MT4 to MT5 trade copier: copy between the two platforms
What a copier has to do to mirror an MT4 account onto an MT5 account, why netting accounts are the first thing to check, and how to size and map the follower.
An MT4 to MT5 trade copier logs into an account on MetaTrader 4 and an account on MetaTrader 5 and re-places every order from one onto the other, because the two platforms have no way of talking to each other on their own. The follower is sized on its own terms, the symbol names are translated to what the second broker quotes, and a change or a close on the master is repeated on the follower. 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 an MT4 and MT5 trade copier between your own accounts, in either direction, and this article is about that second job.
Why would you copy from MT4 to MT5 at all?
Because the two accounts were never yours to choose. The usual case is a prop firm: you pass a challenge, the firm issues an MT5 login, and the personal account you have traded for years is on MT4. You want the same trades on both, at different sizes, without placing each one twice. The other cases are a second broker that only offers MT5, or a slow move between platforms where the new account shadows the old one for a month before you commit. In all of them one account is the master, the other follows, and the copier is the thing in between. How a funded account changes the settings is in our article on prop firm accounts.
How does an MT4 to MT5 trade copier work?
It keeps a logged-in session on both accounts, watches the master's open positions, and places, modifies and closes the matching orders on the follower. Each part of that crosses a gap between the two platforms.
The first gap is the account model. MetaTrader 5 has two position accounting systems, and MetaQuotes' own help page describes them: under netting "you can have only one common position for a symbol at the same time", while under hedging "you can have multiple open positions of one and the same symbol, including opposite positions". The release note that brought hedging to MT5 says "since the new system is similar to the one used in MetaTrader 4, it will be familiar to traders". So from a copier's point of view an MT4 account and an MT5 hedging account behave alike: one master ticket, one follower ticket. An MT5 netting account does not. Two master buys on EURUSD become one follower position, and closing one of the master tickets has to become a partial close of that single position.
The second gap is the symbol. The master trades XAUUSD, the follower's broker calls it GOLD or XAUUSD.m, and an order sent under the wrong name is rejected. The third is size: minimum lots and lot steps are set per broker, and the follower's balance is rarely the master's. The fourth is the life of the trade after entry, a stop moved to break even, a partial close, an edited take profit. A copier that only mirrors the open leaves the follower alone for the part that decides the result.
Hedging or netting: the question to ask before you connect
Ask your broker which accounting system your MT5 account uses, because some copiers refuse a netting account outright. Social Trader Tools says so in its FAQ: "we do not support MT5 netting accounts, because netting systems combine trades into a single aggregated position per symbol, which is not compatible with our copier", and it lists MT5 hedging as supported. The MetaCopier page that documents its copier settings does not mention netting or hedging at all, so that is a question for its support. Whichever copier you choose, find out the account type first. If it is netting, tell the vendor before you connect it and ask what a partial close on the master will look like on the follower. A rejected order on a funded account is the wrong way to learn the answer.
Does it copy MT5 to MT4 as well?
With the products built for both platforms, yes, and direction is only a matter of which account you name as the master. Social Trader Tools lists MT4 to MT5, MT5 to MT4, MT4 to MT4 and MT5 to MT5 as supported setups, and its MT5 to MT4 answer adds that this is "subject to account setup, broker symbols and platform compatibility", an honest way of saying the checks above still apply. On CopySignals any connected account can be the master, MT4, MT5 or eTrader, and every other connected account follows it, across brokers. MT5 to MT4 is the same copier with the roles swapped. One caution that has nothing to do with software: read your prop firm's rules on copying before you make a funded account the follower, and keep the master an account you own and trade.
How should the MT5 follower be sized against the MT4 master?
Pick one of four methods per follower and cap it with a maximum lot. The methods are the same across the market, under different names.
- Fixed lot. The follower trades the same lot every time, whatever the master risked. Simple, and wrong the day the master trades a small size on a wide stop.
- Lot multiplier. The master's lot times a number: 0.5 halves it, 2 doubles it. Duplikium's support article defines its Multiplier option as "a multiplier applied to the Master trade size, no matter the Equity, Balance, or Free Margin of both Slave and Master accounts". It ignores how big the two accounts are, which is the point.
- Proportional to balance. The master's lot scaled by the ratio of the two balances, so a 2,000 USD follower copies a 1.0 lot trade from a 10,000 USD master at 0.2 lots. MetaCopier's documentation writes it as "slave_lot = master_lot * (slave_balance / master_balance)", and Social Trader Tools' FAQ gives the same formula with a multiplier on the end. Duplikium calls its version Auto Risk, where "the Slave trade size is proportional to the Master trade size and the Master account size".
