Can I Share or Sell My EA? Ownership, IP & Account Number Lock

Yes. You own the trading strategy, project logic, and intellectual property you create in the Builder.

If you want to share, sell, or distribute an EA, the safest way is to share a protected .EX5 file with an encrypted trading account number.

This lets the receiver run the EA only on the MT5 account number you selected, while helping you keep control over your project logic.

Also known as: share my EA, sell my bot, protect my EA, account number lock, EX5 file, MQ5 file, prop firm EA, source-code access, trading bot IP.

Yes. You own the strategy logic and intellectual property of the project you create.

That includes your:

The Builder is the tool used to create the EA. It does not take ownership of your trading idea or strategy logic.

Account number lock lets you protect your EA from uncontrolled distribution.

You can encrypt a receiver’s MT5 trading account number into the exported .EX5 file.

This means the specific .EX5 file will only run on the MetaTrader 5 terminal that is logged into the matching trading account.

The account number check applies to:

If the MT5 account number does not match the encrypted account number:

Use account number lock when you want to share, sell, or distribute an EA without losing control over where it can run.

This is useful if you want to:

If someone receives a locked .EX5, they can only run it on the trading account number you encrypted.

Share the .EX5 file.

Do not share the .MQ5 file or project share link if your goal is to protect your IP.

This is the compiled EA file.

Use this when you want someone to run the bot in MT5 without giving them access to the source logic.

Best for:

This is the source-code file.

Do not share this unless you intentionally want the receiver to access and modify the source code.

Do not use the project share link when sharing a protected EA.

The receiver could access your project logic through the share link. If your goal is IP protection, keep the Project Link field empty before exporting.

Yes, if the prop firm allows EAs.

Use the same protection process:

Important: Prop firms have their own rules. Account number lock protects where the EA can run, but it does not guarantee that the prop firm allows your EA or strategy type.

Always check the prop firm’s EA rules before using or sharing a bot.

Do not use the link share option when protecting your EA.

By default, the Trading account number field is empty.

If the field is empty, the EA can run on all trading accounts without account-number limits.

Use an empty field when you are exporting for yourself or do not need account-level protection.

Use a filled account number when you want one exported .EX5 file to work only on one specific account.

No. One export can only encrypt one trading account number.

If you need the EA to work on two different accounts, export two separate .EX5 files:

Each file is locked to its own account number.

After downloading a protected .EX5, clear the Trading account number field again.

This prevents you from accidentally exporting your next version with the wrong account number still filled in.

Simple workflow:

The protection works when sharing the downloaded .EX5 file.

If you share the .MQ5, you are sharing the source code.

If you share the project link, the receiver may access your project logic.

A prop firm may still restrict EAs, copying, automation, or specific strategy types. Always check their rules.

You own the strategy logic and intellectual property you create.

If you want to share, sell, or distribute your EA safely, use account number lock and share only the protected .EX5 file.

Do not share the .MQ5 file or project share link unless you intentionally want the receiver to access your source logic.