If you’re hunting for forex brokers with the fastest execution speed, chances are you’re either a scalper or you rely on automated trading strategies or EAs. In these cases, having a broker with lightning-fast order execution and competitive trading costs (like low spreads and commissions) is non-negotiable.

Luckily, you’re in the right place. I’ve handpicked brokers from a list of 100 options, narrowing it down to those with both exceptional execution speed and reasonable trading costs. To ensure accuracy, I calculated their execution speed using two EAs and relied on a trusted third-party website you’ve likely heard of—Myfxbook. This way, the data we used is unbiased and not based on claims from the brokers’ own websites.

Of course, regulation matters just as much as speed and costs. That’s why I only selected brokers that are well-regulated, leaving out those with weak or no regulatory oversight—even if they offer low spreads or commissions.

For further details on how brokers were chosen, you can check out my earlier post on the Best Brokers for Scalping, which explains the methodology in-depth.

What Is Order Execution Speed?

Order execution speed refers to the time it takes for your broker to process your order after you hit the buy/sell button. In simpler terms, it’s the time between sending your order and having it filled—either by opening your position or placing a pending order.

Here’s how it works: When you place an order, your broker forwards it to its liquidity providers (such as banks or financial institutions) to find a match. If the broker is NDD (No Dealing Desk), this process occurs externally through liquidity providers, while for DD (Dealing Desk) or market maker brokers, the order is matched internally.

In normal market conditions, this entire process typically takes just milliseconds. The speed, however, depends on two major factors:

1. Advanced Technology: Brokers with cutting-edge trading platforms can process orders much faster.
2. Strong Liquidity Providers: Brokers with a robust network of liquidity providers can match your orders quicker, resulting in faster execution.

Execution speed is crucial for traders who rely on precision and timing, such as scalpers and high-frequency traders.

When Does Execution Speed Become Slower?

While order execution typically takes just milliseconds in normal market conditions, there are specific situations where execution speed can slow down significantly, sometimes taking several seconds or even longer.

This generally occurs in two scenarios:

1. High Volatility

Execution speed can slow down during periods of extreme market volatility, often caused by significant news events.

• Pre-News Volatility: Before major announcements like NFP (Non-Farm Payroll) data, traders flood the market with orders as they try to predict the news outcome, leading to rapid and unpredictable price changes.
• Post-News Volatility: After key news releases, the market often reacts with sharp, fast movements. During such times, prices fluctuate so rapidly that brokers struggle to match orders quickly, even if they have high liquidity.

In these situations, it becomes difficult to execute trades at your desired price, resulting in slower execution or slippage.

2. Low Liquidity

Execution speed can also dip during periods of low market activity, where there’s insufficient liquidity to fill orders efficiently.

• This typically happens during quiet market hours, such as the end of the New York session, when trading volume drops significantly.

The Impact of Slower Execution

In the mentioned conditions, delayed execution can lead to slippages, where your order is filled at a price different from your intended one. This can directly impact profitability, especially for scalpers and high-frequency traders.

How to Mitigate Slow Execution?

Choosing a broker with advanced technology and a solid network of liquidity providers (LP) can minimize these delays. While no broker can completely eliminate the effects of volatility or low liquidity, a reputable broker with strong LPs can ensure smoother and more reliable trade execution.

Additionally, improving certain factors related to your device and internet connection can help reduce slow execution and enhance overall trading performance — we’ll discuss this later in the article.

How We Test the Order Execution Speed of Forex Brokers?

To evaluate the order execution speed of forex brokers, we conducted a series of tests using two specialized Expert Advisors (EAs) on the MT4 trading platform:

EA for Market Order Execution Speed: This measures the time taken for brokers to execute trades at the current market price or instantly.

EA for Limit Order Execution Speed: This tests how quickly brokers execute orders such as buy limits, sell limits, buy stops, and sell stops.

Important Note About Testing Environment
The tests were performed on the demo accounts of the brokers. Here’s what you need to know:
Better Results on Demo: Demo accounts often provide faster and smoother execution compared to live accounts. This is because demo accounts operate in ideal conditions without the influence of slippage, requotes, or market volatility.
Comparison to Live Accounts: In live trading, execution speeds are generally 1.5x to 2x slower compared to demo results, especially during volatile or low-liquid periods. However, in some cases, live account results matched demo performance, depending on the broker’s technology and liquidity.

Types of Orders Tested

1. Limit Orders
   • These include buy limit, sell limit, buy stop, and sell stop orders.
   • Limit orders are typically used to enter the market at a predefined price level or better.
2. Market Orders
   • These occur when traders open positions at the current market price.
   • Market orders are executed instantly under normal market conditions.

Testing Limit Orders

To evaluate the speed of limit order execution, we used an EA. This EA works by placing multiple limit orders (both buy and sell) and then measuring the time taken between sending the orders to the broker and receiving a response or execution confirmation.

This test is particularly useful for traders who use EAs that place several limit orders in rapid succession, where speed is critical. It’s especially valuable in highly volatile market conditions, where even a slight delay can impact the outcome of trades.

We ran this test multiple times over a 4-week period, and the final results are the average of all the tests conducted.

Testing Market Orders

Fast market order execution is essential not only for traders running EAs but also for scalpers aiming to extract a few pips from the market. In such cases, milliseconds can make or break a trade.

The smaller the profit target in your trades, the more critical execution speed becomes—especially during volatile market conditions.

To test market order execution speed, we used another EA. It opens 25 positions at the market price and calculates the average speed of the last 20 orders.

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It’s important to note that the results produced by the EA are not the actual execution speeds because they include the latency between your system and the broker’s servers. To determine the real execution speed, you would need to subtract your network latency from the EA’s reported results.

