Forex strategy backtester you can watch
Test a strategy on your own broker's M1 history before you risk money on it. Press play to replay every trade on the chart, with spread, commission, slippage and swap included, then export the same rules as a MetaTrader EA.
What the backtester includes
- Two tick models: 1-minute OHLC (accurate, the default) or open prices only (fast, for strategies that act on new bars).
- Real costs: spread from your history, commission per lot, slippage on market orders, swap per night (triple on Wednesday), margin and stop-out.
- Hedging or netting accounts on MT5, as on your broker.
- Visual playback from 1× to 1000×, with entries, exits, stop loss and take profit drawn on the chart, while the canvas shows which blocks passed, failed or fired on each bar.
A report you can act on
Every run gives you net profit, profit factor, maximum drawdown in money and percent, recovery factor, Sharpe ratio, win rate, streaks and costs, plus:
- the equity and balance curve with the drawdown underneath,
- every trade with its exit reason (click one to jump to it on the chart),
- a monthly returns heatmap and a full log,
- a list of anything that could make the results differ from a live account.
What you test is what you export
The tester runs the same rules as the EA QuantForge generates, from once-per-bar checks to break-even, grids and pending orders. When you’re happy with the results, export the strategy as MQL4 or MQL5 and run it in MetaTrader. The MT5 tester .ini and inputs .set buttons let you repeat the exact run in MetaTrader’s own tester.
Don’t have a strategy yet? Start from a template tested on two years of EURUSD data, or build one with the no-code EA builder.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the price data come from?
From you. Export M1 bars from your own MetaTrader 4 or 5 terminal with our free script, or import a CSV. Using your broker's history keeps results close to what MetaTrader's tester shows for the same account. Your data is stored privately for your account. See importing price history.
How accurate is the backtest?
The default model simulates MetaTrader's 1 minute OHLC mode: each M1 bar becomes four ticks, stops filled inside a bar fill at their level and gaps fill at the new price. Spread comes from the history where it has one. MetaTrader generates more ticks per minute, so small differences are normal; you can export the run's .ini and .set files to repeat it in MetaTrader and compare.
Which timeframes and how much history can I test?
On the free plan, H1, H4 and D1 over up to one year. Pro and Studio test every timeframe from M1 to D1 over your full history.
Can I optimise a strategy's parameters?
Yes, on Studio: a grid search over your inputs with a forward test on data the optimisation never saw, plus Monte Carlo analysis of the trades. See Studio features.
Do good backtest results mean the EA will be profitable?
No. A backtest shows how fixed rules behaved on past data. Markets change, and a strategy tuned to the past often fails on new data. Use a forward test, check the report's warnings, and trade a demo account first.
Build your first EA today
The free plan includes three projects, backtests on H1 to D1 over a year, MQL4/MQL5 export and the converter.