An Expert Advisor only trades while its MetaTrader 5 terminal is open and connected. Close the laptop, lose the Wi-Fi or let Windows restart for an update, and the EA stops with it. That is why almost every guide to automated trading ends with the same advice: get a VPS.
A VPS is one answer. It is not the only one. This guide covers the four ways to keep an MT5 EA running around the clock, what each costs you in time, and how to pick.
Why an EA needs a machine that never sleeps
An EA is code that runs inside the terminal. It reacts to new ticks, opens and closes positions and manages them while they are open. When the terminal is not running, none of that happens.
Some protection survives. Stop loss and take profit levels sit on the broker's server, so they still trigger with your terminal off. Anything the EA manages itself does not: trailing stops, break-even moves, time-based exits, basket closes and new entries all stop until the terminal is back.
So the real question is not "do I need a VPS?" It is "where will my terminal run, and who keeps it running?"
Option 1: your own computer
Running MT5 at home costs nothing extra and gives you full control. It works for testing and for strategies that only trade a few hours a day while you are at the desk.
For anything unattended, it is fragile:
- Power cuts, sleep settings and Windows updates stop the terminal.
- Home internet drops more often than a data centre's.
- The latency to your broker depends on where you live.
Option 2: a forex VPS
A VPS (virtual private server) is a Windows machine you rent in a data centre and reach over remote desktop. You install MT5 on it, log in to your account, attach the EA and disconnect. The terminal keeps running after you log off.
What you get:
- Full control. It is a whole Windows desktop. Run MT4, MT5, other trading software and your own tools.
- A location you choose. Many providers let you pick a data centre close to your broker's servers.
- Uptime you do not have at home. Data centre power and networking.
What you take on:
- Upkeep. Windows updates, restarts, disk space and memory are yours to watch. A terminal can freeze and nobody notices until a trade is missed.
- Manual setup per account. Each extra account means another terminal installation, configured by hand.
- EA updates by hand. A new version has to be copied to every server and reattached to every chart.
Option 3: the broker's VPS or MetaTrader's built-in hosting
Two lighter variants of the same idea:
- A broker VPS. Some brokers give clients a free VPS once the account meets a deposit or trading volume threshold. It is a normal VPS with the upkeep that comes with it, and it is tied to staying with that broker.
- MetaTrader virtual hosting. MT5 can rent hosting for an account from inside the terminal through your MQL5.community account. You migrate your charts, EAs and settings to it, and it keeps them running. It is simple and cheap for one account, but you work with a copy of your terminal rather than a desktop, and each account is hosted and paid for separately.
Option 4: a hosted MT5 terminal
A hosted terminal moves the whole job to a service. Instead of renting a server and installing MT5 on it, you hand over the account details and the service runs the terminal for you.
On Atlaas that looks like this:
- Pick a region with free capacity.
- Enter your MT5 login, password and broker server. The password is encrypted on receipt and released only to the server that runs your terminal.
- Deploy your EA. Upload it once and push a version to any set of terminals.
- Leave it. Every terminal reports a heartbeat, and one that goes quiet for more than two minutes is restarted automatically.
The trade-off is control. You manage the terminal, not a Windows desktop, so you cannot install other software next to it. In return there is no server to maintain, and each terminal comes with a REST and WebSocket API for orders, positions and live data.
How to choose
| Your situation | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Testing an EA, trading only while at the desk | Your own computer |
| You need MT4, or other Windows software next to MT5 | A VPS |
| One account, one EA, and you want the cheapest option | MetaTrader virtual hosting or a broker VPS |
| Several accounts, EA updates across all of them, or control from code | A hosted terminal |
| You want to tune latency to one broker yourself | A VPS in that broker's data centre |
Before you leave an EA unattended
Whichever option you choose, run through this list first:
- Prove it on demo. Run the EA on a demo account on the same setup for at least a week.
- Set server-side stops. Make sure every position carries a stop loss on the broker's server, not only inside the EA's logic.
- Check that algo trading is on. The terminal's Algo Trading button and the EA's own "Allow Algo Trading" setting both need to be enabled.
- Know your broker's server time. Session filters and daily resets follow broker time, not yours.
- Plan for the weekend. Decide whether the EA should hold positions over the weekend gap.
- Watch for silence. Set up alerts for errors, disconnections and missed trades, so a problem reaches you before the account statement does.
The short version
If you need a whole Windows machine, rent a VPS. If you need MT5 itself to stay online, especially across several accounts, a hosted terminal removes the server from the job. Atlaas hosts one terminal free with no card, so you can try it with a demo account first.