An analysis of cTrader

Choosing the right trading platform is important for both experienced and beginner traders alike. For beginner traders in particular, a well-designed platform allows for a smoother trading experience. Overly complicated interfaces make navigating market data tricky, leading to unnecessary errors and costly mistakes through incorrect order placements. 

A platform with fast performance is essential, especially in volatile markets where the slightest delay in order execution can lead to slippage, where a trade is executed at a less favourable price. For experienced traders, tools should be offered for advanced charting and drawing, as well as indicators that will allow them to make informed decisions. 

Availability of advanced order types will also be an expectation, allowing for strategic placement of stop-loss, take-profit and trailing-stops. Traders will also need to consider their profitability and platform fees – these can be hard to compare as supposed ‘commission-free’ trading is often compensated for by higher spreads. A platform that is transparent with their pricing, which offers lower execution costs can give traders a competitive edge. Reliability and security are essential also, with responsive customer support and operation within regulatory frameworks. 

Overall, platform selection is key - performance can be hindered by the wrong platform, as well as presenting unnecessary risks and limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive analysis of cTrader, one of the leading multi-asset forex and CFD trading platforms.

cTrader overview

Designed by Spotware Systems, cTrader was released as a cutting-edge trading platform in 2011 shortly after the founding of the company in 2010. It provides a transparent, user-friendly experience catered to the needs of ECN traders. 

cTrader has gained popularity amongst both retail and professional traders since release for its advanced charting tools, execution speed and modern user interface. Compared to MetaTrader, a platform initially built for market makers, cTrader’s design has no dealing desk intervention, making it a primary choice for brokers with true ECN execution. Since release, the platform has continued to evolve with consistent updates and improvements. Multiple asset classes are now available, including forex, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies, with access available on desktop, web and mobile. It has established itself as a strong competitor to platforms such as MT4 and MT5.

Advantages of cTrader

cTrader boasts a wide variety of features, catering for both retail and institutional traders. It is a comprehensive platform for trading Forex, indices, commodities, shares and cryptocurrencies. It provides traders with all the tools they need for a successful trading experience. 

User design

The clean, user-friendly interface offers customisable layouts - while a beginner may want an uncluttered workspace, the flexibility is there for more advanced traders to add as many details to their workspace as possible. One particularly useful feature is the ability to create multiple workspace templates, saving custom layouts for different use cases.

Variety of charting tools

With a wide range of chart types on offer including Candlestick, Bar, Line and Heikin-Ashi charts, traders can benefit from viewing multiple charts simultaneously for enhanced monitoring. cTrader comes with 70 built-in indicators, with the ability for users to add custom indicators through the cTrader Automate API. 

Users have access to numerous drawing tools, for trendlines, Fibonacci retracements and highlighting support/resistance levels. Furthermore, price alerts can be set through the charting tools, notifying the trader when prices reach a specified level.

Order execution

As previously discussed, cTrader utilises ECN trading – this allows for increased transparency and faster execution speed. Minimal latency is of particular importance to scalpers and high-frequency traders. Many advanced order types are also offered, including market, limit, stop, stop-limit, and one-click trading.

Risk management

The stop-loss and take-profit features allow traders to engage in risk management, in addition to the reverse and double position tools, which quickly allow traders to reverse a position, or double their position size. Data on the depth of market and liquidity can provide traders insights into potential volatility, as well as the buying and selling pressures of various price levels. Flexibility is offered through the ‘partial close’ feature, allowing a portion of a trade to be closed, while leaving the rest open.

cTrader Automate

cTrader Automate, formerly known as cAlgo is an algorithmic trading tool which permits the creation of custom trading bots through the C# programming language. Customisable features allow traders to design, backtest and optimise their bots, and created custom indicators with advanced automation for more complex strategies.

Copy trading

Copy trading has been popular since the early 2000s, with the rise of online trading communities sharing ideas, strategies and signals. cTrader have streamlined this process, with a social platform allowing users to follow and copy trades from experienced traders, as well as share their own strategies. cTrader Copy provides materials for users to complete due diligence, with full performance metrics available from historical performance to risk profile and fee structure.

Multi-platform trading

cTrader is available on mobile with apps from both iOS and Android, that sync with desktop and web versions retaining settings, custom workspaces and preferences. The mobile app and browser versions do not lack essential features, including all the major charting tools, technical indicators and order types.

Third-party integrations & security

cTrader allows the import of saved charts and analysis from TradingView. It has an open API, allowing developers to connect third-party services and create customised trading and analysis solutions. All data in cTrader is encrypted, with the additional layer of Two-Factor Authentication for added security.

Disadvantages of cTrader

Compared to MetaTrader, cTrader may have a few potential limitations, particularly for those traders previously used to the MetaTrader experience. Widely considered the industry standard for retail trading, users switching to cTrader may notice a number of limitations:

Popularity

cTrader is not as popular as MetaTrader, and offered by fewer brokers, which may limit the options for traders who like to use specific brokers or trading conditions. MetaTrader 4 in particular has support from the vast majority of brokers. With cTrader having a smaller overall ecosystem, users switching from MetaTrader might feel limited by the fewer number of custom indicators and scripts available on cTrader, due to the smaller community support. This also extends to limitations in historical data for backtesting, and a smaller library of plug-ins and third-party tools.

Less flexibility

While we discussed cTrader’s flexibility earlier, when compared to MetaTrader, cTrader’s customisation options may be limiting to advanced traders. MetaTrader offers a vast library of customisations, with the ability to modify many aspects of the trading environment. Furthermore, cTrader is only available with a live internet connection - access to the platform is blocked without it, restricting access to demo data. Alternatively, MetaTrader offers users offline strategy testing, allowing them to run simulations and backtests without connection to the internet.

Pricing

As cTrader is often positioned as a ‘premium’ platform for ECN trading, certain brokers implement higher commissions and spreads compared to those on MetaTrader. For scalpers and high-frequency traders, these costs can quickly add up.

Conclusion

The trading platform of choice will most likely depend on an individual trader’s needs. MetaTrader remains the dominant platform due to wide broker support, a huge library of customisations and third-party applications, with a large community of traders and developers. 

For those who value extensive customisation and an established reputation, MetaTrader may prove to be the ideal choice. For those who also need advanced features in a modern interface, with transparency and fast order execution, cTrader would make an excellent choice of trading platform.

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Author

Caleb is a financial copywriter with a specialisation in fintech and forex. Former copywriter at Barclays and Paysafe. Contributing writer for LiquidityFinder. You can message Caleb here.