Best ECN Forex Brokers

Written by BrokerNotes.co

April 24, 2023

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.

Best ECN Forex Brokers

Here are the best ECN forex brokers.

• IG
  - 9.9/10 Overall
• 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
  - 9.3/10 Overall
• City Index - 9.2/10 Overall
• XTB - 9/10 Overall
• eToro - 8.8/10 Overall

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IG

Overall Rating

9.9 / 10

Minimum Deposit

£250.00

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	1974
Publicly Traded (Listed)	Yes
Bank	Yes
Tier-1 Licenses	7
Tier-2 Licenses	2

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	19537
Forex Pairs (Total)	100
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

Saxo Bank

Overall Rating

9.7 / 10

Minimum Deposit

€2,000

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	1992
Publicly Traded (Listed)	No
Bank	Yes
Tier-1 Licenses	6
Tier-2 Licenses	1

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	60000
Forex Pairs (Total)	190
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

Interactive Brokers

Overall Rating

9.7 / 10

Minimum Deposit

$0

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	1977
Publicly Traded (Listed)	Yes
Bank	No
Tier-1 Licenses	8
Tier-2 Licenses	1

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	8500
Forex Pairs (Total)	90
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

CMC Markets

Overall Rating

9.6 / 10

Minimum Deposit

$0

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	1989
Publicly Traded (Listed)	Yes
Bank	No
Tier-1 Licenses	5
Tier-2 Licenses	1

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	12377
Forex Pairs (Total)	158
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

TD Ameritrade

Overall Rating

9.5 / 10

Minimum Deposit

$0

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	1955
Publicly Traded (Listed)	Yes
Bank	Yes
Tier-1 Licenses	4
Tier-2 Licenses	0

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	0
Forex Pairs (Total)	73
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

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FOREX.com

Overall Rating

9.3 / 10

Minimum Deposit

$100

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	1999
Publicly Traded (Listed)	Yes
Bank	No
Tier-1 Licenses	4
Tier-2 Licenses	2

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	5500
Forex Pairs (Total)	91
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

City Index

Overall Rating

9.2 / 10

Minimum Deposit

£100.00

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	1983
Publicly Traded (Listed)	Yes
Bank	No
Tier-1 Licenses	3
Tier-2 Licenses	2

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	13500
Forex Pairs (Total)	84
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

XTB

Overall Rating

9 / 10

Minimum Deposit

$0

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	2002
Publicly Traded (Listed)	Yes
Bank	No
Tier-1 Licenses	1
Tier-2 Licenses	3

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	12000
Forex Pairs (Total)	57
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

Android App
Apple iOS App	Yes
Education (Forex or CFDs)	Yes
Daily Market Commentary	Yes
Forex News (Top-Tier Sources)	Yes
Economic Calendar	Yes

eToro

Overall Rating

8.8 / 10

Minimum Deposit

$10-$10,000

Trust Score Trust Score is a numerical rating (from 1 - 99) that represents a broker's overall trust. close

Highly Trusted

• Cost & Funding
• Regulation
• Investment Options
• Trading Platforms
• Apps & Tools

Cost & Fundingexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Regulationexpand_moreexpand_less

Year Founded	2007
Publicly Traded (Listed)	No
Bank	No
Tier-1 Licenses	2
Tier-2 Licenses	1

Investment Optionsexpand_moreexpand_less

Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs)	Yes
Mobile Trading - Forex or CFDs	Yes
Tradeable Symbols (Total)	3458
Forex Pairs (Total)	49
Bitcoin	Yes

