Every FixedTrader purchase is delivered as an .ex5 file compiled and locked to the buyer's MT5 account number. Buyers sometimes ask why. The seller-side reason is obvious (piracy), but the buyer-side reasons are actually more interesting.
How the locking works technically
An .ex5 file is compiled MQL5 code. Before compilation, the buyer's account number is embedded as a constant. On every initialization, the EA checks the account number of the terminal it is running in. Match: it trades. No match: it refuses to initialize. The check is inside the compiled binary, not a config file, so it cannot be edited out.
Why this protects the buyer
- Scarcity of the edge. Trading edges have capacity. A system distributed in unlimited pirated copies eventually degrades as too many identical orders hit the same levels. Locked distribution keeps the user base bounded, which protects the performance every legitimate buyer paid for.
- Support accountability. One licence, one account, one known configuration. When you ask for help, the seller knows exactly what build you run. No version chaos from files passed around forums.
- Aligned incentives. A seller whose product cannot be pirated has revenue that depends entirely on the product staying good. A seller whose product leaks everywhere has revenue that depends on constant new launches, which is exactly the churn pattern you see in the low end of the EA market.
The practical details buyers should know
- Choose your account number before purchase. Open the broker account first, then buy. The licence targets that specific number.
- Changing brokers or accounts means a re-issue. Reasonable sellers (us included) re-compile for a new account number on request. Ask about the policy before buying from anyone.
- Demo testing. We provide the licence against your live account number but recommend the first weeks on the broker's matching demo. Ask us for a demo-compatible build for that period.
- Multiple accounts need multiple licences. Contact us for multi-account pricing rather than trying to run one file everywhere. It will not initialize anyway.
Licensing is one of those unglamorous details that signals how a seller thinks. Unlimited-use files and no verification usually correlate with volume-over-quality business models. Account locking, full documentation, and a re-issue policy correlate with sellers planning to still be here in five years.
The licensing models across the market, compared
Account locking is one of several models, and knowing the full menu helps you read what a seller's choice signals. Unlimited licences (pay once, run anywhere) sound buyer-friendly and are standard in the $50 to $200 tier; they also guarantee the product leaks to forums within weeks, which is priced into both the low price and the seller's inevitable pivot to a new product. Subscription licensing (monthly fee, remote kill switch) keeps sellers honest about ongoing support but means your trading infrastructure has a landlord: miss a payment or watch the vendor fold, and the system stops mid-position. Hardware locking (tied to a machine ID) breaks every time you change VPS, which for a strategy that lives on a VPS is a genuine operational hazard. Account-number locking sits in the pragmatic middle: one-time payment, no dependency on the vendor's servers for daily operation, portable across machines, re-issued on request when you change accounts. It asks one thing of the buyer (knowing the account number up front) and in exchange removes every recurring dependency. That trade is why serious one-time-purchase products converge on it.
Questions to settle before any four-figure EA purchase
- Re-issue policy in writing: how many account changes are included, how fast, at what cost after the included ones?
- What happens if the vendor disappears: does the .ex5 keep running forever (account-locked files do) or does it phone home to a licence server that can go dark?
- Update policy: are strategy updates included, and are they optional? (Mandatory updates can silently change the system you bought.)
- Demo policy: can you run the licensed logic on a matching demo first, and for how long?
Our answers: re-issues free and prompt, the file runs independently forever, updates are offered but never forced, and demo builds are provided on request during onboarding. Whatever vendor you evaluate, get their four answers in writing before money moves. The answers are the product as much as the code is.