Small Account Ladder
Free demo

MetaTrader 5 Expert Advisor

A small account climbs one rung at a time.

Small Account Ladder is a rule-based EA for XAUUSD, BTCUSD and NAS100. A small balance starts on the instruments with the smallest risk at the minimum lot. More modules switch on only as the balance grows.

  • No martingale
  • No grid or averaging
  • A stop loss on every trade
Try the free demo on MQL5 See the test, drawdown included

Figures on this site are backtests, not live trading. Trading involves risk. You can lose money.

$100
  1. $1,000+
    Recommended startNo new modules. Lot sizing becomes finer, and this is the deposit the current version was tested with.
  2. $300+
    11 more modulesMore modules on XAUUSD, BTCUSD and NAS100.
  3. $150+
    1 more moduleThe first XAUUSD module.
  4. Any balance
    2 modulesOne on BTCUSD and one on NAS100.

2 of 14 modules can trade

  • No martingale
  • No grid
  • A stop loss on every trade
  • XAUUSD, BTCUSD, NAS100
  • Rule-based
  • MetaTrader 5
  • Free demo
  • Backtests, not live results
  • No martingale
  • No grid
  • A stop loss on every trade
  • XAUUSD, BTCUSD, NAS100
  • Rule-based
  • MetaTrader 5
  • Free demo
  • Backtests, not live results

How it works

What it does on a chart

Attach it to one chart. It watches all three symbols by itself and follows fixed rules. It is not an AI and it does not change its own rules. The exact entry and exit rules are not published, so judge it by testing the free demo.

  1. Checks the market

    Each module first checks the conditions on its own symbol. Most trades follow the trend.

  2. Waits for its setup

    Each module has its own entry rules and trades only when they are met. Most trades are long, and some modules can also go short.

  3. Sizes the trade from the stop

    Risk is 1% of the balance per trade. If the minimum lot would risk more than 5%, the trade is skipped.

  4. Gets out by rule

    Every trade has a stop loss from the moment it opens. Each module also has its own exit rules and a maximum holding time.

The limits it works inside

These are the default settings. They limit how the EA adds risk. They do not guarantee a limit on losses, and a price gap can pass any stop.

1%
risk per trade
5%
most a minimum-lot trade may risk, or it is skipped
8%
total risk of all open positions
6%
daily loss, then no new trades that day
15%
below the peak balance: risk is halved
40%
below the peak balance: no new trades for 5 days

Backtest

The test, with the bad parts left in

Version 2.38, the version on MQL5 Market now. $1,000 deposit, real ticks, history quality 100%, 2025-10-14 to 2026-10-24, leverage 1:500, one demo server of one broker. It is the only test run on this version, and it is a backtest, not live trading.

Net profit
+$36,012.58
Profit factor
1.75
Trades
1,048
Winning trades
28.82%
Equity drawdown
25.75%
Longest losing run
29 trades −$5,181.90
Balance after each trading day

The original MT5 report pages:

MT5 Strategy Tester report, results pageResults MT5 Strategy Tester report, charts pageCharts

Same rules, different start date

These older tests are from version 2.34, which had fewer modules and traded less. Version 2.38 will differ from them. They are here because they show how much the start date alone moved the result.

Start Net profit PF Trades Equity DD Lowest balance

Read this before you decide

  • No live record yet. Every figure here comes from the Strategy Tester. No live monitoring is published so far.
  • A few trades made most of the profit. The five largest trades gave about 64% of the net profit, and one BTCUSD trade gave about 31%. Without such trades, the result is far smaller.
  • Most trades lose. About 7 of 10 trades closed at a loss, with a longest run of 29 losses in a row. You need to be able to sit through that.
  • The market mostly went up. The test covers about one year, and gold and NAS100 mostly rose. The EA is mainly long and has not been tested in a long falling market.
  • The rules were not tested blind. Some settings and modules were chosen looking at the same data, so the test flatters the EA. Expect live results to be weaker.
  • Big lots may not fill like this. Profits come from compounding, and lots grew large. Real fills at that size can be worse than in the tester.
  • Small balances are the least proven. Version 2.38 was tested only at $1,000. Below $300 the EA runs fewer modules, and the published tests do not cover it.
  • Your broker will differ. Spreads, symbols and history differ by broker. If a symbol is missing, that module stays off and results change.

Use only money you can afford to lose. Past test results do not predict future results.

Don't trust me. Test it yourself.

A 44-second overview in English. The figures in the video come from version 2.34, which was the current version when it was made.

Try the free demo on MQL5

Try it in four steps

  1. Download the free demo

    On the MQL5 page, choose Free Demo. It runs in the MT5 Strategy Tester, so you can test it on your own broker's data at no cost.

  2. Check your broker

    You need a USD hedging account with a minimum lot of 0.01, and XAUUSD, BTCUSD and NAS100. Other symbol names, such as XAUUSD.m or US100, can be set in the inputs.

  3. Run it on a demo account

    Attach it to one chart only, for example XAUUSD M15, and enable Algo Trading. Run it on a demo account for one to two months.

  4. Keep the terminal running

    BTCUSD also trades at weekends, so the terminal must stay on. A VPS is recommended. Decide on real money only after you have seen the demo.

Small Account Ladder v2.38

$199 to buy, or $39 per month to rent, on MQL5 Market. The current price is on the product page.

Open the MQL5 page

Questions

Is $100 enough?

The EA can run on it with two modules, but the published tests do not cover that balance. A few bad trades take a large share of a small account. The recommendation is $1,000 or more. If you start smaller, treat the money as fully at risk.

Can I lose all my money?

Yes. The limits above reduce how fast risk is added, but they cannot prevent a loss. The stop after a 40% drawdown only pauses new trades for 5 days.

Is this AI?

No. It is a fixed set of rules written in MQL5. It does not learn or change its own settings.

Is there a live track record?

Not yet. Everything on this site is a backtest. That is why the first step is the free demo and a demo account.

Which timeframe do I attach it to?

Any one chart works, for example XAUUSD M15. The modules run by themselves, so one chart is enough. Do not attach it to several charts.

Does it work on a cent account?

Version 2.38 was tested on a standard USD account only. A cent account may not offer all three symbols, so test it yourself first.

Can I turn modules off?

Yes. Each module has its own switch in the inputs. Results will then differ from the test.

Is this investment advice?

No. This site describes a software product made by its author. It does not know your situation and does not tell you what to do with your money.