Best Scalping Forex Brokers for 2023

In this article, we have grouped together some of the best forex brokers that allow scalping on their platforms.

To choose the brokers we have taken into consideration a number of factors:

• The orders execution speed of the broker
• The maximum leverage allowed on forex
• The overall commissions when scalping on forex
• The platforms made available from the brokers

Round-up

WARNING

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

Review

Here is a look at some of the best scalping brokers we have found. Included in this listing are ECN, low-spread non-ECN brokers, and fixed spread brokers.

All of these support scalping and are the top broker choices we have found in the industry.

1. Pepperstone

• Pepperstone with its Pepperstone Razor account offers an excellent and very liquid environment for scalping.
• Pepperstone charges spreads on forex as low as 0 pips with a per-side commission of $3.5 per lot.
• The Pepperstone Razor account allows traders to open and close positions with an average of 0.35ms
• Scalpers on Pepperstone can open positions with leverage up to 1:500 depending on their country of residence.
• In addition to MT4 and MT5, Pepperstone also offers cTrader as a platform for scalping.
• For scalpers who are able to achieve substantial volumes, there is the Pepperstone active trader program that further reduces trading costs.

Visit Pepperstone
(75.9% of retail CFD accounts lose money)

2. IC Markets

• IC Markets allows scalping on MT4, MT5, and cTrader.
• IC Markets’ Raw Spread accounts allow scalpers to access minimum forex spreads with a $6 fee per lot
• IC Markets maximum leverage for scalpers is up to 1:500 depending on country of residence.
• IC Markets executes its clients’ orders in ~0.35ms
• Scalpers on IC Markets can implement automated trading strategies

Visit IC Markets
(74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money)

3. HF Markets

• HF Markets allows scalpers to use leverage up to 1:1000 depending on the broker’s branch.
• Spreads on HF Markets start at 0 pip, with an additional fee of $6 per lot traded.
• Scalpers on HF Markets can use either MT4 or MT5.

Visit HF Markets
(71.04% of retail CFD accounts lose money)

4. Admiral Markets

• Admirals offers a flexible trading environment, with 4 different accounts for scalping.
• The maximum leverage for traders on Admirals is 1:500 depending on the country.
• On Admirals, 18 forex pairs can be traded with forex spreads as low as 0 pips and a $6 commission per lot.
• Admirals offers a cashback service for traders who manage to achieve high trading volumes.
• Scalpers on Admirals can trade on MT4 or MT5, with an average order execution speed of 150ms.

Visit Admirals
76% of retail CFD accounts lose money

5. Vantage

• Vantage is the scalper broker that charges the lowest commissions, with forex spreads of 8 pips and $1.8 per side each lot traded.
• Vantage offers numerous ECN account types and offers an execution speed of 100ms on average.
• The maximum leverage that can be found on Vantage is 1:500, however it may be less depending on the country of residence.
• On Vantage, scalpers can trade over 40 forex pairs on MT4 and MT5

Visit Vantage
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

6. FP Markets

• FP Markets with its efficient ECN execution is a good broker for scalping.
• FP Markets spreads start at 0 pips, with an additional commission of $6 per lot traded.
• Order execution is extremely efficient with an average of 0.30ms for opening or closing a trading position.
• Maximum leverage for scalpers at FP Markets varies depending on the trader’s country of residence, but can be as high as 1:500.
• With FP Markets, scalping can be done on both MT4 and MT5.

Visit FP Markets
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

7. OctaFX

• OctaFX is a very versatile broker for scalping
• OctaFX allows you to trade on MT4 or MT5.
• Forex spreads for scalpers are not the lowest, in fact they start at 0.2 pips, with a fee of $10 per lot traded
• Maximum leverage for OctaFX scalpers is up to 1:500
• OctaFX has fairly efficient forex order execution, averaging 100ms per order.

Visit OctaFx
74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money

8. Forex.com

• Forex.com is an excellent broker for scalping forex in the US.
• Forex spreads on this broker start at 0 pip with a fairly low per-lot commission of $4.
• Forex.com’s order execution speed is equally efficient, with 40ms on average.
• Although the best Forex.com account for scalping (DMA account) requires a minimum deposit of $25,000, you can still start with a Forex.com Standard account.

Visit Forex.com
73% of retail CFD accounts lose money

9. AvaTrade

• AvaTrade is a good broker for all scalpers looking for fixed spreads.
• AvaTrade charges fixed forex spreads starting at 0.9 pips, which drop further to 0.6 pips for professional clients (with no additional commissions)
• Allows trading over 60 forex pairs, and scalping its on MT4 and MT5
• To offer fixed spreads AvaTrade acts as a market maker, which is also reflected in the reduced execution speed compared to its competitors, which on average takes 300ms.

Visit Avatrade
(79% of retail CFD accounts lose money)

10. Roboforex

• RoboForex offers a good number of accounts for forex scalping.
• RoboForex’s leverage goes up to 1:300
• Scalpers on RoboForex can open an ECN account with as little as $10
• The execution speed of orders on RoboForex is about 100ms.
• On RoboForex, traders can easily use automated trading strategies that can be implemented on MT4, MT5, cTrader, or the broker’s proprietary platform.

