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MetaTrader 5 VPS
MetaTrader 5 VPS —
a gigabyte per terminal.
Windows included. Three gigabytes runs three MT5 terminals, four runs four — the arithmetic is the whole of it, and it holds for MT4 and cTrader too.
- MT5 pre-installed, set to start with Windows
- 42 cities — pick the one nearest your broker
- Windows Server licence included
How much RAM do I need?
So 3 GB runs three, 4 GB runs four, 8 GB runs eight. Count your terminals and that is the plan.
One gigabyte,
one terminal.
It is the figure we give when somebody asks in a ticket, and we would rather it were memorable than precise. A terminal uses less than a gigabyte and Windows takes a share of the first one — what is left over is the headroom that stops a chart stuttering when an expert advisor decides to allocate.
Three MT5 terminals wants three gigabytes. No subtracting for Windows, no working out what a chart costs — the headroom is already in the number.
Ten charts with a stack of indicators is the exception. That is nearer double, so count two gigabytes for a terminal like that — and if you are unsure, tell us what you run and we will say which plan rather than guess at it.
Which one holds
your terminals.
Straight from the rule. If it turns out wrong we move you up free of charge — you will not be asked to buy a second month to find out.
The High Frequency plan holds the same three as the Best. What you pay the difference for is clock speed — a Ryzen 9 at 5.7 GHz rather than an EPYC core — which matters for a scalping EA and not at all for a swing strategy.
MT5 or MT4 —
what changes.
The memory rule is the same for both, so this is a features decision rather than a sizing one.
MetaTrader 4
1 GB each
- Far more EAs written for it, and copiers target it first
- Single-threaded, so core speed matters more than core count
- Lighter in practice, so a plan will take one or two more at a push
- No longer developed — MetaQuotes stopped issuing new licences
MetaTrader 5
1 GB each
- Multi-threaded tester, so optimisation uses every core you rent
- Stocks and futures as well as forex
- Depth of market, more timeframes, netting or hedging
- MQL4 code will not run on it without a rewrite
What MT5 does differently,
and what it costs you.
The tester is the reason to rent cores
MT4's Strategy Tester runs on one thread. You can give it a sixteen-core machine and it will use one of them, which is why a fast core has always mattered more than a lot of cores for MetaTrader work.
MT5's tester does not work that way. It splits an optimisation across every core it can reach, and across other machines if you set up a farm. An optimisation that takes a day on MT4 can take an afternoon on MT5 with four cores — which is the one case where paying for cores rather than clock speed is the right way round.
It also means the tester is the heaviest thing you will ever run. While it optimises it will take a gigabyte or more and all the CPU it can find, so a live terminal on the same machine gets slower. If you optimise regularly, a second small VPS for testing costs less than upgrading the one your live accounts sit on.
Netting or hedging, and why it matters
MT4 accounts are always hedging: buy and sell the same pair and you hold two positions. MT5 supports both, and the broker chooses. On a netting account those two orders cancel to a flat position instead.
This catches people out when an expert advisor written for MT4 is moved across. A grid or martingale strategy that expects to hold twenty separate positions will behave completely differently on a netting account — not badly, but not as designed. Check which type your broker opened before you assume a strategy has broken.
MQL5 is not MQL4 with a higher number
They are different languages. MQL5 is closer to C++, the event model changed, and the standard library is not the same. An MQL4 expert advisor does not run on MT5 — it has to be rewritten, and for anything complicated that is a real piece of work rather than an afternoon.
This is the single biggest reason people stay on MT4: not preference, but a working EA they did not write and cannot easily port. If that is your position, the MT4 page is the one you want, and nothing on this page argues otherwise.
Why brokers are moving anyway
MetaQuotes stopped selling new MT4 licences in 2022. A broker opening today gets MT5 or nothing, and the ones with both are gradually pushing new accounts towards the newer platform.
That does not make MT4 unusable — existing licences keep working and are likely to for years. But it does mean the platform you learn now is the one you will still be using in five years, and for somebody starting from nothing, MT5 is the safer place to spend the effort.
Pick the city your broker sits in.
Not the one you live in. Your remote desktop session does not need to be fast; your orders do.
Any of them can be chosen at checkout, and changed later free of charge once a month. See what each broker answers in →
Before you spend anything.
The questions our support desk actually receives, answered plainly.
Still unsure which plan or which city? Send us your broker's account server name and we will measure it before you buy.
Platform compatibility
MT4 and MT5 are installed for you on request. The rest take a couple of minutes — you have full Administrator access to the machine.