Source: financemagnates, 12/6/2024
MetaQuotes, the developer of MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, has sent a notice to its clients stating that it will increase license fees effective January 1, 2025, as first reported by the Russian edition of Finance Magnates .
While the software giant did not specify the price increase, an industry source predicted it could rise by at least 20 percent.
MetaTrader price rises
“We would like to inform you of an upcoming adjustment to the monthly license fees for MetaTrader 4 products,” reads the notice sent by MetaQuotes, a copy of which was seen by Finance Magnates RU . Our commitment to providing you with the highest quality products and services has resulted in increased operating costs, which ultimately necessitated this pricing update.”
This notice only mentioned MetaTrader 4, but brokers using MetaTrader 5 have also received similar messages, with MetaTrader 5 specified.
While MetaQuotes does not publicly disclose its licensing fees, they do depend on the packages. According to industry sources, supporting a single MetaTrader license (desktop, web, and mobile) costs a broker an average of $10,000 per month. Thus, if a broker licenses both MT4 and MT5, they will have to pay a monthly fee of between $15,000 and $20,000. The price increases by an additional $3,000 to $5,000 for white label platforms.
Monopoly in the Trading Industry
MetaQuotes has a virtual monopoly in the OTC trading industry due to the popularity of its two trading platforms, MT4 and MT5. However, it is now working to push the adoption of MT5, the The latest, rather than the old MT4, has even stopped issuing new licenses for the latter.
Finance Magnates Intelligence recently collected historical data on the MetaTrader platforms and predicts that MT5 will overtake MT4 in terms of CFD trading volume in 2025. This notice only mentioned MetaTrader 4, but brokers using MetaTrader 5 also received similar messages, with MetaTrader 5 identified in it.
The company is also asserting its dominance in the industry and has made it difficult for offshore entities to obtain new MT5 licenses. The software company’s influence became clear earlier this year when it cracked down on the use of its platform by proprietary trading platforms to provide services to US residents.
Interestingly, the resistance to MetaQuotes is increasing demand for competing trading platform providers. Following the campaign launched last February, many trading platforms rushed overnight to integrate other trading platforms to continue serving US clients. Now, most of them offer multiple platforms, and MetaTrader is one of their offerings.
It is worth noting that most of the proprietary trading platforms offer their services on demo servers for the MetaTrader software. Therefore, MetaQuotes does not generate any revenue from these proprietary trading activities, regardless of the trading volumes.
Although MetaQuotes does not announce its licensing fees, they depend on the packages. According to industry sources, supporting a single MetaTrader license (desktop, web, and mobile) costs a broker an average of $10,000 per month. Therefore, if a broker licenses both MT4 and MT5, they will have to pay a monthly fee of between $15,000 and $20,000. The price increases by an additional $3,000 to $5,000 for white label platforms.
