Alternatives to MT4 / MT5

[morehastelessspeed]

I 'm gradually developing a strategy on TradingView, while looking around for alternatives to MT4 / MT5.

So far, I've noticed a handful of other platforms/software. However, all these alternatives seem to converge on MT4 EAs when it comes to actually automatng orders to the broker/exchange for execution.

I would be grateful for any suggestions or directions. I'm not skilled, and it's taking me a lifetime even just using Pine on TV to build indicators and put together a strategy that can be backtested.

 

[TickCOM]

Let me recommend the latest technology within algorithmic development, will save you many months, probably years.
1Station - no limit non-programming, where you can also add your own code.

 

[dusktrader]

Hi there. You can use TradingView in similar way to MT4/MT5 and once your idea is trade-worthy, you can connect it with a middleware to place broker orders. The middleware I like is called ProfitView.

 

[TickCOM]

Hi there. You can use TradingView in similar way to MT4/MT5 and once your idea is trade-worthy, you can connect it with a middleware to place broker orders. The middleware I like is called ProfitView.

No you cannot use TradingView similar to MT4/MT5. TradingView is using slow scripting language, MT4 is using 100x faster C++, everything is in the slow cloud in TradingView, while on your computer in MT4. There is a world difference between the two development environments, one is pro the other is a toy.

 

[dusktrader]

No you cannot use TradingView similar to MT4/MT5. TradingView is using slow scripting language, MT4 is using 100x faster C++, everything is in the slow cloud in TradingView, while on your computer in MT4. There is a world difference between the two development environments, one is pro the other is a toy.

Well that could be important if you trade frequently. I trade the 4hour bars so I don't need to place high-frequency trades. I am focused on the 28 major/minor pairs of FOREX, so for a given strategy, there is up to 28 possible trade events that could occur on a 4hour bar change (though not likely ... because of the 28 I weed out the non-performers).

My main point was that TradingView can be used to develop strategies that can also be used for live trading. The language pinescript is similar enough to MQL that anyone could pick it up. Conceptually they work in a similar way.

The way I've started thinking about coding for TradingView is to just view each trading bar as a series of further information. A collection of trading bars is also a series. But within each 4hour bar (for my style) a number of events and scenarios could occur. Some of these depend also on interactions with other nearby bars. But from coding standpoint... the main objective is to assess all of the data for the current bar and decide what to do.

TradingView is a powerful platform and works consistently well in my experience. My main point was that if you develop a strategy using TV, you have multiple options to link that to live-trading middleware if you want to.

 

[dusktrader]

mql4 has one big advantage to tradingview... mql4/metatrader can be used at many different brokers... tradingview is only usable at one company(is that correct)? so, if you spend a ton of time polishing your coding skills with tradingview and tradingview shuts down, you are stuck with code and experience that is pretty much worthless..

Hi baddog,
just wanted to clarify how I use TradingView. TV has integrations directly with brokers only for manual trading. This means you cannot access the broker via pinescript at all. I think TV keeps it this way on purpose, so that they don't have the liability of live trading. So this is a "red flag" perhaps, because if push comes to shove, TV is going to say "we don't officially support live trading through our platform, except manual"

But I've found that the learning experience is unmatched. I'm able to quickly develop trading strategies on a visual level, and then integrate them for live automated trading using middleware. There are multiple middlewares available - I chose ProfitView. PV listens directly to the TradingView "event stream" and takes immediate action to perform API calls against multiple brokers (possibly 20 or more, it's a lot). For forex I use Oanda.

You are right - if TradingView shuts down then I have to start over somewhere else. While that does seem very unlikely (their company is growing like a weed), it is still not any death sentence. The majority of my struggles and ongoing work is around the trading strategy and logic - NOT around the automation mechanics. The mechanics work very well for me so far.

So from a learning/starting perspective - TV has been great for me. It has helped me understand the requirements of realtime trading, and the many unexpected scenarios that can occur during a trading bar. This knowledge will be easily transferable to another platform when I'm ready, such as QuantConnect.

 

[dusktrader]

Well I can't disagree with your logic on "portability" of your code, and also that you can keep it "close to the vest" when you trade with MT4/5. (It is also a bonus that you can trade multiple brokers - you can also if you go the TradingView route)

I am mainly designing a trading framework, so that I can easily swap-out different trading logics. That way I can create bots for different purposes, like ranging or trending markets.

I am not worried about the platform providers getting my code. I am thinking of open-sourcing it but I'm still thinking on that for now. The reason I'm not too concerned about sharing my code is that there is nothing special about it - it's just a few components stuck together like this:
a) entry logic
b) intrade management logic
c) broker integration handling
d) simulation account (for testing)

And there are an infinite number of parameters you adjust on those pieces ... so seems like an infinite amount of opportunity there.

 

[radvan]

You may check Quantpedia’s list of available backtesting platforms.
The most expensive platforms are usually for professionals (like Deltix, SmartQuant etc.). But cheaper options (like Amibroker, Tradestation, NinjaTrader, Quantconnect, Quantopian etc.) are usually sufficient for a retail trader …

 

[morehastelessspeed]

Hi baddog,
just wanted to clarify how I use TradingView. TV has integrations directly with brokers only for manual trading. This means you cannot access the broker via pinescript at all. I think TV keeps it this way on purpose, so that they don't have the liability of live trading. So this is a "red flag" perhaps, because if push comes to shove, TV is going to say "we don't officially support live trading through our platform, except manual"

But I've found that the learning experience is unmatched. I'm able to quickly develop trading strategies on a visual level, and then integrate them for live automated trading using middleware. There are multiple middlewares available - I chose ProfitView. PV listens directly to the TradingView "event stream" and takes immediate action to perform API calls against multiple brokers (possibly 20 or more, it's a lot). For forex I use Oanda.

You are right - if TradingView shuts down then I have to start over somewhere else. While that does seem very unlikely (their company is growing like a weed), it is still not any death sentence. The majority of my struggles and ongoing work is around the trading strategy and logic - NOT around the automation mechanics. The mechanics work very well for me so far.

So from a learning/starting perspective - TV has been great for me. It has helped me understand the requirements of realtime trading, and the many unexpected scenarios that can occur during a trading bar. This knowledge will be easily transferable to another platform when I'm ready, such as QuantConnect.

Hopefully a tool to automaticatically convert Pine-script to Python, or to some other open standard, will have become available by the time I have finished developing my strategy on Trading View! Such a tool would obviously be to TV's advantage, and I'm aware there have already been some initiatives.

It is encouraging to see more software/platforms appearing, e.g. Tradologics, which I haven't tried but I might do at some point.

In the meantime, the risk of TV's Pine being discontinued seems as remote as Metquotes' MT4 and MT5 being discontinued....

 

[jacobjacob]

I use Tradingview to run strategies, then use MT4/5 to execute order. I use Trading Router to connect Tradingview and MT4/5, so that the Tradingview can send alerts to MT4/5 and MT4/5 execute order.