What Is Latency and How to Find the Final Execution Speed?

Latency refers to the time delay between your platform (MT4) and the broker’s server. If you’re located in the UK and your broker’s server is in Australia, your orders will likely experience slower execution times than if you were physically closer to the server.

In general, if your broker’s server is located in your city, you can expect a latency of less than 10 milliseconds (ms). If the server is located nearby, the latency could be as low as 1 to 2 ms.

To get an accurate measure of your broker’s order execution speed, you need to account for your own latency (ping) to the broker’s server. To do this, subtract the latency from the test results generated by the EA.

There are two main ways to check your ping:

1. Using MT4:
   Open your MT4 platform and navigate to File → Open an Account. In the pop-up window, you’ll see your ping listed in the right-hand column.

2. Via MT4’s connection status:

You can also find your latency by looking at the connection status in the bottom right corner of your MT4 platform. Simply click on it to see the current ping to your broker’s server.

To calculate the true order execution speed, you need to deduct your ping (latency) from the results produced by the EAs. This will give you the accurate time it takes for your orders to be executed by the broker’s server.

For example, if you’re using the Broker Latency Tester and you see that the average execution speed is 294ms, you would need to subtract your ping from this result.

Let’s say your ping is 194ms. To find the actual market order execution speed, you subtract the ping from the total execution speed:

294ms – 194ms = 100ms

So, in this example, the actual market order execution speed of the broker is 100ms. You can apply the same method for limit order execution speed as well.

How to Decrease Latency and Increase Execution Speed?

To improve order execution speed and reduce latency, there are several steps you can take. Here’s how:

Ping Reduction

Reducing your ping (latency) is essential to improving execution speed. There are a couple of strategies you can implement:

1. Choose a Broker with a Server Near You
   Opt for a broker with servers in your location or at least within your country. Brokers often have servers in major financial hubs like New York or London, which provide the lowest ping for traders located nearby. It’s also easy to check with brokers about their server locations.
2. Use a Virtual Private Server (VPS)
   Even if a broker has servers nearby, some ping will still exist. The best solution to minimize ping is to use a VPS. By hosting your trading platform on a VPS located in proximity to the broker’s servers, you can reduce latency to almost 0.1-0.2ms, making it negligible.For example, if you’re in New York but your broker’s server is in Sydney, you might have a ping of around 200ms. However, if you use a VPS with servers in Sydney, your ping could drop drastically, improving your execution speed.Many brokers offer free VPS hosting as part of their higher-tier accounts, depending on your deposit. For example:
   • A $1000 deposit may grant you a VPS with 500MB RAM, 25GB storage, and a one-core CPU.A $5000 deposit may give you a VPS with 2GB RAM, 50GB storage, and a two-core CPU.
   If your broker doesn’t provide a VPS or the plan doesn’t suit your needs, there are several reputable VPS providers you can explore. I’ve researched and compiled the best ones in a separate post on Best Forex VPS.

Device Enhancements

In addition to using a VPS, other factors can improve your execution speed:

1. Internet Speed
   The speed of your internet connection plays a significant role in order execution. A faster connection allows your orders to be transmitted to the broker’s server more quickly. A slow internet connection can create delays in the order process.I personally experienced this when I initially ran my VPS through a laptop with a slower internet connection — the VPS was sluggish. When I switched to a faster PC with a better connection, the performance improved significantly.
2. CPU (Processor)
   A faster CPU improves overall system performance, including order execution speed. A quad-core CPU (four cores) in most cases is ideal for running trading platforms, while a dual-core CPU (two cores) is usually sufficient for a VPS, unless you’re running multiple EAs simultaneously.
3. RAM (Memory)
   Sufficient RAM is important for your device and VPS to function efficiently. I recommend at least 4-8 GB of RAM for your PC and 2-4 GB for your VPS. However, 1GB of RAM is adequate for many cases.
4. Hard Drive
   Although not as critical as other factors, a full hard drive can slow down your device. Ensure your PC has sufficient free space (at least 100GB), so your device can operate smoothly without affecting execution speed.

By using a reliable VPS and enhancing your internet speed, CPU, RAM, and hard drive, you can optimize execution speed and achieve faster, more reliable trading.

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Best Execution Forex Brokers

According to the study, the forex brokers with the best and fastest execution are:

• Roboforex
• FP markets
• Pepperstone
• PFD
• Axitrader
• Intertrader
• Global Prime
• FXOpen
• HotForex
• Go Markets

Although these are the top 10 execution brokers, the other 10 brokers can be included in the category of best forex execution brokers as well and have shown very good results in the tests.

Forex Brokers Execution Speed Comparison Table

In the table below, you can compare brokers based on their market and limit order execution speeds. Simply click on the headers to sort brokers by the fastest to slowest execution speeds and vice versa.

If you want to know the other conditions of the brokers such as spreads and commission, you can check the best brokers for scalping.

Brokers	limit order execution speed	market order execution speed	broker website
RoboForex	85	85	Visit Website
FP Markets	90	85	Visit Website
Pepperstone	100	100	Visit Website
AXITrader	100	130	Visit Website
Rakuten Securities	150	150	Visit Website
InterTrader	110	130	Visit Website
Just2Trade	100	500	Visit Website
PFD	100	110	Visit Website
Tickmill	150	160	Visit Website
Go Markets	130	140	Visit Website
Admiral Markets	105	150	Visit Website
FBS	170	290	Visit Website
ATFX	160	160	Visit Website
IC Markets	130	180	Visit Website
Global Prime	115	140	Visit Website
FX Open	125	150	Visit Website
FXTM	140	170	Visit Website
FXCM	125	150	Visit Website
Alpari	130	150	Visit Website
HotForex	150	145	Visit Website

The Bottom Line