Top 5 Best Forex Trading Platforms of 2023

The forex trading journey offers many challenges and profits. Traders understand the importance of choosing the best forex trading platform. Traders understand the importance of selecting the best forex trading platform. With many options available, each offering unique features, selecting the ideal platform can be difficult.

The Forex market is the largest and most liquid market on Earth, with a daily trading volume of over $6.6 trillion.

In this guide, we will compare the Top Five Forex Trading Platforms of 2023 according to their user interfaces, the number of technical indicators they provide, order execution speed, customer service, and all other essential details that make them unique.

By the end of this article, you’ll understand the pros and cons of each trading platform, helping you choose the one that best fits your trading goals.

List Of The Best Forex Trading Platforms

1. MetaTrader5
2. MetaTrader4
3. cTrader
4. TradeView
5. Thinkorswim

• MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

MetaQuotes developed MetaTrader 5, the leading FX marketing platform known for its stability and advanced features.

MetaQuotes is a global leader in financial software, with its initial trading software introduced in 2000. MetaTrader 4 quickly became the most popular trading platform.

It had more features than MetaTrader 4, letting users trade in more types of financial markets, including Forex, Futures, Options, Stocks, and Bonds.

MT5 enhances trading with advanced tools like Elliott Wave analysis and Fibonacci retracement. MQL5 integration enables the creation of efficient trading robots, while mobile accessibility allows traders to manage their trades from anywhere.

On the MQL5 market page, thousands of Experts, Indicators, Libraries, and Utilities are available that we can integrate into the MT5 and MT4 platforms.

User Interface

The Metatrader interface is suitable for beginners and experienced traders. Its fast trade execution and user-friendly design ensure a seamless navigation experience throughout the platform.

The platform includes 38 technical indicators, 44 graphical objects, 21 time frames, news, calendars, articles, and other features that enhance our overall experience.

By default, we get these things in our portfolio – On the left-hand side, first, there is a market watch that includes watchlist symbols, market details, trading, and ticks. (You can integrate Futures, Options, Stocks, and Bonds into the platform.)

Second, we need a navigation section to manage accounts, subscriptions, indicators, EAs, scripts, services, markets, signals, and VPS.

Pros

• Great stability.
• MetaTrader 5 comes with advanced tools and 21 technical indicators.
• It provides good customer support and a well-built community where MetaTrader community members solve our issues.
• Great user interface.
• 21 Multiple timeframes with custom timeframe options.
• Transfer funds between accounts allowed.
• An unlimited number of financial instruments that can be traded on the platform.
• Accessible on every device.
• Huge community on the MetaTrader website.
• MT5 has much faster execution than MT4.
• Almost every broker offers MT5.

Cons

• Due to its advanced tools and features, beginners need help to become familiar with it.
• MetaTrader 5 has a smaller number of EAs in the market compared to MetaTrader 4.

• MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MetaTrader 4 is the most loved trading platform among FX traders; millions of traders prefer it over any other platform. MT4 is primarily based on Forex trading, exclusively designed for trading in the Forex market.

Most Forex Brokers Prefer MT4 Over MT5. Why?

The main reason behind this is its easy-to-use user interface platform, which is familiar to beginners and advanced traders.

Secondly, As we discussed earlier, MT4 is specifically designed for Forex trading. It makes an excellent choice for Forex Broker to give their clients the MT4 version, although brokers can provide other financial instruments in MT4 through CFD. (CFD trading is prohibited in some countries, so be aware.)

MT4 offers similar third-party integration features as MT5 but provides a smoother experience for creating EAs (Expert Advisors).

Due to its simplicity and user-friendliness, MT4 remains a popular and preferred FX trading platform for beginners.

User Interface

MT4 comprises 30 technical indicators, 31 graphical objects, nine timeframes, advanced analysis, and other helpful features.

We can insert and view multiple symbols at once. By default, we get a market watch on the left side, including watchlist symbols, market details, trading, and ticks.

Under that, we get a Navigation tab to manage our accounts, EAs, 3rd party integration, scripts, VPS, tools, and robots market.

Lastly, we can manage our trades, execute trades, receive news of forex, use Mailbox, and many more in the toolbar area.

Pros

• Better Stability.
• Great user interface.
• It provides good customer support and a well-built community.
• 1024 financial instruments are available to trade on the platform.
• Excellent rating on mobile platforms.
• Accessible on every device.
• A wide range of EAs is available to integrate.
• Almost every broker offers the MT4 platform more than any other platform.

Cons

• Licenses for MetaTrader 4 are no longer available for purchase, and it’s impossible to download/install MetaTrader 4 from its official site. Anyone wanting to use it must contact their broker and request the download link.
• Technical indicators, timeframes, and charts are less than Metatrader 5.

• cTrader

cTrader was developed by Spotware for Forex trading. It is a modern platform with advanced risk management features, refined charts, and many built-in cBots.

