Best ECN Forex Brokers
The Electronic Communication Network (ECN) method of executing trades is one of the most transparent methods of trading available to retail traders. This is because ECN brokers allow the trader to get access to the actual pricing of currencies as set by the big banks (who function as liquidity providers), while also displaying the orders of the trader in the market.
This is in contrast to the market making system, where pricing and order fulfilment is handled internally by the market maker’s dealing desk. So the ECN brokerage provides a non-dealing desk environment which allows the trader to trade against other traders and the banks, and not the broker itself.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 65% and 82% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.Best ECN Forex Brokers
Here are the best ECN forex brokers.
-
IG
- Saxo Bank - 9.7/10 Overall
- Interactive Brokers - 9.7/10 Overall
- CMC Markets - 9.6/10 Overall
- TD Ameritrade - 9.5/10 Overall
-
FOREX.com
- City Index - 9.2/10 Overall
- XTB - 9/10 Overall
- eToro - 8.8/10 Overall
Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.86 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.5957 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
Year Founded | 1974 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
Bank | Yes |
Tier-1 Licenses | 7 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 2 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 19537 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 100 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 33 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |

Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.9 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.7 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
Year Founded | 1992 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
Bank | Yes |
Tier-1 Licenses | 6 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 1 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 60000 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 190 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 62 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |

Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.6 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.6 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | No |
Year Founded | 1977 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
Bank | No |
Tier-1 Licenses | 8 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 1 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 8500 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 90 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | No |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 128 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |

Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.51 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.51 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
Year Founded | 1989 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
Bank | No |
Tier-1 Licenses | 5 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 1 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 12377 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 158 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 84 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |

Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.25 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.25 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | No |
Year Founded | 1955 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
Bank | Yes |
Tier-1 Licenses | 4 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 0 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 0 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 73 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | No |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 360 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |
Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.0 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.0 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
Year Founded | 1999 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
Bank | No |
Tier-1 Licenses | 4 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 2 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 5500 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 91 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | No |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 203 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |

Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.0 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.0 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
Year Founded | 1983 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
Bank | No |
Tier-1 Licenses | 3 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 2 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 13500 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 84 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 88 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |

Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.07 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.04 |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
Year Founded | 2002 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
Bank | No |
Tier-1 Licenses | 1 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 3 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 12000 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 57 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 39 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Economic Calendar | Yes |

