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How to Set Up Price Alerts on IG and Pepperstone

Updated 14 July 2026 · 7 min read · PipTax education

Learning how to set up price alerts on IG and Pepperstone means you never have to stare at a chart waiting for a level to hit — the platform pings you instead. Both brokers give you several ways to do this, from simple price-level alerts in their own apps to fully custom alerts inside MetaTrader, and getting it right takes about ten minutes.

Why price alerts matter more than you think

Alerts aren't just a convenience — they're a discipline tool. Traders who watch charts all day tend to overtrade, jumping into moves out of boredom rather than plan. A well-set alert lets you:

• Walk away from the screen without missing your actual setup
• Pre-commit to a level decided when you were calm, not when price is spiking
• Cover more markets than you could realistically watch live
• React faster to breakouts, news spikes, or key support/resistance tests

The trade-off is that alerts only tell you *something happened* — they don't manage risk for you. You still need a plan for what you do once the alert fires: enter, wait for confirmation, or ignore it because context has changed. Treat every alert as a prompt to check the chart properly, not an auto-trigger to click buy or sell.

Both IG and Pepperstone are FCA-regulated, UK-accessible brokers, and both support alerting in different ways depending on whether you're using the broker's own platform or MetaTrader. The setup steps differ slightly, so it's worth knowing both.

Setting up price alerts on IG's own platform

IG runs its own proprietary web and mobile platform alongside MetaTrader access, and its native alert system is generally the most flexible for retail traders who don't want to touch code. Typical steps:

1. Open the market you want to watch (e.g. EUR/USD or a UK share) in IG's platform. 2. Look for the alert/bell icon on the chart or deal ticket. 3. Choose the trigger type — usually a price level, but IG's platform often supports percentage moves, indicator crossovers, or time-based alerts too. 4. Set the price and choose delivery method: push notification, email, or SMS depending on your account settings. 5. Save it — active alerts usually appear in an "alerts" or "notifications" panel you can edit or delete anytime.

A few practical tips:

• Name or label alerts if the platform allows it, especially if you're tracking multiple levels on the same pair.
• Set alerts slightly before your actual level (a few pips) if you want time to prepare before price arrives.
• Check whether alerts persist across devices — if you set one on mobile, confirm it also shows on desktop.

Exact menu names and available trigger types can change with platform updates, so confirm the current steps in IG's own help section if anything on screen doesn't match.

Setting up price alerts on Pepperstone

Pepperstone is primarily a MetaTrader-focused broker (MT4/MT5, confirm current platform availability on their site), plus cTrader for many account types. Alert setup depends on which platform you're using:

On MetaTrader (MT4/MT5): 1. Right-click the chart and select "Trading" → "Alerts" (or open the Terminal window, "Alerts" tab, in MT4). 2. Click New Alert, choose the symbol, and set the condition — typically "Bid price crosses" a level you specify. 3. Set an expiration if you only want the alert live for a session. 4. Choose the action: a sound, a message pop-up, or (if configured) an email/notification via MetaTrader's mobile push service, which needs your MetaQuotes ID entered in platform settings first.

On cTrader, alerts are typically set directly from the chart via a price-line right-click, with push notifications available through the cTrader mobile app once linked to your account.

Because Pepperstone's exact platform lineup and alert features can vary by account type and region, always confirm what's currently on offer via Pepperstone's own platform pages before relying on a specific workflow.

Choosing between broker-native alerts and MetaTrader alerts

| Feature | Broker platform (e.g. IG) | MetaTrader (e.g. via Pepperstone) | |---|---|---| | Ease of setup | Usually simpler, guided UI | Slightly more manual | | Trigger variety | Often includes % moves, news alerts | Mostly price-cross and indicator alerts | | Mobile push | Built-in via broker app | Needs MetaQuotes ID setup | | Customisation with EAs | Limited | High — can code custom alert logic | | Best for | Discretionary traders wanting simplicity | Traders already running MT4/MT5 strategies |

If you already trade through MetaTrader for execution, it usually makes sense to keep alerts there too, so everything lives in one place. If you're using IG's own platform for charting and execution, its native alerts will likely feel more integrated.

Building an alert workflow that actually helps your trading

Setting the alert is the easy part — using it well is what changes results. Some practical habits:

• Tie every alert to a written reason: "EUR/USD 1.0850 — prior resistance, check for rejection candle" beats a bare number with no context.
• Limit active alerts to markets you genuinely trade; a screen full of pings you ignore trains you to ignore all of them.
• Review triggered alerts weekly — did the level actually matter? Adjust your levels based on what worked.
• Combine with a checklist: alert fires → check higher timeframe trend → check news calendar → then decide.
• Don't chase: if price runs through your alert level before you can act, that's not a signal to jump in late — wait for the next valid setup.

Alerts reduce screen time, not decision-making. The judgement call at the moment of the alert is still on you.

Setting up price alerts on IG and Pepperstone for multi-asset watchlists

If you trade across FX, indices, and shares, alerts become more useful the more organised your watchlist is. A simple approach:

• Group alerts by session (London open levels, New York open levels, Asia range highs/lows).
• Use round numbers and clear technical levels (previous day's high/low, weekly open) rather than arbitrary decimals.
• Set fewer, higher-quality alerts rather than one on every pair you've ever traded.
• Revisit and delete stale alerts monthly — an alert list that hasn't changed in months is a sign your analysis isn't updating either.

This applies whether you're set up through IG's platform, Pepperstone's MetaTrader feed, or both side by side.

Where costs and platform choice fit into the decision

Alerts are free features, but they don't exist in isolation — your choice of broker and platform also affects execution costs, spreads, and how easily you can automate strategies later with EAs. Rather than guessing at numbers, use PipTax's [cost audit tool](/audit.html) to compare your likely all-in trading costs across brokers, and check the [brokers directory](/brokers/index.html) for up-to-date platform and regulation details on IG, Pepperstone, and others. If you want to understand how spreads and commissions actually erode returns over time, the [cost impact page](/cost-impact.html) is worth a read alongside this guide.

In short, setting up price alerts on IG and Pepperstone is straightforward once you know where each broker hides the feature — the real value comes from building a disciplined, reviewed alert workflow rather than just switching notifications on and forgetting about them.

Keep going: Audit Index Cost Impact Index