3 Best No Dealing Desk Forex Brokers for 2026
When I expanded my trading from trading equities and index futures to Forex, I felt I was in the Wild West. I learned how brokers could vary spreads at will, create slippage, independently take stop losses and much more. Regulation has ironed out many of these kinks in the Forex landscape, but it remains an over-the-counter market without a centrally regulated exchange for pricing and execution.
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One way around brokers acting as gatekeepers with the potential to manipulate execution in their favour is to use a category of broker known as a “no-dealing desk” (NDD). There are several types of NDD brokers using different technologies, such as ECN or STP, but their nuances aside, they offer foundationally the same thing: connecting clients to liquidity without getting in their way.
Not all NDD brokers are created equal, because they can choose which liquidity providers to use. And brokers’ technology can still play a part in latency and fills. However, NDD brokers have one less barrier between you and the market.
I want to emphasize that I don’t believe NDD brokers are always better than dealing-desk brokers. Some dealing-desk brokers bring advantages to the table that make them worth considering. That said, many traders swear by NDD brokers.
List of Top No Dealing Desk Forex Brokers
Compare All Listed Brokers
| Broker | Score | Fees Score | Min Deposit | Max Leverage | Platforms | Visit Broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FxPro | 4.3 | 3.0 | $0 | 1:30 (FCA) 1:10000 (FSA) · 1:200 (SCB) · 1:30 (CySEC) | MT5, cTrader, MT4, FxPro Trading Platform, FxPro Mobile App, TradingView | 73% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing money. (EU, UK) |
FP Markets | 4.6 | 4.1 | $100 | 1:500 (FSA) 1:500 (FSCM) · 1:500 (Unregulated) · 1:400 (FSCA) · 1:30 (ASIC) · 1:500 (CMA) | MT5, cTrader, IRESS, MT4, Mottai, TradingView | Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are leveraged over-the-counter derivative products and carry a high level of risk to your capital. You should only risk capital that you can afford to lose. In certain circumstances, due to fluctuations in market value you may not get back your initial investment amount. You may not only lose your initial investment but you may incur a liability to pay a further amount to cover losses. This means you can lose more money than you have invested. |
IC Markets | 4.8 | 5.0 | $0 | 1:30 (ASIC) 1:30 (CySEC) · 1:5000 (FSA) · 1:400 (CMA) · 1:200 (SCB) | MT5, cTrader, MT4, TradingView, Zulutrade | Trading Forex and CFDs carries a high level of risk to your capital and you should only trade with money you can afford to lose. Trading Forex and CFDs may not be suitable for all investors, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary. |
How Did I Select the Best No Dealing Desk Forex Brokers?
- I used our proprietary rating system and selected only brokers with an above-average score to review. This immediately gave me a high-quality list of brokers to filter using other criteria.
- I confirmed each broker operates a no-dealing desk model by reviewing the broker’s legal terms and conditions.
- I examined the broker’s liquidity arrangements, areas that affect Forex pricing and fills because of its over-the-counter structure, essentially to ensure that the brokers are capable of fast and high-quality execution.
- I want to see brokers with a broad range of asset classes and instruments for their clients, to give as much flexibility to traders as possible.
- I opened live accounts with each broker to see their real-time spreads and trading costs, and compared that to the industry average.
- I verified each broker’s license, checking to see that their licenses are active in the jurisdictions they claim.
Best Overall
- $0Min Deposit
- 2090Tradable Instruments
- HighFees
Why We Picked It
I consider FxPro to be one of the most established brokers in the world, solely based on its financial metrics: $120 million dollars in company capital, 17 million client accounts, 300 employees, and 12 liquidity providers.
Founded in 1999, FxPro has several Tier 1 regulatory licenses, including regulation with the UK’s FCA, in Europe with Cyprus’s CySEC. It holds additional licenses in the Bahamas (SCB license) and Seychelles (FSA license). I like the fact that FxPro goes a step further by naming the banks holding its clients’ funds and its external auditors on its website. It uses only the largest banks in several regions and one of the world’s most well-known auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
From a no-dealing-desk perspective, it has two features that I think make it a first choice: first, its execution speed is under 11 ms, which I consider “ultra fast.” Second, they achieve no requotes on 98.59% (let’s just call that 99%!) of their orders. Part of the reason it achieves the second statistic is through its sheer size, allowing it to internally match many of the orders with other clients.
The addition of cTrader and its proprietary FxPro platform, plus the Trading Central add-on for research, in addition to the usual MT4/MT5 combination most brokers offer, gives it a well-rounded platform selection.
Key Features:
- Regulation & Max. Leverage: FCA (1:30), CySEC (1:30), SCB (1:500), FSC Mauritius (1:2000)
- Order Execution Type: Custom NDD Model
- Tradable Instruments: 2,100+ Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities
- Live Fee Test: EUR/USD Avg. Spread 1.2 pips, Zero Commission
- Platforms: FxPro, MT4, MT5, cTrader
If you are a professional trader, you may find the ability to trade from MT4, MT5, and cTrader to be useful. All three platforms support algorithmic strategies and come with built-in copy trading.
