Two platforms, one job
MetaTrader 4 (2005) and MetaTrader 5 (2010) look similar on the screen and both connect to the same brokers, but they were built differently underneath. For manual trading the differences are small; for copying trades between accounts a few of them matter a lot.
Hedging vs netting: the difference that matters most
MT4 always works in hedging mode: every order is a separate ticket, and you can hold a buy and a sell on the same symbol at the same time. MT5 accounts are either hedging (the same model as MT4) or netting, where all trades on a symbol are merged into one position. On a netting account, buying 0.10 twice gives one 0.20 position, and selling 0.05 reduces it to 0.15.
Netting makes it impossible to keep copied trades separate or to mirror a hedged source, so CopyTraderTool supports MT5 hedging accounts only. Most retail brokers open hedging MT5 accounts by default; netting is more common at exchange-style and some institutional accounts.
Order types and partial closes
| MT4 | MT5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Market orders | Yes | Yes |
| Buy/sell limit, buy/sell stop | Yes | Yes |
| Buy/sell stop limit | No | Yes |
| Partial close | Creates a new ticket for the remainder | Reduces the same position |
| Fill policies | Simple | Fill-or-kill, immediate-or-cancel, return |
From MT4 to MT5 everything has an equivalent. From MT5 to MT4 the only gap is stop-limit orders: MT4 has no such type. If an MT5 source uses them, copy only filled positions (turn pending-order copying off) and test the behaviour on a demo first.
Symbols and contracts on different servers
A broker's MT4 and MT5 servers are separate, and their symbol lists often differ: suffixes (EURUSD vs EURUSD.r), older names on MT4 (GOLD, DJ30), and sometimes different contract sizes for indices and commodities. Names are a mapping problem the copier solves automatically; contract sizes are a sizing problem you should check once in the symbol specification. See symbol mapping and broker suffixes.
FIFO accounts
Accounts at US-regulated brokers, on either platform, must follow FIFO (close the oldest position on a symbol first) and can't hold opposite positions. A hedging source that holds a buy and a sell, or closes positions out of order, will see copies rejected on a FIFO account.
Which platform should the target be?
- If your broker offers both, MT5 hedging is the future-proof choice: new prop firms and many brokers are MT5-only.
- If your tools (an EA, indicators) only exist for MT4, keep running them on MT4 and copy their trades to MT5.
- For copying, both platforms are first-class. The platform matters less than the account type (hedging) and the broker's execution.
Step-by-step setups: MT4 to MT5 copier and MT5 to MT4 copier.