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Richard Berry
- Updated
MT4 brokers provide MetaQuotes’ MetaTrader4 (MT4) platform so you can speculate on financial markets. MT4 brokers have risen in popularity as the platform is considerably cheaper for a broker than developing propriety technology.
Good Money Guide’s experts have tested and ranked the best MT4 brokers in the UK, regulated by the FCA.
The UK’s Best MT4 Brokers Compared
Use our comparison of our best-rated MT4 brokers to compare how many markets you can trade, minimum deposits, and what types of accounts are available.
| MT4 Broker | MT4 Markets | Minimum Deposit | GMG Rating | More Info | Risk Warning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 84+ | £100 | See Platform | 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 1,200 | £1 | See Platform | 75.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 91 | £250 | See Platform | 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider. | |
 | 200+ | £1 | See Platform | 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 2,100 | £1 | See Platform | 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 3,981 | £10 | See Platform | 66.95% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 578 | £100 | See Platform | 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider |
Our Picks of the Best MT4 & MT5 Brokers Reviewed
✅ Methodology: Our trading experts chose the best MT4 brokers based on:
- 30,000+ votes and reviews in the annual Good Money Guide Awards
- Our team’s own experiences testing MT4 brokers with real money
- An in-depth comparison of their stand-out features compared to alternative MT4 brokers
- Good Money Guide’s exclusive interviews with the MT4 broker CEOs and senior management
Our Shortlist:
- City Index: Best MT4 Broker For Trading Signals And Analytics
- Pepperstone: Best Overall MetaQuotes Broker
- CMC Markets: Wide Range Of MT4 Markets
- IG: Good MT4 Broker For Larger Traders
- XTB: Good Platform For Multi-Asset MT4 Trading
City Index: Best MT4 Broker For Trading Signals And Analytics
- MT4 markets available: 84+
- Minimum deposit: £100
- MT4 account types: CFDs & spread betting
- Equity overnight financing: 2.5% +/- SONIA
- Pricing: Shares 0.08%, FTSE 1, GBPUSD 0.9
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Trade on Metatrader 4 with City Index and benefit from tight spreads, fast trade executions and unique trading tools. Download and explore automated trading strategies with Expert Advisors from FX Blue. Choose from nine different EAs to complement your trading style, including Sentiment Trader.
City Index Review
Name: City Index
Description: City Index is one of the oldest spread betting and CFD brokers based in the UK. They were founded in 1983 and offer trading in over 13,500 financial markets, to around 126,000 active clients. City Index is currently owned by StoneX, a US brokerage listed on the NASDAQ valued at $1.75bn.
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Why we like them:
City Index offers some of the best trading tools and analysis to help traders perform better. Their unique post-trade analytics and voice brokerage service make it an excellent choice for large and frequent traders.
Pros
- Excellent trading tools
- Post-trade analytics
- Publically listed (part of StoneX)
Cons
- Trading only, no investment account
- Limited options markets
- No direct market access
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Pricing
(4)
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Market Access
(4.5)
-
Online Platform
(4)
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Customer Service
(4.5)
-
Research & Analysis
(4.5)
Overall
4.3Pepperstone: Best Overall MT4 Broker
🏆Award Winner🏆
- Customer rating: 4.6/5 (86 reviews)
- MT4 markets available: 1,200
- Minimum deposit: £1
- MT4 account types: CFDs, spread betting
- Equity overnight financing: 2.5% +/- SONIA
- Pricing: Shares 0.1%, FTSE 1, GBPUSD 0.9
75.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Pepperstone won “best MT4 broker” in our 2024 and 2023 awards. They offer a very comprehensive package of MT4 tools and strategies, discount pricing and expert customer support from their London office.
With Pepperstone’s MT4 account you get 85 pre-installed indicators and 28 additional Smart Trader Tools where you can build and run your EAs using MetaQuotes Language 4 (MQL4) and identify statistically significant market movements with Autochartist.
75.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Pepperstone Review
Name: Pepperstone
Description: Pepperstone were founded in 2010 in Australia and have since then grown to be a global brokerage with international offices and around 400,000 active clients. They offer spread betting and CFDs on 1,200 major market instruments, which means they focus on the most heavily traded assets, mainly forex and indices trading. Of those 900 are shares on the major stocks on international exchanges.
75.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Why we like them
Pepperstone is a good choice for traders that want to automate their trading strategies through MT4. As far as MT4 brokers they are one of the biggest and best and offers so good EA packages.
Pros
- Tight pricing
- Wide range of MT4 markets
- Pre-built MT4 indicator packages
Cons
- Limited market access
- Only third-party platforms
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Pricing
(5)
-
Market Access
(3.5)
-
Online Platform
(4)
-
Customer Service
(4)
-
Research & Analysis
(4)
Overall
4.1CMC Markets: Wide Range Of MT4 Markets
- MT4 markets available: 200+
- Minimum deposit: £1
- MT4 account types: CFDs, spread betting
- Equity overnight financing: 2.9% +/- SONIA
- Pricing: Shares 0.1%, FTSE 1, GBPUSD 0.59
74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
CMC Markets gives you competitive spreads on 175+ FX pairs, plus indices and commodities with no restrictions on scalping and no restrictions on minimum stop-loss or take-profit distances, or stop-loss and take-profit limits. Additional premium MT4 indicators and EAs, included at no cost on a London-located server.