Overall Rating
Minimum Deposit
Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust.
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1 |
All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | N/A |
PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes |
Year Founded | 2007 |
Publicly Traded (Listed) | No |
Bank | No |
Tier-1 Licenses | 2 |
Tier-2 Licenses | 1 |
Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes |
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs | Yes |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 3458 |
Forex Pairs (Total) | 49 |
Bitcoin | Yes |
Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | No |
MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No |
Proprietary Platform | Yes |
Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes |
Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 66 |
Android App | |
Apple iOS App | Yes |
Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | No |
Economic Calendar | Yes |
Advantages of ECN Brokers
The ECN system ensures the full transparency of pricing and trade executions since everything is fed from the liquidity providers to the trader (pricing and trade execution) and from the trader back to the liquidity providers (trade orders), without any interference from the broker.
In addition, the direct market access (DMA) technology which provides access to pricing from several liquidity providers ensures that there are no re-quotes and execution as the order price is virtually guaranteed.
Some of the further advantages of ECN Brokers are:
- Traders have a choice of what bid and ask prices to use for their orders, since the pricing is being provided by not just one, but several liquidity providers.
- All trading strategies including scalping are accepted on ECN platforms because ECN brokers make more money the bigger the deal flow and not from winning or losing the trades of customers.
- ECN brokers are able to fill larger orders as trades are routed to several liquidity providers and not just a single buyer/seller.
- By having access to the Order Book, it is possible for traders on the ECN platform to visualize the bids and ask prices at which other market participants are trading. This will provide some idea as to where the order flows are going and provide some insight into the future direction of the market for a currency pair.
Challenges of Using an ECN Brokers
One factor that traders have to contend with is the cost of ECN trading. ECN brokers will generally charge a commission on every trade placed and it is only economical for larger trades and higher frequency traders as compared to the market maker model of only charging a spread markup.
Liquidity requirements are also high with ECN trading since the trader is dealing directly with the liquidity providers. Unlike the market maker model where the market makers provide liquidity intervention on behalf of traders, the responsibility of meeting the liquidity requirements in the ECN model rests solely on the trader. As such, the account opening capital requirement for an ECN account can be much higher.
Some of the other challenges facing ECB Brokers include:
- Traders have to contend with variable spreads (spreads can widen in an instant when volatility is high) and also have to pay commissions for trade entry and trade exit.
- Minimum trade sizes tend to be much larger and due to the commission charge when entering and exiting a position, it is not as viable for smaller trades.
- To get the best prices, clients will have to meet minimum trade requirements. This is generally not a problem for traders who meet certain conditions and benefit from the lower prices.
ECN Brokers Conclusion
There are several brokers that provide both market making and ECN trading models. There are brokers that are exclusively ECN brokers, and others which work exclusively as dealing desk market makers.
As a general rule, ECN brokers are suitable for traders who can meet the capital requirements and want a trading platform with generally superior trading conditions.
BrokerNotes.co 2023 Overall Rankings
To recap, here are our top forex brokers for 2023, sorted by Overall ranking.
Company | Overall Rating | Minimum Deposit | Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | Trust Score | Tradeable Symbols (Total) | Read Review | Visit Site |
