Best Automated Trading Platforms Australia

MetaTrader 4 – Best Automated Trading Platform Overall

MetaTrader 4 is one of the most popular trading platforms worldwide, largely due to its algorithmic trading robots known as Expert Advisors. The software was released by MetaQuotes in 2005, and ever since has been the gold standard for forex trading platforms.

As well as its advanced trading robot functionality, MetaTrader 4 is one of the best trading platforms available thanks to:

• Ultra-fast order execution
• Sophisticated technical analysis features with charting tools and multiple timeframes
• Risk management tools i.e. pending order types, alerts and notifications
• A large forex trading community and Marketplace
• Available as a desktop trading platform, webtrader platform and trading apps for Android and iOS devices

MT4 Expert Advisors (EAs)

The platforms trading robots, aka Expert Advisors (EAs), enable you to eliminate the need to constantly monitor markets and your open positions. By setting predetermined trading rules and parameters, EAs do the legwork for you and will alert you when market conditions are met.

There are two ways you can implement algorithmic trading strategies on MT4. You can either develop your own or download and use other traders’ EAs. The trading robots are written using the platform’s proprietary programming language, MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4), or can be downloaded from the MetaTrader Marketplace online.

MetaTrader Marketplace

Due to MT4 being one of the most popular platforms worldwide, the MetaTrader Marketplace is one of the largest online marketplaces for trading robots and technical indicators. If you are a beginner trader and find the idea of writing your own EAs daunting, you can download 2,100+ technical indicators and 1,700+ trading robots, some of which carry a fee.

Backtesting EAs

Once your algorithmic trading strategy has been developed, you can use the platform’s backtesting features to test and optimise your EA against historical market data. MT4 only allows a single currency to be backtested at a time and can only process EAs that are 32-bit.

Forex and CFD Trading on MT4

The different forex and CFD products you can trade on MetaTrader 4 depend on the online broker you have signed up to. MT4 was designed for trading decentralised markets such as foreign exchange (forex). Although predominately a forex trading platform, most brokers offer a range of CFD products such as commodities and indices.

A downside to MT4’s market access is that you cannot trade financial instruments like shares (not share CFDs) as they run through centralised exchanges. MetaQuotes developed MetaTrader 5 (MT5) to cater to those wanting to access stock markets via exchanges like the ASX.

FP Markets – The Best MT4 Broker for Automated Trading

If you are looking to save on trading costs, FP markets offer some of the best spreads available with their MT4-MT5 Raw account. Tight spreads not only mean fewer costs but really allow you to take full advantage of the capability of automation. The more you trade, the more your costs will be so traders such as scalpers and high-frequency traders to ensure their costs don’t add up over time.

FP Markets Spreads	EUR/GBPUSD/JPYGBP/USDAUD/USDEUR/USDUSD/CADEUR/JPYAUD/JPY	EUR/GBPUSD/JPYGBP/USDAUD/USDEUR/USDUSD/CADEUR/JPYAUD/JPY	EUR/GBPUSD/JPYGBP/USDAUD/USDEUR/USDUSD/CADEUR/JPYAUD/JPY	EUR/GBPUSD/JPYGBP/USDAUD/USDEUR/USDUSD/CADEUR/JPYAUD/JPY	EUR/GBPUSD/JPYGBP/USDAUD/USDEUR/USDUSD/CADEUR/JPYAUD/JPY
	0.50	0.20	0.30	0.20	0.10
	0.27	0.14	0.28	0.17	0.09
	0.27	0.14	0.23	0.17	0.02
	0.40	0.20	0.50	0.20	0.20
	0.40	0.20	0.85	0.42	0.44
	0.54	0.24	0.59	0.30	0.17
	0.50	0.30	0.60	0.40	0.20
	0.60	0.30	0.60	0.50	0.10
	0.60	n/a	0.30	0.50	n/a
	0.73	0.30	0.73	1.00	0.27

Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 01/09/2021

Compare Raw Spread Brokers

The above table compares FP Markets spreads with other brokers. These spreads are the average spreads the brokers publish on their website and the table below is updated each month. As you can see, FP Markets are among the best for low spreads.

