Automatic Trading Journal for MetaTrader 4 and 5
Simple Trading Journal is an automatic trading journal for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. A small add-on (an Expert Advisor, or EA) runs in your desktop terminal and sends each trade to your journal when it opens and when it closes. It needs a journal key, not your broker or investor password. Entry, exit, stop loss, take profit, lot size, commission and swap come in by themselves, and the first run brings up to a year of past trades without duplicates. MetaTrader sync is included in the Free plan; Pro costs $14.99 per month or $119 per year. You can start free with no credit card.
How the MetaTrader sync works
The sync works through an Expert Advisor that uses MetaTrader's own WebRequest function to send trades to your journal with a personal key. You download SimpleTradingJournal.ex5 (MetaTrader 5) or SimpleTradingJournal.ex4 (MetaTrader 4) from the app, put it in the Experts folder, allow the Simple Trading Journal address under Tools > Options > Expert Advisors, and paste a key that starts with stj_ into the ApiKey input. Each key belongs to one journal and locks to the first trading account that uses it, so two accounts never mix in the same journal.
Which data comes in automatically
Every closed trade arrives with the details you would otherwise type by hand, and open trades appear as soon as they open.
- Symbol, direction, lot size, entry and exit price and time.
- Stop loss and take profit.
- Gross result, commission and swap, and the net result.
- On MetaTrader 5, a position closed in parts (TP1, TP2) is recorded as one trade once it is fully closed. On MetaTrader 4 a partial close gives the rest of the order a new ticket, so it appears as a separate trade.
- Past trades: on first run the add-on reads up to 365 days of history (the HistoryDays input), and the server does not add the same position twice.
- MAE and MFE, the worst and best price a trade reached, from EA version 1.10. Seeing them in the app is a Pro feature.
Setup takes about two minutes
Setup is four steps: download the add-on, allow the web address, restart MetaTrader, and drag the add-on onto a chart with your key. The full walkthrough, including the Mac folder paths and troubleshooting, is in the step-by-step guide.
- In the app, open MetaTrader, choose version 4 or 5 and download the add-on.
- Copy it into MQL5 > Experts (MQL4 > Experts on MetaTrader 4).
- Tick "Allow WebRequest for listed URL" and add https://www.simpletradejournal.io.
- Restart MetaTrader, drag SimpleTradingJournal onto a chart and paste your key into ApiKey.
Does it need my broker or investor password?
No. The add-on never asks for your broker login or your investor (read-only) password. It runs inside your own terminal and uses only the journal key, which you can replace at any time by creating a new key in the app. Some MetaTrader journals connect with the investor password instead, so check each provider's own setup page before you hand a password to any service.
Does it work with prop firm MetaTrader accounts?
It works with any MetaTrader 4 or 5 account where you can attach an Expert Advisor and allow WebRequest, and some prop firm accounts run on exactly that. Because prop firms differ, check your firm's own rules on Expert Advisors before you attach the add-on; the add-on only reads your trades and does not place any.
Once trades are in, you can track a prop account's targets and loss limits against them. See how the daily loss and drawdown limits are calculated, or the firm pages for FTMO and FundingPips.
- prop firm daily loss and drawdown explained
- FTMO rules and journal setup
- FundingPips rules and journal setup
- prop firm loss calculator
Free vs Pro for MetaTrader traders
MetaTrader auto-sync is part of the Free plan, and the limit on Free is how many trades per day stay unlocked, not whether sync works.
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0, no card | $14.99/month or $119/year |
| MetaTrader auto-sync and file import | Included | Included, unlimited |
| Journals | 1 | Unlimited |
| Trades per day | First 2 open, extras saved locked | Unlimited |
| MAE / MFE per trade | No | Yes |
| Trial | 3-day Pro trial, no card | - |
Extra trades on Free are never deleted. They are saved locked and open up if you move to Pro. In Turkey the Pro price is shown in Turkish lira (349 TL per month or 2,790 TL per year).
Limits, honestly
The sync has real limits you should know before you start.
- It needs the desktop MetaTrader terminal (Windows or Mac). The mobile app cannot run Expert Advisors.
- MetaTrader has to be running with the add-on on a chart. If it was closed, the add-on reads your history again when you open it and sends the trades that closed in the meantime, without duplicates (within HistoryDays, 365 days by default).
- You must allow WebRequest for the journal address, or the add-on cannot send anything.
- MetaTrader runs one Expert Advisor per chart, so use a separate empty chart if you already run another EA.
- Free keeps the first 2 trades of each day open; the rest are saved locked until you upgrade.
No add-on? Import a MetaTrader report instead
If you cannot or do not want to run the add-on, you can import a MetaTrader HTML report or a CSV file into the same journal. Import is included in the Free plan. It is manual, so new trades only appear after you import again.
How password-free sync differs from the investor-password sync of TradeZella and TradesViz
The difference is the type of credential you share. Simple Trading Journal uses an Expert Advisor with a journal key inside your own terminal. TradeZella and TradesViz ask for your account number, server and investor password so their service can log in to read the account. Both read trades without placing any, but only the first leaves your broker credentials on your computer. The trade-offs of each tool are covered in the comparison pages.
FAQ
Does it work on both MetaTrader 4 and 5? Yes. The same steps apply; only the file (.ex4 or .ex5) and the Experts folder differ.
Does MetaTrader have to stay open? Yes. Trades are sent from your running terminal. When you open it again after a break, the add-on reads your history again (365 days by default) and sends the trades that closed while it was off, without duplicates.
Will my old trades import, and will they duplicate? On first run the add-on reads up to 365 days of history, and the server does not add the same position twice.
Is it free? Yes to start. MetaTrader sync is in the Free plan, with the first 2 trades per day open. Pro is $14.99 per month or $119 per year, and the 3-day Pro trial needs no card.
Can I use it with an expert advisor I already run? Yes, on a separate chart, because MetaTrader runs one Expert Advisor per chart.
Does it show a trade's best and worst price? Yes, as MAE and MFE with EA version 1.10 or newer; viewing them in the app is a Pro feature.