Systemly Logo
Back to Community
8 min read

Is MT4 being discontinued? What the 2026 phase-out means for UK and UAE traders

SystemlySystemly Team
·18 October 2026
Is MT4 being discontinued? What the 2026 phase-out means for UK and UAE traders

Forty-five days. That is how long MetaTrader 4 has left at OANDA Japan, counting from the day this article was published. The broker will end MT4 "at the close of trading on November 27, 2026", and it stopped taking new MT4 orders on 25 September. FOREX.com Japan is following, with its own MT4 service due to end in "October 2026 or later".

If you trade from Manchester or Dubai Marina, you may have seen those headlines in a Telegram group and felt your stomach drop. Your indicators, your saved templates and the EA you paid for all live on MT4.

Here is the direct answer. As of 13 October 2026 we found no UK or UAE broker that has announced an MT4 shutdown. But MT4 has had no new development for years, the brokers that are closing it cite security, and the direction of travel is clear. The sensible move is to ask your broker one question this week, and to prepare a move to MetaTrader 5 on your own timetable rather than theirs.

Quick answer: MT4 is being discontinued by some brokers, not switched off worldwide. OANDA Japan ends it on 27 November 2026 and FOREX.com Japan has scheduled its end for October 2026 or later, both citing security, and both move clients to MetaTrader 5. We found no UK or UAE broker shutdown as of 13 October 2026. Ask your broker whether and when it plans one, check that your tools have MT5 versions, and remember that your account and money sit with the broker, not with the platform.

Systemly publishes this comparison. We have tried to be fair, and every competitor fact below is sourced and dated 13 October 2026.

What MT4 is, and why its future matters

MetaTrader 4 is a trading terminal made by MetaQuotes and licensed to brokers, who give it free to their clients. It uses its own language, MQL4, for Expert Advisors (EAs), custom indicators and scripts. Its successor, MetaTrader 5, uses MQL5 (Wikipedia). For years MT4 was simply what forex trading looked like on a retail screen, and many traders learned on it.

That matters because MT4 is not one product that one company can switch off. It is a piece of software that each broker runs on its own servers under licence. When people ask "is MT4 being discontinued?", the honest answer is that each broker decides for itself, and some have now decided.

The timeline: from "slowly dying out" to the Japan shutdowns

  • 15 November 2016: What happened: MetaQuotes' head of sales says: "We do not expect to see any developments to come out of MT4 ever again."; Source: Finance Magnates
  • 24 September 2022: What happened: MT4 and MT5 are removed from Apple's App Store; Android stays on Google Play; Source: Wikipedia
  • 6 March 2023: What happened: Both apps are reinstated on the App Store; Source: Pepperstone
  • 27 March 2026: What happened: OANDA Japan announces the end of MT4; Source: Finance Magnates
  • June 2026: What happened: FOREX.com Japan offers MT5 as the successor; Source: FX News Group
  • 7 September 2026: What happened: FOREX.com Japan's plan to end MT4 is reported; Source: FX News Group
  • 25 September 2026: What happened: OANDA Japan stops taking new MT4 orders; Source: Finance Magnates
  • October 2026 or later: What happened: FOREX.com Japan's MT4 discontinuation is scheduled; Source: FX News Group
  • 27 November 2026: What happened: OANDA Japan ends MT4 at the close of trading; Source: Finance Magnates

The 2016 quote is the root of the story. Anthony Papaevagorou, then head of sales at MetaQuotes, went on: "Given this, MT4 is slowly dying out" (Finance Magnates). Ten years later, MT4 is still running at many brokers. Slowly turned out to mean very slowly.

What changed in 2026 is that brokers began to act. OANDA Japan gave two reasons: "cybersecurity requirements" and the platform's "lack of ongoing maintenance". It moved clients to MT5, its own fxTrade platform or TradingView. Finance Magnates called it "a broader industry shift as brokers gradually transition users to MetaTrader 5 while support for MT4 declines" (Finance Magnates).

FOREX.com Japan pointed to "increasingly stringent cybersecurity standards", and has offered MT5 as the successor since June 2026 (FX News Group). OANDA Japan has also stopped offering MT4 and MT5 web terminal access, according to a headline we could not read in full, so treat the detail as unconfirmed.

What about the UK and the UAE?

We searched for MT4 shutdown announcements from UK and UAE brokers and found none as of 13 October 2026. That is "not found", not "confirmed absent". A broker can announce a change by email to its own clients before any trade press picks it up.

You will also see a claim repeated on forums that MetaQuotes stopped selling new MT4 licences to brokers in 2018. We could not confirm it on any page we read, so we have not relied on it here.

What we can say is where the energy is going. MetaQuotes exhibited at Forex Expo Dubai on 22 to 23 September 2026 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, where it showed brokerage automation and an expanded AI assistant (MetaQuotes). That assistant is an MT5 feature. Build 6180 of MT5, released on 3 September 2026, lets it fetch Strategy Tester reports, start optimisations and read logs (MetaQuotes). New features are arriving on MT5, and none are arriving on MT4.

