cTrader

The trading platform cTrader is a third-party platform utilized by a wide range of brokers. Developed by Spotware in 2011, it quickly became a very popular alternative to the older third-party platforms MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 from MetaQuotes.

This is a broad trading platform used to speculate on the movements of a wide range of assets and instruments, including stocks (shares, equity), commodities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) forex, cryptocurrencies, and indices. The specific markets will vary depending on which broker you sign up with and use to access cTrader.

The cTrader interface is streamlined and intuitive, and you do not need to be a seasoned online trader to understand how it works. Beginners can also benefit from the features available for copy trading, as they can elect to copy the strategies of more experienced traders on the platform.

Account types

The cTrader platform supports demo accounts (play-money) and live accounts (real money), both of which can be set up as hedging or netting accounts.

Getting a free demo account is a great way to test out the platform without having to deposit or risk any money. A free demo account comes filled with free play-money, allowing you do explore how it is to trade on the platform, use tools, etcetera. Many of the cTrader brokers will let you get a demo account from them without paying anything.

Using multiple brokers

Many brokers work with the cTrader and you do not need to pick just one of them. Sometimes, it is actually best to have accounts with several brokers to cherry-pick the best one for each trading strategy. One broker might for instance offer the best conditions for your USD/EUR trading, while another is superior when it comes to cryptocurrencies.

To make it easier to juggle several brokers, you can sign up for a cTrader ID profile on the platform website and use it to synchronise your trading accounts. You can now access any broker´s version of the cTrader via the single ID login.

Trading

cTrader is a multi-asset trading platform designed to facilitate ECN/STP trading and route orders directly to liquidity providers to boost efficiency and transparency. The platform supports simultaneous order processing, making it possible for multiple orders to be filled at once without a queue.

You can use this platform to speculate on a wide range of assets, instruments and products, including company shares (equity), commodities, forex, cryptocurrencies, and exchange-trade funds (ETFs). The exact assortment will depend on which broker or brokers you sign up with, so chose wisely.

Trades can be executed from the Active Symbol Panel or via the QuickTrade feature (single-click or double-click, you configurate it yourself to suit your preferences).

Market, Limit and Stop Orders, plus advanced Take Profit and Stop Loss levels will help you fine-tune your trading. Trailing Stop Losses can be set to automatically update every time the price moves in your favour.

Devices and system requirements for cTrader

Download to Windows PC

The platform is available for download to Windows PC. Windows 7 or later is recommended.

No version of cTrader has been developed for Linux, Mac, Ubuntu or other operative systems for desktop computers.

Browser-window trading

You can use cTrader directly in any HTML5 compatible browser. This is a common choice for traders using non-Windows computers. Accessing cTrader in the browser will give you access to most of the standard features, including trading and charting, but keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys are not available.

Mobile devices

Mobile cTrader apps are available for smartphones and tablets using iOS or Android.

The cTrader mobile app for iOS is available for download in the Apple App Store and the app for Android can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

Many of the desktop features are available on mobile devices too, including the use of both normal order tickets and the QuickTrade solution.

You can carry out technical analysis even when on a mobile device, using 25+ time frames and over 50 different indicators.

Depth of market

The platform offers three depth of market views:

• Standard. You can see current price and liquidity, but can not trade from this view.
• Price. You can see more detail and you can trade from this view.
• VWAP. Specially designed for trading large volumes, as you can see the average price for the volume traded.

Leverage

The downloadable cTrader platform supports leverage up to 1:1000 for all symbols and accounts. What you actually get access to will depend on your broker and applicable laws and regulations.

Technical analysis

The cTrader platform is great for technical analysis.

