Frequently Asked Questions

Account & sign-in

How do I create an account?

Choose a plan on Pricing and follow Get Started: enter your details, create a password, then pay securely by card. Your account is created when you press Subscribe, and we email you a link to verify your address before your first sign-in. If you were invited through the Algo Accelerator programme, use the sign-up link and access code you were given instead — no payment is needed.

How do I sign in?

With your email and password on the sign-in page, once your email address is verified. If you’ve forgotten your password, use Forgot your password? to get a reset link by email. Signed in, you can change your password under General Settings → Security.

Can I change my email address or delete my account myself?

Not from inside SIPS at the moment. Create a Support Request (or use Contact) and we’ll help.

Plans & billing

Which plans are there?

Starter, Professional and Enterprise, each billed monthly or yearly in GBP. Plans differ in limits such as how many strategies can be loaded at once, how many portfolios you can keep, how many MT5 connections and Trade Copier accounts you can have, and which areas (for example Custom Builder, Portfolio Sets, Monte Carlo and Trade Copier) are included. Current plans and prices are on Pricing.

What happens when I reach a plan limit?

SIPS stops you adding more — for example importing more strategies than your plan allows — and shows an “Upgrade your plan” link. Nothing you already have is deleted.

How do I upgrade or downgrade?

Open Manage Plan from your account menu. Upgrades start immediately, with the price difference prorated, once your payment is confirmed. Downgrades take effect at your next renewal; your usage must already fit the lower plan, so remove anything over its limits first — SIPS never deletes your data to make it fit. A scheduled downgrade can be cancelled before it happens. Switching between monthly and yearly billing isn’t offered as a plan change.

Where are my invoices and payment method?

On the Billing page (Manage Plan): invoice history with PDF downloads, your card on file and the option to change it. Card details are handled by Stripe and never stored by SIPS.

How do I cancel, and can I come back later?

Choose Cancel subscription on the Billing page and confirm. A paid subscription stays active until the end of the period you’ve paid for, and you can resume it before then. Your data isn’t deleted. To return later, sign in with the same email and password and choose a plan from the Welcome back screen — you keep the same account and workspace.

Can I use a promotion code?

If you’ve been given one, there’s a “Have a promotion code?” field when you subscribe (and on the Welcome back checkout). The discount applies to the new subscription — for the first payment, a number of months, or every renewal, depending on the code — and renewals after the promotion are charged at the normal plan price. Some codes work with monthly billing only. Codes can’t be applied to plan changes or to an existing subscription.

Data & imports

Which files do I need?

From StrategyQuant X: one Portfolio Databank CSV and one trade-list CSV per strategy you want to import, with each trade file named exactly like its strategy in the Databank. See Importing SQX Strategies.

Can SIPS connect to StrategyQuant X directly, or import .sqx files?

Not yet. A direct SQX connection is shown as Coming Soon; today you import CSV files.

Do I have to import every strategy in my Databank?

No. Select trade files only for the strategies you want. SIPS tells you how many Databank strategies won’t be imported and still lets you continue.

When does a new import replace my current data?

Only when it passes every validation check — then it becomes your active dataset immediately and qualification runs automatically. If validation fails, nothing changes. A replacement must still contain any strategies used by a live or pending MT5 or Trade Copier connection. See Dataset Management.

Can I go back to my previous dataset?

Switching back isn’t available in SIPS at the moment. To use earlier data again, import those files again.

My import shows an error — what now?

See Troubleshooting, which explains every import message and what to do.

Strategies & portfolios

Why did some of my strategies fail qualification?

They didn’t meet at least one of the Strategy rules in your Portfolio Settings (for example a minimum Profit Factor or Win %). Change the rules there if you want different strategies to qualify; SIPS re-qualifies the next time you run Portfolio Builder.

What’s the difference between PR Score, SD Score and Stability?

See Strategy Metrics Explained for plain-English definitions of every metric SIPS shows.

How long does Portfolio Builder take?

Roughly 1–2 minutes for Quick, 3–5 for Recommended and 8–12 for Deep, depending on the size of your strategy library. All three use the same rules; deeper searches explore more combinations. See Portfolio Builder.