For UK readers, your broker is regulated by the FCA. In the UAE it will be licensed by the DFSA in the DIFC, the FSRA in ADGM, or the Capital Market Authority on the mainland (the CMA, which was called the SCA until 1 January 2026). The shutdowns announced so far have come from brokers, not from regulators, so your broker is the one to ask.

The 2022 App Store scare: a dress rehearsal

The closest UK and UAE traders have come to losing MT4 was not a broker decision at all. On 24 September 2022 Apple removed both MT4 and MT5 from its App Store. MetaQuotes cited non-compliance with App Store guidelines, and some people alleged a link to Russia sanctions. Android users were unaffected. The apps came back on 6 March 2023, with MetaQuotes saying: "MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 Apps have been reinstated and are available for download from the App Store."

By our count that is 163 days, about five and a half months, during which a new iPhone user could not download the app.

The common mistake when a platform disappears is to confuse the app with the account. A trader who believes their money is "in MT4" may panic and close positions they did not need to close.

The consequence of that confusion is acting on fear rather than facts. A platform change is an inconvenience. Closing a sound position at a bad price because of a headline is a real loss.

It is the same as your bank replacing its mobile app. Your savings do not live in the app. They sit in the account, and the bank still owes them to you whichever app you use to look at them. Your trading account and your money sit with your broker, which is regulated, and the terminal is only the window.

What moves with you from MT4 to MT5, and what to check

  • Your money and balance: Where it lives: With the broker; What to ask or check: Nothing moves; confirm the account number you will use on MT5
  • Open positions: Where it lives: On the broker's MT4 server; What to ask or check: Ask whether they transfer or must be closed before the cut-off date
  • Trade history: Where it lives: On the broker's MT4 server; What to ask or check: Download your statements before the switch, for your records and tax
  • Paid indicators and EAs: Where it lives: MQL4 files on your computer; What to ask or check: MQL4 and MQL5 are separate languages; ask the seller whether an MT5 version exists
  • Free indicators: Where it lives: MQL4 files; What to ask or check: Look for an MQL5 equivalent, or ask whether you need it at all
  • Server time and candles: Where it lives: Set by the broker; What to ask or check: Check whether the MT5 server uses the same GMT+2 or GMT+3 setting
  • Your phone app: Where it lives: App Store or Google Play; What to ask or check: Install MT5 and log in with the MT5 details your broker sends

The fourth row is the one that catches people. An EA rented on the MQL5 Market is bound to "the buyer's equipment and operating system", and purchases are not returnable (Finance Magnates). If you paid for an MQL4 product, find out now whether the seller supports MT5 rather than in the last week.

A checklist to screenshot

  1. Email or message your broker and ask: "Do you plan to end MT4, and if so, on what date?"
  2. Ask whether open positions will carry over or must be closed.
  3. Download your full account history while MT4 still works.
  4. List every indicator and EA you actually use. The list is often shorter than you expect.
  5. For each paid tool, ask the seller in writing whether an MT5 version exists and whether it costs extra.
  6. Open an MT5 demo with your existing broker and practise one week of your normal routine on it.
  7. Note your broker's MT5 server time, and write down what it is in UK time and Dubai time.
  8. Ignore any message that offers to "migrate" your account through a link. Get instructions from your broker's own website.
  9. Check your broker's regulator on the FCA register or with the DFSA, FSRA or CMA.
  10. Decide your own switch date, earlier than the broker's.

If you are wondering whether to move to MT5 or to a different platform altogether, our MT5 vs Systemly comparison covers MT5's mobile limits, and TradingView vs MT5 covers the charting side.

A decision tree

  • If your broker has announced an end date, then follow its instructions and switch at least two weeks early.
  • If your broker has not announced anything and your tools all have MT5 versions, then switch when it suits you. There is nothing to gain from waiting.
  • If your broker has not announced anything and you rely on an MQL4-only EA, then stay for now, but ask the seller about MT5 and keep a demo running.
  • If you are new and choosing a platform today, then start on MT5 rather than MT4. Everything new is being built there, and our guide to the best way to learn forex in the UK covers what to learn first.
  • If you are not sure what to trade on any platform, then the terminal is not your real problem. Read on.

Where staying on MT4 is the better choice, for now

There are honest reasons not to rush. If your broker still supports MT4 and has said nothing, nothing forces you to move this month. If your whole routine runs on an MQL4 tool whose seller has no MT5 version, moving early could cost you a working setup with no replacement ready. And if you have years of muscle memory on MT4, a calm switch in a quiet week is better than a hurried one before a central bank meeting. The point is to choose the date yourself.

Where a planning tool fits, whatever the platform

The MT4 question is about where you press the button. It says nothing about which button to press, or how big the trade should be. Those answers do not change when the software does.