• 9 chart types, including Heiken, Renko and Candlesticks.
• Single-chart, multi-chart and free-chart viewing modes
• Detached mode allows traders to open stand-alone charts, e.g. in a separate browser tab. A popular feature among traders using two or more screens.
• 50+ time frames
• 6 zoom levels
• The standard library is filled with 70+ indicators, including pivot points, HMA, linear regression, stochastic oscillators, and more. If you want even more indicators, you can download them from the cTrader Library; some of them are available for free and others for a fee. Examples of available free indicators are Heiken Ashi, Heatmap, ZigZag, and EMA.
• There is a drawing toolbar which you can use to attach drawing objects to charts, e.g. Fibonacci.

What is AutoChartist?

This feature scans various markets and indices (forex, cryptocurrency, stocks, commodities, etc) to find patterns that indicate suitable trading opportunities. It utilizes several different chart patterns, e.g. Triangles and Fibonacci.

Automated trading

The platform cTrader can be used for automated trading. Traders using trading robots can benefit from using cTrader with Virtual Private Servers (VPS) to reduce latency and boost reliability.

What is cTrader Automate?

Formerly known as cAlgo, cTrader Automate is the platform’s algorithmic automated trading functionality. With cTrader Automate, it is fairly easy to incorporate robots and indicators in your trading strategy. You can use the cTrader tools to create your own robots and indicators, carry out back-testing och set notifications.

What are cBots?

The cBots are tailor-made strategies that will execute market orders independently. If you are familiar with the Expert Advisors (EA s) of the platform MetaTrader 4, you will quickly learn how to utilize and benefit from the cBots since the functionality is similar.

You can create your own cBots for cTrader using C# programming and the Visual Studio built-in code editor.

If coding in C# isn´t your thing, don´t worry, because you can download ready-made cBots from the cTrader community website. Some cBots are available for free, while others need to be purchased.

C# is not unique to cTrader; it is a well-known mainstream programming language, which means that there is a rich assortment of skilled C# programmers out there.

Is copy trading possible with cTrader?

Yes, copy trading is possible and encouraged.

Formerly known as cMirror, the cTrader Copy is the built-in solution for copy trading on the cTrading platform. As a trader, you will have access to a large pool of candidates when selecting which ones to follow and copy. You are not limited to the ones signed-up with your particular broker, as cTrader Copy is a cross-broker community.

If you fulfil certain requirements, you can also agree to become a Strategy Provider on the platform and broadcast your strategy for a commission.

Analyse your own trading

You can use the cTrader Analyze tool to analyse your own trading. It is a great way to spot strengths and weaknesses, and tweak your strategies to become more profitable.

Easy sharing of strategies and analysis outside the platform

The ChartShots feature makes it easy to share your trading strategies and analysis outside the platform. You get screenshots to share via unique URLs, which are easy to embed into blogs, share on social media, etcetera.

Education and resources

• The cTrader YouTube channel is filled with educational videos.
• The fully integrated FXStreet Economic Calendar provides frequent forex updates from around the world (40+ countries).

cTrader vs. MetaTrader 4/5

A complete review of all the differences and similarities between cTrader, MT4 and MT5 is beyond the scope of this article, but below we will list a few high lights that can be good to keep in mind as you continue your research.

Market depth

cTrader is better than MetaTrader 4/5 when it comes to providing level 2 depth of market data (the order book). The MT4 does not give depth of market at all, and the depth of market info at MT5 is not as comprehensive and sophisticated as with the cTrader.

Charting

• MT4 has 30 built-in indicators and 9 time frames.
• MT5 has 38 built-in indicators and 21 time frames.
• cTrader has 70 built-in indicators and 26 time frames.

Go-to-date

cTrader still lacks the go-to-date feature, despite it being requested repeatedly by the online cTrader community. This means you still have to scroll back and forth manually with cTrader. With the MT4 and MT5, you simply add the date and is moved to that date, which is much more convenient for the trader.

Application Programming Interface (API)

• cTrader´s Open API 2.0 gives more flexibility to independent developers, as the API is free and publicly accessible.
• All cTrader clients gets free access to the industry-standard FIX API interface. MT4/MT5 still relies on a bridging solution from a limited number of brokers.