Automated trading software

The four kinds

• Platform builders — drag-and-drop tools built into a broker's own platform, like Deriv Bot. Free, no code, and the right place to start.
• Expert Advisors — programs running inside MetaTrader 4 or 5. The deepest library in retail trading, with a backtester built into the terminal. Needs the terminal open, so a VPS is a running cost.
• API bots — software connecting directly to the broker over a network, running on a server. No platform ceiling on the strategy and no dependence on your computer.
• Copy trading — not software running a strategy, but automation of the decision. You are trusting a track record rather than a rule set.

What decides which you need

Start with one question: does it need to run while you are not there? If yes, browser-based builders are out regardless of how good the strategy is, and you are choosing between an Expert Advisor on a VPS and a server-hosted API bot.

Then ask whether the strategy can be expressed in blocks. Simple entry and exit rules can. Layered risk controls, position sizing that adapts to volatility, or a risk engine that vetoes trades generally cannot, and that is when code becomes necessary rather than optional.

Cost is usually the last consideration rather than the first, because the spread on every trade dwarfs most subscription differences within a month or two.

What to check before running anything

• Results on data the strategy was not built on. Anything can be made to look perfect on the history it was fitted to.
• Whether spread and commission were charged in those results. Without costs, the numbers are fiction.
• How many trades the results cover. Twenty tells you nothing.
• The worst drawdown and the longest losing run. A seller who cannot answer has not looked.
• Whether it ever asks for your broker password. It should not — official sign-in or a revocable token only.
• Whether you can run it on demo for weeks before funding.

The claims that always mean walk away

• A guaranteed return or a fixed monthly percentage.
• A win rate above 90%, usually achieved by holding losing positions open indefinitely.
• Martingale described as a recovery system. Doubling after each loss works until the losing run arrives, and it always arrives.
• Results with no losing months shown. Every real strategy has them; omitting them is a decision.
• Any refusal to explain what the strategy actually does. "Proprietary" is sometimes true and is more often a way of avoiding the question.

Free software that is genuinely good

MetaTrader 4 and 5 are free. Deriv Bot, Binary Bot and cTrader Automate are free. These are not stripped demonstrations — they are the actual tools, and the backtester inside MetaTrader is better than most paid alternatives.

This sets the bar for anything you pay for: it has to do something these cannot. A seller who cannot name that thing is selling you a free product with a price attached.

Pipsky is free to use as well. There is no subscription and no plan tier; you connect your own broker account and pay only the spread you would pay trading by hand.

Common questions