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Cloud vs local trade copier: which one to pick

A local copier runs in terminals on your own PC or VPS. A cloud copier runs on the vendor's servers. Here is what each one asks of you, and who should choose which.

By the CopySignals Team9 min read

Local vs cloud trade copier comes down to one question: whose machine holds the logged-in trading sessions. A local copier runs inside MetaTrader terminals on your own PC or a VPS you rent, so copying stops when that machine stops. A cloud copier keeps the sessions on the vendor's servers, so you hand over a trading password and get back a setup that runs with your laptop shut. Pick cloud if you do not want to look after a Windows machine, and pick local if you need every order to leave from an IP address you control.

CopySignals is a cloud Telegram signal copier for MT4, MT5 and eTrader: it reads the rooms you already follow through your own Telegram account and places the trades on your own broker account. The same product is a cloud trade copier between your own accounts, so we sit on one side of this comparison. Read our parts as a vendor's view. The local side gets a fair hearing below, because for some traders it is the right answer.

What is a local copier?

It is software, usually an Expert Advisor, that runs inside the MetaTrader terminals of the master and follower accounts, all on one machine. The clearest description comes from a vendor that sells one. The product its maker abbreviates to LTC says on its home page that it "runs on your own PC or VPS and copies trades directly between MetaTrader accounts. No third-party cloud infrastructure. No shared servers." The same page says it runs on a Windows PC or VPS, and that Mac users can run it through Wine or a Windows VPS.

The cost of that design is stated on the same page, in a setup note: trades placed from the MetaTrader mobile apps are copied "only when the same trading account is running on MT4/MT5 on your PC or VPS at all times". At all times is the phrase that matters. Every account in the chain needs an open terminal, and the terminals need a machine that does not sleep, update itself at 3 a.m. or lose its connection.

MetaQuotes says the same about the signal service built into its own terminals. The MetaTrader 5 help page for subscribers reads: "Your trading account must always be on and connected to the server", and then: "In order not to keep your computer on all the time, you can rent a VPS to copy signals." That is where the VPS habit comes from.

What is a cloud trade copier?

It is a service that logs into your accounts from its own servers and does the copying there. You give it the account number, the trading password and the broker server, and manage everything from a browser. Duplikium puts it this way on its home page: "Based on the Cloud. No copy trading software or tools to install, no PC to run, and no VPS to pay", and its setup steps begin with entering the login, password and broker of your master and slave accounts. Social Trader Tools describes itself as "hosted in the cloud 24/7" and says you copy trades "without the hassle of a VPS". MetaCopier's home page says no installation or VPS is needed and you connect with your browser.

CopySignals works the same way. For each MT4 or MT5 account you connect we start a MetaTrader terminal on our servers, one per account. eTrader accounts are driven through eTrader's copytrading API. You install nothing and keep nothing switched on.

Local vs cloud trade copier, point by point

QuestionLocal copierCloud copier
Where do the sessions run?In terminals on your PC or your VPSOn the vendor's servers
What has to stay on?The machine and every terminal, all dayNothing of yours
Who holds the trading password?You, inside your own terminalsThe vendor, for every follower account
Which IP address do orders come from?Yours, or your VPSThe vendor's
Who fixes it when it breaks?YouThe vendor
Can you manage it from a phone?Only by remote desktop into the machineYes, it is a web page

Which one is faster?

Neither side wins this on architecture alone, and the numbers vendors publish measure different things. Two terminals on one machine pass a trade between them without touching the internet, which is as short as a hop gets. The slow part is the trip from that machine to the broker's server. MetaQuotes' own VPS page puts a home PC at "Internet network delays from 100 ms" against "0-5 ms latency" for its hosting. It is selling the hosting, so read the figures as a vendor's, but the direction is right: a local copier on a home connection is usually the slowest arrangement of all, and the same copier on a VPS near the broker is quick.

Cloud vendors publish their own figures. Duplikium's home page states an internal copier latency of 1 to 3 ms and a choice of Frankfurt, London, New York or Singapore for the server. Social Trader Tools states a 50 ms average copy latency. "Internal" is the important word in the first one: it is the time inside the copier, and the broker's own execution time sits on top of it in every product. We do not publish a latency number for CopySignals, because a single figure would not describe your broker, your server and your instrument.

For a swing trade or a signal with a 30 pip stop, none of these differences will show in your results. For scalping a few points on gold during news they might, and then the honest test is a demo account on both setups for a week.

