If you’re a scalper, high frequency trader, or rely on automated trading strategies (EAs), the execution speed of your forex broker can make or break your trades. Even a delay of just a few milliseconds can lead to slippage, missed entries, or smaller profits.

That’s why I put together this 2025 ranking of the fastest forex brokers. From a pool of over 100 brokers sourced through platforms like Myfxbook and other trusted sites, I selected only the most reliable candidates. Then, using four custom-built Expert Advisors (EAs) on both MT4 and MT5, I independently tested their order execution speed.

In this guide, you’ll see which brokers delivered the quickest execution times and how they compare side by side.

Quick Comparison — Fastest Forex Brokers in 2025

From all the brokers we tested, these are the top 3 fastest forex brokers for MT4 and MT5, including both market and limit orders. These brokers consistently delivered lightning-fast execution times across multiple tests.

Broker	MT4 Market Order Speed	MT4 Limit Order Speed	MT5 Market Order Speed	MT5 Limit Order Speed
FXPro	50	50	50	2
HYCM	55	50	8	6
IFC Markets	60	55	6	5

What Is Order Execution Speed?

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

Here’s how it works: when you place an order, the broker either matches it internally (Dealing Desk / market maker) or routes it externally to liquidity providers such as banks, prime brokers, or ECNs (No Dealing Desk — NDD). NDD brokers typically use STP/ECN routing to send your order to a pool of liquidity providers, while DD brokers can fill orders from their own internal liquidity.

Under normal market conditions this entire process usually completes in milliseconds, but actual times vary depending on several factors:

• Technology & infrastructure — matching engines, server hardware, colocated servers and the broker’s bridge/aggregator software.
• Liquidity — number and quality of liquidity providers and depth of order books.
• Geographic proximity / latency (ping) — physical distance between your platform (or VPS) and the broker’s servers.
• Order type & account type — market vs limit orders, ECN/raw vs standard accounts can result in different fill behaviour.
• Market conditions — volatility and thin liquidity windows (e.g., news events or off-hours) often slow execution and increase slippage.

Execution speed is especially important for scalpers, algorithmic/EAs users, and high-frequency strategies — where even a few milliseconds of delay can cause slippage or missed fills. In later sections we explain how we measure and correct for your own network latency (ping).

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 — even with the fastest forex brokers.

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.
• It can also occur on less liquid currency pairs (e.g., USD/TRY or exotic crosses) or during broker rollover times, when servers reset and market depth temporarily thins out.

The Impact of Slower Execution

Slower execution doesn’t just mean waiting longer for a trade to open — it directly affects your results. When an order is delayed, the market may move before it’s filled, leading to:

• Slippage: your trade is executed at a worse price than intended. Even small slippage adds up for scalpers and EA traders.
• Missed opportunities: in fast-moving markets, a delayed order might never be filled at your target entry.
• Reduced profitability: a few pips lost to slippage can turn a winning scalping setup into a breakeven or losing trade.
• Psychological impact: inconsistent fills can cause hesitation, frustration, or overtrading as you try to “make up” for execution losses.

For long-term investors, execution speed may not have a noticeable effect. But for scalpers, day traders, and algorithmic strategies, even tiny delay can make the difference between profit and loss. That’s why testing broker execution speed is critical if you apply those strategies.

How to Mitigate Slow Execution?

While you can’t control market volatility or liquidity, there are ways to minimize the effects of slow execution and reduce slippage:

1. Choose a broker with fast technology and reliable liquidity
   • Brokers using advanced trading infrastructure and connected to multiple liquidity providers can execute orders more quickly and consistently.
   • Consider ECN or NDD brokers for faster, transparent order routing.
2. Use accounts designed for speed
   • ECN or raw spread accounts often offer lower latency than standard accounts.
   • Some brokers prioritize market order execution speed on certain account tiers.
3. Optimize your own setup
   • Connect via a stable, high-speed internet connection.
   • Use a VPS located near the broker’s server to reduce ping, especially for EA traders.
   • Ensure your trading device has sufficient CPU and RAM if you run multiple EAs simultaneously.
4. Be strategic with order types
   • Market orders generally execute faster than limit or stop orders.
   • Avoid placing trades during known high-volatility events if slippage would significantly impact your strategy.

How We Test the Order Execution Speed of Forex Brokers?

To evaluate the execution speed of forex brokers, we conducted a series of tests using four custom-built EAs specifically developed to measure order execution on MT4 and MT5 platforms.

EA for Market Order Execution Speed

• Measures the time it takes for brokers to execute trades at the current market price (instant orders).

