Forex Software
Forex software can be divided into several different categories. Here I will separate them in to two categories:- Broker provided
- Third-party
Most Forex Traders use a Broker provided Trading platform, some include charting and Technical Analysis capabilities others do not. To trade without charting and Technical Analysis is a whole different type of trading, usually referred to as ticker tape trading. I won't go into exactly what ticker tape trading is, but the basic notion is to read the relationship between price and volume (tick volume in the case of Forex) and take advantage of certain setups. Read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator and Day Trader's Bible (both are free downloads) to get the insights into the art of tape reading. Even if you are not interested in tape reading these two books will give you some valuable insights into trading.In general a Third-Party Forex Software is better than a Broker provided. However, the past 2-3 years the Broker suppliers have made some significant progress. A good example is MetaTrader, which has emerged into a decent Trading and Charting platform. And it is provided for free by the Brokers (usually Market Makers). If you want a really good platform then you need to pay for it, although in some cases the Broker will weaver the monthly fee. Below I have made a table of Broker provided and Third-Party. Many times the Third-Party Software is not only made for Forex Trading but also made for trading Futures, CFDs and Stocks. The advantage of using the Broker provided is that is free and everything is integrated. Some Third-Party suppliers offer integrated Trading with certain Brokers and it's most of the time easy to setup. The Forex Software listed below is only of the kind that offers you to make your own indicator, thus you are not dependent on the Broker's canned indicators, but can implement your own ideas. Note: The difference between a Broker provided and a Third-Party Forex Software is the way the software is payed for. A Forex Software that is for free if you sign up for a Broker account, is a Broker provided software, else it is Third-Party. Broker provided Third-party
Forex Software | Broker provided | MetaTrader | | Supplier | MetaQuotes Software Corp | | Website | www.metaquotes.net | | Founded | 2000 | | HQ | Russia | | Cost | Free with Broker account | | Brokers | Alpari, Interbank FX, Crown Forex, ODL, etc | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | A fairly good Forex Software considering that it is free and has full charting and integrated trading. Also supports the creating of your own indicators via MetaQuotes Language (MQL). The language is similar to C. For those knowledgeable in programming it has the ability to connect to DLLs. |
Forex Software | Broker provided | VT Trader | | Supplier | Visual Trading Systems LLC | | Website | vtsystems.com | | Founded | ? | | HQ | NYC, NY USA | | Cost | Free with CMS Forex Broker account | | Brokers | CMS Forex | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | Starting to get better and better. I would say VT Trader is slightly better than MetaTrader, mainly because its it easier to use and the programming language is much more straight forward than MQL but perhaps not as powerful. The language is similar to MetaStock Formula Language. |
Forex Software | Broker provided | DealBook 360 | | Supplier | Global Futures & Forex, Ltd (GFT) | | Website | www.gftforex.com | | Founded | 1997 | | HQ | Ada, MI USA | | Cost | Free with GFT Broker account | | Brokers | GFT | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | A platform that has mature the past couple of years into something that even professional traders could use. If you want to create your own indicators it is possible via the Chart Studio. The programming language is similar to Pascal and very powerful. |
Forex Software | Broker provided | TradeStation | | Supplier | TradeStation Group Inc | | Website | www.tradestation.com | | Founded | 1982 | | HQ | Plantation, FL USA | | Cost | $100/month with Broker account | | Brokers | TradeStation Securities Inc | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | This piece of software was state-of-the-art until they decided in 2001 to also become a broker. Still good but nothing like its past glory. All Forex trades are cleared through Gain Capital (Forex.com) and the data feed also comes from Forex.com. Very little development effort is put into its software, everything is done to expand its broker operations. For Forex traders there are better and cheaper alternatives out there. |
