Types of FX automated trading services and their differences from MT4 EAs

Speaking of it, when I searched to start automated FX trading, the first information that came up were FX company auto-trading services like Toraripi (Traripi) and TriAuto.    

Exactly. MT4 EA is one of the options for FX automated trading, so,
as you research, you tend to arrive at MT4 EA.

Besides, since it can be used for free, and unlike MT4 you don't have to keep it running 24/7, it's convenient, right? 

There are many user tips published, and FX company support is strong, so it may be a good service for first-time users. So this time, let's summarize what kinds of FX automated trading exist.

Much appreciated!    

Did you know that when you search for “FX automated trading,” you’ll often see MT4 EA… not MT4, but “Repeat-Type Auto-Trading Services” such as Toraripi and Repeat If Done?

Yes, among retail investors, services that automatically trade on your behalf by simply selecting them are more well-known and popular than MT4, which requires mastering how to use it.

Repeat-type and other proprietary FX auto-trading services are now offered by more than 10 FX companies/brokers in Japan as flagship services

Fees can be free, and some brokers offer low spreads like 0.4 pips for USD/JPY, making them appealing.

In addition, some services let you create your own strategies or choose original strategies. Compare the many auto-trading services available and find the investment approach that suits you.

Five Types of FX Auto-Trading Systems

FX Company–Based Auto-Trading Service Classifications

If you can use auto-trading services on a broker’s own platform, spreads tend to be relatively wider.
However, because you can access proven auto-trading options with abundant information, you can treat the service as a fee for the convenience.

On the other hand, when MT4 is available, spreads tend to be relatively tight.

Basics of Repeat-Type Auto-Trading

If you already know this, feel free to skip.

(Image source:MoneySquare）

Such trading can be set as buy-repeat or sell-repeat on either side (for range-bound markets).

Drawbacks: You must decide the expected range and the repeat interval yourself, and if the price moves outside the range, you’ll incur unrealized losses and may hit stop-loss (automatic or manual).

Two Purposes of Repeat-Type Operations

1: Trade automation to save effort — for operational gains

You don’t need to guess every day whether to buy or sell, and you can automate for a fairly long time horizon.
Even people who don’t have time for investing can easily manage it.

2: Swap income + operational gains

Focus on high-swap currencies like Turkish Lira, Mexican Peso, and South African Rand/JPY with buy-leaning repeat-type auto-trading. In addition to operational gains, you also collect swap profits, a style suited for long-term investing.

Now, that covers the basics of repeat-type auto-trading. Let’s introduce some newer services that have appeared recently.

Trend-Following with a Trail Function

Repeat-type auto-trading often faced losses when the market moved outside the expected range, especially with tight repeat intervals and narrow expected ranges.

Another service with a trailing feature is Monex Securities’ “Auto Rail.”

Point!Trail features exist in only Toraripi and Auto Rail.

Automatic Trend Following and Reversal Detection… Automatically?

FX Online’s new service“i-Cycle 2”introduces an auto-adjusting repeat width that follows price movements to match upper and lower expectations in rising or falling markets.

（Image source：FX Online）

Width settings automatically slide!

（Image source：FX Online）

It can also handle trend reversals, automatically deciding to buy only in rising markets and sell only in falling markets. This is no longer just repeat-type auto-trading—it’s something more advanced.

Fees and Spreads for Repeat-Type Auto-Trading Services

We’ve looked at the features of repeat-type auto-trading services, but what about the fees and spreads?
Because these strategies trade frequently, tight spreads directly affect profitability. Here’s a comparison of four representative companies.

Service Name	Broker	Stop-Loss Setting	Fees	Main Spreads			Number of Currency Pairs
				AUDJPY	GBPJPY	NZDJPY
Toraripi	MoneySquare	Yes/No selectable	Free	5–6 pips	6–7 pips	6–7 pips	12
Loop IF-Dun	iNet Securities	Yes/No selectable	Free	4 pips	5 pips	6 pips	20
TriAuto FX	Invast Securities	Yes/No selectable	For less than 10,000 not round trip: 4 pips For 10,000 or more: 2 pips round trip For 100,000 or more: 1 pip round trip	0.6 pips	1 pip	1.7 pips	17
i-Cycle 2 & Cycle 2	Gaitame Online	Fees: 1000 units round trip 20 yen 10,000 units: round trip 200 yen (Fees waived until 2019/12/31)	3 pips	3 pips	6 pips	26

Functions Not Yet Available in Repeat-Type Auto-Trading

So far, these evolved and popular repeat-type auto-trading services—how do they compare to MT4 EA in terms of capabilities?
Let’s compare features.