![]() |
9.9 | £250.00 | 0.86 | 99 | 19537 | IG Review |
Visit Site
|
![]() |
9.7 | €2,000 | 0.9 | 99 | 60000 | Saxo Bank Review | |
![]() |
9.7 | $0 | 0.6 | 99 | 8500 | Interactive Brokers Review | |
![]() |
9.6 | $0 | 0.51 | 99 | 12377 | CMC Markets Review | |
![]() |
9.5 | $0 | 1.25 | 99 | 0 | TD Ameritrade Review | |
![]() |
9.3 | $100 | 1.0 | 99 | 5500 | FOREX.com Review |
Visit Site
|
![]() |
9.2 | £100.00 | 1.0 | 99 | 13500 | City Index Review | |
![]() |
9 | $0 | 1.07 | 95 | 12000 | XTB Group Review | |
![]() |
8.8 | $10-$10,000 | 1 | 93 | 3458 | eToro Review | |
![]() |
8.7 | $1000 | N/A | 99 | 466 | Swissquote Review | |
![]() |
8.6 | $100 | 0.92 | 93 | 1260 | AvaTrade Review | |
![]() |
8.5 | Starts from $50 | 1.38 | 96 | 440 | FXCM Review |
Visit Site
|
![]() |
8.5 | €100 | 0.8 | 98 | 2800 | Plus500 Review | |
![]() |
8.4 | $20 | 0.65 | 85 | 3152 | Capital.com Review | |
![]() |
8.4 | $5 | 1.6 | 90 | 1429 | XM Group Review | |
![]() |
8.4 | $200 | 0.77 | 93 | 2342 | Pepperstone Review | |
![]() |
8.4 | $0 | 1.26 | 92 | 124 | OANDA Review | |
![]() |
8.3 | $100 | 0.8 | 88 | 6942 | Admiral Markets Review | |
![]() |
8.3 | $100 AUD | 1.2 | 86 | 10000 | FP Markets Review | |
![]() |
8.2 | $200 | 0.62 | 86 | 3583 | IC Markets Review | |
![]() |
8.2 | $100 | 1.9 | 98 | 2179 | Markets.com Review | |
![]() |
8.1 | $100 | 1.51 | 90 | 2249 | FxPro Review | |
![]() |
8.0 | $100 | 0.51 | 82 | 725 | Tickmill Review | |
![]() |
8.0 | $0 | N/A | 92 | 126 | Fineco Bank Review | |
![]() |
7.9 | $0 | 0.827 | 74 | 26000 | BlackBull Markets Review | |
|
7.8 | $100 | N/A | 84 | 10000 | DooPrime Review | |
![]() |
7.8 | $50 | 1.30 | 89 | 1000 | Vantage Review | |
![]() |
7.8 | $100-$5000 | 1.6 | 83 | 1081 | BDSwiss Review | |
![]() |
7.8 | $100 | 0.96 | 79 | 12000 | TMGM Review | |
![]() |
7.8 | $0 | 1.2 | 85 | 3500 | HFM Review | |
![]() |
7.7 | $0.00 | N/A | 77 | 408600 | FlowBank Review | |
![]() |
7.7 | $100 | 0.6 | 86 | 362 | HYCM Review | |
![]() |
7.6 | EUR 10 | N/A | 77 | 1785 | Trading 212 Review | |
![]() |
7.6 | $100 | 1.0 | 87 | 736 | Eightcap Review | |
![]() |
7.5 | $0 | 0.6 | 83 | 601 | Trade Nation Review | |
![]() |
7.5 | $50 | 1.27 | 71 | 965 | Moneta Markets Review | |
![]() |
7.4 | $250.00 | N/A | 86 | 1674 | ThinkMarkets Review | |
![]() |
7.4 | $200 | 1.2 | 71 | 168 | VT Markets Review | |
![]() |
7.4 | $50 | 1.2 | 75 | 1600 | ACY Securities Review | |
![]() |
7.3 | $100 | 0.9 | 84 | 199 | a href="/reviews/easymarkets">easyMarkets Review | |
![]() |
7.3 | $100 | 1.4 | 69 | 12000 | Roboforex (RoboMarkets) Review | |
![]() |
7.2 | $50 | 1.2 | 84 | 340 | IronFX Review | |
![]() |
7.2 | $1 | 0.9 | 74 | 112 | Exness Review | |
![]() |
7.2 | $0 | N/A | 70 | 2000 | Spreadex Review | |
![]() |
7.1 | $250 | N/A | 75 | 1062 | Trade360 Review | |
![]() |
7.1 | 0 | N/A | 83 | 175 | Axitrader Review | |
![]() |
7.1 | $0 | N/A | 66 | 354 | GKFX Review | |
![]() |
7.1 | -1 | N/A | 79 | 750 | Vestle Review | |
![]() |
7 | $25 | 0.9 | 69 | 229 | OctaFX Review | |
![]() |
7 | $100 | N/A | 80 | 87 | FXOpen Review | |
![]() |
7 | $100 | N/A | 67 | 500 | Teletrade Review | |
![]() |
6.9 | $100 | N/A | 69 | 140 | FXPrimus Review |
Visit Site
|
![]() |
6.9 | $0 | N/A | 62 | 150 | Forex4you Review | |
![]() |
6.9 | $500 | N/A | 66 | 425 | LegacyFX Review | |
![]() |
6.8 | $500 | N/A | 69 | 500 | GBE Brokers Review | |
![]() |
6.8 | $20 | N/A | 67 | 105 | Alpari Review | |
![]() |
6.7 | Depends on payment method | N/A | 67 | 655 | TopFX Review | |
![]() |
6.7 | $10 | N/A | 72 | 300 | Libertex Review | |
|
6.6 | $500 | N/A | 70 | 150 | ATFX Review | |
![]() |
6.6 | $100 | 3 | 67 | 619 | UFX Review | |
![]() |
6.5 | $250 | N/A | 80 | 142 | Xtrade Review | |
![]() |
6.4 | $200 | N/A | 67 | 256 | Tradeo Review |
More Forex Guides
- Best Forex Brokers
- Best CFD Brokers
- Best Zero Spread Brokers
- Best MetaTrader Brokers
- Best Brokers for Mac
- Compare Forex Brokers
Popular Forex Reviews
- IG Review
- Interactive Brokers Review
- FOREX.com Review
- IG Review
- IC Markets Review
- OctaFX Review
- All Broker Reviews
Forex Risk Disclaimer
There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses. Learn more about foreign exchange risk.