Best Forex Brokers for Scalping of 2023

Searching for the top broker for scalping? Based on our hands-on analysis, we’ve identified 10 best options tailored to various trading needs. Practical tips from our experts are included.

By: Jitan Solanki
Reviewed By: FX Empire Editorial Board
Updated: Nov 22, 2023
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List of Top Forex Brokers for Scalping

Best brokers for US traders

Best brokers for international traders

Scalping is a popular style of trading strategy where a trader aims to profit from small price movements in a short period of time. The goal is to enter and exit trades quickly, taking advantage of small price fluctuations that occur frequently in the market.

To be successful in scalping the markets, choosing the right broker is critical. This is because brokers with high fees and slow execution speeds will quickly eat away at any short-term profits made. The broker’s trading execution model will also play a key part in your success. Fortunately, our team of experts has identified the best forex brokers for scalping this year.

How did FX Empire choose the best brokers for scalping?

  • We ensured each broker allows traders to employ scalping strategies as some do not.
  • We checked the different account types available (ECN, DMA, STP, NDD) and if they have low fees to ensure their suitability for scalping strategies.
  • We explored the variety of trading platforms available (MT4, MT5, cTrader) to ensure they allow for the fast-paced nature of scalping strategies.
  • We reviewed the broker for additional features to help succeed in scalping the market such as the trading tools available, research and education resources, customer service, safety and transparency, and more.

Our team of experts has identified each broker’s strengths and weaknesses using FX Empire’s comprehensive methodology. Here’s how we test.

Now let’s dive into the selected brokers.

Best Overall

Exness

4.6
Start Trading
General Risk Warning: CFDs are leveraged products. Trading in CFDs carries a high level of risk thus may not be appropriate for all investors. The investment value can both increase and decrease and the investors may lose all their invested capital. Under no circumstances shall the Company have any liability to any person or entity for any loss or damage in whole or part caused by, resulting from, or relating to any transactions related to CFDs.
  • Min Deposit
    $0
  • Tradable Instruments
    233
  • Fees
    Medium

Exness was founded in 2008 and is regulated by the FSA of Seychelles and BVI FSC. The broker provides a decent range of standard and professional trading accounts. Scalpers will find the three professional accounts Raw Spread, Zero, and Pro the most suitable.

  • Raw Spread Account. Spreads from 0.0 pips. Commission of USD 3.50 per lot, per side.
  • Zero Account. Spreads from 0.0 pips. Commission of USD 0.2 per lot, per side.
  • Pro Account. Spreads from 0.1 pips. Zero commission.

From our live testing, we found the live spread for EUR/USD during the US session averaged 0.8 pips with zero commission which is slightly better than the industry average. Scalpers may opt for the Zero Account instead which has lower spreads and a low commission relative to the industry average.

Each account can be opened with a minimum deposit of $200. Both the Raw Spread and Zero Accounts offer market execution, with the Zero Account also offering no requotes on price fills which means your orders will always be filled.

All of the accounts offer access to the MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, as well as the Exness mobile trading app and Exness Terminal. The Exness Terminal is a web-based platform that offers 50 drawing tools and 100 indicators. Scalpers may opt for the MT5 platform which provides 21 different timeframes, 38 inbuilt indicators, and 22 analytical tools.

Scalpers can also access level 2 quotes from the MT5 platform. This enables you to see the market depth of orders at different prices. You can also access an inbuilt forex calendar to trade the news and the algo-trading capabilities of MT4 and MT5.

Pros
  • Commission-free and raw spread accounts.
  • Trade from MetaTrader 5 platform.
  • Access multiple markets.
Cons
  • Not available for European and UK retail clients.
  • Offshore entities provide lower regulatory protections.
Exness Review

Best for Trustworthiness

Swissquote Bank

4.3
Start Trading
Trading involves risks. Products and services of Swissquote are only intended for those permitted to receive them under local law.
  • Min Deposit
    $1000
  • Tradable Instruments
    559
  • Fees
    High

Founded in 1996, Swissquote is a publicly traded Swiss bank that is listed on the SIX Swiss Stock Exchange, providing a high level of safety and transparency. As Swissquote is a bank itself, it provides deep forex liquidity by sourcing from its network of tier 1 banks which is ideal for scalping.

