Expert advisors are becoming more popular as the number of day traders increases globally. The idea of using robots has become more attractive because of the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency trading. In this article, we will explore what expert advisors are, explain what EA builders are, and look at some of the best builders in the market.
What is an Expert Advisor?
An expert advisor is a piece of software used by forex and contract for difference (CFD) traders to automate their trades. The software, when configured well, can analyze several currency pairs at once and open trades. It can even open trades and set the stop-loss and a take-profit. Advanced ones can close trades when conditions change.
Other expert advisors are designed with the goal of sending signals when a preset combination happens in the market. For example, if you have created a Moving Average crossover robot, instead of it opening a trade when the crossover happens, it will send you a notification. With this alert, you can go ahead and do more analysis on the currency pair and see whether it is appropriate to initiate a trade.
Expert advisors are used by traders of all levels. Experienced traders use them as trading companions, while new traders use them to maximize their profits.
Why use an expert advisor?
There are many reasons why traders decide to use EAs in trading. First, EAs can do more analysis than a human being. For one, as a trader, you can only analyze one currency pair or other assets at the same time. An EA, on the other hand, can work behind the scenes and analyze several pairs at once.
Second, EAs that are created well can work even when you are not there or when you are asleep. For example, if you have a meeting, the EA can easily open trades in your absentia. This is an important concept considering that the forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days per week.
Third, expert advisors tend to execute trades at a faster pace than humans, especially when you have linked your MT4 or MT5 with a VPS.
Still, expert advisors are not perfect. Indeed, most people who use them lose money. One of the reasons is that EAs are mostly technical tools that don’t consider the fundamental aspect. They also rarely focus on chart patterns like triangles and wedges.
What is an EA builder?
Building an EA is a tough thing because it requires expertise in both trading and coding. Not many people have a combination of these skills.
You need trading skills because, by building a robot, you will simply be digitizing the manual strategies that have worked well for you for a while. At the same time, to digitize these skills, you will need expertise in one or more programming languages.
This is where EA builders come in. An EA builder is a highly sophisticated tool that simplifies the software development process. These platforms have complicated backends and easy-to-use front-ends.
A well-designed expert advisor works in a simple way. It provides all tools needed to build a robot and then a user interface where people can create their bots. In some cases, these tools are simply drag-and-drop platforms.
Many EA builders are provided completely for free. Others use a freemium model in which some features are free, and others are paid for. In the past, some forex brokers like FxPro used to provide these EA builders to their customers for free.
How to select a good EA builder
There are many EA builders in the market today. Therefore, to select one, you need to consider several things.
First, consider the cost of the EA builder. For most traders, using the freely-provided EA builders is enough, especially when you are building less sophisticated robots.
Second, consider the features that the builder has. For example, assess the number and quality of indicators that the builder has. Ideally, you want a robot that has adequate features to help you build the robot.
Third, it is always advisable to use a builder that has adequate free templates. Most traders, especially the new ones, just use these templates and tweak the numbers provided.
Finally, you want an EA builder that offers tutorials on how to build these robots.
Examples of leading EA builder
fxDreema
fxDreema is one of the most popular expert advisor builders in the world. It supports both the MT4 and MT5 software, and one does not need any trading experience to use it. fxDreema uses a freemium model in which most of its features are for free. Its premium packages start at $26 for one-month access. Its annual cost is $129.
EA Builder Pro
EA Builder Pro is another popular expert advisor that is built specifically for the MT4 and MT5 platforms. It also uses a freemium model. Its premium service costs about $50 per year and has some additional features like unlimited exports to MT5 and MT4. It also allows users to export their code to other platforms.
Forex Advisor
Forex Advisor builder is an EA builder that offers features that traders can use to build their robots. It is a free tool that lacks most features like a strategy tester and an easy-to-use drag-and-drop platform.
Alternatives to EA builders
There are other alternatives to EA builders that you can use. The most common one is using the template builder provided by MT4 and MT5. You access this tool by going to tools and then to tools followed by the MetaQuotes Language Editor.
The next option that you have is to buy an already-built robot. While there are several available marketplaces, the most recommended one is the one provided by MQL4 and MQL5.
Summary
Building expert advisors is a tough and long process. Using EA builders can save you time since they provide a simple platform for you to use. In this article, we have looked at how EA builders work and some of the most popular builders to use.
