What is MetaTrader

MetaTrader (MT) is an independent trading platform. It is specifically designed for online trading on the forex and is the most popular forex trading platform in the world .

The MetaTrader platform was developed in 2002 by the Russian company MetaQuotes. MetaTrader is especially popular among more experienced traders, because it offers so many different options to tweak and because many dfferent brokers support it.

Because MetaTrader has its own programming language (What is MQL) it's possible to build your own trading bot for MT, tuned to your trading strategy. There are also hundreds of Expert Advisors available that are build by others.

Key reasons for its popularity:

• it's free

• widespread support among forex brokers

• availability of hundreds of custom build Expert Advisors (automated trading)

• possiblity to build your own Expert Advisor using MQL4.

• Very good market monitoring options

• Many options for technical analysis

MetaTrader Platforms

There are 3 different MetaTrader platforms: MetaTrader Client Terminal, MetaTrader Mobile Terminal and MetaTrader Multi Terminal. MetaTrader only works on windows, not on mac or linux, which is a big shortcoming in our opinion. However, there is a way around this so you can use MetaTrader on your mac, but it requires some steps. (Running MetaTrader 4 on Mac) 

MetaTrader Client

The most popular MT platform and free of charge. Install it on your PC and you can immediately start analysing the markets. (Download MetaTrader 4)

To be able to trade with it you have to have an account with a forex broker that supports MetaTrader. An example of a good forex broker that supports MetaTrader and offers a forex bonus is Markets.com (Create account at Markets.com)

MetaTrader Mobile Terminal

This particular trading platform is not free (yet) but can be very handy, since it allows you to use MetaTrader on your smartphone. The Mobile Terminal costs $45.

MetaTrader Multi Terminal

With this trading platform you can trade multiple accounts at the same time. Very useful for money managers and traders who manage accounts for clients. However, the Multi Terminal does not support automated trading through expert advisors.

Forex Bonus Brokers that support MetaTrader4

Of course you're not visiting ForexBonusFree for nothing, so which forex brokers offer both a forex bonus and support MetaTrader 4? Here's a list:

• Markets.com (up to $2,000 immediately available bonus)
• Instaforex (30% immediately available bonus)
• FBS (25% immediately available bonus on each deposit)
• 4XP (up to $10,000 immediately available bonus)
• AVA FX (up to $1,200 immediately available bonus)
• GCI Financial (up to $5,000 immediately available bonus)

How to clear a Forex Bonus

Getting a juicy forex bonus is easy. Most forex bonuses are immediately available after you've made your first deposit, and the best forex bonuses are often up to a $1,000 or more. Just to make it absolutely clear, you will get that $1,000 added to your account immediately, you just can't cash it out immediately. 

If you're looking for free forex money, you'll notice that we're offering plenty of forex brokers that will give you just that. The thing to keep in mind though is to view that forex bonus as an extra buffer to protect your trading capital, not as money you can cash out and pay this month's rent with. 

Before you can cashout the bonus, you have to clear the bonus first.

What is clearing a forex bonus?

When you make your first deposit  at a forex broker that broker will in most cases immediately add a forex bonus to your account. Say, for instance that you deposit $500 at Markets.com, than Markets.com gives you a bonus of 20%, meaning there will be $600 in your trading account. You can immediately trade with that $600, but if you make a cash out before clearing the bonus, Markets.com will retract it again. To clear the bonus, you have to trade (see Markets.com bonus review for more info). 

If you try to cash out the bonus before clearing it, the broker will automatically cancel the bonus. Of course you can always cash out any funds you deposited yourself, but some brokers will cancel the bonus when you do this before having cleared the bonus. If you want to cashout your own funds before clearing the bonus, it would be a good idea to check with the broker if they will cancel the bonus if you do (that is, if you want to clear the bonus at a later stage).

Clearing requirements

Clearing requirements are the conditions you have to meet before being able to cash out your bonus. Typically, the clearing requirements are that you need to trade a certain amount of positions. This makes sense, because the broker wants you to try out his trading platform. Can't do that without trading.

The clearing requirements differ from broker to broker (you can always find them at the specific bonus reviews  of each broker at ForexBonusFree) . For instance, some forex brokers state you have to buy or sell at least 10 mini lots for each $10 in bonus. For some forex traders this is nothing. Intra-day traders often open and close dozens of positions a day, so they will clear their forex bonus at lightning speed. But others only open a couple of positions a week, and then it takes longer. (forex bonus whoring tips)

The clearing will go automatically and in most cases the broker will let you know how much of your bonus has been cleared, so that you can cash out that part of your forex bonus.  If you're not sure whether you've already met the clearing requirements, simply check with the broker if you can already cashout the bonus. No sense in thinking you're just over the line, trying to cashout that extra $400, only to find out you still had 5 trades to go and now have forfeited the bonus. 

Important tip for clearing a forex bonus

Some instant forex bonuses are particulary juicy; their value is 30% or more of a first deposit and the clearing rate is fast. Never trade only to clear the bonus though. It's better to see the bonus as an extra, instead of making it your entire goal. If you only trade to clear the bonus you'll run the risk of opening and closing positions to soon, just because they count towards clearing the bonus. 