Which one is safer?

Each has one real exposure. With a cloud copier it is the credential. A follower account has to be connected with a password that can trade, so you are trusting the vendor's security with it. With CopySignals the copier can only place, modify and close orders on accounts you connected, and we have no custody of funds. Ask any cloud vendor the same question before you connect a live account.

With a local copier the exposure is the machine. A Windows box that holds saved logins for five accounts, runs all day and is reached over remote desktop is your responsibility to patch and lock down.

The IP address is the point where local has a clear argument. The LTC page says that with a local setup "all MetaTrader terminals operate from your own machine and IP address", with no shared hosting and no changing server locations. If your prop firm has a rule about where an account is accessed from, read it before choosing, and ask the firm if it is unclear. Our article on prop firm accounts covers the settings that matter once that is settled.

What does each one really cost?

The licence is only part of what a local copier costs. Add the VPS it needs, month after month, and the hours you spend on Windows updates, terminal restarts and the morning you find one follower has been disconnected since Tuesday. A cloud copier is a subscription with none of that. CopySignals is $14 a month on Starter, $29 on Basic and $149 on Pro, with Business by email for more. Every plan is the whole product and they differ only in how many trading accounts and Telegram accounts they cover. Billing is monthly by card or crypto, you can cancel any time, and there is a 30 day money back guarantee. The detail is on the pricing page.

Is there a hybrid?

Yes, and it is worth recognising when you see "cloud" on a sales page. Nexus Copier, a Telegram copier, describes its cloud option like this: "We host your Telegram session in the cloud and parse every signal. Your EA runs on your own MetaTrader and copies the trades." The same section tells you to keep MetaTrader open on your PC or a VPS. The reading side is hosted and the order side is local. That suits somebody who already runs a terminal all day, and it is clearly described. Telegram Signals Copier is local throughout: its FAQ says "a VPS/PC with Windows is required" and recommends a VPS. The question to put to any product is the one from the first paragraph: where does the logged-in session live? We went through that for Telegram copiers in copying Telegram signals without a VPS.

Which should you pick?

Pick a local copier if you already run a VPS for an Expert Advisor and the copier is one more program on it, if a prop firm rule ties the account to your own IP address, or if you will not give a trading password to a third party under any terms. LTC is a serious product for that job, and its site offers a trial and lists MT4, MT5 and DXtrade copying.

Pick a cloud copier if you trade from a Mac or a phone, if you do not want to be the person who maintains a server, or if your accounts sit at different brokers and on different platforms. If those platforms are MT4, MT5 or eTrader, CopySignals does it in any direction, sizes each follower by a fixed lot, a multiple of the master's lot or the master's lot scaled by balance, and caps every account with a maximum lot. It also copies Telegram rooms into the same accounts. It does not support cTrader, DXtrade or TradeLocker. For those, our list of MT4 and MT5 trade copiers names the cloud products that do, and the MT4 to MT5 article covers the hedging and netting question you will meet on the way.

Whichever you choose, a copier repeats the master's decisions at the size you set, including the bad ones. Trading carries risk. Run the setup on a demo account first and read the log for a few days before you connect real money.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

A local trade copier runs inside MetaTrader terminals on your own PC or a VPS you rent, so it copies only while that machine and every terminal are on. A cloud trade copier such as CopySignals logs into your accounts from its own servers, so nothing of yours has to stay on. The trade-off is that a cloud copier holds the trading password of each follower account.
You need one for a local copier unless you keep a Windows PC on all day, because every account in the chain needs an open terminal. You do not need one for a cloud copier. CopySignals starts one MT4 or MT5 terminal per connected account on its own servers, and drives eTrader accounts through eTrader's copytrading API.
Not as a rule. Two terminals on one machine pass a trade quickly, but the order still has to travel from that machine to the broker, and a home connection is the slow part. Vendors publish figures that measure different things, so if speed matters to your strategy, run both setups on a demo account and compare the fills.
It is a real trust decision, because a follower account has to be connected with a password that can trade. CopySignals can only place, modify and close orders on accounts you connected, and has no custody of funds. Put the same question to any vendor before you connect a live account, and start on a demo.
CopySignals copies between MT4, MT5 and eTrader accounts in any direction and across brokers, and copies Telegram rooms into the same accounts. It does not support cTrader, DXtrade or TradeLocker. Plans are $14, $29 and $149 a month, with a 30 day money back guarantee.

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