The bank provides the ability to trade from MT4, MT5, and its own Advanced Trader platform which is a web-based trading platform that has 50+ charting tools, 80+ technical indicators, and multiple order types.

In our live testing, we found the average spread for EUR/USD during the London session was 1.5 pips using the Standard Account. This is higher than the industry average. However, when scalping traders may opt for its Prime Account which offers lower spreads.

Scalpers may also be interested to know that the broker's average execution speed was 9ms last year with a 100% fill ratio which is better than the industry average.

When opening an account you are automatically given a Swiss IBAN account number, with an eBanking portal and up to CHF 100,000 deposit protection.

Pros
  • Publicly traded Swiss bank.
  • Commission-free and low-spread accounts.
  • Trade on MT4 and MT5 platforms.
  • Access to multiple markets, trading, and banking tools.
Cons
  • Inactivity fee.
Swissquote Bank Review

Best for Trading Platforms for Scalpers

Tickmill

4.4
Start Trading
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with Tickmill UK Ltd. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs, or any other of our products work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
  • Min Deposit
    $100
  • Tradable Instruments
    696
  • Fees
    Low

Tickmill was founded in 2014 and has become an established broker providing an excellent range of trading platforms and tools for beginner and advanced traders. In fact, you can trade with 6 different platforms covering web, desktop, and mobile trading apps alongside extra trading tools such as Advanced Trading Toolkit and Autochartist – making Tickmil a top choice to improve your trading performance.

During the course of our live Tickmill test, I was particularly impressed by the number of trading platforms available for all levels of traders. Beginners will enjoy the ease of access to the well-known TradingView web-based platform. Tickmill is just one of a handful of brokers where you can trade directly from TradingView across 7 globally regulated futures exchanges.

Intermediate traders will be glad that Tickmill also offers access to MT4 and MT5 which have been the go-to forex trading platforms for decades. While there is a learning curve to these platforms they come packed with 80+ in-built trading indicators and the ability to create and execute algorithmic trading strategies.

If you are an advanced trader, Tickmill provides access to use the institutional-grade CQG platform. This has more than 90 inbuilt indicators, customized trade routing, depth of market (level I and level II), and a hybrid order ticket application for the best execution.

I have tried all of these platforms during the course of my 15-year trading experience and my favorite is TradingView because it is web-based and provides a high level of chart customizations from indicators, timeframes, layouts, and chart types. You can access all global markets from the platform and even create your own market scanner for fundamental metrics or technical analysis patterns.

Pros
  • Impressive range of trading platforms.
  • Advanced in-house and third-party trading tools.
  • Excellent webinars, articles, videos, and courses.
  • Multiple account types.
Cons
  • VIP account has a high minimum deposit.
Tickmill Review

Best No-Dealing Desk (NDD) Broker

FxPro

4.6
Start Trading
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 84.69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
  • Min Deposit
    $100
  • Tradable Instruments
    2157
  • Fees
    Low

Founded in 2006, FxPro has retail and institutional clients in over 170 countries and is regulated by multiple authorities globally, including the top-tier FCA and CySEC.

FxPro is a no-dealing desk (NDD) broker. This means there is no broker intervention in your trades with most orders being matched internally due to the high volume of its clients. A great feature provided by FxPro for the suitability of scalping with them is the fact they provide transparency regarding their executions.

From our research, most trades with FxPro are filled in under 14 milliseconds with data showing nearly 80% of market orders in 2021 were executed at the requested price with 10% of client orders receiving either a better or worse price.

Furthermore, 98.59% of trades were not requoted. This means that the broker managed to fill 98.59% of trading orders which is very impressive. Some brokers may requote the price you want to trade at as they cannot fill your order which is likely due to poor liquidity from their liquidity providers or slow technology to fill orders instantly.