Forex Software | Broker provided | Top Gun (Leverage FX) | | Supplier | Top Gun Software LLC | | Website | www.leveragefx.com | | Founded | 2000 | | HQ | Sarasota, FL USA | | Cost | Free with Broker account | | Brokers | FXCM, FXDD and FX Solutions | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | The only reason this impressive software doesn't get a five star rating is simply because there is no integrated trading. The software as such is not produced by Top Gun but programmed in Java into the eSignal Charting Platform. The tools Top Gun offers are top notch, but not for every one. The rules of the setups are hard and fast, but needs experience to execute well. If you like the way Top Gun works and are ready to put in some serious work, this alternative can be very rewarding. |
Forex Software | Broker provided | MCFX | | Supplier | TS Support LLC | | Website | www.tssupport.com | | Founded | 1999 | | HQ | Dover, DE USA (actually not a US based company) | | Cost | Free with Broker account | | Brokers | FXCM | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | With the FXCM broker account you get the Pro version, which means you can create you own indicators using EasyLanguage, a vector based programming language based on Pascal and BASIC. EasyLanguage is the industry standard for trading programming languages, developed by Omega Research (now TradeStation). MCFX (or MultiCharts) is what TradeStation should have been by now. I know that during 2007 the Forex data feed was not at all up to par, but now when FXCM is in the game the data feed might be better. I would also rate this a five star Forex Software if it had integrated trading. |
Forex Software | Third-Party | Wave59 | | Supplier | Wave59 Technologies Int'l Inc | | Website | www.wave59.com | | Founded | 1997 | | HQ | Boulder, CO USA | | Cost | US$89/month or US$2400 | | Forex Data Feed | Forex.com or Interactive Brokers (IB) | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | Wave59 is a tremendously powerful software, offering some really innovative techniques to gain an edge in the markets. Of course it also offers the usual technical analysis stuff. The reason Wave59 doesn't get 5 stars is that it only offers time bars (no tick bars or range bars) and there is no backtesting features, although Earik Beann is working on this. If you choose IB as your broker then Wave59 actually offers integrated trading. High tech buffs, this is the platform for you! |
Forex Software | Third-Party | NeoTicker | | Supplier | TickQuest Inc | | Website | www.tickquest.com | | Founded | 2000 | | HQ | Toronto, Canada | | Cost | CAD$100/month or CAD$1497 | | Forex Data Feed | MB Trading | | FXTI Rating | ***** | | Comment | One of the best Trading and Charting Software available today. Has everything you can expect from a pro trading platform. The only thing I don't like is the user interface, it's counterintuitive compared to other platforms like TradeStation or Ninja Trader. I am not sure if it fully integrates with MB Trading Forex feed so please check first before buying. If you can get over the interface this might be the best trading platform. Difficult to go wrong here. |
Forex Software | Third-Party | MultiCharts | | Supplier | TS Support LLC | | Website | www.tssupport.com | | Founded | 1999 | | HQ | Dover, DE USA (actually not a US based company) | | Cost | US$ 41/month or US$899 | | Forex Data feed | Interactive Brokers (IB) | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | This is the non-Forex version of MCFX. However, if you have a IB account you can trade commission based Forex. the commissions are very low, about 0.2 to 0.3 pips (yes, fractional pips). The data feed is decent, similar to most Forex brokers. As I have pointed out in my comment on MCFX, MultiCharts is what TradeStation should have been. The four stars reflect the fact there is no integrated trading, i.e you have to shift between the Charting (MultiCharts) and Trading (TWS) platform when identifying and placing trades, which can be very annoying. |
Forex Software | Third-Party | Ninja Trader | | Supplier | Ninja Trader LLC | | Website | www.ninjatrader.com | | Founded | 2003 | | HQ | Denver, CO USA | | Cost | US$ 50/month or US$995 | | Forex Data feed | Interactive Brokers (IB), MB Trading and Forex.com | | FXTI Rating | **** | | Comment | You can get this excellent Forex Software for free if you sign up with Forex.com with certain constraints. Simple but very effective charting and trading platform, featuring basically everything you want. The big drawback is that the programming needs to be done using C#, which makes things complicated. What takes a few lines in EasyLanguage, takes pages in C#. The feature I like the most is the integrated trading, so simple to use but gets the job done fast and easy. |
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