How to copy trades from another trader
A platform, MetaTrader's own Signals service, a Telegram room or one of your own accounts: which route fits depends on where the trader publishes and where your money sits.
To copy trades from another trader, you use one of four routes: a copy trading platform, the Signals service inside MetaTrader, a Telegram signal copier that reads the trader's room, or a trade copier that mirrors one of your own accounts onto another. The route is decided by two facts, where the trader publishes and where your money sits, and the wrong choice usually means opening an account you did not want.
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. That covers one of the four routes. This article goes through all of them, says where each one fits, and says where CopySignals is the wrong answer. If the words copy trading, social trading and signal room still blur together, the difference between copy trading, social trading and signal rooms comes first.
Can you copy a trader through a copy trading platform?
Yes, if the trader is on that platform and you are willing to hold your money there too. eToro describes the flow in three steps: choose the user you want to copy, input the amount you want to allocate, and click COPY, after which you are duplicating their positions automatically in real time and direct proportion. The same page says you can set a stop loss for the copy, add or remove funds, or pause the copy.
cTrader Copy works the same way on the cTrader side. Spotware says trades are copied automatically based on your equity relative to the provider's, and that to start you open an account with a supporting broker or log in to an existing one. Providers are paid through the platform, and the page lists a performance fee, a management fee and a volume fee as the options a provider can choose from. Read those on the page before you copy anybody, because they are set by each provider.
This is the right route when you want to hand a sum of money to a named trader and check on it now and then. It is the wrong one when your account has to stay where it is, at your own MT5 broker or at a prop firm, because a platform's copy feature can only reach accounts on that platform.
Can MetaTrader copy a trader without any other software?
Yes. MetaQuotes runs a copy trading service for MetaTrader. The MQL5 Signals page describes it as a service allowing you to automatically copy provider's deals on your trading account, and the MetaTrader 5 help says copying of trading operations is fully automated and your participation is not required. A subscription runs for a period: the Signals page says it allows you to copy provider's trades within 1 month.
Two practical points from the same pages. The Signals page says you should use a MetaTrader trading terminal, so it does not help an eTrader account. And for copying around the clock, the help page says you can rent a virtual server straight from the trading platform, which is a cost on top of the subscription if your own machine is not always on. The risk line on the Signals page is worth reading in full: the subscriber accepts all execution risks when subscribing to a signal.
Choose this route when the trader you want is listed there and your account is in MetaTrader. It does not help when the trader you follow does not publish there, which is the case for most Telegram rooms.
How do you copy a trader who posts signals in Telegram?
You read the room with a Telegram signal copier and let it place each trade on your account. A room is text: instrument, side, entry, stop, targets, then follow-ups. Telegram's FAQ says a channel can have an unlimited number of subscribers, so the trader posts once and everyone reads the same message. Nothing connects to your account, and the trader never sees your broker or your size.
A copier turns that text into orders. CopySignals reads the room through your own personal Telegram account, so any room you are already a member of can be copied, including one somebody else owns, and the trader installs nothing. The route matters because a signal's result usually comes from the messages after the entry. CopySignals acts on them: break even after a chosen number of targets, a partial close at each target, a trailing stop, and the exit when the room reports a stop or the last target. The note on copying a channel you do not own covers the account side of this.
Other copiers read Telegram the same way. TelegramFXCopier says it is built using the Telegram API, not the bot API, and that when your signal provider sends a stop loss update, it detects it and modifies the open order on your MT4 or MT5 account automatically. For a side by side look at how the copiers differ, see the best Telegram signal copiers of 2026.
Sizing is where you take control back. On each trading account CopySignals uses a fixed lot, a percent of the account measured against the signal's own stop, a multiple of the master's lot, or the master's lot scaled by balance, always capped by a maximum lot. The take profits can be split with weights you set, or you can take the first only or run to the last. A post that does not read as a trade is skipped, with the reason on the event log. CopySignals works on MT4, MT5 and eTrader. If your account is on cTrader, it is not the tool.
How do you copy a trader when the trader is you on another account?
You use a trade copier between accounts. One account is the master, the others follow it at their own size, and the brokers do not need any link to each other. Duplikium's Trade Copier is a cloud product with no VPS, PC or server to run 24/7 and no installation required, and its setup asks you to enter the login, password and broker of your master and slave accounts. It lets you define the trade size to copy per account, group or symbol.
Social Trader Tools is another cloud option. It says it is hosted in the cloud 24/7, copying trades to any number of accounts without the hassle of a VPS, between MT4 and MT5 accounts, and its Signal Provider feature lets you publish a professional signal page with verified statistics, performance charts and full trade history.
CopySignals includes account to account copying in every plan. A connected account can be the master, and its positions are mirrored to every other connected account, across brokers and across MT4, MT5 and eTrader. The usual case is a prop firm account and a personal account at different sizes, and the guide to copying trades between accounts you own goes through the passwords, sizes and price differences. Read your prop firm's terms on copying before a funded account becomes a follower.
Which route fits your situation?
| Where the trader is | Route | What you need | Who sets your size |
|---|---|---|---|
| On eToro | CopyTrader | An eToro account, and an amount to allocate to the copy, per eToro | A proportion of the trader's positions, per eToro |
| On cTrader Copy | cTrader Copy | An account with a supporting broker | Your equity relative to the provider's, per Spotware |
| Listed on MQL5 Signals | Signals subscription | A MetaTrader terminal, per MQL5 | Check the signal's own page |
| In a Telegram room | Telegram signal copier such as CopySignals | Membership of the room and an MT4, MT5 or eTrader account | You, per account, with a maximum lot |
| On another account of yours | Trade copier between accounts | Login details for both accounts | You, per follower account |
Two habits apply to every route. Copy on a demo account first, because a copier does exactly what the source does and the source is not always careful. And keep the size small until you have watched a few full trades from entry to exit. Trading carries risk, and a copied trade can lose as fast as the original.
Which route should you start with?
Start where the trader already is. If they are on a platform, use the platform. If they post in a Telegram room you belong to and your account is on MT4, MT5 or eTrader, use a Telegram signal copier, and if the trader is you, use a copier between your accounts. CopySignals covers those last two, and its MT4 and MT5 trade copier page shows the account side. Nothing runs at home: the MetaTrader terminals run on our servers, one per connected account, so there is no VPS to rent, as our note on copying without a VPS explains.
Starter is $14 a month for one trading account, Basic is $29 and Pro is $149, with Business by email for more. Every plan is the whole product, billed monthly by card or crypto, cancel any time, with a 30 day money back guarantee. The plans are on the pricing page. CopySignals is not a broker, not a signal seller and not a money manager, and gives no advice, so it will not pick a trader for you.
Sources
- CopyTrader, eToro, checked 25 September 2026
- cTrader Copy, Spotware, checked 25 September 2026
- Signals, MQL5 by MetaQuotes, checked 25 September 2026
- Trading signals help, MetaTrader 5, checked 25 September 2026
- Telegram FAQ, Telegram, checked 25 September 2026
- TelegramFXCopier home page, TelegramFXCopier, checked 25 September 2026
- Trade Copier home page, Duplikium, checked 25 September 2026
- Social Trader Tools home page, Social Trader Tools, checked 25 September 2026