The broker also provides access to high-performance trading platforms for scalpers such as MT4, MT5, cTrader, and FxPro’s own Edge platform. The MT4 and Edge platforms provide commission-free trading with marked-up floating spreads. The cTrader platform offers reduced spreads with a commission of $35 per $1 million traded.

There is a wide range of trading tools available as well as detailed market research and education resources.

Pros
  • No-dealing desk broker.
  • High transparency regarding execution.
  • Low spread and low fee trading accounts.
  • Advanced scalping platforms MT4, MT5, and cTrader.
Cons
  • Inactivity fee.
FxPro Review

Best MT5 Broker

FP Markets

4.5
Start Trading
This material on this website is intended for illustrative purposes and general information only. It does not constitute financial advice nor does it take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. Commission, interest, platform fees, dividends, variation margin and other fees and charges may apply to financial products or services available from FP Markets. The information in this website has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider the information in light of your objectives, financial situation and needs before making any decision about whether to acquire or dispose of any financial product. Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are derivatives and can be risky; When trading CFDs you do not own or have any rights to the CFDs underlying assets. FP Markets recommends that you seek independent advice from an appropriately qualified person before deciding to invest in or dispose of a derivative. A Product Disclosure Statement for each of the financial products available from FP Markets can be obtained either from this website or on request from our offices and should be considered before entering into transactions with us. First Prudential Markets Pty Ltd (ABN 16 112 600 281, AFS Licence No. 286354). FP Markets is a group of companies which include, First Prudential Markets Ltd (registration number HE 372179), a company authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC License number 371/18, Registered Address: Griva Digeni, 109, Aigeo Court, 2nd floor, 3101, Limassol, Cyprus. FP Markets does not accept applications from U.S, Japan or New Zealand residents or residents from any other country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to those local laws or regulations.
  • Min Deposit
    $100
  • Tradable Instruments
    844
  • Fees
    Medium

FP Markets was founded in 2005 and is regulated by ASIC and CySEC and has one entity that is unregulated. The broker provides access to the MetaTrader 5 platform, as well as ECN (Electronic Communications Network) and DMA (Direct Market Access) trading accounts.

This means traders can see prices from multiple liquidity providers (typically large financial institutions) which provides a higher level of price transparency, fast trading execution, and tighter spreads starting from 0.0 pips.

From our live testing on the Standard Account, we found the spread for EUR/USD during the London session to average 1.15 pips which is slightly above the industry average. However, scalpers may opt for the Raw Account which has lower spreads and a commission of USD 3 per lot, per side which is better than the industry average.

The FP Markets ECN execution model also means there is no dealing desk intervention and no requotes. For scalpers, having this ability to enter and exit at the exact price you want is essential when trading in and out of small price movements on a frequent basis.

You can upgrade the MT5 platform with additional trading tools such as Autochartist. This is a plugin that provides automated technical analysis trading ideas from the MT5 platform.

Pros
  • ECN and DMA trading accounts are offered.
  • Commission-free and spreads from 0 pip accounts available.
  • Fast trading execution and high price transparency.
  • Trade on MT4 and MT5 with additional tools available.
  • Some entities are licenced by CySEC and ASIC regulators.
Cons
  • Weak research content.
FP Markets Review

Best for Tradable Instruments

IG

4.8
Start Trading
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
  • Min Deposit
    $248
  • Tradable Instruments
    16237
  • Fees
    Low

Established in 1974, IG stands as a titan in the retail trading realm. As a company listed on the London Stock Exchange and overseen by international regulators, it champions both security and openness.

IG boasts a diverse portfolio of tradable assets encompassing forex, stocks, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and bonds. In a real-time fee evaluation, the EUR/USD spread averaged at 0.75 pips during prime London and New York trading hours, surpassing the standard 1.0 pip for commission-free accounts—making it a boon for scalping aficionados.

For the pros, IG's Direct Market Access (DMA) account fetches prices straight from the interbank sector, coupled with IG's liquidity sources. This promises the finest spreads for scalping. Though qualifying as a professional demands a rigorous assessment, all traders benefit from IG's signal insights via third-party giants like Autochartist and PIA-First.