Here is a worked example. A UK trader has a £1,500 account and wants to risk 1% on GBP/USD with a 30-pip stop. We assume an illustrative GBP/USD rate of 1.34 for the conversion and a pip value of $10 per standard lot.

  • 1% of £1,500 is £15, which is about $20.10.
  • A 30-pip stop costs 30 × $10 = $300 per standard lot.
  • $20.10 ÷ $300 = 0.067 lots, which rounds down to 0.06 lots.
  • At 0.06 lots the real risk is 0.06 × $300 = $18, about £13.43, or 0.9% of the account.

That arithmetic is identical on MT4 and MT5. Only the box you type 0.06 into changes. Our forex position size calculator guide walks through it for other pairs.

Systemly (systemly.ai) is a UK-built forex and gold trade-planning app that turns live price data into a complete trade plan, with entry, stop, targets, position size and plain-English reasoning, and teaches the terms in a built-in academy of 32 courses. It is not a trading terminal and it does not depend on MT4 or MT5. A plan opens on a full-screen live chart with the trade drawn on it, a numbered moves card, a countdown to the next decision and one money figure with trading cost included. When the checks fail, it says "no trade" in plain words and lists which checks failed.

You read the plan and place it wherever your broker lets you: MT4 while it lasts, MT5 after, or a TradingView-connected account. While you are between platforms, you can also practise a plan as a paper trade inside Systemly, on every plan including free, with nothing sent to a broker. On Starter and above the plan can also be exported to TradingView as a Pine Script that draws it with the same stop and money figure. Times show in your own time zone, so the London and New York sessions sit in the right place whether your broker's server is on GMT+2, GMT+3 or something else.

How we compared

We built this guide from trade press reports of the OANDA Japan and FOREX.com Japan shutdowns, MetaQuotes' own news pages, the 2016 Finance Magnates interview, and records of the 2022 to 2023 App Store removal, all linked below. We searched for UK and UAE broker announcements and found none. Systemly facts come from its product documentation of 6 October 2026 and its changelog to 8 October 2026. Everything was checked on 13 October 2026, and brokers can announce changes at any time.

FAQ

Is MT4 being discontinued in 2026?

Some brokers are discontinuing it. OANDA Japan ends MT4 at the close of trading on 27 November 2026, and FOREX.com Japan scheduled its discontinuation for October 2026 or later. Both cited cybersecurity and moved clients to MetaTrader 5. MT4 is not being switched off worldwide, because each broker runs it under its own licence and makes its own decision.

Is MT4 being shut down in the UK?

As of 13 October 2026 we found no UK broker announcing an MT4 shutdown. That does not guarantee one will not come, because brokers can tell clients directly before the press reports it. The simplest step is to ask your broker whether it plans to end MT4 and on what date, then plan your own move to MT5.

Is MT4 still available in the UAE?

We found no UAE broker announcing an MT4 shutdown as of 13 October 2026. UAE round-ups still list MetaTrader at brokers licensed by the DFSA and the CMA (formerly the SCA), such as amana and Capital.com. MetaQuotes' own focus is on MT5, which it showcased at Forex Expo Dubai in September 2026. Ask your broker about its plans.

Why are brokers ending MT4?

The brokers that have announced shutdowns cite security. OANDA Japan pointed to "cybersecurity requirements" and MT4's "lack of ongoing maintenance". FOREX.com Japan cited "increasingly stringent cybersecurity standards". MetaQuotes said in 2016 that it did not expect any further development of MT4, and its new features, including an AI assistant, arrive on MT5.

Will my EAs and indicators work on MT5?

Not automatically. MT4 tools are written in MQL4 and MT5 uses MQL5, which is a separate language. Ask the seller of each paid tool whether an MT5 version exists and whether it costs extra. Products on the MQL5 Market are bound to the buyer's equipment and are not returnable, so check before you buy again.

Do I lose my money if my broker ends MT4?

No. Your money sits in your account with the broker, not in the MT4 software. When OANDA Japan ended MT4 it moved clients to MT5, fxTrade or TradingView. Ask your broker whether open positions transfer or must be closed before the cut-off, and download your trade history while MT4 still works.

Was MT4 removed from the App Store?

Yes, once. Apple removed MT4 and MT5 from its App Store on 24 September 2022, and both were reinstated on 6 March 2023, about 163 days later. Android users could still download them from Google Play throughout. MetaQuotes cited non-compliance with App Store guidelines at the time.

Plan the trade before you pick the platform

Whichever terminal you end up on, the plan is the hard part. See how Systemly draws a full plan on a live chart, browse real community plans, or read why your broker's chart and your charting platform show different prices. To judge any service that sends you trades, use our guide on how to judge a forex signal provider.

Sources

Trading forex and CFDs carries a high risk of losing money, and most retail accounts do. Systemly is an educational and trade-planning tool. It does not provide financial advice or personal recommendations, and it is not authorised by the FCA or licensed in the UAE to do so. Past outcomes do not predict future results.