The LSE Directory / Charting platforms
cTrader is a multi asset trading and charting platform built by Spotware Systems Ltd, a fintech company registered in Limassol, Cyprus. The platform ships as native desktop apps for Windows and Mac, a web terminal, and iOS/Android mobile apps, and covers order execution, charting, price alerts and portfolio management for forex and CFD trading. Spotware licenses the platform to brokers and prop firms on a business to business basis; end traders use it free of charge through whichever broker has licensed it, paying that broker's spreads and commissions rather than Spotware directly. Spotware's core differentiator is its "Open Trading Platform" positioning: cTrader exposes an Open API, FIX API, Reporting API, Manager's API and WebServices API so brokers and third parties can build custom integrations, and its algorithmic trading module (cTrader Algo, historically branded cAlgo) lets developers write automated strategies, called cBots, in C# on the .NET framework, with Python also supported. This sets it apart from the dominant incumbent in its category, MetaQuotes' MT4/MT5, which uses its own proprietary MQL scripting language and a more closed architecture. cTrader also runs a marketplace, the cTrader Store, where third party developers sell cBots, indicators and plugins, and a social trading module, cTrader Copy, that lets investors allocate to strategy providers directly inside the platform. A companion product, cBridge, is a liquidity bridge connecting MT4, MT5, cTrader and FIX API feeds for broker back offices. Spotware was founded in 2010 in Limassol by Andrey Pavlov together with Ilya Holeu; the first version of cTrader was released in 2011, with FxPro as its first broker client. In July 2023, Ilia Iarovitcyn, who had been the company's Product Manager for seven years, became CEO, with Pavlov moving to the role of Chairman. As of Spotware's own company page the business employs over 200 people across more than 30 nationalities. Independent sources describe cTrader as used by more than 300 brokers and prop firms since launch, and industry trade press has characterised it as the second largest FX/CFD retail trading platform by market share behind MetaTrader. Brokers named on Spotware's own site as cTrader clients include IC Markets, Pepperstone, TopFX, FxPro and FP Markets. Spotware has more recently extended the platform toward institutional and AI linked tooling, including an MCP server offering for brokerages, alongside its long standing retail and prop firm focused product line.