Scalpers are in for a treat with IG's array of robust trading platforms. L2 Dealer is tailored for seasoned traders, while popular platforms like MT4 and ProRealTime are also available. Additionally, IG Web Trader, an ideal starter with its user-friendly interface, offers customizable layouts and a swift trading ticket on the graph—key for nimble market navigation.

Pros
  • 17,000+ tradable instruments.
  • Multiple trading platforms.
  • DMA trading for professionals.
  • Free trading signals.
Cons
  • The range of markets and platforms may overwhelm some beginners.
IG Review

Best Low Spreads

IC Markets

4.5
Start Trading
Trading Derivatives carries a high level of risk to your capital and you should only trade with money you can afford to lose. Trading Derivatives may not be suitable for all investors, so please ensure that you fully understand the risks involved, and seek independent advice if necessary. A Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) can be obtained either from this website or on request from our offices and should be considered before entering into a transaction with us. Raw Spread accounts offer spreads from 0.0 pips with a commission charge of USD $3.50 per 100k traded. Standard account offer spreads from 1 pips with no additional commission charges. Spreads on CFD indices start at 0.4 points. The information on this site is not directed at residents in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.
  • Min Deposit
    $200
  • Tradable Instruments
    2251
  • Fees
    Low

IC Markets was founded in 2007 and is regulated by CySEC, ASIC, SCB, and FSA of Seychelles. It prides itself on offering services directly aimed at high-frequency and high-volume traders using MT5, MT5, and cTrader platforms.

Each of the account types available is based on an ECN pricing model in which IC Markets sources pricing from unrelated liquidity provides with no dealing desk intervention. This allows the broker to offer ultra-fast execution speeds as their servers are located in the NY4 and LD5 data centers in New York and London. The three main account types offered all provide access to low spreads and low fees.

From our examination of the broker’s offering using a live Standard Account the live spread for EUR/USD during the London session was 0.6 pips with zero fees which is better than the industry average.

We also found the Raw Spread Account has a commission of USD 3.50 per lot, per side with spreads from 0 pips for MT4 and MT5 trading platforms which are around the industry average.

The cTrader Account which is specifically designed for scalpers offers commissions from just USD 3.00 per lot, per side with spreads from 0 pips which is better than the industry average.

The cTrader platform is a forex and algorithmic trading platform that has been designed specifically to support high-frequency, short-term scalping strategies and algorithmic strategies.

Pros
  • ECN and raw spread trading accounts.
  • Low commissions, low fees, fast execution.
  • Multiple scalping platforms are available MT4, MT5, and cTrader.
  • High leverage and 24/7 customer service.
Cons
  • Offering may be overwhelming to beginners.
IC Markets Review

Best ECN/STP Accounts

FXOpen

4.2
Start Trading
FXOpen Ltd: 60% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | FXOpen EU Ltd: 77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
  • Min Deposit
    $1
  • Tradable Instruments
    622
  • Fees
    Medium

Established in 2005, FXOpen is a London-based broker that has become the go-to for ECN trading accounts. Authorized and regulated by the UK FCA, CySEC, and ASIC with an entity in Nevis that is unregulated, you can trade with institutional grade spreads and low commissions from MT4, MT5, TickTrader, and TradingView platforms.

From our examination, we found there are two trading accounts available to trade from with FXOpen called ECN and STP. The ECN account (electronic communications network) provides anonymous access to the interbank market. This means you can trade with institutional grade spreads – essential for scalping strategies.

The ECN account also offers a low trading commission of $2.50 per lot per side if your account is between $1,000 and $25,000. The commission rate goes down the larger your trading account size is. These are some of the best commissions I have seen for ECN accounts as the industry average is $3.50 per lot, per side for the same size of account.

During the course of our live fee test, we also found the spread for EUR/USD during the London and New York session was very competitive averaging 0.1 pips much better than the average 0.6 pips for industry-wide ECN accounts.

Pros
  • Low fee and low commission.
  • Trade from MT4, MT5, TickTrader, TradingView.
  • No-dealing desk broker.
Cons
  • Limited education and research materials.
FXOpen Review

Our Methodology

To find the best forex broker for scalping, our team of analysts researched over 80 brokers and checked more than 250 data points over nine core categories for each broker. The checklist we use has grown significantly over time as new innovations and regulations also change over time.

