. In this paragraph, we will compare TradingView vs MetaTrader 4 and discuss the pros and cons of both platforms to discover what each of them has to offer. In addition, we'll discuss the differences between MT5 and TradingView. When discussing MetaTrader 4 vs TradingView, it's worth mentioning that both platforms are highly popular and respected among traders.
MT4 pros
MetaTrader 4 has quite a lot of advantages when comparing it to TradingView. These advantages are:
- Direct access to market
- Simplistic but outdated design
- Amazing performance
- Can run on VPS
Let’s further expand the topic below.
Direct access to the market
As already mentioned previously, MT4 allows traders to directly place orders on the market, and no wonder, MetaTrader is a trading platform. Direct access makes high-frequency trading easier. Whereas, using TradingView in combination with other trading platforms is beneficial for position trading, where time for planning and for decision-making is greater.
The time it takes to take all of your analysis from TradingView and place an order on MT4 could be decisive when it comes to frequent intraday trading. Forex is extremely volatile, even one second can change the whole direction of the market. Placing orders straight from your charting platform is extremely convenient.
Simplistic design
MetaTrader 4 is one of the very first trading software programs that is highly reliable and capable. The platform has simplistic design, which makes it seem outdated and less user-friendly, however, the simplicity brings its benefits. For instance, the trading platform is highly reliable. The platform was released in 2005 and was designed for trading currency pairs.
However, when we mention TradingView vs MT4 in terms of design, it is very hard to give MT4 the edge due to how more modern TradingView seems. TradingView has much more modern design, but MT4 is loved by Forex traders today as it brings reliability and simplicity.
Amazing performance
MetaTrader 4's performance has survived the tests of time. It is the most popular platform today for trading Forex. Most brokers are offering this amazing platform to their clients. As we've already mentioned, MT4's simple design provides great performance. The platform still looks very similar to what it looked like in 2005. It's worth mentioning that due to its old age and popularity, the MT4 has the largest pool of trading algorithms called Expert Advisors that are accessible via MetaTrader Marketplace.
MT4 cons
MT4 is not perfect. In addition to looking outdated, there are some more drawbacks:
Lack of indicators
MetaTrader 4 has about 30 built in indicators, that is less than what the majority
of trading platforms are offering today. On the upside, the market is full of both paid and free trading indicators. However, choosing an indicator that works can be a challenge for some. Not all Expert Advisors that are accessible in the market are working properly, and it's always best to conduct research before purchasing or downloading an EA.
When we compare MetaTrader4 and TradingView in terms of indicators, TradingView is obviously the winner due to more advanced indicators available on the platform.
A limited number of instruments
Another disadvantage of MT4 is the number of instruments that one has available for trading. You see, there is no universal MT4 platform. It’s usually tied to the broker you are registered with. If the broker doesn’t have USD/JPY on its platform, then you don’t get to do
charts or analyze that pair. In general, MT4 is built for solely trading currency pairs. Nowadays, you can find brokers that are also offering some indices and other assets as well, however the number is mostly limited.
Timeframes
Which is better, MT4 or TradingView in terms of timeframes? The answer is simple, TradingView has an obvious advantage. MT4 has only 9 timeframes, whereas TradingView has 15.
TradingView pros
Some of TradingView’s advantages include:
- The community
- No registration
- Almost every instrument
The community
One of the biggest advantages that TradingView has over MT4 is its community. In fact, when comparing MT4 vs TradingView, it is impossible not to mention the community. People with lots of experience sometimes make guide posts or just showcase how they conducted research and analyzed the charts. Trading community can greatly improve the skills of novice traders. Having a large trading community not only produces learning opportunities, but also increases traders' motivation.
No registration
Registration is super easy with TradingView. The platform is free to use, however, for accessing more options, indicators and tools, the platform charges traders with monthly subscription fees. TradingView also allows people to make posts about their trades, comment on other posts, and generally take part in the discussion within the community. The most important part is that it is mostly free. The only thing a paid version does is that it adds more tools and capabilities.
