Is Metatrader really necessary or will your favourite broker’s in built charting software do the job? Is there any other charting software that people have had a better experience with (whether free or paid for) or is Metatrader really the bees knees?
Far from being the bees’ knees, in my opinion Metatrader is an extremely unpleasant, clunky, unreliable piece of junk (and it also displays many indicators incorrectly).
It’s [I]definitely[/I] not “necessary”. 
Different brokers have different platforms/software available (most decent brokers offer quite a wide choice).
Personally, I use NinjaTrader (and commented here on why I find it so much better than Metatrader), but that puts me in a [I]small[/I] minority in this forum, and NinjaTrader may well also be far more complicated than you need.
Before using that, when I was happily trading forex for years with Oanda, I used (and liked) their “FxTrade” platform, which is [I]really[/I] easy to use.
I just wish I’d known a bit more when I started, hadn’t slavishly copied “what most people do” for poor reasons, and had avoided Metatrader right from the outset. Just my perspective … :8:
Great to hear, thanks. I’ll admit I haven’the used metatrader enough to form a proper opinion, but my first impression of it was that same. I will try your suggestions as well.
I would not agree with the statement above, cause I use Metatrader4 for several years already and find it the most handy platform for trading. Maybe I’m too used yo it to change a platform and just can’t get used to other ones.
We go along with our habits. I can’t imagine trading with other platforms, really. 
And all the indicators work correctly there, cause if not, I’d quit trading at all many years ago.
This tends to happen to some traders who start off with a specific platform, get used to it and become resistant to learning other/better/newer ways … and is one of the reasons I think, myself, that it’s a good idea for people to [I]avoid[/I] Metatrader, right from the start.
This simply isn’t so, Alex.
To mention just one example, but one of the most obvious ones, its inbuilt “MACD indicator” doesn’t even display the signal line!
There’s even a whole “generation” of traders who imagine, entirely wrongly, that an MACD comprises [I]one[/I] line and a histogram, because MT4’s deficient “MACD” is the only one they’ve ever seen.
No promises, but this [I][U]may[/U][/I] open your eyes a little. 
What you say about the MACD in MT4 is correct, Lexys, but it is easy to find and download MT4 MACD indicators that show the signal line. Do you know of any inbuilt MT4 indicators that compute incorrect values? You’ve got me a little worried.
No; I was casting aspersions about the display having a line missing, rather than about the computation. I’m biased: as I mentioned above, I just think MT4’s a real piece of junk, that there are many far better options available and that it’s a shame for people to feel locked in to using it and become dependent on it. :8:
Fair enough, Thanks for the reply
Sorry to extend this out, but a lot of traders (professionals) use Meta Trader. I don’t. My worry is these open platforms are all JAVA based. And security in JAVA is not good.
nearly no professional trader is using metatrade or ninjatrader or what ever theyre called
Pretty bold statement bro. The prop firm I am associated with (as a student not as a trader) uses MT4 exclusively and all their strategies are automated.
MT4 can be a very powerful platform if one takes the time to learn how to love it.
For the record I have tried MT4, cTrader, NinjaTrader,Sienna charts, Tradeview and ProRealTime over the years. The important factor is data feed. If the platform one uses does not have a data feed from your broker then that data can for all intent an purposes be considered contaminated and one will make bad trade decisions based on that feed.
If little guys like myself want to survive in this game we have to learn how to use the tools we are provided with from our broker(bucketshop) to our advantage.
That’s strange, because I have seen a few pro’s claiming to use it, supposedly. on youtube. I guess maybe for advertising purposes, or to sell the product. On the mention of Data feed, I have used Metatrader for practice. The Broker was over in another country, I checked it on google maps. Not the country itself, but the time zone. A 7 or 8 hour time zone difference. You can use metatrader with a lot of brokers. Maybe it depends on the broker and the data feed. Meta Trader does have a good format. I have found with experience especially in Forex, that the little guy like myself, can’t depend on any one set of rules or information. It’s like a guy fishing in a pond. He can throw his line out to water, but catching the fish ain’t so easy!
Metatrader is probably the worst non-web-based platform I have used, and I have traded equities, futures, and forex for over 15 years. Its popularity comes from unregulated and offshore brokers utilizing it en masse, as it’s easy to whitelabel. It tends to be used by casual, part-time ‘hobby traders’, who have big dreams of turning their $300 account into $3 mil. I would also advise against using ninjatrader; distinct lack of support/updates, and is very buggy when trading live. not much has changed in 8 years of it, which should tell you something.
If you are serious about trading, tryout a few platforms, as almost all have free trials, and see which ones suit your personality and needs the best. Personally I use Sierrachart. Ugly charting, but does everything under-the-sun, lightweight (run it off a usb stick), and can easily group/manage markets in various tabs - which is important to me.
Just remember…you don’t need to use your broker’s platform to enter trades. Find a platform you like, use it for charting, and just enter trades on your broker’s DOM/chart/etc. This also acts as a backup in itself, in the occasion that one goes down and you need to see where price is on an open position.
Never had problems with MT4 myself. Another platform I quite like is xStation
I must admit I haven’t tried other platforms however I find MetaTrader4 easy and versatile!
Yes there are some limitations, especially with backtesting, but also great functionalities and it is easy to automate tasks.
I think you’ve seen them using it, not just “claiming” to use it: what they’re “claiming” is to be [U]pro’s[/U].
Indeed - exactly so: they’re professional [U]marketers[/U], not professional [U]traders[/U].
They need to use MT4 because their potential customers (the least experienced, least professional and most gullible aspirants) are using it.
Professional traders are [B]not[/B] using it, for all the reasons discussed on the previous page: it’s a handicap and a liability, not an aid.
Metatrader is necessary if you use the custom indicators and EAs that is being developed around the world. If you are a price action trader, S/R or utilize standard trading tools like trend lines and fibonacci more, then a normal trading platform would be more than sufficient to help you trade - in fact, some are much better than MT4 which in my personal opinion, needs to be upgraded because of the memory limitations it has.
I’ve used MT4 a good amount and agree with some of the others here - it’s archaic and clunky. I also have no desire to use EA’s or automated strategies, so that incentive is gone as well.
I typically use TradingView for charting/paper trading and have also toyed around with Oanda fxtrade (both the web-based one and the actual program on Mac OS X and Windows 10), since this is probably the broker I will use when I open a live account. The fxtrade platform is pretty horrendous and crashes constantly when I try to run it, whether it’s Mac or PC (I own both). The web-based version is a little better, but still slow and glitchy. I’m in the habit now of doing all my charting/analysis on TradingView and then entering my orders in fxtrade on my phone, since the iOS app seems to be the stablest version of their platform.