Choosing FP for means you get access to an excellent range of products. This can be useful for automation as it means you can set your product to search for the best opportunities across a broader range of products than one can do if done themselves.

• 60+ currency pairs
• 10,000+ Australian and International CFD stocks across the worlds
• Gold, Silver, Gas, Oil
• 19 Indices
• 5 Cryptocurrencies (not available in the UK)

FP Markets operates globally and is regulated in two major financial hubs being Australia (ASIC) and Europe (CySEC)  Regardless of the FP Markets Markets subsidiary you sign up with, you enjoy the following benefits:

• Ultra-tight ECN style pricing with spreads from 0.0 pips + commission (Raw Account) or 1.0 pip commission-free (Standard Account)
• The ability to trade a range of derivatives such as currency pairs, commodities, indices and shares CFDs
• Ideal trading conditions for automated trading systems with fast execution speeds averaging of 35 ms and deep liquidity
• 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, and email along with a comprehensive FAQ page
• Free deposits and withdrawal methods, with a low minimum deposit of $100 required to start trading
• Social trading with FP Markets social trading on MetaTrader 4 and MyfxBook Autotrade
• An unlimited MT4 or MT5 demo account allowing you to practice trading without the high risk of losing money.

View FP Markets Review >>Visit FP Markets >>

MetaTrader 5 – Top Platform for Algorithmic CFD Trading

MetaQuotes released MetaTrader 5 (MT5) in 2010 and the latest platform provides many improvements in terms of algorithmic trading systems, market access and analysis tools. Although MT5 comes with many benefits and additional features, it is not necessarily an upgraded version on MT4. While MT4 was designed for trading decentralised products like forex, MT5 was developed as a multi-asset platform that gave access to stock exchanges.

MT5 Expert Advisors

Similar to its predecessor, MT5 offers full automation with Expert Advisors (EAs) with some significant improvements. When developing EAs on MT5 you use the MQL5 programming language that many consider more efficient than MQL4 as its based on the C++ programming language and is object-oriented.  Unfortunately, the two languages are not compatible, meaning you can’t use EAs written in MQL4 on MT5.

Backtesting is also more robust on MT5. While MT4 is restricted to 32-bit memory and single-currency backtesting, MT5 offers multi-threaded, multi-currency capabilities and can handle EAs that are 32-bit and 64-bit. This allows for faster and more efficient algorithmic trading on MT5 when compared to MT4.

MT5 Features and Improvements

While MT5 is still to take over MT4’s popularity, there are some key benefits to choosing MT5 over MT4:

• Market Access: While MT4 was designed as a forex platform with access to decentralised markets, MT5 is a multi-asset platform providing access to derivatives from centralised exchanges like ASX and Nasdaq as well.
• Trading Community: Although not as large as MT4’s community and marketplace, MT5’s will continue to grow and produce more MQL5 Expert Advisors and indicators.
• Technical Analysis: A greater number of timeframes, charts, technical indicators, and objects are available on MT5, making it better suited for day trading and scalping than MT4.
• Fundamental Analysis: Unlike MT4, MT5 has market news and an inbuilt economic calendar to keep you up to date with significant events.
• Risk Management: MT5 comes equipped with a greater selection of pending order types that can be used to protect yourself against erratic markets and volatility.
• Customer Support: MT5 offers platform support while MT4’s support has been phased out.
• Software Updates: MetaQuotes is no longer selling MT4 platform licenses to brokers with the software developer moving its focus solely onto MT5. There will be no major conceptual updates to MT4 going forwards.

Pepperstone – The Best MT5 Broker for Algorithmic Trading

If you want to get the most out of MT5 and its automated trading tools, Pepperstone is the best broker overall. With Pepperstone you can choose between a Standard Account that has no commissions and pips from 0.6 or an ECN style Razor account with spreads from 0.0 pips and commissions from $7.00.

