In this post, I'm going to review Forex Tester 4.
I've been using it for 7 months, enough time to get a good feel for the benefits, the bugs and if it's better than previous versions.
So if you are wondering if Forex Tester 4 is worth getting, this review will give you my opinion of the latest version of this popular backtesting software.
Forex Tester 4 Review Video
If you prefer the text version, it's posted after this video.
Get a discount on Forex Tester 4 here.
Is Forex Tester 4 (FT4) Better Than Forex Tester 3 (FT3)?
Yes.
I was actually still using Forex Tester 2 because Forex Tester 3 was so buggy.
FT3 would create these gigantic testing files that would eat entire hard drives.
Mmmm…hard drives.
That was the deal killer for me.
On top of that, the features in FT3 weren't all that much better than FT2.
So there wasn't really any reason to upgrade from FT2.
But now let's look at FT4…
Benefits of Forex Tester 4
Set Percent of Account Risk
The biggest benefit of FT4, in my opinion, is that fact that you can set your risk to percent of account.
In previous versions, you had to calculate percent risk manually. That was a pain and added an extra step to the process.
I used a spreadsheet to calculate this, but fixed fractional risk really should have been available earlier.
Convert MT4 Indicators to Forex Tester
One of the biggest issues with Forex Tester has aways been the inability to use custom indicators in backtesting.
Forex Tester has been great if you used price action or common indicator strategies. But you were SOL if you wanted to use the same indicators that you used in MT4.
With FT4, you can now automatically convert MT4 indicators to FT4.
There is a small catch however.
You need to have the source code of the indicator to do this.
If you don't have the source code, then you will have to go through the normal process of having a programmer reverse engineer the indicator or EA for you.
See our list of Forex programmers, if you need to find a quality programmer.
EA and Indicator Generator
Forex Tester also provides an online tool called Visual Strategy Builder (VSB) that allows you to create MT4 and FT4 EAs and indicators, without knowing how to code.
The tool is pretty rudimentary at the moment, but it's promising. With a little more work, it could be a very usable tool for creating simple EAs and indicators.
If you need a complex EA or indicator, you should always have it custom programmed.
However, if you just need something simple and you just want to test out a few ideas, then visual builders like VSB are a great option.
I would love to see them develop this tool more. You can read my full review of VSB here.
Backtest Other Markets
FT4 now allows you to backtest stocks, cryptocurrencies, indices and futures…which is fantastic.
I haven't tried backtesting other markets yet, but I will dig into stocks and crypto at some point. I've always found futures harder to backtest because of contract rollover, but it could be a good solution for futures trading backtesting.
Their premium data service for Forex is excellent, I haven't had any issues.
Downside of Forex Tester 4
FT2 worked perfectly on VMWare Fusion on my Mac.
FT3 didn't work at all.
FT4 kinda works.
After using FT4 on VMWare Fusion for a few days, I noticed that it slowed down to the point where it was barely usable.
I contacted Forex Tester support and they said that it's best to put FT4 on a cheap Windows laptop.
FT4 simply doesn't run well on a Windows emulator.
It's a little annoying that in this day and age, Forex Tester doesn't run on platforms besides Windows. There is definitely room in the market to create a cross-platform or browser-based backtesting product.
Anyway, to solve this issue, I got a Dell Venue 11 tablet, which runs a full version of Windows 10. If you buy it used on eBay or Amazon, a Venue is considerably cheaper than a Surface and much more compact than any laptop.
…and it does the job.
Then I use Remote Desktop to access the tablet and backtest on my Mac.
This is really the only complaint that I have about FT4.
Potential Improvements for Forex Tester 5
Aside from the issue mentioned above, one improvement that would be fantastic, is a better suite of reporting functions, as well as the ability to get reports across multiple backtests.
I would love to be able to run Monte Carlo simulations on multiple backtests and get stats like risk of ruin and max drawdown.
In addition, the interface is dated. They originally made it to look like MetaTrader, so it would be easier to use.
However, I feel like they could do a lot of streamline the backtesting process and break away from the MetaTrader template.
Otherwise, FT4 is a definite improvement over FT3…and FT2. So I finally retired FT2 and I'm only using FT4 now.
To get a discount on FT4, use this Trading Heroes coupon.
Final Thoughts on Forex Tester 4
FT4 is a great piece of software that has restored my confidence in the future of the company.
It works as it should and it finally has percent risk. The data service works without a hitch and the added markets are awesome, even though I won't be using them right away.
If you want a bonus tip, I started using this mini keyboard with FT4, in order to speed up backtesting. This little guy is pretty useless otherwise…but it's brilliant for backtesting with Forex Tester 4.
Set the hotkeys to keys that are close together on the mini keyboard and it makes it much easier to stop, start and move forward/backwards on the charts. Here are my settings…
I also use the following:
- 0 = Close all positions
- P = Move to breakeven
That really speeds up the backtesting process for me.
So that's what I think of FT4. I hope it helped you make a more informed buying decision.
Trading Heroes readers get a discount on FT4. Also be sure to check if they have a sale running because you can use our discount on top of their sale price.
Happy Trading!
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