If you trade with Expert Advisors (EAs) on MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, your strategy only works while the terminal is open and connected. Close your laptop, lose Wi-Fi or let Windows restart overnight, and your EA stops managing trades. A forex VPS solves that: a Windows server in a data center that keeps MetaTrader running day and night.
Why traders use a VPS
- Uptime. Your terminal runs through the whole trading week, independent of your home internet and power.
- A steadier connection. A data center usually has a faster and more stable path to your broker than a home connection.
- Access from anywhere. Check positions from your phone or another computer over Remote Desktop.
- Separation. Your trading machine is not also the machine you browse, game and install random software on.
What latency means for your trades
Latency is the round-trip time between your terminal and your broker's trade server, measured in milliseconds. Lower latency means your orders reach the broker sooner. That matters most for scalping and news trading, and much less for swing strategies that hold positions for hours or days.
Many forex brokers run their trade servers in a few financial data center hubs, such as New York (NY4), London (LD4) and Tokyo (TY3). Volt Serv's servers are in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the US East Coast, which suits brokers with servers in the New York area. If your broker trades from London or Asia, a server near that hub will usually do better.
Do not guess. Once MetaTrader is connected on your VPS, look at the connection indicator in the bottom-right corner: it shows the ping to your broker's server. Click it to see all of the broker's servers with their ping, and pick the fastest one.
How much VPS do you need?
Windows Server uses roughly 2 GB of RAM with the desktop running. Each MetaTrader terminal adds a few hundred MB, more with many charts, heavy indicators or long history.
- 1 or 2 terminals with a few EAs: 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM is enough. That is our Starter plan.
- 3 to 6 terminals, or heavy indicators: 4 vCPU and 8 GB RAM.
- Many accounts or strategy testing: 6 or more vCPU and 16 GB RAM. The MT5 Strategy Tester uses every CPU core you give it.
Keep memory use under about 80%. When Windows runs out of RAM, terminals freeze, and a frozen terminal does not trade.
Setting up MetaTrader on a Windows VPS
- Connect to your VPS over Remote Desktop. See how to connect to a Windows VPS.
- Download MetaTrader from your broker's website using Edge on the VPS. Brokers ship their own build with their servers already configured.
- Log in to your trading account and check the ping in the bottom-right corner.
- Copy your EAs and indicators into the terminal's data folder (File, Open Data Folder, then MQL4 or MQL5, then Experts or Indicators). Copy and paste through Remote Desktop works for this.
- Turn on AutoTrading (called Algo Trading in MT5) and attach each EA to its chart.
Keep MetaTrader running after a restart
Windows restarts from time to time to install security updates. Plan for it so your EAs come back on their own:
- Choose when restarts happen. Forex markets close at the weekend, so that is the best time. In
gpedit.msc, open the Configure Automatic Updates policy under Windows Components, Windows Update, and set the scheduled install day to Saturday. - Start the terminal at sign-in. Press Win + R, type
shell:startup, and put a shortcut toterminal.exe(MT4) orterminal64.exe(MT5) in the folder that opens. - Sign in automatically after a reboot. Startup programs only run once a user signs in. Microsoft's free Sysinternals Autologon tool signs your account in after every restart and stores the password encrypted. Because the server is then always signed in, pair it with a strong password and the steps in our Windows VPS security guide.
- Close the RDP window instead of signing out. Signing out closes your terminals. Closing the window leaves them running.
Forex VPS checklist
- Genuine, licensed Windows (our guide to cheap Windows VPS lists the red flags)
- Enough RAM for your terminals, with headroom
- NVMe storage so terminals and history load quickly
- Low ping to your broker's server, measured in MetaTrader itself
- Full Administrator access, so you can install any broker's terminal and tools
One honest note: a VPS keeps your software running. It does not make a strategy profitable, so test your EAs carefully before trusting them with real money.
Start trading around the clock
A Volt Serv Windows VPS comes with Windows Server 2025 and a genuine licence included, NVMe storage, full Administrator access and RDP, from $11.99/mo. Pick a plan, install your broker's MetaTrader, and your EAs keep working while your own computer is off.