Trading Platform Guide

The platform is the first thing you see and the last thing you think about. In mid-February 2024 MetaQuotes forced white-label and grey-label brokers to cut off prop firms with active US accounts, and Funding Pips, FundedNext, The5ers and FTMO were among the firms affected ^[1][2]; see our research on broker-dependencies for the licensing chain and on industry-shakeout for the timeline. Traders with open evaluations found their logins dead through no action of their own.

The lesson is not that MetaTrader is unsafe. Finance Magnates Intelligence reported on 27 February 2025 that FPFX data across about 300,000 accounts still showed MT5 at 61.9 percent, in the same report that counted 80 to 100 prop firm closures in 2024 ^[3]. The lesson is that a firm with one platform has one point of failure, and every platform on this page is a licence someone else can withdraw.

MetaTrader 5

4 firms in our dataset name MT5 as of 13 September 2026: FTMO, E8 Markets, Alpha Capital Group and The5ers, which specifies MT5 Hedge. FTMO also lists MT4. MT5 remains the default for CFD prop trading because most traders already know it and because automation runs on MQL5, the platform's own language, so an expert advisor written for one MT5 server runs on another. The cost is the licensing chain above: the firms cut off in February 2024 reached MetaTrader through their brokers' arrangements, and MetaQuotes set the terms for both.

cTrader

3 firms list cTrader: FTMO, E8 Markets and Alpha Capital Group. cTrader automation is written in C#, so MQL5 code needs a rewrite. A firm that runs both MT5 and cTrader has a fallback if either vendor changes terms, and all three of these firms do.

TradeLocker

3 firms list TradeLocker: E8 Markets, Alpha Capital Group and DNA Funded ^[7][8]. DNA Funded lists TradeLocker only and offers a public demo login, so you can test the interface before you pay. DNA Funded is the prop arm of DNA Markets, an Australian broker. A single-platform firm is the cleanest example of the risk above: if the vendor's terms change, there is nothing to move you to.

MatchTrader and DXtrade

E8 Markets lists MatchTrader. Alpha Capital Group lists DXtrade. Match-Trade Technologies reported server clients up 290 percent since January 2024, without disclosing absolute numbers ^[4]. Match-Trade also shows that a newer vendor is not a safer one. SurgeTrader ceased operations on 24 May 2024, one week after Match-Trade terminated its licence on 17 May ^[5]. A different vendor is a different counterparty with the same power to switch you off.

Futures: Tradovate, Rithmic, TopstepX

Futures firms run a separate stack. Apex offers Tradovate, Rithmic and other vendors, with the choice made at step 3 of checkout. Tradeify offers Tradovate, WealthCharts and Rithmic through Tradesea. Topstep runs only its own TopstepX. These are front ends to exchange-traded CME products rather than dealing platforms for OTC contracts; the instrument is the same whichever screen you use, and the firm's rules sit on top. Apex allows 8 minis at $100K and Topstep 10. The 3 firms whose futures platforms we record, Apex, Tradeify and Topstep, do not list MetaTrader, and the February 2024 cut-off was a MetaTrader event.

Proprietary apps

4 firms run or are building their own front end. TopstepX is Topstep's only platform. E8 Markets adds E8 Terminal to four licensed platforms, the widest choice in our dataset at 5. Breakout runs a proprietary app with Kraken-powered crypto execution across 60 plus markets and up to 10x leverage; Kraken completed its acquisition of Breakout on 4 September 2025 ^[6]. Alpha Capital Group says its own Alpha Trader is coming. A proprietary app removes the vendor licensing risk and replaces it with a firm-level one: if the firm goes, the platform goes with it, and your automation and chart layouts do not transfer anywhere.

Choosing

FundingPips, FundedNext and FXIFY had not reconfirmed their platform lists on our latest pass and are left out of the table.

4 questions settle most choices. Automation: MQL5 needs MT5, C# needs cTrader, and a proprietary app usually means starting again. Firm: choose on rules and price first, then confirm the firm runs a platform you can live with; E8 Markets and Alpha Capital Group offer 4 or more, while The5ers, DNA Funded and Topstep offer 1. Mobile: test before you pay, and DNA Funded's public demo login is the cheapest way to do that. US residency: the February 2024 cut-off was aimed at US accounts on MetaTrader, and FXIFY's restricted list, expanded to about 35 countries on 6 September 2026 per our changelog, now includes the United States; the futures firms in our dataset are US-based and their platforms were not part of that event.

What this means for you

Pick the firm on rules and price, then check the platform list on the firm's own page. If the list has one entry, you are betting on one vendor's licence as well as on the firm.

If you run automation, the platform decides the firm for you. MQL5 code means MT5, which means FTMO, E8 Markets, Alpha Capital Group or The5ers among the firms that name their platforms. C# means cTrader. A proprietary app means a rewrite.

If you are in the United States, remember that the February 2024 cut-off targeted US accounts specifically. The futures firms in our dataset are US-based, and FXIFY now restricts the United States. Read the restricted-country list before you read the pricing page.

Data note

Figures marked "our dataset" come from the PropTraderCheck structured dataset as of 13 September 2026: 30 firms with structured programme data (of 37 tracked), 159 programme rows, 48 programmes. Regulatory positions are stated as of the date given and change.