Custom Trading Platform Development
Expert trading software developers for trading firms, brokers and institutional desks: your lead developer, project management consultant or development vendor.
Principled Code. Trusted Partnership. (Since 2007)
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DLVIUSTUS designs, builds and manages custom trading platforms and bespoke charting for trading firms. Led by Derick-Lewis Vorster, a technical and quantitative analyst who has traded the markets since 2007. Based in Pretoria, South Africa. We work with trading firms worldwide.
Platform builder: built a complete, full-stack trading platform comparable to MetaTrader 4, with custom indicators and trading tools.
Market analyst: consulting quantitative analyst in the precious metals value chain, from exploration and refining to trading, using quantitative, fundamental and technical analysis every day.
AI engineering: building a next-generation, AI-assisted trading engine.
Clear process: eight structured steps, from the first questions to two-week build sprints.
Three ways to work with us
Three ways to work with us
Lead developer
Lead developer
We lead your build from the first specification to the final handover: architecture, code and testing.
Project management consultant
Project management consultant
Already have developers? We run the project for you: specification, sprint planning, testing and delivery, so your team builds the right platform.
Development vendor
Development vendor
Need a delivery partner? We build to an agreed specification and hand over the code in agreed stages.
How we work: a clear, eight-step process
How we work: a clear, eight-step process
Every project follows the same process. Three structured meetings settle the scope and the cost. We then draft the final specification and architecture for your approval, and that specification becomes your property. Only then does the build start, in two-week sprints, with a review with you at least every ten business days.
TRADING SOFTWARE EXPERTISE
Illustration: many timeframes feed one consensus view; in hybrid mode, the trader approves each trade.
Trading software we build: MetaTrader 5 (MQL5) and Python
Trading software we build: MetaTrader 5 (MQL5) and Python
Bespoke charting, built to your requirements, in MetaTrader 5 or standalone Python
Proprietary trading platforms, from data feeds and charting to order execution
Custom indicators and trading tools
Expert advisors and automated execution in MQL5 and Python
Python systems that trade through the Interactive Brokers (IBKR) API, running on Microsoft Azure servers
Back-testing, risk and research tools
AI-assisted analysis
Specialists in spot gold (XAUUSD), forex and the US500 (S&P 500). We also build for futures and stocks.
From a trader's method to a governed trading engine
From a trader's method to a governed trading engine
We build custom algorithmic trading systems that turn an experienced trader's own method into disciplined, verifiable software. Our flagship build, in development since August 2025, pairs a browser-based Python decision engine with MetaTrader 5 execution. The trader selects which strategies to combine, sees one consensus overview of market bias with the trade information, and chooses manual, hybrid or automatic trading. In hybrid mode the system finds and ranks opportunities, the trader approves, and the system executes within strict risk limits.
What we do
What we do
Method to machine: we translate a discretionary trading method into written rules and working code, keeping the trader's logic intact.
Python and MetaTrader 5: decision engines, custom indicators and Expert Advisors joined by a live data bridge.
Human in the loop: alerts, one-click approvals and real-time dashboards, so the trader stays in control.
Risk engineering: per-trade caps, daily loss limits, exposure controls and prop-firm rule profiles.
Evidence first: years of market history replayed, realistic trading costs, thresholds fixed before every test, and a sealed out-of-sample check, with no curve-fitting.
Full audit trail: every rule, change and decision is versioned and documented.
For traders, prop-firm candidates and trading desks who want their method built into a system they can trust and check.
Why an analyst who codes
Why an analyst who codes
Derick-Lewis Vorster is a consulting quantitative analyst in the precious metals value chain, from exploration and refining to trading. He uses quantitative, fundamental and technical analysis every day and has traded the markets since 2007. So the person leading your build knows how your traders will use the platform, from the first signal to the last risk check. He is also a charting specialist, trained through his work with our charting partners.
Every project is led personally by Derick-Lewis Vorster. When the scope needs it, we bring in specialists from our partner network: charting specialists, institutional quantitative analysts, fundamental and technical analysts, investment scientists, software engineers, and three partners with PhDs, two of them professors. We have worked with software engineering firms in Poland and elsewhere in Europe, and in Canada. Some of our partners also work on confidential projects for other trading houses, so we do not name them.
TRACK RECORD
Full-stack trading platform: a complete platform comparable to MetaTrader 4, with custom indicators, custom trading tools, charting and order execution.
DLV_TRADE_DESK: a MetaTrader command centre with automatic position sizing, volatility-based stops and targets, and one-click execution. See it on Advanced Trading Software.
In development: our flagship build since August 2025, a next-generation, AI-assisted trading engine in Python with MetaTrader 5 execution and manual, hybrid and automatic modes.
The MetaTrader 5 side of our flagship build: custom multi-timeframe levels and a live consensus panel.
Questions trading firms ask
Questions trading firms ask
Can you build charting that is unique to our firm? Yes, and it is our strongest specialism. We design charts around your firm's method and requirements: your own indicators, trading tools, layouts and data feeds. We build them inside MetaTrader 5 (MQL5) or as standalone Python applications that run without MetaTrader. Our partner network includes charting specialists, and our track record includes a full-stack platform with its own charting.
Can you work with our existing developers? Yes. We recommend that your developers work with us, under our technical lead, rather than us working inside your team. One lead architect gives the build one design, one coding standard and one point of accountability. Your developers also learn the system as it is built, so they are ready to support it after handover. If that does not suit your structure, we can manage the project for your team or build alongside your developers.
How does a project start? With a short set of questions that makes the first meeting count. Three structured meetings then settle the scope and the cost, and we draft the final specification and architecture for your approval. The build begins only once you have approved them. All eight steps are set out in our Software Development Process.
How long does a build take? In our experience, a full proprietary trading platform takes nine months to two years. Where yours falls depends on its complexity: the markets and data feeds, the depth of analysis, the execution and risk rules, and the systems it connects to. We agree the timeline and delivery stages in the proposal. We then build in two-week sprints, with a review with you at least every ten business days.
Who owns the specification? You do. The final specification, which you approve before the build starts, becomes your property. You can use it with any development team, including your own, so you are never locked in.
Which platforms and markets do you work with? We work on any custom trading software. We build in MetaTrader 5 (MQL5) and Python, either together or as Python-only systems that run without MetaTrader. Our Python systems also connect to Interactive Brokers (IBKR) through its API. We also work with Bloomberg and Microsoft Azure servers, and integrate PAMM for licensed brokers and money managers. That covers the full stack, from data feeds and charting to order execution, risk controls and back-testing, for forex, gold, futures and stocks.
Is our project kept confidential? Yes, and we treat it as highly confidential. Your edge lives in your intellectual property: your strategy logic, your data and your specification. We sign a non-disclosure agreement before any detailed discussion, and protecting your IP shapes how we work, from the first meeting to the final handover. Every rule, change and decision is versioned and documented, so your IP is protected and on record as it develops.
Start with a conversation
Start with a conversation
Tell us what you want to build. Book a call, or start with Step 1 of our process: a short set of questions that makes the first meeting count.
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