Our team’s detailed evaluations of a broker and its offering allow us to provide our readers with unique insights into choosing the right broker. The data gathered is collected through opening live trading accounts, checking live pricing and execution, and speaking to real customer support agents (where available).

The nine core categories that build the 250-point checklist include categories such as trust, fees, platform and tools, tradable instruments, customer service, deposit and withdrawals, account types, research, and education.

To identify the best forex brokers for scalping a larger emphasis was placed on whether or not the broker allows for scalping strategies, the speed of execution, the broker’s execution model (STP, ECN, DMA, NDD, etc), low trading fees and the options of using scalping platforms (MT4, MT5, cTrader).

These findings were then further categorized into the best overall broker for scalping, the best for low spreads, ECN accounts, no dealing desk execution, MT4, trustworthiness, and options for US clients where forex brokers are more limited.

Meet Our Writers

The team of forex and CFD writers and editors at FX Empire is composed of trading industry professionals and seasoned financial journalists. Our writers have been published on leading financial websites such as Investopedia and Forbes. In addition, they all have extensive trading experience.

Get to Know Our Authors

Dan Blystoneauthor

Dan Blystone began his career in the trading industry in 1998 on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Later Dan gained insight into the forex industry during his time as a Series 3 licenced futures and forex broker. He also traded at a couple of different prop trading firms in Chicago. Dan is well-equipped to recommend the best forex brokers due to his extensive experience and understanding of the brokerage industry.

Jitan Solankiauthor

Jitan Solanki is a professional trader, market analyst, and educator. He day trades major currency and index markets and focuses on swing trading US equities and commodities. A qualified Market Technician, Jitan also works with trader education and brokerage companies on various projects. These include market analysis, live trading events, and broker reviews. As an experienced trader and educator, Jitan brings all his qualities in action when reviewing and recommending brokers.

Plamen Stoyanovauthor

Having been a retail trader since 2013, Plamen has gained an in-depth understanding of the challenges that novice traders face today. His expertise is swing trading and day trading with a heavy emphasis on psychological and fundamental analysis. Plamen’s favourite trading instruments include FX majors and gold. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics and International Relations. Plamen's broad experience has equipped him with the expertise to recommend the best forex brokers.

Vladimir Zernovauthor

In more than 15 years of trading in the financial markets, Vladimir dealt with a wide range of brokers and financial instruments. His career as a day-trader at a proprietary trading firm goes back to 2007. Later, Vladimir turned to longer time frames and became an independent trader and analyst managing his own portfolio. Using his experience, he helps traders find the best broker in his reviews.

How to choose the best forex broker for scalping?

Below are some of the key points to consider when choosing the best forex broker to use scalping strategies.

Why is it important to choose a regulated broker for scalping?

As scalping involves trading very short-term price movements, using a trusted, well-regulated broker is essential. After all, it is the broker which is executing your trade in the underlying market (depending on their model) and holds your capital.

Regulated brokers are overseen by a country’s financial body and have to adhere to strict execution and investment practices. If they do not, they open themselves to being fined and losing their operating license.

Within our reviews, we separate brokers into three tiers of regulation:

  • Tier 1 regulators offer the highest level of protection and include the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), and many others.
  • Tier 2 regulators offer lower protections than tier 1 regulators but are still of a high standard. This includes the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), and others.
  • Tier 3 regulators generally operate in offshore jurisdictions. This includes the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) of Belize, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB), and others.

There are also some brokers that are not regulated at all and operate out of offshore jurisdictions such as St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As scalping is a very specialized way of trading the markets it’s best to try and stick with brokers regulated by tier 1 regulators.

Since the launch of the MiFID 2 legal act, tier 1 regulated brokers must offer a negative balance protection policy to retail clients and segregate client funds from their own. While some tier 2 and tier 3 regulators may do this, many do not as they are not legally required to.

