Where the app runs

Every way to run the Relay2Trade app (a VPS created for you, a VPS in your own DigitalOcean account, a VPS or Linux machine you already have, your own Windows PC), how to choose between them, what to do on a Mac, when the app trades, and how to change your choice later.

The app trades only while it runs

The app does the trading: it reads your Telegram groups and places the trades in your MetaTrader 5. The Desk on relay2trade.com is the remote. While the app is not running, nothing is read and nothing is traded. So where it runs decides when it trades:

On a VPS (a computer in a data centre that stays on) it trades around the clock, while your own computer is off, asleep or in your bag.
On your own device it trades while that device is on and awake. A sleeping laptop reads nothing.

One account runs one app at a time, and you can move it at any time.

Where you choose

In the Desk, open "Where the app runs":

on the Overview, while no app runs yet ("Get Relay2Trade running");
afterwards under Account → "Where the app runs";
under Account → Security → "Computers running the app" → "Run it on a VPS";
from Account → "Plan & billing" → "Run on a VPS";
from the Overview's "Needs you" while your app is offline;
from the app on your PC: Account → "Run it on a VPS".

The page shows a card for each way. Pick one and follow its steps on the page: each step ticks off as it is done. Only the ways open to your account are shown.

The ways, side by side

VPS: Quick install

A VPS created for you, with the app already on it.

What you do: press "Create it now". Nothing to install, rent or approve anywhere.
What the Desk does: creates the VPS and signs the app in by itself, in under a minute.
Cost: it is included in your demo day ("Included in your demo day: nothing to buy"). After that it is an optional paid extra beside your plan, paid through your Relay2Trade plan; the Desk shows its price on its card and under Account → "Plan & billing".
Afterwards: you stop it, start it or remove it in the Desk, under Account → Security → "Computers running the app".

On a VPS in your own DigitalOcean account

The Desk creates a VPS in your own DigitalOcean account and starts the app on it.

What you do: press "Set it up", then "Continue to DigitalOcean". You sign up or sign in there, approve the Relay2Trade application and, on a new DigitalOcean account, add a payment method. About ten minutes.
What the Desk does: creates the VPS (DigitalOcean's Basic plan: 1 GB memory, 1 processor, 25 GB disk), installs everything and signs the app in. It shows up by itself in about six minutes.
Cost: 6.00 USD a month, charged by DigitalOcean to your account.
Afterwards: it is yours. It stays in your DigitalOcean account, and keeps costing, until it is destroyed: from the Desk with "Destroy this VPS", or at DigitalOcean.

On a Linux VPS or Linux computer you already have

What you do: in the Desk choose "Linux: get the command", confirm it is you, and paste the command in a terminal on that machine, as root or with sudo.
What the command does: installs everything the app needs, MetaTrader 5 included, and signs the app in. The set-up takes about ten minutes, and the Desk shows each step as it is done.
Needs: Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora or Arch, on a 64-bit Intel or AMD machine, with at least 1 processor, 1 GB of memory and 10 GB of disk. The same command works on a Linux computer at home.
Cost: nothing to Relay2Trade beyond your plan; you pay your provider for a rented VPS.

See Installing on Linux.

On a Windows VPS you already have

What you do: connect to it with Remote Desktop, open relay2trade.com/download inside it and run the setup, exactly as on a PC. Sign the app in with your email and password, or choose "Windows: sign in with a code" in the Desk and type the code in the app.
Needs: Windows Server 2019 or newer, or Windows 10 or 11, with a desktop ("with Desktop Experience"), 2 cores and 4 GB of memory.
Extra settings: a few things need setting so that the app comes back by itself after a restart (automatic Windows sign-in, update hours). About forty minutes, once.
Cost: your provider's price, roughly €10–20 a month with the Windows licence included.

See Running Relay2Trade on a VPS.

On your Windows computer

What you do: on that PC, open relay2trade.com/download, press "Download for Windows", run the setup and sign in. About five minutes.
Needs: Windows 10 or 11. Free beyond your plan.
When it trades: while that computer is on and awake. Closing the window leaves the app running in the tray.

