Since MetaQuotes has announced changes in its pricing model, more and more brokers have been considering investing in MetaQuotes’ entire server instead of choosing a white label platform. Previously, acquiring a full server required a 100000 USD fee. Now, the full server is offered in a form of monthly payments. Depending on the license level, the monthly flat fee is from 5000 USD to 20000 USD. For some, that’s a reason enough to change ways and consider acquiring an entire server. However, the price isn’t the only aspect Brokers should consider while deciding whether to invest in MT5 White Label or server licence.
Owning a server is associated with greater responsibility; it requires more preparation, knowledge, and technical support. Also, the server advancement scale is broader than the white label’s one.
That’s why, in today’s article, we want to explain the advantages and disadvantages of both options. So that potential clients can understand the complexity of this matter and choose the option best suited for their needs.
What’s worth noting up front is that MetaQuotes doesn’t provide White Labels for Brokers; to acquire them, Brokers need to contact technology providers.
The cost of the MT5 server
The Entry-level package for $5000 has become competitive compared to $3000 for the raw MT5 White Label. The price difference is relatively small. This has increased the interest of clients who plan to start their adventure with the brokerage business.
Also, the Standard package has become an exciting option for already operating brokers who have started to generate more traffic on their platforms.
Advantages and disadvantages of MetaQuotes’ server
As mentioned above, although now the cost of a full server from MetaQuotes is significantly lower (because the buyer isn’t paying for a license upfront, the payment is divided into months), we must consider different metrics to decide whether to invest in it or not. Let’s examine them further.
The main advantages of choosing the server include:
1. The biggest advantage of having your own server is gaining full control over your platform setup. Thus, shaping your business without being dependent on the platform provider.
2. The server owner has total flexibility in creating its own symbols. Those could be characterised by different contract sizes, minimum and maximum order volumes, and markups on the bid and ask price.
3. MetaTrader 5 automation is an alternative for plugins, which are very popular for MetaTrader 4 users. Automations give a wide range of possibilities to automate multiple processes. The spectrum of automation is vast and depends on the Broker’s particular needs. Broker is able to set specific triggers after which automation tasks are performed. Each task can have set dedicated conditions depending on different criteria, i.e. account number, country of the account, days since the last action, leverage, and many more. For each criterion, a Broker is able to specify a concrete action such as sending messages, enabling or disabling a particular setting on a trading account, performing balance operations (deposits, bonuses, credits), conducting trading operations, or managing platform settings.
The main disadvantages of owning a server are:
1. The broker must be prepared for the additional costs of support necessary for the ongoing maintenance of the server in the form of an enlarged team or outsourcing to another provider
2. The need to have a comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the technical ecosystem, server itself, and more. The server owner is responsible for setting up the server, Instrument configuration, default groups configuration, gateway, B-Book configuration, and more.
The cost and components of the White Label
Depending on different providers on the market, costs may differ significantly.
To meet our customers’ expectations, we decided to adjust the pricing to the MetaQuotes model. Now the customer who compares our white label offer with the server offer can accurately predict future costs and see the advantage of our offer over the competition, which is the lack of a B-Book turnover fee. The customer can start with us with a fixed monthly payment based on the account limit, the same as in the MetaQuotes server pricing. Importantly, apart from the white label itself, we provide our clients with all the required systems such as Client Office, CRM, Bridge with liquidity connection, MAM/PAMM, and Match2Pay for crypto payments (see the full list of offered components below).
Advantages and disadvantages of acquiring a White Label
Depending on different providers, these may vary. We created a list consisting of features that we offer to our clients. Some technology providers may lack several of these factors.
Advantages of choosing a White Label
1. First of all, one of our offer’s basic and most important aspects is a lack of B-Book turnover fees. The customer has complete control over the monthly costs and knows how much they can increase in case of a growing number of customers.
2. Full technical support. White Label providers deliver full support in software’s technical maintenance, IT support and hosting. The customer can also expect assistance with instruments, groups, gateways, B-Book configuration, and plugin consultancy configuration.
3. Broad data feeds. We offer our clients a full range of financial instruments such as forex, indices, spot indices, commodities, spot commodities, metals, cryptocurrencies and equities/shares. The client may have approximately 400 financial instruments at his disposal.
4. We provide clients with all the systems they need to run a successful brokerage business. All of them have been fully developed by our development team, so we have complete control over the entire setup. We can verify every problem much faster than when different systems come from various providers.
We also provide support if a Broker wishes to switch from owning a full server to our White Label offer or the other way around. What’s more, we will transfer all of your previous platform data to the new server so you won’t notice any change and the database migration is already included in the package price.
Disadvantages of choosing a White Label
1. A limited number of groups. Server owners have many more groups to use. Usually, the Broker should not need more than ten groups, but every Broker has different needs, and for some Brokers, the limit may be burdensome. This does not mean that white label owners cannot have more. Of course, they can, but this is usually associated with additional costs.
2. In general, the cost of trading on the B-Book makes Brokers conclude that instead of paying for the white label, it is better to go “on their own” and become independent. In addition to the fee for white labels, technology providers also expect payment for their services and systems supporting white labels, such as the data feed, CRM, Client Office, etc. They often apply fees depending on the turnover generated by traders on the B-Book. Most of the providers on the market charge for the turnover from the very beginning, so the cost of the service can increase significantly. That’s why at Match-Trade Technologies, we decided to turn this disadvantage into our biggest advantage. Take a look at our new Forex Brokerage as a Service offer.
MT5 White Label or server licence?
As you can see, the potential customer must carefully consider what his needs are before making the decision. For some, the best option may be a possibility to start with a White Label offer (from a provider that will take care of the entire process of configuration, hosting, etc.). For others, however, choosing a full server with complete control over all of the aspects of the business would be most suitable.
Importantly, the client can always transfer from a white label to the server and vice versa. It is not complicated and only requires transferring accounts and trades.
If, after reading this article, you are more into server choices but have no experience managing such a server, we can help with that. Match-Trade offers packages dedicated to server owners, where we offer full technical and system support, hosting and systems necessary to start a brokerage business. We are specialised in transferring our client’s trading environment from white label to server and from server to white label. We can adjust our offering to your current needs and fit our service to your current setup.
If, on the other hand, after reading the piece, you still aren’t sure which option would be best suited for your business, contact us directly. Our experts are here to guide you through the entire decision-making process.