How usage-based pricing works for MT4, MT5 and MatchTrader management tools
Most broker management tools charge a flat monthly fee. You pay the same whether you run one platform or six, whether your modules work around the clock or only during market hours. We went the other way: you pay for the hours your services are actually running.
This post explains exactly how that works — what meters, what never meters, and where to see your own numbers. If you are comparing us against a flat-fee vendor, the arithmetic at the bottom is the part worth reading.
The comparison that actually matters
Before the mechanics, one thing about framing. The useful comparison is not our price against another vendor's price. It is our price against the operations staff you would need without the tool.
Trade copying, reconciliation between source and destination accounts, automated risk controls, rollover adjustments, daily reports — these run continuously so nobody on your team has to watch them. That is the cost being replaced. A vendor comparison that ignores it measures the wrong thing.
What "usage-based" means here
Toolbox charges per active hour, for three things:
- Trade platforms — each connected MT4, MT5 or MatchTrader instance.
- Modules — quotes monitor, trades blotter, trade copier, rollover app, snapshots writer.
WebAPI is billed separately, on its own usage-based model, and REST calls and real-time SignalR streaming are not priced the same way. The model for both is described in Pricing and terms; your exact rates appear on the Pricing page inside Toolbox once you sign in, read straight out of the billing system, so that is the number that matters rather than anything quoted here.
If a platform is connected and a module is enabled, the meter runs. Disable either and it stops immediately — not at the end of a billing period, not after a support request. Weekends, holidays, quiet overnight hours: if it is not running, there is nothing to pay.
If you decide you do not want the services at all, disable your trade platforms in Toolbox. Charges go to zero, and your trading platforms keep running exactly as before — they do not depend on us to operate.
What never meters
- Non-trading API calls. Only MT4 and MT5 Manager API calls count toward the bill. Health checks, status queries and other read-only operations are free, so monitoring us costs you nothing.
- Disabled modules. Turning a module off stops its charges on the spot.
- The sandbox. The staging environment is free, permanently, with full functionality. There is no trial clock and no feature gate — build and test against it as long as you like.
- Storage. Your historical data, settings and configuration do not attract storage fees.
Per-hour against a flat fee
| Flat monthly fee | Per active hour | |
|---|---|---|
| Small setup, one or two platforms | Same price as a large one | Proportionally less |
| Adding a platform | Contract renegotiation | Charges adjust by themselves |
| Removing one | Still paying the full fee | Charges drop immediately |
| Weekends and off-hours | Paying for idle infrastructure | Nothing to pay |
| Price transparency | A published list that drifts from the invoice | The pricing page reads from the billing system itself |
That last row deserves a note, because it is a real failure mode rather than a talking point. A published price list and a billing engine are two different systems, and they drift apart — usually quietly, usually in the vendor's favour. Ours cannot drift: the pricing page reads the rates out of the billing system, so what you are quoted and what you are charged come from one place.
The arithmetic
Take a broker running two platforms — say MT5 and MatchTrader — with three modules enabled: quotes monitor, trades blotter, trade copier.
A month averages about 730 hours. Running everything continuously:
- Platform hours: 2 × 730 = 1,460
- Module hours: 3 × 730 = 2,190
WebAPI sits outside this calculation entirely — it is billed on its own model, so add it from your own integration's figures rather than assuming a share.
Now switch one thing off. A month contains roughly 8.7 weekend days, which is about 29% of it. Disable the trade copier over weekends and that module's charge falls by close to a third — 730 hours becomes about 520. Under a flat fee, the same decision changes your invoice by nothing at all.
Multiply that across modules your desk genuinely does not need outside trading hours and the gap widens. This is the whole argument for per-hour billing, and it is why for most brokers the model works out cheaper than a fixed fee even when the per-unit rate is higher.
Where to check your own numbers
Two pages inside Toolbox, both reading live data rather than a published estimate:
- Pricing — your current rates, pulled straight from the billing system.
- API Usage — month-to-date consumption broken down per platform, with a projected end-of-month total.
Invoices live in Billing, each with its current status and a running estimate for the month in progress. You can also maintain your own billing details there — legal name, address, tax or VAT number, invoice contact — without asking us to do it.
A standing offer on price
If you find a comparable solution at a lower total cost, tell us. We will either match it or walk you through precisely what sits inside each price so you can compare like with like. This is not a campaign with an end date; it is an open invitation to have the conversation.
And the model itself is a starting point rather than something settled. It will change as we learn from real usage patterns. If something about it looks wrong for your setup, say so — we would rather adjust than lose a partner over a billing rule.
Try it against your own setup
The honest way to evaluate any of this is with your own platforms and your own volumes. Connect a platform and watch what the meter actually does. The sandbox stays free either way.