MT4 Indicators We Actually Tested: Supertrend, ADX, Bollinger and EMA 50/200 on 16,926 Bars (2026)

The “best MT4 indicators” question has a hundred identical answers online and none of them show a number. Here are the numbers. Every indicator below ran over the same 16,926 EURUSD M5 bars, June 3 to August 26, 2026, with a fixed hold and no discretion, so the rows are comparable with each other and with the rest of the tests on this site. Installation is a separate matter and is covered in how to install an MT4 indicator; this page is about which ones deserve the slot.

Supertrend or ADX: which filter actually filtered?

Both are sold as trend filters, so I gave them the same job: gate an EMA 12/26 crossover system and see whether the survivors were better than the whole. The base system lost 0.72 pips per trade over 324 signals on a two hour hold.

Neither rescued the system, but they failed differently. Supertrend removed a few signals and improved the average; ADX removed four in five and the ones it kept were worse. The practical read is that Supertrend is a direction gauge and ADX is a strength gauge, and using them for each other’s job is where most MT4 templates go wrong. The head to head is in ADX vs Supertrend as a filter, and the reason 25 is the wrong ADX number on intraday charts, with 20 being the only threshold that turned the average positive at +0.11, is in the ADX 25 test. The Supertrend settings themselves, and the honest answer on whether it repaints, are in the Supertrend indicator for MT4 guide.

Which moving average setting made money on MT4?

One out of eight. I ran eight crossover pairs with identical rules: seven lost money and the slow EMA 50/200 golden cross was the exception, at 51.1% wins and +2.31 pips per trade across 88 signals. The pairs that scalping templates use were the worst, with EMA 12/26 trading 327 times to lose 0.76 pips each and SMA 12/26 losing 1.11. More signals, more loss, in every fast row. The full table is in the moving average crossover test.

The MT4 dialog has four fields and two of them matter. The period moved results by nine percentage points; switching Simple to Exponential moved them by under two in most pairs. At the slow end EMA won clearly, 51.1% against 42.1% for the SMA version of the same lengths, which is why I use EMA 50 and 200 on M5 and M15 and nothing faster. Moving average settings for MT4 walks the dialog, and EMA vs SMA has the four matched pairs.

Do Bollinger Bands earn a place on the chart?

As context, yes. As a signal, the numbers say no. I tested 224 Bollinger squeeze breakouts at the default 20 period and 2.0 deviation. Only 39.3% were still moving in the breakout direction two hours later and the average breakout lost 0.9 pips before spread. A plain touch of the outer band reverted 50.4% of the time, so the bands alone are a coin flip whichever way you read them.

Session mattered more than the signal: the London morning batch came out roughly break even while Asian breakouts were the worst. If you want a squeeze on MT4, the ATR-based Keltner version filtered noise better, 42.7% against 39.3%, though neither crossed 50%. Details are in the Bollinger squeeze test, the Bollinger vs Keltner comparison, and Bollinger Bands settings for MT4, where the conclusion is to change the timeframe before touching the deviation.

Is the Stochastic worth its panel?

Only with a trend filter. Across 1,075 signals the classic overbought and oversold trade won 44.7% on a 30-minute hold. Adding a 200-period moving average as a gate halved the sample and turned the average trade from -0.23 to +0.92 pips; the filter, not the oscillator, carried the edge. Among the settings, the MT4 default 14, 3, 3 was not the best, and the 5, 3, 3 that scalping guides push was second worst at 46.1% and -0.43 pips. The spread between best and worst setting was 2.3 points, while the hold time moved results four times as much. See Stochastic settings for MT4 for the grid.

What does a tested MT4 chart look like?

An EMA 200 as the direction gate, Supertrend 10/3 as a second opinion on direction, and one oscillator with the trend filter on. Nothing fast, nothing stacked. For entries, a trend line that does not move after the candle closes: my DeMARK trend line indicator passes the same repaint check I ran on everything above, and it is free for both MT4 and MT5.

FAQ

What is the single most accurate MT4 indicator?

On this data, EMA 50/200 as a crossover at 51.1%, and the cloud-filtered Ichimoku cross at 46.6% but +1.10 pips per trade. Accuracy and profit are different columns; the win rate never tells you which row made money.

Should I use the ADX 25 rule on MT4?

Not on intraday charts. ADX above 25 cut the average trade to -1.21 pips. ADX above 20 was the only threshold that turned it positive, and ADX on its own DI crossovers went from -0.69 to +0.15.

Do Supertrend or Bollinger Bands repaint on MT4?

No. Both recalculate only on the open candle. Once it closes the value is fixed. Arrow indicators built on ZigZag are the ones that erase history, up to 90.9% of their arrows in my measurements.

How were these numbers measured?

EURUSD M5, 16,926 bars, June 3 to August 26, 2026. Each rule was scored as the pip move a fixed time after entry with no stop or target, so the number describes the signal, not an exit style. Subtract your own spread before using any row.

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