You can check the broker’s regulations on their website and client agreement terms. If none are stated then it is a warning sign in itself. For any regulations stated on a broker’s site, it is worthwhile checking this on the regulator’s register too which can be found easily online.

Read more about Best regulated forex brokers.

What fees should you be aware of when choosing a forex scalping broker?

After choosing a safe broker to hold your trading funds, checking the fees of the broker is the next most important factor when choosing a forex scalping broker. This is because high fees can easily wipe away any profit from small movements in the market, leading to a lot of trading with not a lot of reward.

Fees can be categorized into trading fees and non-trading fees. Trading fees are generally charged for opening a trade, holding a trade, and closing a trade. Some of the fees to do this include:

  • Spreads. The difference between the buy price and the sell price is known as the spread. A broker will either offer institutional-grade spreads or mark up the spreads as a type of fee. For scalpers, spreads need to be as low as possible.
  • Commission. This is a fee to open a trade and close a trade. Some brokers will offer commission-free trading accounts or commission-based trading accounts but with lower spreads.
  • Swaps. This is a fee for any leveraged positions to be held overnight. Usually, it is based on the interest rates of the currencies being traded and a broker markup.

For scalping, swap fees shouldn’t make a difference as scalpers trade very short-term price movements and would not hold any trades overnight. The most important fees to take into consideration will be spreads and commissions.

Scalpers may look to prioritize low spreads in order to get in and out at the right price. The commission (if any) will act as a business expense but these will be known up front so you can always know your net return on a trade.

In our broker rating reviews, we test the live spread for a range of instruments and then use a scale to determine whether they are in line, better or worse than the industry average. For EUR/USD the average spread for a commission-free trading account should be less than 1.0 pip.

Non-trading fees are those that cover account management. While most brokers will not charge an account maintenance fee there may be fees for periods of inactivity, deposits, and withdrawals. These are worthwhile checking beforehand as deposit and withdrawal fees can differ depending on whether you are using a bank, credit/debit card, or e-wallet.

What is the best type of forex brokerage account for scalping?

Most brokers will offer different types of accounts such as a standard, premium, or VIP account. Typically, these will have differences in commissions, spreads, and minimum deposits.

The accounts with the highest minimum deposits will generally offer the best terms such as the lowest fees and commissions, additional tools, extra support, etc.

Nowadays, brokers are starting to accommodate the needs of more advanced trading styles such as scalping and algorithmic trading. This has led to some brokers offering different account types based on the execution model. These include:

  • Dealing desk or market maker accounts. In these types of accounts, the broker takes the other side of the trade. These accounts typically have fixed spreads rather than floating spreads.
  • No dealing desk accounts. In these types of accounts, the broker’s technology automatically matches your orders with other traders almost instantly using algorithms.
  • STP accounts. Straight Through Processing is a type of no-dealing desk account in which client orders are routed directly to the broker’s liquidity provider.
  • ECN accounts. Electronic Communications Network accounts are another type of no-dealing desk account in which client orders are matched up to prices from a variety of liquidity sources in an anonymous network.
  • DMA accounts. Direct Market Access accounts are those in which clients trade directly with other interbank market participants.

Read more about STP, ECN, and DMA accounts.

Scalpers tend to prefer DMA and ECN accounts but any type of no-dealing desk execution model will be suitable for scalping. Most brokers will offer a demo trading account and this is the best place to start.

A demo trading account allows traders to execute trades in a virtual environment. This can help to test the execution speed, and spreads on offer in real-time before making a decision on opening a live account and trading with real money.

Read more about Best forex demo accounts.

What is the best leverage when choosing a forex scalping broker?

Leverage is the driving force behind the accessibility and popularity of trading the forex market. It is the process of borrowing funds to increase your position size so you can control a large position with a smaller deposit.

Brokers offer leveraged-based trading, also known as margin-based trading, by lending you the capital to control a larger position and charging an overnight fee to borrow the capital which is known as the swap fee. It is like taking out a loan and paying interest for the term of the loan.

Leverage is a double-edged sword as it will not only amplify your gains but also your losses. Since the launch of MiFID 2 regulations, there have been some major changes imposed by tier 1 and some tier 2 regulators regarding the use of leverage for retail clients.