Pepperstone doesn’t just offer MetaTrader 5, also offers MetaTrader 4 but we recommend MT5 as you can access all of Pepperstone’s best products. MT4 does not offer shares, while MT5 offers over hundreds of share CFD products plus 12 cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, you are not just restricted to Expert Advisors, you can choose from other automation tools such as Myfxbook and Duplitrade.

Choosing Pepperstone means ultra-competitive spreads regardless if you choose their Standard account (with no commissions) and spreads starting from 0.6 pips or ECN style account with commissions of $7.00 round trip.

Take a look at our spread + commission calculator to compare Pepperstone costs with other brokers.

Calculate Your Trading Costs Below

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Pepperstone operates globally and is regulated in seven major financial hubs in including Australia (ASIC), the FCA (UK), Europe (CySEC), and Dubai (DFSA). Pepperstone offers the following benefits and more to MT5 users:

• Smart Trader Tools for MT5 for free access to 28 additional tools, Expert Advisors, and indicators
• A choice of tight spreads from 0.0 pips plus commission via a Razor Account, or no commission spreads from 0.06 pips via a Standard Account type.
• No dealing desk interference, top-tier liquidity providers, and average execution speeds of 30ms.
• 24/5 support via email, live chat, or phone.
• Over 700 CFD products covering forex, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and shares.
• Educational resources including webinars, news and analysis, an economic calendar, and trading guides.
• MT5 as a desktop or Webtrader platform, along with apps for Android and iOS mobiles and tablets.
• A free MT5 demo account that can be used as a training or risk management tool.

View Pepperstone Review >>Visit Pepperstone >>

cTrader – Good Platform for Algo Trading

cTrader was released in 2011 by Spotware catering to retail traders wanting an ECN trading environment. The software provides optimal forex trading conditions with advanced charting, trade execution and algorithmic features.

cTrader Automate is the platform’s algorithmic trading service where you can fully automate trading by building and executing trading robots (cBots) instead of trading manually.

cBots and cTrader Automate

Similar to MetaTrader’s Expert Advisors (EAs), cBots are the platform’s trading robots that allow for full automation. cTrader’s Automate eliminates the need for human control and monitoring by enabling you to develop (or download), backtest and execute custom cBots within the platform.

The C# programming language is used to write cBots in either the visual studio or inbuilt code editor. When developing cBots or indicators, Automate API provides market data and trading functions to help you save time and effort when creating automated trading strategies.

cTrader’s backtesting features are sophisticated, meaning you can easily optimise cBots by testing them against historical data.  Visual backtesting is available, as well as the ability to review trade statistics and store your backtesting data.

FxPro – Top Broker for Automation with cTrader

View FxPro Review >>Visit FxPro >>

ProRealTime – Top Analysis + Auto Trading Software

ProRealTime is a technical analysis and trading platform that provides advanced charting and automated trading tools. The software comes with extensive inbuilt technical analysis tools including:

• 100+ indicators,
• Unlimited timeframe selection
• Market scanning features
• 20 drawing tools
• Eight order types

ProOrder

ProOrder is ProRealTime’s automatic trading tool where you can develop complex trading systems with no coding background needed. A wizard is available where you can define stops, objectives and conditions, with a code generator doing the rest. If you want to write your own code, the ProBuilder programming language is available.

Automated trading systems can also be downloaded from the ProRealTime Marketplace, although the trading community is significantly smaller than MT4, MT5 or cTrader.

ProOrder also offers the following features designed to enhance automated trading strategies:

• Backtesting against real time market data
• Offline algorithmic trading is available
• Fast order execution speeds

IG – Top ProRealTime Broker with ProOrder

View IG Markets Review >>Visit IG Markets >>

eToro – Best Social-Copy Trading Platform

eToro is an online broker that offers a proprietary trading platform that grants you access to a large social-copy trading community. The software comes with social trading tools such as CopyTrader and CopyPortfolios, allowing you to automate trading via account mirroring services.

