cTrader Virtual Private Servers (VPS)

If you plan to do manual trading only, you do not need to rent a VPS server. If you plan to run an automated trading system, risk management system or any other type of automated trading system, then we recommend you use a VPS. The main reason is that running a system that manages your trades or your risk on a local PC means the machine has to be on 24 hours a day and 5-7 days a week, and if there are powercuts or loss in the internet, then this could cause a financial loss as the system will not work.

Yes, you can run your semi or fully-automated trading robots on your PC or local Desktop Servers. You will need to keep them running and connected to the internet to execute orders, manage your risk or send signals. If there is a power cut or if the machine should shut down, your trades will no longer be managed by your custom trading robots. Please note that the cTrader platform will continue to manage your trades.

Yes, the featured VPS providers above offer monthly plans where you can cancel at any time with no penalty, and you may also find some that offer a trial; so you can get a feel of what it is like to use a VPS; and if it can help your trading.

If you plan to only run a few automated trading robots (cBots) on the VPS, and you plan to have just a single instance of cTrader Desktop installed then you can start with the lowest or cheapest plan. You can install your trading robots and monitor the memory and CPU usage while they are running. If you notice that your algorithm is consuming more CPU or RAM then you simply contact the VPS company and upgrade to the next plan.

If your trading style needs very-fast execution of your orders or if you are running automated trading systems (algorithms) and speed is very important, then it does not harm to choose a server that is located as close as possible to the broker's exchange. If your broker's servers are located in London then you should choose London as your preferred VPS location.

The latency is the time it takes for a forex signal to travel from the cTrader trading platform to your broker's server and to receive a response. When the latency is low, your trades will execute faster. Using low latency VPS, your cTrader algorithms will receive signals in a fraction of a millisecond. Having the VPS located close to your brokers server reduces the distance the signals need to travel which reduces the latency.

When you sign up with a VPS provider, they help you connect to your server, but sometimes they do not provide information on how-to-install cTrader and your cBots. We have found the easiest way to install cTrader is to open a web browser; and visit your broker's website, log in; and you will have access to download cTrader Desktop for Windows. Install your cBots is a bit more difficult, you need to upload them to your cloud storage, Google Drive, One-Drive or any other, and once you have done this, you can open your cloud storage using a web browser on your VPS server and download your cBots. Simply unzip and double click on the files to automatically install them. How to install cBots