When selecting a trading platform for crypto CFD trading, it’s important to consider your individual needs and preferences. But there are some general guidelines and concepts similar for everyone to consider before starting to trade cryptos.
Below, we will discuss and outline the general requirements every trading platform needs and describe the three most popular and widely-used platforms in detail.
General guidelines when selecting the platform
When interested in crypto CFDs trading, it is important to have a web or software platform that provides access to price charts with tools to analyze prices. The software or application that provides price charts with various technical tools is called a trading platform.
Trading platforms need to provide up-to-date live market data with the ability to execute trades instantly without lags. Trading platforms like MetaTrader, cTrader, and TradingView provide great features that every trader will ever need in their career.
Read this article about choosing between MetaTrader 5 and cTrader for further details.
Trading platforms need to be secured, with an intuitive User Interface and should support custom indicators and automated trading to be considered good trading platforms.
Here are some must-needed trading platform features every trader will need
- Intuitive user interface – makes it easy to find all necessary features and tools clearly and simply.
- Performance – despite being feature-rich, the platform should work without lags and connection issues.
- Custom indicators and trading robots – it is important to build your own or download other traders’ custom robots and indicators when trading cryptos. Many trading platforms support this by having their programming language.
- Customizable charts together with advanced technical drawing tools. When analyzing crypto charts, you will need to adjust them to your needs and preference, and then use drawing tools to make sense of extremely volatile crypto markets.
Equipped with this basic knowledge, it will be much easier to evaluate trading platforms after reading the above bullet points. Let’s continue our search for popular trading platforms and what they have to offer.
Top 3 popular CFD trading platforms
Here are some pros and cons to consider for the three most popular trading platforms:
1. TradingView:
TradingView is by far the best overall trading platform available for all devices with similar functionality.
Pros:
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
- Wide range of technical analysis tools and indicators
- Access to the largest and most active community of traders with a 30 m+ user base
- Ability to connect with multiple brokers and exchanges
Cons:
- Limited access to fundamental data and news
- Limited order types and trade execution options
- Limited features compared to its paid plan version
2. MetaTrader 4, 5 (MT4, MT5):
This platform doesn’t need an introduction. It’s robust, reliable, and offers the vastest trading robot base. MT4 and MT5 are completely free.
Pros:
- Widely used and popular platform
- Advanced technical analysis tools and indicators
- Wide range of customization options
- Built-in risk management tools
Cons:
- The steep learning curve for beginners – it takes some time and practice to master these advanced trading platforms, but when done successfully, it will pay off in the long run.
- Limited access to fundamental data and news – although MetaQuotes tried to improve it with their MT5 platform, fundamental and market news are still one of the platforms’ downsides.
- Limited order types and trade execution options – But still robust and useful platforms.
3. cTrader:
CTrader is a robust and feature-rich advanced trading platform that is also very popular in the traders’ community.
Pros:
- User-friendly and intuitive interface
- Advanced technical analysis tools and indicators
- Wide range of order types and execution options
- Built-in risk management tools
Cons:
- The smaller community of users compared to other platforms – this especially becomes apparent when comparing its number of trading robots to MT4 robots base, the difference is obvious with the latter offering more than 17 000 EAs or Expert Advisors on its marketplace.
- Limited access to fundamental data and news
- Limited customization options
Ultimately, the best trading platform for crypto CFD trading will depend on your individual needs and trading style. It’s a good idea to test out different platforms with a demo account before committing to one.
Still, TradingView is very popular these days because of its feature-rich apps on android, and iOS devices while maintaining speed and customizable UI features.
Key takeaways
In this article, we provided general guidelines for selecting a trading platform for crypto CFD trading, including the need for a web or software platform with up-to-date live market data, an intuitive user interface, customizable charts with advanced technical drawing tools, and support for custom indicators and automated trading.
We discussed the three most popular trading platforms, TradingView, MetaTrader 4/5, and cTrader. We tried to discuss their pros and cons in detail.
TradingView is noteworthy as the best overall platform with a user-friendly interface, a wide range of technical analysis tools, and a large community of traders, while MetaTrader is noted for its advanced technical analysis tools and vast trading robot base.
cTrader is praised for its user-friendly interface, advanced technical analysis tools, and built-in risk management tools. In the end, the choice of trading platform will depend on individual needs and trading style, and it’s recommended to test different platforms with a demo account before committing to one.