Trading Platformsexpand_moreexpand_less

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

Apps & Toolsexpand_moreexpand_less

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
IG	9.9	£250.00	0.86	99	19537	IG Review	Visit Site
Saxo Bank	9.7	€2,000	0.9	99	60000	Saxo Bank Review
Interactive Brokers	9.7	$0	0.6	99	8500	Interactive Brokers Review
CMC Markets	9.6	$0	0.51	99	12377	CMC Markets Review
TD Ameritrade	9.5	$0	1.25	99	0	TD Ameritrade Review
FOREX.com	9.3	$100	1.0	99	5500	FOREX.com Review	Visit Site
City Index	9.2	£100.00	1.0	99	13500	City Index Review
XTB	9	$0	1.07	95	12000	XTB Group Review
eToro	8.8	$10-$10,000	1	93	3458	eToro Review
Swissquote	8.7	$1000	N/A	99	466	Swissquote Review
AvaTrade	8.6	$100	0.92	93	1260	AvaTrade Review
FXCM	8.5	Starts from $50	1.38	96	440	FXCM Review	Visit Site
Plus500	8.5	€100	0.8	98	2800	Plus500 Review
Capital.com	8.4	$20	0.65	85	3152	Capital.com Review
XM Group	8.4	$5	1.6	90	1429	XM Group Review
Pepperstone	8.4	$200	0.77	93	2342	Pepperstone Review
OANDA	8.4	$0	1.26	92	124	OANDA Review
Admiral Markets	8.3	$100	0.8	88	6942	Admiral Markets Review
FP Markets	8.3	$100 AUD	1.2	86	10000	FP Markets Review
IC Markets	8.2	$200	0.62	86	3583	IC Markets Review
Markets.com	8.2	$100	1.9	98	2179	Markets.com Review
FxPro	8.1	$100	1.51	90	2249	FxPro Review
Tickmill	8.0	$100	0.51	82	725	Tickmill Review
Fineco Bank	8.0	$0	N/A	92	126	Fineco Bank Review
BlackBull Markets	7.9	$0	0.827	74	26000	BlackBull Markets Review
DooPrime	7.8	$100	N/A	84	10000	DooPrime Review
Vantage	7.8	$50	1.30	89	1000	Vantage Review
BDSwiss	7.8	$100-$5000	1.6	83	1081	BDSwiss Review
TMGM	7.8	$100	0.96	79	12000	TMGM Review
HFM	7.8	$0	1.2	85	3500	HFM Review
FlowBank	7.7	$0.00	N/A	77	408600	FlowBank Review
HYCM (Henyep)	7.7	$100	0.6	86	362	HYCM Review
Trading 212	7.6	EUR 10	N/A	77	1785	Trading 212 Review
Eightcap	7.6	$100	1.0	87	736	Eightcap Review
Trade Nation	7.5	$0	0.6	83	601	Trade Nation Review
Moneta Markets	7.5	$50	1.27	71	965	Moneta Markets Review
ThinkMarkets	7.4	$250.00	N/A	86	1674	ThinkMarkets Review
VT Markets	7.4	$200	1.2	71	168	VT Markets Review
ACY Securities	7.4	$50	1.2	75	1600	ACY Securities Review
easyMarkets	7.3	$100	0.9	84	199	a href="/reviews/easymarkets">easyMarkets Review
RoboForex (RoboMarkets)	7.3	$100	1.4	69	12000	Roboforex (RoboMarkets) Review
IronFX	7.2	$50	1.2	84	340	IronFX Review
Exness	7.2	$1	0.9	74	112	Exness Review
Spreadex	7.2	$0	N/A	70	2000	Spreadex Review
Trade360	7.1	$250	N/A	75	1062	Trade360 Review
AxiTrader	7.1	0	N/A	83	175	Axitrader Review
GKFX	7.1	$0	N/A	66	354	GKFX Review
Vestle	7.1	-1	N/A	79	750	Vestle Review
OctaFX	7	$25	0.9	69	229	OctaFX Review
FXOpen	7	$100	N/A	80	87	FXOpen Review
TeleTrade	7	$100	N/A	67	500	Teletrade Review
FXPrimus	6.9	$100	N/A	69	140	FXPrimus Review	Visit Site
Forex4you	6.9	$0	N/A	62	150	Forex4you Review
LegacyFX	6.9	$500	N/A	66	425	LegacyFX Review
GBE brokers	6.8	$500	N/A	69	500	GBE Brokers Review
Alpari	6.8	$20	N/A	67	105	Alpari Review
TopFX	6.7	Depends on payment method	N/A	67	655	TopFX Review
Libertex (Forex Club)	6.7	$10	N/A	72	300	Libertex Review
ATFX	6.6	$500	N/A	70	150	ATFX Review
UFX	6.6	$100	3	67	619	UFX Review
Xtrade	6.5	$250	N/A	80	142	Xtrade Review
Tradeo	6.4	$200	N/A	67	256	Tradeo Review

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