- Percent of the account. A fixed share of the follower's balance risked per trade, with the lot worked out from the distance to the stop. This gives a funded account the same risk per trade whatever the master's balance is doing.
CopySignals offers all four on every follower account, each capped by a maximum lot you set. The cap is the setting to fill in first. A ratio can produce a size you did not expect when a balance moves, and the cap is what keeps that from becoming a margin call.
Symbol names: XAUUSD on one side, GOLD.m on the other
Every serious copier has two layers here. The first is a suffix rule. Duplikium's support centre says its copier "is able to automatically define the suffix by itself. For instance, EURUSD to EURUSDm". The second is a rename table for the cases a suffix cannot solve, and the same article says that "for complex symbols like XAUUSD to Gold or XTI to Oil, etc. you will need to use the Symbols Settings functionality". MetaCopier lets you view the current symbol mapping to confirm the master column shows the master's symbols. On CopySignals the renames, prefix and suffix are matched to the instruments the follower's broker actually quotes, and an instrument list keeps a symbol you never meant to mirror from being guessed. Whatever the copier, read the exact names in the follower's Market Watch and set the map before the first trade, not after the first rejection.
Where does the copier run?
Two designs exist and they behave differently at three in the morning. In the first, an expert advisor runs inside each of your terminals, so both terminals must be open and connected on a machine that never sleeps, which is why that design comes with a VPS bill. In the second, the vendor keeps the sessions on its own servers. MetaCopier's home page puts it as "no need for installation or Virtual Private Servers (VPS)". Duplikium's says it is "based on the Cloud. No copy trading software or tools to install, no PC to run, and no VPS to pay". Social Trader Tools' FAQ says it is "web-based and hosted in the cloud, so you do not need to run your own VPS". CopySignals is the second kind: we start one MetaTrader terminal per connected account on our servers, and your computer can be off. The trade-off is the same for all of them: a follower has to place orders, so it is connected with its trading password. Social Trader Tools spells out the split, a lead account can be added using the investor password, while follower accounts require full trading credentials. You are trusting a vendor with a credential that can trade, so read its terms before you paste anything. The longer version of the cloud versus desk question is in our article on copying without a VPS.
Setting up an MT4 to MT5 copy on CopySignals
- Connect the MT4 and the MT5 account, each with its broker server, login and trading password. We start a terminal for each on our servers.
- Create a copier with the MT4 account as the source. It is now the master. Add the MT5 account as a target.
- On the MT5 target, set the maximum lot first, then the sizing method.
- Check the MT5 broker's symbol names against the master's and add renames, a prefix or a suffix where they differ. Restrict the instrument list if you only want some symbols mirrored.
- Set the guard rails you want: a maximum spread, a cap on open positions, a delay before placing, reverse copy if that is the intention.
- Run it against a demo MT5 account for a day and read the event log. A skipped trade is there with the reason it was skipped.
The master is polled for changes, so a stop moved on MT4 is moved on MT5, a partial close is a partial close, and a close is a close, each at the follower's own size. If a Telegram room also feeds the MT4 account, its trades reach the MT5 account through the master like everything else.
What it costs, and when to pick something else
Starter is $14 a month for one trading account, Basic is $29 for three and Pro is $149 for thirty, with Business by email for more. Every plan is the whole product, account to account copying included. Billing is monthly by card or crypto, cancel any time, with a 30 day money back guarantee, and the detail is on the pricing page.
The limit is plain. CopySignals connects MT4, MT5 and eTrader accounts only. If one leg of your setup is on another platform, our list of MT4 and MT5 trade copiers names two products whose sites list more. If your MT5 account is a netting account, ask before you connect it, to us or to anybody else. A copier reproduces the master's decisions at the size you set, the bad ones included, so trading through one carries the same risk as trading by hand. Start on a demo, keep the maximum lot low, and read the log before you trust it with a funded account.
Sources
- General principles, position accounting systems, MetaTrader 5 help, MetaQuotes, checked 19 September 2026
- MetaTrader 5 build 1325: hedging option and testing on real ticks, MetaQuotes, checked 19 September 2026
- Social Trader Tools FAQ, Social Trader Tools, checked 19 September 2026
- Copiers, basic features, MetaCopier documentation, checked 19 September 2026
- MetaCopier home page, MetaCopier, checked 19 September 2026
- Duplikium Trade Copier home page, Duplikium, checked 19 September 2026
- What is the Risk Factor and available options?, Duplikium support, checked 19 September 2026
- How to map symbols or applying settings per symbol?, Duplikium support, checked 19 September 2026