On a phone or a Mac, the Desk shows the download address to open on your PC, with "Copy" and "Send it to myself". See Installing on Windows.

On a Mac or with only a phone

There is no app for macOS: Relay2Trade cannot run reliably on a Mac at the moment, and a VPS is the recommended way. Set up a VPS from the Desk on the Mac or the phone itself ("VPS: Quick install", your own DigitalOcean account, or a Linux VPS with the command). From then on the Desk is where you sign in MetaTrader 5 and Telegram, add listeners, change settings and follow every signal and trade. For a Windows VPS of your own, Microsoft's free "Windows App" connects to it by Remote Desktop from a Mac, iPad or iPhone.

How to choose

You want it trading around the clock: a VPS. "VPS: Quick install" is the quickest; your own DigitalOcean account or a VPS you already have keeps the machine in your own name.
You want to try it first on what you have: your Windows PC. You can move to a VPS later.
You already have a Linux VPS: "Linux: get the command" and paste it there.
You use a Mac, or only a phone: a VPS, set up from the Desk.
Your signals come at night or while you are at work, or your laptop sleeps when the lid closes: a VPS earns its cost. If your PC is on and awake whenever your groups post, you do not need one.

If you can, pick a VPS location near your broker's servers: it shortens the time from signal to order.

The "VPS" button inside MetaTrader is a different thing: that service hosts only MetaTrader's own robots and cannot run other programs, so Relay2Trade cannot run there.

The same three steps everywhere

Wherever the app runs, the rest is the same. The Desk's Overview shows them as "Three steps and it trades" ("Four steps" while no plan runs):

"Your app is signed in" (on a VPS set up from the Desk and on Linux, this is done for you).
"MetaTrader is signed in": open Connections in the Desk and log in to your broker account. See Connecting MetaTrader 5.
"Connect Telegram, then choose the chat to read" ("A listener reads a chat" once Telegram is connected): connect Telegram, then add a listener. See Connecting Telegram.

You sign in to MetaTrader 5 and Telegram once in each place the app runs.

An app with no window

On a VPS set up from the Desk and on Linux, the app has no window. Everything is done in the Desk, and "Remote control" stays on there ("Your app runs without a window of its own, so remote control stays on: the Desk is how you manage it."). On a Windows PC or Windows VPS the app also has its own window.

Changing your choice later

Open "Where the app runs" (in the Desk: Account → "Where the app runs", or Account → Security → "Run it on a VPS"; from the app: Account → "Run it on a VPS").
Pick the new way and follow its steps.
Open Connections in the Desk and sign in MetaTrader 5 and Telegram in the new place.

When the app is signed in somewhere new, it is signed out where it ran before, so two copies never trade the same signal. With "Sync settings & listeners" on, your profiles, listeners and limits follow your account. Positions already open stay at your broker with their stop-loss and take-profit. See Computers and moving the app.

If something goes wrong

The Desk says "Your app is offline". The app is closed, its computer is off or asleep, or its VPS is stopped. Start the app or the computer again, or start the VPS. To stop depending on your own computer, run the app on a VPS. In the Desk, Settings → "Account settings" → "Tell me when the app goes quiet" sends you a notice when the app stops answering for about 15 minutes.
"The app is on the VPS and nothing trades." MetaTrader 5 and Telegram are signed in where the app runs. Open Connections in the Desk, sign both in, then add a listener.
"I closed my laptop and the app missed the signals." A sleeping computer reads nothing. Keep the PC awake while your groups post, or run the app on a VPS.
"My app on the PC says it was signed out." The app was started somewhere else on your account. Sign in on the PC again to bring it back there, or leave it where it now runs.
"I cancelled my plan and my VPS still costs me." A VPS in your own account at a provider, DigitalOcean included, is yours and is not removed with your plan. Destroy one made from the Desk with "Destroy this VPS", or delete it at the provider.
"Settings sync is off, so your settings are only on your computer and a VPS would start without them." Turn "Sync settings & listeners" on in the app on your computer (Settings → "Application" → "Remote control & sync"), then come back to "Where the app runs".
"No VPS can be set up for you right now." Try again later, or use your own device or VPS.