On top of extensive social-copy trading features, the broker offers:

• Investor protections enforced by regulators like ASIC in Australia, CySEC in Europe and the FCA in the UK.
• Comprehensive educational materials with news, analysis, video tutorials, guides, podcasts and daily financial market reviews.
• The ability to trade a range of CFDs as well as physical assets like stocks and cryptocurrency.

CopyTrader

CopyTrader, eToro’s social-copy trading, allows you to follow and automatically copy the strategies trades of other users, known as Popular Investors. Whether you are a beginner or lack the time to trade yourself, the social-copy software provides automation that saves you effort in conducting research and executing individual trades.

Navigating the eToro platform is user-friendly and easy. You can search by risk score, assets, performance and more to find Popular Investors to follow. Once you’ve found a suitable strategy, you can set an amount for the copy trade, with the ability to pause or add/remove funds at any time. To copy a trader, a minimum amount of $200 is required.

You can follow Popular Investors that are trading a range of financial products like currency pairs, commodities, indices, ETFs, stocks and cryptocurrencies.

Popular Investor Program

If you’re an experienced trader, you can make additional profit by becoming a Popular Investor. Once a part of eToro’s Popular Investor Program, you can develop trading strategies and get paid when other users copy your trades.

There are four tiers of Popular Investor, each with different requirements and benefits – Cadets, Champion, Elite and Elite Pro.

CopyPortfolios

CopyPortfolios is a longer term investment product for those wanting a diversified portfolio that is automatically managed and rebalanced as needed. There are two types portfolios:

• Top Trader Portfolios: A combination of the best performing traders on the eToro platform
• Market Portfolios: a bundle of CFDs across a range of asset classes such as shares, ETFs and commodities.

To explore the platform and community, eToro offers a free demo account with a $100,000 virtual account balance.

View eToro Review >>Visit eToro >>

MetaTrader Signals – Top Social-Copy Trading Software

Trading Signals are available to MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) users that want to automate trading via social-copy trading services rather than trading robots (Expert Advisers).

Members of the MetaTrader community can create signals that other users can follow and automatically copy. Over 3,200 free and paid trading signals are available and are ranked by past trading success.

There are two key differences between Trading Signals on MT4 and MT5:

1. Unlike MT4, the MT5 platform comes with an inbuilt Signals tab, making it easier to search for and copy signals.
2. The MT4 community is much larger than the number of MT5 users, meaning there are fewer signals available to copy on the MT5 platform.

Similarly to eToro’s Popular Investors, if you are an experienced trader looking to make extra cash, you can register as a signal provider and share your trading strategies.

Markets.com – Top Broker for MetaTrader Trading Signals

View Markest.com Review >>Visit Markets.com >>

Automated Trading Platforms Australia

Australian traders’ have a range of options when it comes to automated trading platforms and software. If you are new to forex, social-copy trading tools provide an easy entry, while experienced traders can develop algorithmic strategies using trading robots. Below we review the top automated trading platforms available to Australian traders, the style of trading it suits and the best brokers offering the software.

Algorithmic vs Social-Copy Trading Software

Algorithmic Trading

1. Expert Advisors (Forex) – MT4
2. Expert Advisors (CFDs) – MT5
3. cBots – cTrader
4. ProOrder – ProRealTime

Social Trading

1. eToro Social-Copy Trading
2. MetaTrader Signals

Online Trading Robots

To fully automate forex and CFD trading, trading robots (aka algorithmic trading strategies) can be developed on platforms like MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and cTrader. In the MetaTrader community trading robots are referred to as Expert Advisors (EAs), while on cTrader they are cBots.

Algorithmic trading strategies allow you to create programs that automatically monitor financial markets as well as enter and exit trades according to your pre-set parameters. Many experienced traders write their own trading robots, while beginner traders may choose to download and/or purchase pre-designed Expert Advisors.