Will running Portfolio Builder again lose my portfolios?

A new run replaces the current generated bank only when it completes successfully. Portfolios you saved, Custom Portfolios and portfolios used for MT5 connections are kept. Save any generated portfolio you want to keep in Portfolio Log.

Can I build my own portfolio?

Yes, with Custom Builder (if your plan includes it): add strategies from around SIPS, preview and validate the combination against your rules, then save it as a Custom Portfolio.

Does SIPS tell me which portfolio to trade?

No. Rankings and panels such as Top Ranked, Top Balanced and Top Aggressive order portfolios by one real measure each; they aren’t personalised recommendations. Portfolio Log lists portfolios in rank order with no “trader type” grouping.

What does Bank Reuse mean?

How often a strategy appears across your retained portfolio bank. See Bank Reuse Explained.

Can I run Monte Carlo or generate reports?

Not yet. The Monte Carlo page shows “Not Run” because the simulation isn’t connected, and Reports doesn’t generate files yet. See Monte Carlo & Robustness and Reports.

MT5 & live monitoring

Does the SIPS Bridge place trades on my MT5 account?

No. The SIPS Bridge is read-only — it reports your account, trades and performance back to SIPS. It never places, modifies or executes trades, and it doesn’t need your MT5 password. See Connecting an MT5 Account.

Do I need to link a portfolio to monitor an account?

No. A Standalone EA monitors an account without a portfolio. A Portfolio EA links the account to a SIPS portfolio so SIPS can show per-strategy live performance and behaviour.

My connection says Pending Setup — is something wrong?

It means the Bridge hasn’t paired yet. Attach it within 20 minutes of downloading, with Algo Trading enabled and the WebRequest URL allowed. If the code has expired, download a fresh Bridge from the Pending Setup card. See Troubleshooting.

Will SIPS stop trading if I hit my drawdown limit?

No. Your Trading Limits are shown on the Dashboard with Watch at 80% and Action Needed at 100% of a drawdown limit, but SIPS doesn’t close trades or stop your account.

Why does a strategy show “Connected” and “Watch” at the same time?

Connected is the status of your MT5 connection; Watch describes trading behaviour compared with history. They’re independent — see Historical vs Live Behaviour.

Why do I see “Building Sample” instead of a Behaviour result?

SIPS needs at least 7 full live days, 5 closed live trades and 20 matched historical comparison windows before it classifies behaviour.

Trade Copier

Is the Trade Copier available?

It is built and has been proven in controlled testing on demo accounts, and it is being released to customers in controlled stages — so it may not be enabled for your account yet. It isn’t included in the Starter plan. See Trade Copier.

How is it different from the SIPS Bridge?

The Bridge only reads your account. The Trade Copier places real trades: it copies trades from a Master account to the Slave accounts you connect, in SIPS-managed cloud MT5 terminals — no EA or VPS to run yourself.

Do I need a SIPS portfolio to use it?

No. You can link a portfolio or choose Continue Without Portfolio when you connect an account.

How are copied trades sized?

Per Slave, with Fixed Lot, Lot Multiplier or Fixed % Risk (a percentage of the Slave’s balance at the copied stop loss). Broker Alignment can round sizes down to what the Slave’s broker accepts. Pending orders aren’t copied.

What if my brokers use different symbol names?

SIPS maps identical names and known broker aliases automatically and never guesses. Anything it can’t resolve shows Mapping Required, and you can set the mapping yourself.

What happens to my MT5 trading password?

It is sent once over a secure connection to SIPS’s cloud MT5 service to sign the account in. It isn’t stored in the SIPS database or written to logs, and it is cleared from the form.

Security & support

Can other customers see my data?

No. Each workspace’s data is kept separate, and your imported files are stored privately. See Data Security and the Privacy Policy.

Is SIPS financial advice?

No. SIPS is analytical software, not a broker or adviser, and past or simulated performance never guarantees future results. See What SIPS Is / What SIPS Is Not.

How do I get help?

Signed in, open Help and create a Support Request — you’ll get a reference number by email and our reply by email. For general or pre-sales questions, use Contact or email hello@sipsalgo.com.