Hiring an MQL5 programmer: what to expect
If you're considering hiring someone to code your strategy, here's the realistic process — so you can compare it honestly to describing it to StratoBot instead.
Finding someone
Search a general marketplace (Upwork, Fiverr) or a specialized one (MQL5.com's own freelance section). Rates on general platforms run from around $10/hr up; specialists on niche platforms often charge $60–100+/hr.
Writing a spec
You need to describe entries, exits, stop-loss, take-profit, position sizing, and edge cases precisely enough that someone who has never seen your strategy can code it correctly on the first try — which rarely happens.
Vetting the developer
Reviewing past work, checking reviews, sometimes running a small paid test task before committing to the full build.
The build itself
Commonly quoted at 2–4 weeks for an initial version; longer once revisions are factored in.
Testing and revisions
You test what they deliver, find gaps between what you meant and what they built, and go through one or more paid revision rounds.
Ongoing changes
Want to tweak a rule six months later? That's typically a new paid engagement, possibly with a different developer who has to relearn your strategy from scratch.
The StratoBot version
Skip the search, the spec-writing, and the back-and-forth: describe your strategy in plain language, see a read-back of what StratoBot understood, and get a real .mq5 file when you're happy with it — with unlimited regenerations while your pass is active.
Figures above are general ranges drawn from public freelance marketplaces, not guaranteed quotes. For strategies with genuinely novel logic outside StratoBot's block library, a human programmer may still be the right call.
See the full cost/time comparison
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