Vantage Trading Platforms: MT4, MT5, Vantage App and TradingView

Vantage gives you five ways to trade: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, the Vantage App, a browser-based WebTrader and TradingView. A trading account is linked to one platform when you create it. An MT4 account can't be opened in MT5, and the platform can't be changed afterwards, so the choice deserves a minute of thought.

You aren't locked out of the others. Vantage allows up to 20 live accounts, and you can create one for each platform in the client portal and move money between them by internal transfer.

Platforms at a glance

MetaTrader 4

MT4 remains the platform with the largest stock of expert advisors and custom indicators. Vantage describes its Standard STP account as running through a oneZero MT4 bridge to its liquidity providers. If you already own an EA built for MT4, this is the natural home for it.

Its age shows in two places at Vantage. Cent accounts can no longer be created on MT4, and TradingView accounts don't work with it. A newcomer with no MT4 software to bring along has little reason to start here.

MetaTrader 5

MT5 is the newer MetaQuotes platform and the more flexible choice at Vantage. It supports every account type, including Cent, and it is the platform behind TradingView access. MT5 has more timeframes and order types than MT4 and a faster strategy tester for people who build their own systems.

One caution for EA buyers: MT4 advisors don't run on MT5. The languages differ, and a robot has to be rewritten. Ask the seller which version you are getting before you pick the platform.

The Vantage App

The Vantage App is the broker's own mobile platform for iOS and Android. It gives access to more than 1,000 CFDs across gold, forex, ETFs, indices, bonds and shares, and it switches between a CFD trading mode and a copy trading mode. One-tap trading is available in CFD mode.

It is also where you run the account. Deposits, withdrawals, leverage changes, promotion opt-ins and verification all happen in the app, and Vantage says you can reach your MT4 and MT5 accounts through it by logging in with your client portal details. News, an economic calendar and webinars are built in.

TradingView

Vantage is a connected broker on TradingView, so you can trade from TradingView's charts. The setup has one requirement that people miss: you need a specific account type. When opening an account, select MT5 and TradingView as the account type, then choose a currency.

1. Create an MT5 and TradingView account in the client portal.
2. Sign in to TradingView and open any chart.
3. Open the Trading Panel and select All brokers.
4. Click the Vantage icon, then Connect.
5. Enter your Vantage account login details.

TradingView accounts are compatible with MT5 and the Vantage App, and they can't be used on MT4. Deposits and withdrawals are still made through Vantage, not inside TradingView. Vantage's page lists 15 or more chart types, over 100 built-in indicators, 50 or more drawing tools and 12 alert conditions.

The Help Centre adds a fair caveat. TradingView is a third-party platform, and its features and access are subject to its own terms. Not everything TradingView offers is necessarily available through a Vantage connection.

WebTrader and ProTrader

WebTrader is a browser platform that needs no download. It is useful on a work computer or a borrowed laptop where you can't install software. Vantage's account pages also mention free access to the Vantage ProTrader platform and technical analysis for Raw ECN, Pro ECN and Cent clients, and for Standard STP clients who meet its requirements.

Refunds for VPS and TradingView

Automated traders often rent a virtual private server so their platform runs all day near the broker's servers. Vantage refunds part of that cost if you qualify.

Both work by reimbursement. You pay the provider, then submit an invoice showing your name, the billing period, the amount and the currency. The name must match your Vantage registration, the invoice must arrive within three months of the billing period, and one subscription per client per month is covered. PAMM and MAM master accounts are excluded from the VPS offer, and the TradingView refund is limited to STP and ECN account types.

A million dollars of notional sounds large. It is ten standard lots of a dollar-based pair. Never trade extra volume to earn a $50 refund, since ten unnecessary lots on Raw ECN cost $60 in commission alone.

Execution and servers

Vantage uses market execution on every platform. Its primary trading servers are in London and New York, with further data centres in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei, linked by an Equinix fibre network. Traders in Asia benefit most from the regional centres, which shorten the path an order has to travel.

Common platform problems

If you are still choosing an account, the Vantage account types guide sets out which types each platform supports. The demo account guide explains how to test a platform for 30 days first, and our copy trading guide covers the app's copy mode.

Which platform should you choose?

• New to trading and undecided: MT5, with a demo first.
• Owner of an MT4 expert advisor: MT4, on a desktop or VPS.
• Chart-first manual trader: an MT5 and TradingView account.
• Phone-only trader or copier: the Vantage App.
• Borrowed or locked-down computer: WebTrader.

Whatever you pick, learn it on a demo before real money goes in. Most early losses that people blame on the market are really order-entry mistakes: the wrong lot size, a stop on the wrong side, a market order sent twice. A week of practice on the platform you will use removes nearly all of them.

Keep your logins straight as well. The client portal and the app share one set of details. Each MT4 or MT5 trading account has its own number, password and server, sent by email when the account is created, plus a read-only investor password you can give to someone who only needs to watch.

Frequently asked

Related reading

• Vantage copy trading
• Vantage account types
• Vantage demo account
• Vantage Raw ECN account
• Our full Vantage review