Social-Copy Trading

Social-copy trading is a type of automation where you can follow and copy trading strategies that have been developed by more experienced traders within the forex community. Rather than conducting your own research and executing individual trades, you are instead copying the trades of others. There are different types of account mirroring software, ranging from pure social trading platforms and communities like eToro to copy trading tools like MetaTrader Signals.

Benefits of Automation:

• Automation removes human element from trading, meaning you are less likely to be swayed by psychological and emotional factors when trading
• Automated software has a greater ability than an individual trader to monitor multiple financial markets at a time
• Automated trading software can react quicker than humans.
• Traders can save time and effort as you are not having to conduct your own technical analysis and execute each individual trade

Trading Forex in Australia

Trading forex in Australia has unique but not insurmountable challenges. The best trading platform for Australian forex brokers making a living in the southern hemisphere, far removed from the big financial centres of London and New York, no more difficult than any other aspect of daily life. In an increasingly connected 24/7 world, you can trade forex on a level playing ground in real-time with anyone in the world.

Why Forex Is So Popular For Australian Investors

Australian traders seeking to capture profits from online trading currencies in foreign exchange currency markets (forex) face the issue that the times of peak currency market activity are out of sync with Australian time zones. Whilst the Forex market trades 24 hours per day for 5-1/2 days per week, there are many hours when price activity is quiet because of a lack of trader participation.

There are four predominant forex sessions throughout one trading day that are each based on the time in a major financial hub. Those sessions and locations are Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York, with each different session overlapping to a certain degree. By far, the most critical session in which to take part in is the tail end of the London Market and the beginning of the New York market. The four-hour period when those two sessions overlap is when the vast majority of trading activity, even activity related to the Australian and New Zealand dollars, takes place in terms of currency pair price movements.

For someone living in the Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) zone, those prime hours when the London and New York Forex sessions overlap are 11:00 PM to 3 AM. Given that you would prefer to be sleeping during those hours, choosing the best trading platform for Australian traders requires various order types and algorithmic trading functions.

Taking Advantage of Forex Orders Based on AEST

No, you do not have to forego sleep to participate in the forex markets. Rather, you can use special order types to set up your trades in advance, go to bed, get yourself a good night’s sleep, and then have a look in the morning when you get up to see how your online trading strategies panned out. Strange as it may sound, trading in this fashion is less stressful, because price analysis, trade entries, exits and maximum acceptable risk are outside times of peak price activity, meaning your emotions will not get the better of you.

Using “Limit” and “Stop” orders on your forex trading platform can help you plan and automate your trades. You will be much more objective without watching trades go in your favour or against you, tick by excruciating tick. Likewise, you can determine logical entry and exit points as well as control your exposure to risk. To new traders, this discovery is a welcome revelation. To those with some experience, it is a solid reality. A good trading platform for Australian traders will take the effect of time zones into account and offer tools to compensate for this.

Brokerage Fees When Online Trading

The best trading platform Australia option should also factor in brokerage fees.  There are two main brokerage fees:

1. Spreads – the difference between bid-ask prices.
2. Commission – the fee you pay the broker as compensation for their services.

The spread is more applicable to forex trading with the difference between the buy and sell (bid/ask) price being the compensation to forex brokers facilitating trading. ECN-like forex trading accounts charge a round trip, flat rate commission fee, where you pay a fixed commission per trade, or more often, by the quantity traded. Commissions are more straightforward than spreads to calculate brokerage fees, hence why experienced traders often opt for these online trading accounts.

Share Trading Options With These Platforms

For Australian investors requiring an online share trading platform, IG Markets and easyMarkets offer both forex and share trading on their primary trading platforms. Another firm that offers a forex/share trading hybrid is CMC Markets. Alternatively, forex brokers such as Pepperstone, offer CFD share trading on MetaTrader 5.