Instead, trade in accordance with a sound strategy and take the bonus...as a bonus. 

Different Types of Forex Bonuses Explained

Not every forex bonus is the same. Forex bonuses vary in type, size and bonus clearing requirements. Each type of bonus has its pro's and con's, depending on your trading capital, trading experience and trading strategy. There are generally four types of forex bonuses offered by the various forex brokers: 

-  Forex Pending Bonus

-  Forex Instant Bonus

-  Forex No Deposit Bonus

-  Forex Reload Bonus

We will briefly look at all four of them so you'll be better equipped to find the best forex bonuses for your situation. 

Forex Pending Bonus

A forex pending bonus is a deposit bonus that cannot be immediately used for trading. Instead, you trade to clear the bonus and once you've cleared it, you can immediately cash out the bonus or use it for trading. The big difference with instant bonuses is that you can trade immediately with those. 

Of course an instant bonus is almost always better than a pending bonus (unless the clearing requirements for the pending bonus are really good, so you can free it up much quicker than an average instant bonus) but in some cases the broker offers a pending bonus on top of another bonus, making the total offer extra sweet. 

Forex Instant Bonus

These are generally the best forex bonuses, because they're often pretty big and juicy and they are immediately added to your forex account. They are also the most common bonus offers when it comes to online forex trading. Forex brokers want you to try out their platform and the instant bonus offer is a very strong way to achieve that. 

So if a broker offers an instant bonus of 20% up to $1,000 it means that the broker will add 20% of your first deposit as an extra to your account. For instance, if you deposit $500, the broker will deposit $600 in your account. You still have to trade to be able to cash out the bonus, but you can immediately use it to trade with.

A good example of an instant bonus is the 20% up to $2,000 of Markets.com. Immediately adds 20% of your deposit to your account upon your first deposit. 

Forex No Deposit Bonus

A forex no deposit bonus is a real money bonus that you get without making a deposit yourself first. Forex brokers rarely offer it because you can't become a very active trader if you're not willing to put up some money of your own. But occasionally forex brokers approach us with a no deposit bonus because they want a lot of traders to try out their trading platform.

The no deposit bonus can not be cashed out right away. As with an instant bonus, you have to trade a certain number of positions before you can cash out. However, it does offer you a 100% free forex experience, because you can trade with real money without risking any money of your own. 

One word of advice: if ever you have to choose between a big first deposit bonus and a modest no deposit bonus, choose the big deposit bonus. A $20 no deposit bonus is nice but if it means you're shut out of a $200 instant forex bonus you'd be stealing from yourself. 

A nice example of a no deposit bonus is the $5 no deposit bonus at Marketiva. Of course it's not a lot, but because a pip can be as small as 1 cent at Marketiva, those $5 can be an excellent try out for beginning forex traders. 

Forex Reload Bonus

Because most forex brokers offer very good sign-up bonuses that are instantly available for you to trade with, they don't offer a lot of reload bonuses. A forex reload bonus means that the broker invites you to deposit again in exchange for another bonus, usually an instant bonus. 

A forex reload bonus can be a great boon, especially if you're already trading regularly at the broker. Basically the broker rewards you with free money to continue trading. 

A good example of a forex broker that offers reload bonuses is forex broker FBS. They offer a 25% reload bonus on each deposit, until you've had a total of $10,000 in bonus money! So if you try out FBS and like trading there, FBS will make staying worth your while. 

Forex brokers & bonuses for mac

Nowadays there are many forex brokers that offer a forex bonus available for mac users. Below is a list of brokers that offer a bonus, along with their "mac friendliness". There are a couple of things to consider though.

Java based trading platforms for mac

First, there are no forex brokers that offer a downloadable trading platform for mac. Instead, many brokers offer a java based version of their trading platform, which can be used by Apple OS computers and Linux platforms, as well as windows based PC's. 

Strangely enough, not every forex broker that has a java based platform clearly advertises it and sometimes it isn't even mentioned in the steps you're following while creating your account. Sometimes the broker simply offers you a link to its -windows only- downloadable platform, leaving mac users to fend for themselves. But with some looking around on the website you'll find it, at least for the brokers mentioned in the list below. 

Forex Broker	Mac Friendly		Platform	Review	Start Trading
	2		java based platform	review
	2		Metatrader 4	review
	2		Metatrader 4	review
	2		Not for mac	review
	2		java based platform	review
	2		java based platform	review

Metatrader 4 on mac

Some forex traders favor Metatrader 4 as their trading platform. Because there is a growing number of brokers that support MT4, forex bonus whores especially like to use the MT 4 trading platform, because it enables them to clear bonuses at different brokers while trading at the same familiar platform. 

However, there is no official mac version of Metatrader 4. It is possible to use MT4 on your mac, but it requires some steps. (how to use Metatrader4 on mac) 

Forex bonus for mac

All forex bonuses offered by the brokers are tied to either your first deposit (forex deposit bonuses) or the creation of your account (forex no deposit bonus). It's never about having to trade on a specific trading terminal.

So when it comes to getting a good forex bonus there is no difference between using a mac or a windows PC, as long as the broker offers a java base