Visit Roboforex
(74-89% of retail CFD accounts lose money)

Forex Scalping: ECN vs Non-ECN vs Fixed Spreads

As mentioned, the listing of top brokers for scalping above includes some ECN, non-ECN, and fixed spread brokers. Here is a look at some of the positives of each, and who they may suit best for trading with.

The positives of an ECN broker are that you will typically find lower spreads. These will often be combined with deeper liquidity making it fast and easier to execute trades at good prices.

On the downside, the low spreads are floating so there can be some uncertainty as to the exact cost when opening and closing your positions. This can be a challenge in scalping. 

Best choice: The best choice for scalping with an ECN broker from us is Pepperstone.

Non-ECN: When it comes to a non-ECN broker these will vary. This depends on the individual broker with some offering ECN characteristics on liquidity and costs. With that said, though they may be similar in these areas, they do not often match up as well as ECN brokers but can still provide very fast trade execution at a low cost.

Best choice: Forex.com is a DMA broker and our favored choice if you are looking to scalp with a non-ECN broker.

Fixed spreads: These brokers will often have higher spreads than floating spread brokers. The upside though is that since fixed spreads do not change, they can provide you a good degree of certainty over cost when opening and closing trades. Fixed spreads are usually offered by market makers brokers and you should also take note of any other costs or fees they may have. 

Best choice: AvaTrade is a well-known market maker broker and our top choice if you are looking to scalp with fixed spreads.

WARNING

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs.
You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

How does scalping work?

The old adage “let profits run, cut losses short” isn’t particularly relevant to scalping, at least as regards letting profits run. The scalper takes advantage of the market’s micro-oscillations, which have a set duration in time, from a few seconds to a few minutes, which is why it bears slim profits.

People who use this technique settle for small, yet fast, profits, continuously opening new positions on the market, trying to exploit its many oscillations, and cutting losses to a minimum.

To take advantage of the continuous price variations, scalpers must dedicate several hours of activity to graphs, keeping a steady and constant focus and carrying out many operations. It isn’t rare to see scalpers performing even more than 100 operations in just a day’s trading.

How does the Scalper Trader earn?

Scalping to produce real profits, traders must focus on two things:

1. finding many trading opportunities throughout the day;
2. having a high percentage of trades closed with profits.

Other categories of professional traders, generally speaking, aim at having a good risk/returns ratio (from 1:2 up), which allows them to sustain even smaller percentages of success, even below 50%, still generating profits. However, this isn’t the case for scalpers. Taking profits after such short times, the risk/returns value tends to be quite low, which forces scalpers to keep an extremely high percentage of winning trades to constantly generate profits.

This activity isn’t for anyone. Besides having solid technology assets (such as PC, monitors, etc.) and a fast, stable connection, scalping requires extremely high self-discipline and concentration.

Furthermore, obviously, it is necessary to work with a good scalping forex broker, preferably one from the list.

How much money does scalping require?

In addition to the high psychological capital, scalping normally requires a certain amount of financial resources. Having to profit from small market investments (a few pips or points at a time), to have noteworthy profits, the investment volume must be kept high.

Therefore, scalpers must have an appropriately funded account, or else work on a high financial leverage, which however does notably increase risks.

The best financial assets for scalping

High liquidity assets are among the preferred scalping markets.

Highly capitalized and traded assets are favoured, such as indexes, forex trades, and other assets which tend to have a good volume over the trading day.

The forex broker features for scalping

It is necessary to find a broker presenting the following basic features to best suit scalping:

• Availability of extremely low spread on forex
• Availability of high liquidity assets (high capitalized assets, index, and exchange rates);
• Possibility to analyze markets with several indicators, possibly customizable;
• “Market depth” visibility;
• Direct market visibility such as the one offered by ECN and STP brokers, not an “artificial” version of it (dealing desk);
• Exclusive intermediation activity, possibly directly on the market;
• Swift order execution;
• A high leverage forex broker;
• Bare-boned brokerage fees;
• Easy trading platforms, fast and intuitive.

Given the peculiarities of scalping, not all forex brokers encourage it. Some even forbid it.

Best ECN scalping forex brokers FAQs

Which forex broker is best for scalping?

The best broker choice, if you are interested in scalping, is Pepperstone. They can offer a great combination of low spreads, excellent rebates for professional scalpers, and really deep liquidity to ensure your orders are executed quickly at the best prices.

What type of account is best for scalping?

The type of account you will find suitable is really an individual choice that will depend on your trading needs and goals. With that said, many find ECN forex scalping accounts to offer the best environment and conditions.

Which MT4 forex broker is the best for scalping?

When it comes to MT4 scalping forex broker choices, IC Markets is considered one of the best. They are a very popular choice among algo-traders in particular and provide an extremely low spread trading environment which, when combined with their ECN liquidity, makes them an ideal choice.