This is best for beginners as it comes with an easy-to-familiar platform, copy trading feature (It allows beginner traders to copy strategies of experienced traders), and add-on applications for additional advanced risk management.

It uses the power of the Microsoft .NET framework, which enables intelligent algo trading and custom EAs that automatically execute orders based on trading strategies. Additionally, it supports Forex Trading VPS, providing traders with a stable and fast connection for optimal performance.

User Interface

cTrader is known for its clean and easy-to-get-familiar platform. We can quickly switch between symbols, watch open positions, and personalize our workspace portfolio.

By default, we have the following –

On the left panel, we have our watchlist, symbols list, Copy section for copy trades/strategies of professional traders, and Automate section for automation trading where we can develop custom indicators/bots. Lastly, we have the Analyze section for advanced analysis.

In the middle, we get our terminals and advanced order management features.

The right panel contains advanced order execution options, market depth, advanced risk management features, a calendar, news, and auto charts.

Pros

• Great user interface.
• A variety of technical indicators are available.
• Advanced algo trading features.
• An additional feature is the copy trading of successful traders.
• Advance order and risk management.
• Add-on application for advanced trading and additional advanced risk management.
• Backtesting Feature.
• Multiple timeframes, including custom timeframes.
• Average Customer support through Forum thread.
• cTrader uses the power of Microsoft .NET framework

Cons

• The cTrader community is smaller than MetaTrader, resulting in less community support on the cTrader platform.
• CTrader supports a limited number of brokers. Not all brokers provide this platform.
• CTrader has a smaller number of 3rd party tools and EAs than MetaTrader.
• Access to the Level II price plan is frequently more expensive, which could raise traders’ trading costs.

• TradingView

TradingView was released in 2011. According to Alexa, the company is among the top 130 websites worldwide.

TradingView is the most used platform in any trading market (almost 50M+ traders) because of its immersive charts, custom indicators, social collaboration features, and real-time data updates.

TradingView offers the most advanced charts, indicators, and drawing tools, superior to any other platform. Their charts are highly accurate, and the execution speed is impressive.

User Interface

The TradingView platform has 100+ prebuilt most popular indicators, 25+ multi-timeframes, 15+ chart types, 90+ intelligent drawing tools, and excellent indicators and tools.

Additionally, we get:

Pine Editor is written in Pine scripting language, where we can write our scripts, indicators, and strategies.

Strategy Tester to test our strategies in a more advanced manner.

Chats – Global chat of forex, where we can communicate with people and know their opinions. And the second one is private chats.

Pros

• Excellent charting for trade analysis.
• Custom indicators
• 15+ chart types
• 90+ intelligent drawing tools
• Great user interface
• 120+ prebuilt industry-leading indicators
• 25+ Multiple timeframes

Cons

• Add-on tool/3rd party integration is not supported.
• There is no option for algo trading.
• Platform support is not provided on the free plan. Only paid plan subscribers can contact customer support.
• No embedded chart trading tool.
• A limited number of brokers are available.
• Copy trading is not available.
• It is limited to one template and one chart layout.

• Thinkorswim

TD Ameritrade’s ‘Thinkkorswim’ platform provides both a broker and a trading platform, giving traders in-depth analysis and customization and offering investors a variety of chart types, such as candlestick, bar, line, and Heikin-Ashi charts. This variety permits traders to choose a charting style that aligns with their trading techniques.

Moreover, Thinkorswim offers 300 technical indicators and drawing tools. This allows us to conduct unique technical strategies, spot trends, and patterns, and confidently execute every trade.

Besides charting capabilities, Thinkorswim offers customizable watchlists, real-time news feeds, and an API enabling developers to create custom tools, indicators, and strategies. With real-time data feeds, users always stay updated on market movements.

User Interface

Thinkorswin platform has powerful features filled with 300 technical indicators, professional drawing tools (like Fibonacci retracements, Gann fans, and pitchforks), algorithmic trading, multiple timeframes (min, hrs, days, monthly, and customs), MarketWatch for real-time data and quotes for the chosen instruments, Level II market data, and more advanced features.

Pros

• Thinkorswin offers advanced and customizable charts and drawing tools.
• Provide educational resources like webinars, tutorials, and research reports.
• Excellent customer support and good behavior through phone calls, face-to-face assistance at their branches, direct messages, and fax support.

Cons

• The Thinkorswin platform may seem complicated to beginners.
• Supports only a limited number of external third-party integrations.
• Thinkorswin supports basic algorithmic trading; thus, it limits automated trading strategies.
• Ratings on mobile platforms are average.

Top Trading Platforms Comparison

Look at the table below to compare the features of the five trading platforms.

Conclusion

In summary, the top five Forex trading platforms of 2023 offer unique features, reliable performance, and excellent customer support. By comparing their features traders can select the platform that best fits their needs, ensuring a more effective and profitable trading experience.