During my live test, I found that the average spread for EURUSD was 1.2 pips, which is around the industry average of 1.0 pips for commission-free accounts. I discovered there is also an extensive suite of tools that professional traders will find valuable.
Pros and Cons
- Commission-free NDD broker
- 2,100+ tradable instruments
- 4 trading platforms
- Access to Trading Central
- $10 inactivity fee after 6 months
Best for Professional Traders
- $100Min Deposit
- 10180Tradable Instruments
- MediumFees
Why We Picked It
Founded in 2005, FP Markets is an Australian-headquartered broker, with Tier 1 regulation under Australia’s ASIC. It also holds Tier 1 regulation in Europe (through Cyprus’s CySEC), and it has other regulatory licenses in smaller regions.
FP Markets offers more trading platforms than most of its competitors, along with a good number of add-ons, such as Trading Central and Autochartist.
Key Features:
- Regulation & Max. Leverage: ASIC (1:30), CySEC (1:30), FSCA (1:500), Unregulated SVG entity (1:500)
- Order Execution Type: ECN, DMA
- Tradable Instruments: 10,000+ Forex, Shares, Futures, Indices, Commodities
- Live Fee Test: EUR/USD Avg. Spread 1.1 pips, Zero Commission
- Platforms: MT4, MT5, cTrader, Iress, TradingView, Mottai
I tested EURUSD during the London and New York sessions (the most active sessions for Forex), and the spread averaged 1.1 pips, which is around the industry average of 1.0 pips without commissions. In the FP Markets Raw ECN account, traders can access lower spreads from 0.0 pips plus $3 commission per lot per side, which is better than the industry average of $3.50.
The Iress and Mottai trading platforms, which most retail traders don’t know exist, are geared towards professional traders and asset managers. They offer much more advanced technical features, such as built-in heat maps for stocks, customizable hotkeys, and split-screen views for multiple charts. With these platforms available, plus the addition of cTrader, in my mind, it elevates FP Markets into the professionals’ category.
Pros and Cons
- ECN and DMA pricing
- Low trading fees
- Multiple trading platforms
- 24/7 customer support
- The Iress DMA platform has a steep learning curve
Best Low Spreads
- $0Min Deposit
- 7342Tradable Instruments
- LowFees
Why We Picked It
Founded in 2007, IC Markets is an Australian-headquartered broker with Tier 1 regulation under Australia’s ASIC. It also holds Tier 1 regulation in Europe (through Cyprus’s CySEC), and another license in the Seychelles (FSA) for other international clients. (The regulation that applies to you will generally depend on your residence. For example, Australian residents will automatically fall under ASIC. This will also affect the maximum leverage you can access.)
It achieves super-low spreads through two areas: first, raw ECN pricing via numerous liquidity providers, and second, low-latency fiber-optic servers.
During my live test, I found the average EURUSD spread to be 0.65 pips, significantly outperforming the industry average of 1.0 pips for commission-free accounts. The commission structure of $3.50 per lot per side aligns with the industry average.
Key Features:
- Regulation & Max. Leverage: ASIC (1:30), CySEC (1:30), CMA Kenya (1:400), SCB Bahamas (1:200), FSA Seychelles (1:5000)
- Order Execution Type: ECN
- Tradable Instruments: 2,250+ Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities
- Live Fee Test: EUR/USD Avg. Spread 0.65 pips, Zero Commission
- Platforms: MT4, MT5, cTrader
Aside from spreads, this means IC Markets has no requotes and no minimum order distance policy. I cannot overstate how much this feature enhances trading, because it means I can place orders as close as I want to the market price. Overall, this is about as good as is available in an over-the-counter environment.
IC Markets gets institutional-grade liquidity from the interbank market, processing more than $29 billion in Forex trades daily, through low-latency fiber-optic connections to the Equinix NY4 servers.
Pros and Cons
- Raw spread ECN trading accounts
- Low spreads and trading fees
- Trading Central and Autochartist tools
- 2,250+ tradable instruments
- Advanced features may overwhelm some beginners
All the Brokers We Tested
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About the Authors
Huzefa Hamid is a multi-asset technical swing trader and market commentator. He began trading equities and equity options in the early 2000s before expanding into Forex and commodities, focusing on liquid instruments suited to technical analysis. A process-oriented, multi-timeframe trader, Huzefa specializes in support and resistance, trend analysis, and classic chart patterns. Drawing on his experience as a trader, broker analyst, and trading educator, Huzefa has a deep understanding of the brokerage industry, giving readers confidence in his broker reviews and recommendations.
As a Senior Content Editor at FXEmpire, Ola has revised and fact-checked over 200 broker reviews and guides. Her profound understanding of financial markets has been crucial in developing the proprietary rating system.
Aviva is a Senior Content Editor at FXEmpire. Her substantial contributions include refining over 150 broker reviews and 'Best Brokers Guides,' enhancing our proprietary methodology, and ensuring every fact is meticulously verified.