Platforms & AutomationcAlgo
cTrader
A trading platform by Spotware associated with ECN pricing, level II depth and automation written in C# as cBots.
What cTrader means
cTrader is a retail trading platform developed by Spotware and offered by brokers that want to present an ECN-style proposition. Its distinguishing features are level II market depth showing the individual price levels and sizes behind the top of book, detachable and highly configurable charts, and an order ticket that separates market, limit, stop and stop limit orders with explicit fill and time-in-force controls. Position and order management is granular, including partial closes and per-position protective orders, which suits traders who scale in and out.
Automation lives in cAlgo, where strategies called cBots and custom indicators are written in C# against the .NET framework rather than a proprietary language. For anyone with mainstream programming experience that is a lower barrier than learning MQL, and it opens access to standard libraries and tooling. cTrader also exposes a FIX API and an Open API for external connectivity, and includes a copy trading service where strategy providers publish results and followers allocate funds to them from within the same platform.
The honest caveats are commercial rather than technical. Fewer brokers offer cTrader than MetaTrader, so platform choice narrows the broker shortlist, and the third-party ecosystem of indicators and strategies is much smaller. Level II depth reflects the liquidity providers that particular broker aggregates, not the whole market, so two cTrader brokers can show different books for the same instrument. As always, an ECN label on a platform does not by itself prove how a given broker routes or fills client orders.
Worked example
A cTrader depth window might show 3 million available at 1.08501, 5 million at 1.08503 and 8 million at 1.08505, telling a trader that a 6 million euro order would fill across at least two price levels.
Related terms
- ECN (Electronic Communication Network)An electronic venue that anonymously matches buy and sell orders from many participants in a shared order book.
- Depth of Market (DOM)A display of the quantity of bids and offers resting at each price level around the current market.
- Algorithmic TradingUsing coded rules rather than discretion to generate signals, size positions and route orders, with the computer executing decisions.
- FIX APIThe institutional messaging protocol for quotes and orders, offering low latency and direct routing but demanding setup and volume.
- MetaTrader 4 (MT4)The 2005 MetaQuotes retail terminal built around MQL4 expert advisors, hedging accounts and a single-threaded strategy tester.
Frequently asked questions
What does cTrader mean in forex trading?
A trading platform by Spotware associated with ECN pricing, level II depth and automation written in C# as cBots.
How does cTrader work in practice?
Automation lives in cAlgo, where strategies called cBots and custom indicators are written in C# against the .NET framework rather than a proprietary language. For anyone with mainstream programming experience that is a lower barrier than learning MQL, and it opens access to standard libraries and tooling. cTrader also exposes a FIX API and an Open API for external connectivity, and includes a copy trading service where strategy providers publish results and followers allocate funds to them from within the same platform.
What is an example of cTrader?
A cTrader depth window might show 3 million available at 1.08501, 5 million at 1.08503 and 8 million at 1.08505, telling a trader that a 6 million euro order would fill across at least two price levels.
Trade with a regulated broker
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