If you are looking to trade forex but do not have the time to commit to learning how to trade manually, you could always consider an MT4 forex robot. There are literally thousands of paid and free forex robots for MT4 that you can choose from, covering all types of trading strategies. Some are good and some are bad, but if you know what to look for in a forex robot, you can find something that fits your needs.
What is MT4?
If you aren’t already familiar with the platform, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) is one of the most popular forex trading platforms that is used by millions of new and experienced traders across the globe. It contains all of the tools and features that you need for manual and automated forex trading.
You can do everything from analysing currency pair charts in great detail, to placing and managing trades with relative ease. The MT4 platform is known for being user-friendly and has a large online community where you can share MT4 forex robots with others.
What are MT4 forex robots?
MT4 forex robots are automated forex strategies that do all of the hard work for you. These trading robots have built-in algorithms that usually combine technical analysis with price action to determine when they will buy and sell currency pairs. They are developed specifically for the MT4 platform where they are referred to as forex expert advisors or forex EA’s for short.
You can simply attach MT4 robots to the currency pair and chart timeframes that you wish to trade in the MT4 platform, and they will start looking for trades. When the MT4 bot finds a trading signal, it can place and manage the position on your behalf.
Users can then check back when it is convenient for them to see how things have been progressing. You can even run multiple MT4 forex robots from the same platform on different charts to build a diverse portfolio. Feel free to browse a selection of my best forex robots.
The majority of free forex robots for MT4 will include customisable settings that you can adjust according to your own trading style. Ideally, they would have any indicator inputs externally available so we can experiment with them and see what works best on our favourite currency pairs and timeframes.
You will find that most MT4 robot developers will provide set files which usually contain the best settings they have found for the currency pairs that they have optimised the MT4 EA for. If this is the case and you do decide to use the default settings, make sure you check the lot/risk size to ensure it is at a suitable level depending on your risk preferences.
How can I download free MT4 robots?
There are a few places where you can download free forex robots for MT4. You will find them in forums and directly within the MT4 platform via the MQL marketplace. They have thousands of paid and free forex expert advisors, some including verified results which can be a good way to see how they have been performing during recent market conditions.
I have also coded numerous free MT4 forex robots which you can download at no charge. This includes the following:
- Free Bollinger Bands EA
- Free RSI EA
- Free CCI EA
- Free Moving Average EA
- Free Envelopes EA
- Free ADX EA
- Free Stochastic EA
- Free Parabolic SAR EA
- Free MACD EA
- Free Ichimoku Kinko Hyo EA
How can we test a free MT4 EA?
Once you have got a forex robot for MT4, you are going to want to test it before you do anything else. You can backtest MT4 EA’s in the strategy tester which you can access from the MT4 platform itself. From there you can choose the currency pair, chart timeframe and date range that you would like to test the expert advisor on. You can also select any settings that you want to use or optimise. Once everything is setup, you can hit run and the strategy tester will simulate the forex robots trading over historical data.
Whilst backtesting in the MT4 strategy tester can give you a rough idea of how a forex robot might perform, it is not that accurate. This is because it cannot account for things such as variable spreads, commission, slippage and tick data. The modelling quality is maxed out at 90% by default. However, you can improve MT4 back testing results by using third-party back testing software such as Birts Tick Data Suite. This will enable you to get 99% modelling quality backtests with tick data, variable spreads, simulated slippage and commission accounted for.
Even with 99% modelling quality, back testing still has limitations. I think one of the best ways to test an MT4 forex robot is to run it on a demo account or real account with very small position sizes. This can give you an idea of how it trades to see if it is something you would like to use on your account.
Do free MT4 forex expert advisors work?
Any forex robot for MT4 will go through good and bad periods as a lot depends on the broker and market conditions. Just because a forex robot has a month of losses, this doesn’t necessary mean it is a bad robot or scam. It could just be bad timing.
However, there are some poorly coded MT4 robots that use dangerous money management strategies such as martingales or grid trading systems. These usually lead to high drawdowns, margin calls and blown accounts.
I think you should always go careful when testing or using any free forex robot for MT4. Have a good look at the settings and amend them to something you feel comfortable with. That way you cannot blame anyone but yourself if things go wrong. Make sure you have a clear understanding of how the robot works and the automated forex strategy that it implements.
To be honest, I do not think that anything can beat learning how to trade manually by yourself. This way you can learn from your mistakes and become a better forex trader in the long term. If an MT4 robot developer was to disappear or the robot was to stop working, you would need to start from scratch. Once you know how to trade forex by yourself, you can trade how and when you want.
Advantages of free MT4 forex robots
- Hands-free forex trading strategies
- Lots of free MT4 forex robots to choose from
- Various different automated systems
- Customisable expert advisor settings
- Can be backtests in the MT4 strategy tester
- Third-party result verification services
- Could request custom modifications
Disadvantages of free MT4 forex robots
- Need to try and avoid poorly coded robots
- Cannot see things that the human eye can
- There might be limited EA support
- No guarantee of results
Conclusion: should I use a free MT4 forex robot?
If you don’t have any time to trade forex manually, then you might want to consider an automated forex trading strategy. They can analyse and trade currency pair charts for you 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. If you have a forex VPS, you wouldn’t even need your computer up and running.
Just keep in mind that there can be no guarantee on results and you should never risk more than what you can afford. I would always start on a forex demo account at first when using any manual or automated forex system to see how things go.
You can get a free demo account from most forex brokers including IC Markets who are my top choice when it comes to MT4 forex robots. They have tight spreads, quick execution speeds and low commission fees. This makes them ideal for running expert advisors in the MT4 platform.
Please feel free to download my free MT4 forex robot. It contains lots of MetaTrader indicators, candlestick patterns and money management features that you can customise according to your own needs.
Self-confessed Forex Geek spending my days researching and testing everything forex related. I have many years of experience in the forex industry having reviewed thousands of forex robots, brokers, strategies, courses and more. I share my knowledge with you for free to help you learn more about the crazy world of forex trading! Read more about me.