CMC Markets Review
Name: CMC Markets
Description: CMC Markets is one of the original spread betting and CFD brokers based in the UK. They have been providing forex trading services since 1989 and are now listed on the London Stock Exchange. The broker has over 300,000 active clients trading online and is operated from 13 global offices, with headquarters in The City of London.
68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Is CMC Markets legit?
Yes, CMC Markets has always offered, and still does one of the best trading platforms for high-frequency and active traders. It’s a good choice for those who want to trade on tight spreads, with a platform built on exceptional tech.
Pros
- Excellent trading platform
- Good liquidity
- Unique sentiment tools
Cons
- Trading only, no investing account
- Limited smaller cap stocks
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Pricing
(5)
-
Market Access
(4)
-
Online Platform
(5)
-
Customer Service
(4)
-
Research & Analysis
(5)
Overall
4.6IG: Good MT4 Broker For Larger Traders
- MT4 markets available: 91
- Minimum deposit: £250
- MT4 Account types: CFDs, spread betting, DMA, investing
- Equity overnight financing: 2.5% +/- SONIA
- Pricing: Shares 0.1%, FTSE 1, GBPUSD 0.6
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.
IG’s MT4 package gives instant access to 18 free add-ons and indicators. Trade in sizes as small as 0.01 lots as a CFD or spread bet and get minimum spreads from just 0.6 pips on a host of forex pairs.
IG Review
Name: IG
Description: Founded in 1974 as Investors Gold Index, then IG Index, now just “IG” is one of the world’s largest margin trading brokers. IG offer CFDs, FX and Spread Betting (in the UK) alongside share trading and prime brokerage to over 313,000 active clients and offers 17,000 tradable markets. IG also recently introduced physical share dealing and smart portfolios for longer-term investors.
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.
Is IG a good trading platform?
Yes, IG provides an excellent all-round trading and investing brokerage service. IG pioneered online trading and financial spread betting for private clients and remains not only one of the largest online trading platforms, but also one of the best. IG stands out through deep liquidity, high market range and excellent added value such as trading tools and analysis.
Pros
- Vast range of markets
- Excellent liquidity & DMA equities
- Listed on the London Stock Exchange
Cons
- Customer service can be slow
- No DMA futures trading
- Still charges inactivity fee
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Pricing
(4.5)
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Market Access
(5)
-
Online Platform
(5)
-
Customer Service
(4)
-
Research & Analysis
(5)
Overall
4.7XTB: Good Platform For Multi-Asset MT4 Trading
- Markets available: 2,100
- Minimum deposit: £1
- Account types: CFDs
- Equity overnight financing: -0.02341% / -0.00159% DAILY
- Pricing: Shares 0.3%, FTSE 1.7, GBPUSD 1.4
81% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
XTB Review
Name: XTB
Description: XTB is a CFD and forex broker headquartered in Poland and listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE:XTB) valued at over $1bn. XTB was founded in 2003 and offers forex, indices, commodities, ETF and stock CFD trading. XTB has historically used celebrity endorsements to promote it’s brand including Jose Mourinho, Conor McGregor, Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Jiří Procházka.
75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider
Summary
XTB, are a decent all-round trading platform and a good choice for most small-to-medium sized CFD traders. They are publically listed in Poland and offer, competitive spreads on a fairly wide range of markets.
The key things to focus on when considering trading with XTB are:
- They have their own proprietary trading platform. When I interviewed Omar Arnaout, the XTB CEO Omar Arnout, he said “I’m really proud of our platform and honestly believe it’s one of the best in the market.” Rightly so.
- They really push client education, XTB won “Best Trading Platform Education” in our 2023 awards (although they didn’t show up to collect the trophy, they never do). You can read their Q&A on forex education here.
- Customer service is paramount. Omar said that “first and foremost is the customer service”. I really agree with this as I think it’s important to have a few different trading accounts (diversify, diversify, diversify) and you’ll trade more with the broker that treats you best.
Pros
- Publically listed
- Mulitple platform choices
- Innovative order types
Cons
- Not UK based
- No DMA
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Pricing
(4)
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Market Access
(4)
-
Online Platform
(4)
-
Customer Service
(4)
-
Research & Analysis
(4)
Overall
4Best MT4 Broker For Beginners
CMC Markets is the best MT4 broker for beginners as they are well established, publicly listed on the LSE, and offer over 200 markets to trade. They are also backed up by an exceptional in-house trading platform which beginners may find more user-friendly and easier to use than MT4.
This comparison table shows which MT4 brokers offer beginner-friendly features:
| Beginner Features: |  | |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading Signals | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Webinars | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Seminars | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Leverage Control | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Low-Risk Products | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Investment Account | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
MT4 Brokers For Advanced & Professional Traders
Pepperstone is the best MT4 broker for experienced traders. They offer by far the most markets of all the MT4 brokers we feature (around 1,200), including UK, US and Australian shares. They also provide free technical indicators and automated trading strategies in their Smart Trader Tools package, a suite of expert advisor tools that help with trade execution and management.