Almost every instrument
Another great advantage of TradingView is that it does not have to be associated with a broker. It’s an independent platform that can display charts for any type of asset. Not only does this include almost every currency pair, but also stocks, commodities, bonds,
indices, etc. TradingView is a charting platform that has access to much wider trading instruments than any trading platform.
TradingView cons
On the downside, TradingView is only for charting and doesn't offer order placement capabilities that can offset high frequency traders and scalpers. What's more, TradingView is not as reliable as MetaTrader 4.
Both of these platforms have their advantages and disadvantages, but this does not mean that you have to choose only one. The beauty of these two is that you can use both at the same time. Many traders use TradingView for charting and MetaTrader 4 for order placement.
TradingView compared to MetaTrader 5
MetaTrader 5 vs TradingView is a more fair comparison in terms of charting capabilities. MetaTrader 5 has 21 timeframes. More than 80 built-in technical indicators and analytical tools. The platform is built for multi-asset trading, however, MT5 vs TradingView offers fewer trading instruments and charting tools. On the upside, traders can use the MetaTrader marketplace and download trading algorithms and additional indicators, which is not possible in TradingView. When comparing TradingView vs MetaTrader 5, it's important to note that TradingView can work similarly to MT5 and MT4, meaning, traders can conduct market analysis on TradingView and place orders on MT5. TradingView has access to almost every financial market that is publicly traded today. TradingView is modern looking and much more user-friendly than MetaTrader platforms, however, the MT platforms are highly reliable and have the ability to place orders straight on the charts, which is highly convenient for intraday, high-frequency traders.
When it comes to technical analysis, both platforms offer a decent number of tools and options for custom indicators. While TradingView looks better on paper, it limits the maximum number of indicators on the chart for free users to just 2 which is nowhere near for analyzing markets.
If you happen to catch a nice discount it might work out, but in its current form, MT5 is far more capable. TradingView’s main advantages are a vast base of custom indicators built by its users and offering almost every trading asset and instrument. MT5 depends on the brokers on the other hand, meaning whatever brokers offer to their traders, MT5 will offer only those assets. So, when using MT5 you will have to use the official version to get numerous assets which will require an account registration on the MetaQuotes website, but the majority of brokers offer installation files for MT5. On TradingView, it is possible to browse the website and launch advanced charts called supercharts. However, unlike MT4 and MT5, the number of brokers offering TradingView is extremely limited. MetaTrader 5 got an update for mobile devices and looks much better than previously, making it a truly modern trading app that is simple and intuitive to use. Its design and visuals are appealing now as well, but lacks in the indicators department, which is not the case with the TradingView app, as it has the same large base of indicators similar to desktop and browser versions. Depending on the broker and trader’s budget, both MT5 and TradingView can be a decent option. Since the majority of brokers are offering MT4 and MT5, it may be more beneficial to learn and use any of these software programs instead of TradingView. However, the latter offers many more indicators and can be very helpful for traders who want to pay a little extra for needed features.
TradingView’s dark mode is superior when it comes to visual themes. This can become important if the trader wants to trade at night and finds MT5’s bright interface annoying to their eyes. However, for launching and operating trading robots MT5 is far superior to use.
Overall, MT5 is a robust platform built on the success of MT4 but still not surpassing it in popularity. TradingView offers plenty of advanced features that are super useful for experienced and beginner traders alike but are mostly paid. The choice between the two heavily depends on the trader’s needs. Some traders may find a large database of custom indicators more helpful, while for algorithmic traders the MT5 may be more useful as it offers more automatic trading options. The other argument to consider is the trader’s experience and knowledge of trading platforms. For traders who are heavily reliant on the TradingView custom indicator database, it will be difficult to switch from it to MT5, while for traders who are familiar with the MT5 TradingView may seem an expensive alternative.