When trading with a broker regulated by a tier 1 regulator such as the FCA, CySEC or ASIC traders will need to fill out a questionnaire that will categorize you as a retail or professional client depending on your answers.

It is a regulatory requirement for these brokers to offer a maximum of 30:1 leverage for retail traders trading the currency market. This means you can open a $30,000 position size with only $1,000 of cash in the account.

Some brokers will advertise very high leverage such as 1000:1 but these brokers will be unregulated or based offshore which has a lower level of protection for retail traders.

Which trading platform is best for forex scalping?

The most common trading platforms for scalpers are MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and cTrader.

The MetaTrader suite of trading platforms can be used on PC, Mac, Web, and mobile. For scalpers, a desktop version will provide the safest way to execute trades fast and frequently.

Both MT4 and MT5 have a wide range of in-built technical trading indicators and the ability to create your own customized indicator or algorithmic strategy from the MetaTrader Marketplace.

Read more about Best MetaTrader 4 brokers and Best MetaTrader 5 brokers.

The cTrader platform was designed specifically for high-frequency traders such as scalpers and algorithmic traders. The platform offers advanced trading capabilities and can be used on desktop, web, and mobile.

It also includes backtesting and optimization tools, as well as a copy trading feature in cTrader Copy and Trader Automate for algorithmic trading.

Some brokers will offer all three and some may just offer one platform. But a demo trading account can be useful here as it will allow you to test the different platforms to find the right one for your scalping strategies.

Read more about Best forex platforms.

FAQ

Scalping is a trading strategy that involves making a large number of trades for small profits, typically within a very short time frame, such as seconds or minutes. Scalping is often used in highly liquid markets, such as forex, where small price movements occur frequently. Scalpers typically use technical analysis and chart patterns to identify potential trades and execute them quickly to take advantage of small price movements. They often use high-frequency trading algorithms and software to identify and execute trades quickly.
Any type of no-dealing desk account works for scalping. This can include an STP (straight-through processing), ECN (electronic communications network), or DMA (direct market access) account.
ECN accounts are recommended for scalping as the pricing of a market is sourced through a variety of separate liquidity providers anonymously providing the best possible price and execution.
The forex market is one of the best financial assets for scalping. This is because there is high liquidity in the market as it is open 24/5, it is the world’s largest market and traders can use higher leverage in the forex market than any other.
First of all, the broker’s execution model may not allow for such short-term trading if they are taking the opposite side of your trade or are using slow hedging technology. Secondly, scalping is a very advanced way of trading, and people can lose money quickly, so some brokers avoid taking on these clients.
You can use FX Empire’s best broker filters to help identity brokers that allow scalping. You can also check the broker’s account type page as it will generally state if scalping is allowed or not.
Scalping is a trading strategy that requires access to real-time market data, a fast and reliable trading platform, charting software, news feeds, and risk management tools like stop-loss orders. Traders need to be able to read and interpret price charts quickly and stay up-to-date with market news and events. Risk management is also critical for scalpers, as they are often trading with high leverage and making multiple trades in a short period.
Scalping requires traders to have a deep understanding of market dynamics and be able to quickly analyze and interpret market data to make informed trading decisions. Scalpers must also have access to advanced trading platforms and tools to execute trades quickly and efficiently. Also, scalping requires quick decision-making, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to manage risk effectively. Therefore, it is better suited for professional traders who have extensive experience in trading and have developed the necessary skills and discipline to execute this high-frequency strategy successfully.
We rated Forex.com is the best US broker for scalping as it offers DMA (direct market access) trading accounts. It is also very transparent in the quality of its execution which is essential to scalp the market successfully.

About the Author

Jitan Solankiauthor

Jitan Solanki is a professional trader, market analyst, and educator. He day trades major currency and index markets and focuses on swing trading US equities and commodities. A qualified Market Technician, Jitan also works with trader education and brokerage companies on various projects. These include market analysis, live trading events, and broker reviews. As an experienced trader and educator, Jitan brings all his qualities in action when reviewing and recommending brokers.

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