1) Consolidated Profit/Loss All-at-Once Settlement

Repeat-type auto-trading usually has pre-set take-profit/stop-loss for each order, with only basic trailing features. With an EA, you could set a combined condition such as total profit or loss across multiple positions to trigger a single settlement.
2) Change the Averaging (Nampin) Width Dynamically

Repeat-type auto-trading typically uses evenly spaced repeat widths. An EA can vary the number of lots and spacing depending on price bands, allowing irregular averaging widths by price range.

You can narrow the averaging width when close to Half & Half reversal points (upper/lower), though risk increases if prices move away from the range.

3) Apply Martingale

Incorporating martingale may depart from the strict repeat-type definition, but in cases like Half & Half where you set a central price, increasing lot sizes as prices approach the sell ceiling or buy floor can increase required margin and speed up profit realization, or enlarge profit amounts.

4) Use Technical Indicators as Entry Filters

Rather than placing repeat orders blindly, you can filter “potential reversal moments” with indicators or oscillators, then apply averaging against counter-trend entries. This is arguably the most appealing aspect of EAs.This means you don’t need to watch charts to estimate price ranges, and you can adjust settings automatically to fit the market.
This is where the real advantage of EA lies.

Strategy-Select Type (Original Type): Most Use MT4 EA Signals

Among repeat-type auto-trading, MT4 EA can realize complex trades that other types cannot. You can see how MT4 EA signals are leveraged in strategy-select auto-trading.
Auto-trading using MT4 EA signals is common in Strategy-Select Type (Original Type).
Even though Everyone’s System Trade and System Trade 24 don’t run on MT4, they use MT4 EA signals to automate trading.
Choosing a good EA from MT4 EA can be tough, but services that pick proven performers and let you auto-trade by simply selecting are effectively MT4-free auto-trading services.MT4-free auto-trading conveniencedescribes these well.

Invast Securities’ “System Trade 24”

Just select from many published-performing strategies to start auto-trading immediately.

A “Full Auto” feature automatically swaps strategies according to market conditions,

and you can use high-performing full-auto strategies created by other users as-is.

Traders Securities’ “Everyone’s System Trade”

Everyone’s System Trade offers two types: auto-trading strategies and discretionary traders.

(Image source: Traders Securities)

You can choose from ranked strategies created by individuals, corporations, and robots.

In Strategy-Select Type, usage fees and investment advice fees are included in the spread, so users don’t need to worry about spread separate from costs.

The focus is on whether there are many strategies that can consistently win with high spreads.

MT4 EA: For Advanced Users?

Compared with the repeat-type auto-trading and strategy-select auto-trading introduced so far, MT4 EA is perhaps the most challenging to enter.

Even trying to run an EA on MT4 can be a hurdle:

• You must find a good EA among many free and paid options with your own eyes

• You must design your own portfolio

• VPS setup is essential

and thus initial investment and pre-checks can be time-consuming.

So what are the advantages?

• You can run auto-trading with low spreads

• You can estimate maximum drawdown and annual return from backtest data

• Grid-type (repeat-type), pyramiding, multiple logics, etc., are all possible

In Strategy-Select and Mirror Trader types, the maximum drawdown during operation is known, but past test data isn’t publicly announced.

Moreover, because spreads are often quite wide on MT4, even trades that would be profitable may become less profitable due to spreads.

It’s hard to say which auto-trading type is most efficient when considering fees and spreads, without a single, unified comparison. However, using the same strategy on MT4 with narrow spreads can yield higher profits.

Today, auto-trading services are readily available at many FX companies.

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Written By Tera Gogojungle Marketing.