Does Interactive Brokers support MetaTrader5 (MT5)?

Does Interactive Brokers support MT5?

No, Interactive Brokers does not natively support MetaTrader 5. IBKR has its own trading platforms, led by Trader Workstation (TWS), and offers no official integration with MT5.

It is technically possible to use MT5 with an IBKR account through third-party bridge software, but this requires extra setup, comes with limitations and is not supported by IBKR.

IBKR has an Investors Marketplace, where third-party vendors offer services, including integrations with external platforms. According to IBKR’s own documentation, several vendors have built bridge software between MetaTrader and TWS, although IBKR does not endorse or assist with these solutions.

A note of caution about MT5 bridges

Using a third-party bridge to connect MT5 to your IBKR account comes with several risks:

• No official support: IBKR does not endorse, test or assist with bridge software. If something goes wrong with the integration, you are on your own;
• Latency: the bridge adds an extra layer between order entry and execution, which can affect the price you get, particularly for scalping or high-frequency strategies;
• Reliability: if IBKR changes its API, the bridge may stop working without notice;
• Security: your IBKR login or API access has to pass through the bridge, which increases the risk of data exposure;
• Cost: bridge software usually requires a licence fee on top of your IBKR account costs.

For most traders, these complications outweigh the benefit of using MT5 with IBKR. If MT5 is your priority, the simpler approach is to open an account with a broker that supports MT5 natively. We list several options below.

What Interactive Brokers offers instead of MT5

If you want to stay with IBKR, its own tools cover most of what traders look for in MT5:

• Trader Workstation (TWS): IBKR’s flagship desktop platform, with advanced charting, more than 100 order types and algorithmic orders;
• TradingView integration: since May 2022, you can connect your IBKR account directly to TradingView and trade from its charts, officially supported by both companies;
• TWS API: if you want to automate your strategies, as you would with MT5 expert advisors, IBKR offers an official API for languages such as Python, Java and C++;
• IBKR Desktop and IBKR Mobile: simpler platforms for investors who don’t need all the features of TWS.

Interactive Brokers alternatives that support MT5

MT5 pros and cons

What are the differences between MT4 and MT5?

MetaTrader 5 (MT5), released in 2010, introduced many new features compared to MetaTrader 4, including more advanced charting, 12 additional timeframes (21 instead of 9), an integrated economic calendar, more technical indicators and more pending order types.

MetaQuotes, the company behind both platforms, designed MT5 as MT4’s successor. It stopped selling new MT4 licences to brokers in 2018, and MT4 is now in maintenance mode, with no new development. Some brokers have started to shut it down: OANDA Japan, for example, stopped opening new MT4 accounts in March 2026 and plans to end its MT4 service in November 2026, citing the lack of maintenance from MetaQuotes. MT4 is still offered by many brokers, but new traders are better off starting with MT5.

These are the main differences between MT4 and MT5:

• Programming language: MT4 uses MQL4, whereas MT5 uses MQL5. Both let you create trading robots (expert advisors), technical indicators and scripts, but they aren’t compatible;
• Expert advisors: the large library of MT4 expert advisors and indicators doesn’t run on MT5. To use them on MT5, they have to be rewritten in MQL5;
• Performance: MT5 is a multi-threaded 64-bit platform, whereas MT4 is a single-threaded 32-bit platform, which makes MT5 faster, especially for backtesting;
• Markets: MT4 was designed for decentralised markets such as forex, whereas MT5 also supports assets traded on centralised exchanges, such as stocks and futures;
• Netting: MT5 supports both hedging and netting, whereas MT4 only allows hedging. For instance, if you open a long position (buy GBP/USD) and then open another trade in the same market, in netting mode the original position is adjusted to include both, rather than showing you two separate positions.

There are further technical differences between MT4 and MT5, but we won’t dive into them here.

Out of curiosity, MT5 overtook MT4 in trading volume after 15 years:

Bottom line

Interactive Brokers doesn’t support MetaTrader 5. You can connect MT5 to an IBKR account through third-party bridge software, but IBKR doesn’t support it, and it adds cost, latency and risk. If you want to stay with IBKR, its official TradingView integration and TWS API are the closest alternatives.

If MT5 is a must, you’re better off with a broker that supports it natively, such as Pepperstone, FP Markets or IC Markets. Keep in mind that these are CFD brokers, and most retail CFD accounts lose money.

Whether you choose MT4 or MT5 depends on your preferences, but with MT4 in maintenance mode and some brokers already phasing it out, MT5 is the safer choice for anyone starting now.