The below comparison table shows which MT4 brokers provide advanced trader tools and access for sophisticated MT4 users.
| Advanced Features: | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice Brokerage | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Corporate Accounts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Level-2 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Algo Trading | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Prime Brokerage | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
Market Access & Added Value
MT4 is available from thousands of brokers and used by millions of traders every year. With so many brokers utilising the same platform, they must work hard to differentiate themselves and win business.
You can compare which UK MT4 broker is most suited to your trading in this matrix of account types and market access.
| MT4 Offering | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Access | 84 | 200 | 1,200 | 91 | 578 | 2,100 |
| Minimum Deposit | £100 | £1 | £1 | £250 | £100 | £1 |
| CFD Trading | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Spread Betting | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Futures | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
So, what makes one MT4 broker better than another? The key questions you need to ask yourself when choosing an MT4 broker are:
- Where is the broker regulated? – In the UK this is the FCA
- How many markets do they offer on MT4? – Some brokers only offer 10 or so FX pairs which is not enough
- What types of trading account do they have? Spot FX, CFDs or financial spread betting
- What are trading costs? Some brokers include commission in the spread, while others add it post-trade
- Is there any added value on offer? Larger brokers offer free indicator packages, faster execution plus news and analysis
What Do You Need To Trade On MT4 & MT5?
FX and CFD traders who use either MT4 or MT5 can enable one-click trading in their charts. That puts bid and ask prices for a given instrument in the top left-hand corner of the chart.
To execute a market order in a predetermined size you set, simply click the bid or ask button as required. Be aware though there are no second chances with one-click dealing enabled. Click on the bid or the ask price and you have dealt in your preselected order size.
How Does Trading From Charts Work On MT4?
MT4 brokers who offer a ‘souped-up’ version of the Meta trader platforms give their customers access to add-ins such as Tick Chart Trader which allows you to place orders directly from a tick chart with has an order ticket within it.
The Tick charts themselves can be configured in a variety of formats and the add-in also supports hot-keys for trading such as B for Buy, S for sell and so on.
If you have access to the Mini Terminal which usually comes in the same package of add-ons as one click trading you can make use of smart lines which allows you to draw intelligent lines on chart.
Those lines can act as stop losses or take profits for full or partial orders and it’s also possible to use a time based line to close open positions at at specific point in the trading day.
✅ We Only Recommend FCA-Regulated MT4 Brokers
All online MT4 brokers that operate in the UK must be regulated by the FCA. The FCA is the Financial Conduct Authority and is responsible for ensuring that UK MT4 brokers are properly capitalised, treat customers fairly and have sufficient compliance systems.
Any broker recommended here is regulated by the FCA and is where your funds are protected by the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme).
MT4 Broker FAQs
Yes. One of the strongest and most popular features is the ability to trade automatically on MT4. The automatic trading feature has been active since 2006 and tens of thousands of traders have used the function. The automated trading is two-sided so you can either follow other traders via copy trading or upload your own code to the marketplace and sell it to potential followers in the MT4 marketplace where traders can buy robots & indicators. In the market place you’ll also find the complete array of MT4 signals and can search by filters to find a Forex trading signal.
EA stands for Expert Advisor. Automated Expert Advisors allow you to take positions automatically, based on pre-set trading parameters. You can program Expert Advisors to follow a very specific set of instructions, allowing your positions to be automatically opened and closed without you needing to be present. or you can buy them ready made.
No, Interactive Brokers does not offer MT4 instead they have their own suite of in house trading platforms and API connectivity, which they offer to their clients.
For MT4 and Expert Advisors you should be looking for execution speeds of sub 25-30 milliseconds. MT4 brokers are responsible for the price feeds and the infrastructure behind the scenes that actually execute the trades, so always choose a well-established broker with the free VPS.
Yes, Pepperstone will give clients a free VPS for trading on MT4, based on your traded volume.
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) allows you to use Expert Advisors (EAs) 24/7. The VPS means you no longer need your home computer continuously running for your EAs to execute trades, ensuring uninterrupted trading day and night. If the VPS provided is in close physical proximity to your brokers MT4 servers, then you will also benefit from much faster execution times, allowing you to catch that price before it changes.
Yes, you can but this feature must be enabled by your broker, and cannot be changed direct on the MT4 platform. Note that changing leverage levels on an account will affect existing open positions as well as new positions opened post the changes.
Yes, you can have two MT4 installs from the same broker although you will have to download the platform multiple times and specify a different destination folder for each version of the platform.
City Index, Pepperstone, CMC Markets and IG offer micro-lots for MT4 trading.
With MT4 you can choose to either trade in standard lots or micro-lots, which allows you to trade in smaller increments and limit your overall exposure.
The MT4 app was banned from Apple’s app store in September 2022 because of the volume of scam reports Apple received. This was due to the app being used in social media trading scams.
Richard Berry
This article contains affiliate links which may earn us some form of income if you go on to open an account. However, if you would rather visit the MT4 brokers via a non-affiliate link, you can view their MetaQuotes trading pages directly here: