Backtesting software / MetaTrader5

MetaTrader5: backtesting workflow, data and limits

MQL 5 Expert Advisor testing, visual replay and a chronological forward split are documented in the desktop tester.

Desktop Strategy Tester · Desktop · Checked 17 October 2026 · No authenticated or installed provider test

Selected workflow

No software licence fee

Desktop software free; broker/data/cloud/Market costs separate

Rules: Code

Data: Broker symbol history and selected tick-generation model

Stocks: Verified workflow
Forex: Verified workflow
Futures: Verified workflow
Options: Not established

Cost settings: Documented; verify defaults and instrument settings

Result access/export: Documented; format and implementation below

See named documentation and current entitlement; no native export acceptance test performed.

Limits that can change a result

Broker symbol/history quality and modeled-tick settings matter. Web/mobile trading access is not the full desktop tester. Options-chain testing not established.

Do not infer a fill model or contract lifecycle from a chart symbol alone. Historical coverage, data adjustment, sessions, time zones, commissions, position sizing and execution settings should be written down with each run. The same entry rule can produce different results under different conventions.

A test task you can reproduce

Record tick mode, history period, spread and commission. Compare one EA run with the same configured forward period and inspect its report.

This is a suggested acceptance task, not a provider test that we performed. Save source code or rule settings, the data identifier, parameters and export. If the tool cannot accept a synthetic dataset, use an explicitly identified historical slice and record what cannot be independently controlled.

Official evidence

MetaTrader5 desktop download — Free desktop software; Forex/stocks/futures availability depends on broker and symbol data. Market products, cloud compute and broker trading costs are separate.
MetaTrader5 Strategy Tester — MQL 5 Expert Advisors, visual tests, commission configuration and forward-period splits. Tick model and history quality affect results; mobile/web availability is not proof of full desktop tester.
MetaTrader5 test report — Report includes history quality, modeled ticks, metrics and deals; do not equate history-quality percentage with strategy reliability.
MetaTrader5 automated tester report output — Tester Report configuration sets an output filename for test/optimization results; this is distinct from live-account trade history reports.

What this profile does not establish

Published features do not establish current uptime, execution quality, predictive value, suitability or profitability. Trial limits and paid data can differ from the selected software licence. We have not opened accounts, purchased licences or run the named tool’s native imports/exports. The source register makes that boundary explicit.

Compare this workflow · Trace our own controlled SMA model · Read definitions