EAs and bots at prop firms: what flies and what doesn't
Plenty of firms are fine with automated trading, but nearly all draw lines somewhere. Here's where.
Usually fine
EAs you wrote yourself, or bought and adapted, plus trade managers and risk tools, especially on MT5 and cTrader.
Usually banned
High-frequency trading, latency arbitrage, tick scalping and widely sold off-the-shelf EAs run by lots of traders at once. Firms look for identical trades across accounts.
Platform matters
MT5 runs EAs; cTrader runs C# cBots. Web platforms like Match-Trader and TradeLocker don't run MT5 EAs.
Our tip
Get written confirmation from support that your EA is allowed, and keep it. The EA shortlist shows each firm's stance.
Quick answers
Trade copier allowed?
Copying your own trades between your own accounts often is; copying other people usually isn't.
EAs on TradingView?
Not the same way; TradingView uses alerts and scripts, not EAs.