MetaTrader 4 (MT4) — why the older terminal has not gone away · Nigeria
Three things hold MetaTrader 4 in place: work already built inside it, a market used to it, and two decades of ready-made material written for it. All three are inherited — so which of them mean anything to someone choosing today from nothing?
Open Exness Account →MetaTrader 4 is still listed beside MetaTrader 5, and not because it is the newer or the larger of the two. Three things accumulated around it over two decades: workspaces built inside it, a market accustomed to it, and a large stock of ready-made material written for it. All three are inherited, and someone opening a first account has inherited none of them — so the reasons the older terminal survives are not the same thing as reasons to start there.
Measured order execution — Standard
How orders actually filled when real market orders were placed on Exness’s MT5 feed — fill time, slippage and rejects by order size:
| Instrument | Order size | Avg fill | Avg slippage | Fails |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSDm | 0.01 lot | 151 ms | -0.333 pts | 0 |
| EURUSDm | 0.1 lot | 151 ms | -0.333 pts | 0 |
| EURUSDm | 1.0 lot | 146 ms | -0.333 pts | 0 |
| GBPUSDm | 0.01 lot | 141 ms | 0.667 pts | 0 |
| GBPUSDm | 0.1 lot | 130 ms | 0.0 pts | 0 |
| GBPUSDm | 1.0 lot | 135 ms | 0.333 pts | 0 |
| XAUUSDm | 0.01 lot | 141 ms | 0.0 pts | 0 |
| XAUUSDm | 0.1 lot | 151 ms | 80.0 pts | 0 |
| XAUUSDm | 1.0 lot | 130 ms | -72.333 pts | 0 |
Small sample (a few round-trips per size); indicative. The same pricing engine feeds every platform the broker offers.
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) at Exness
- MetaTrader 4 has been published since 2005, which is why so much outside material — indicator files, templates, written walkthroughs, forum answers — was produced for it specifically.
- A workspace built in MetaTrader 4 does not move to MetaTrader 5 as files: templates and custom indicators are written against one terminal and are rebuilt for the other.
- Brokers keep the older terminal on the list because clients ask for it, and clients keep asking partly because it is on the list — a loop that is not a property of the software.
- It connects to any Exness account type — Standard, Standard Cent, Pro, Raw Spread and Zero — on Windows, macOS, the MT4 WebTerminal and the MT4 mobile app, so staying with it costs nothing in access.
- None of those reasons has arrived yet for someone opening a first account: no accumulated workspace, no habit, no inherited add-on to keep running.
The four entries, read as working environments
| Platform | Pricing model | Suited to | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|
| MetaTrader 5 | Spread (+ commission on Raw/Zero) | A wide setup: several markets and several charts at once | Windows, Mac, Web, iOS, Android |
| MetaTrader 4 | Spread (+ commission on Raw/Zero) | An inherited setup: material and add-ons already written for it | Windows, Mac, Web, iOS, Android |
| Exness Terminal | Spread (+ commission on Raw/Zero) | A machine that installs nothing; the setup is rebuilt each visit | Any modern web browser |
| Exness Trade app | Spread (+ commission on Raw/Zero) | A phone-sized view, kept current by the phone store | iOS, Android |
The pricing column belongs to the account type rather than to the program, which is why the four rows repeat it. What genuinely differs between the rows is the working environment each one gives and how much of it has to be rebuilt on a second machine.
Getting the older terminal onto a machine
The MetaTrader 4 installer is fetched from the Personal Area area once an account exists (how that is opened), and it can be opened first on a free demo — which is the cheap way to find out whether the older terminal is being chosen for a reason or out of the material that came with it.
Open Exness Account →What actually keeps an older terminal in place
Accumulated work does not port. A chart template, a saved profile or a custom indicator is written against one terminal and stays there. Anyone holding years of that material has a real reason to keep the program that reads it, and the reason grows with the size of the pile rather than with anything the program does.
The material outside the program is larger than the program. Two decades of written walkthroughs, forum answers and ready-made add-ons were produced for MetaTrader 4 while it was the default choice. That stock does not vanish when a newer terminal appears; it keeps the older one on the path of least resistance for anyone following an existing guide.
Supply follows demand and then sustains it. The terminal stays on download lists because clients ask for it, and clients keep asking partly because it is on the list. That loop says nothing about the software and is the least transferable of the three reasons.
Which of those reasons survives a first account
Sort the three by whether they apply to someone who has never opened a terminal. Accumulated work: none exists, so the strongest reason scores zero. Existing familiarity: none either, so the second scores zero. Ready-made material: this one partly survives, because the stock written for the older terminal is genuinely larger, and following a guide inside the terminal it was written for is easier than adapting it.
That is the honest answer to the question underneath this page. Two of the three reasons MetaTrader 4 is still here are other people's reasons. The third is worth something at the start and worth a little less each year, as new material is written for the newer terminal instead.
What is the same either way
MetaTrader 4 connects to any Exness account type and runs on Windows, macOS, the MT4 WebTerminal and the MT4 mobile app. Whichever terminal is opened, the account behind it is the same one, and moving later does not mean opening another.
Conditions and instrument availability follow the account type rather than the program, so the choice between the two terminals is a choice of working environment. That is what makes it a low-stakes decision and a poor place to spend a week.
Deciding today, starting from nothing
- Count what would be carried over. Templates, indicator files, saved profiles. If the count is zero, the strongest argument for the older terminal does not apply at all.
- Check what the guide being followed was written for. Material written for MetaTrader 4 is easier to follow inside MetaTrader 4, and screenshots that do not match the screen cost more time than the difference between the programs.
- Confirm the decision is reversible. Both terminals connect to the same account types, so starting on one and moving later costs the setup rather than the account.
- Discount the popularity argument. How many other people keep a terminal open changes nothing about how it behaves on one desk.
Either terminal is downloaded from the account area once an account exists, or opened first on a free demo.
Reasons MetaTrader 4 persists, scored for a first account
| Reason it stays in place | Whose reason it is | Worth to someone starting from nothing |
|---|---|---|
| Existing workspaces, templates and indicator files | Anyone holding years of material inside it | None: there is nothing to carry across |
| Familiarity across the market | Desks and traders already in it daily | None: no habit exists yet |
| A large stock of guides and ready-made add-ons written for it | Anyone following existing written material | Partial, and shrinking as new material targets the newer terminal |
| It is on the download list | The download list | None: availability is not a reason |
Read the third column first. Two of the four rows are worth nothing to a first account, which is most of the answer to whether the older terminal should be the starting point.