Scalping is a popular style of a 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. Our research, findings, and reasonings are outlined throughout this page and result from a 250-point checking system across nine core scalping categories which are also explained below.
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.
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.
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.
Defiantly the coolest dude you will ever meet
Bob Mason has been an author with FX Empire since December 2016 and has had works published for publications including, but not limited to The Jerusalem Post, KITCO and The Huffington Post.
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.
Mr.Hyerczyk is a technical analyst, market researcher, educator and trader. Jim is an expert in the area of patterns, price and time analysis, Forex and stocks.
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.
Kate Leaman is a graduate of the University of Westminster and has been writing for FX Empire since its inception. She was a Broadcast Journalist specializing in finance and a journalist at Sky News. She has headed content teams for various brokerage firms and was the Head of Content at Investing.com. She has hosted various news shows and webcasts on the financial markets.
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.
Personal: Name: Svetlana Ni Professional Achievements: Regular author of columns and analytical articles in well-known financial publications. Participant
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.
Below are some of the key points to consider when choosing the best forex broker to use scalping strategies.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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 edge 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.
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.
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.
At FXEmpire, we strive to provide unbiased, thorough and accurate broker reviews by industry experts to help our users make smarter financial decisions.