EA for Limit Order Execution Speed

• Tests how quickly brokers place orders such as buy limits, sell limits, buy stops, and sell stops.
• Note: For limit orders, we measure the speed at which the broker accepts and places the order, not the actual execution, because execution depends on market conditions and price movement, which the EA cannot control.

Testing Limit Orders

To evaluate the speed of limit order execution, we developed two custom EAs — one for MT4 and one for MT5. These EAs place multiple limit orders (both buy and sell) and measure the time between sending the orders to the broker and receiving a confirmation response.

This test is especially relevant for traders who use EAs that place several limit orders in rapid succession, where execution speed is critical. It’s particularly valuable in volatile market conditions, where even small delays can affect trading outcomes.

However, unlike market order tests, our limit order EAs only measure the speed of placing orders, not their actual execution. The reason is simple:

• In live conditions, execution may not happen immediately — or at all — if the price never reaches the order level.
• In fast-moving markets, it’s nearly impossible to create uniform testing conditions for when a limit order gets filled.

Because of these challenges, the most reliable and optimized way to design our limit order test was to focus on measuring the order placement speed, rather than execution speed.

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 critical not only for traders running automated EAs but also for scalpers who aim to capture just a few pips per trade. In these strategies, milliseconds can determine profit or loss.

The smaller your profit target, the more crucial execution speed becomes—especially during volatile market conditions, when prices can change in an instant.

To measure market order execution speed, we developed two dedicated EAs — one for MT4 and one for MT5. Each EA opens 20 positions at the current market price (10 buy and 10 sell orders) and then calculates:

• The average execution speed of buy orders
• The average execution speed of sell orders
• The overall average market order execution speed

This structured approach allows us to benchmark brokers fairly and identify those with consistently fast execution on both MT4 and MT5.

MT4 vs MT5 Execution Speed: My Surprising Findings

During my tests, I noticed something quite striking: MT5 consistently outperformed MT4 in execution speed. While a market order execution of around 100ms on MT4 is considered fast, MT5 often completed the same orders in under 10ms. That’s an order-of-magnitude difference, and it immediately caught my attention.

Why is MT5 so much faster? From my observations and discussions with brokers:

• Multi-threaded architecture: Unlike MT4, which runs single-threaded, MT5 can handle multiple orders and data streams simultaneously. This reduces processing delays significantly.
• Optimized server communication: MT5 uses more efficient protocols to communicate with broker servers, cutting down latency and response times.
• Improved order handling engine: MT5’s order execution system is built for high-frequency trading and scalping, allowing faster processing even under volatile market conditions.

Having said that, I noticed that in a few brokers, market order execution on MT5 was consistently slower than MT4 — sometimes even double. Since all tests were performed in the same VPS, PC, and market conditions, this appears to be due to how these brokers handle MT5 orders internally. MT5’s more complex multi-threaded processing can, in these cases, add extra milliseconds compared to MT4’s simpler execution engine.

So, before switching completely, it’s always a good idea to test both MT4 and MT5 on your broker to see which platform delivers the fastest execution for your setup. In most cases, MT5 will be quicker, but checking ensures you’re not losing precious milliseconds on your trades.

What Is Latency and Why Is It Important for Execution Speed?

Latency is the time delay between your trading platform (MT4/MT5) and the broker’s server. The further you are from the server, the longer it takes for your orders to be transmitted. For example, if you’re located in the UK and your broker’s server is in Australia, your orders will generally experience higher latency compared to using a broker with servers nearby.

• If a broker’s server is in the same city as you, latency is usually under 10 milliseconds (ms).
• If the server is very close, it can be as low as 1–2 ms.

Latency matters because it directly affects how quickly your orders are executed. Even a small delay can impact scalpers or EA traders who depend on millisecond precision.

For accuracy, our custom-built EAs automatically deduct the broker’s ping (latency) from the raw execution results. This ensures that the execution speed we report reflects the broker’s true performance — not the influence of distance or network delays.

How to Decrease Latency and Increase Execution Speed?

Improving order execution speed and reducing latency is crucial for scalpers, EA traders, and anyone relying on fast fills. Here are the most effective strategies to reduce forex latency and improve MT4/MT5 execution speed:

Reduce Ping (Latency)

The lower your ping, the faster your orders are executed. To minimize it:

• Choose a Broker with Nearby Servers
  Select a broker with servers located in your country or region. Many brokers host servers in financial hubs like New York, London, or Frankfurt, which provide ultra-low ping times for nearby traders.

Use a Virtual Private Server (VPS)

Even with nearby servers, some latency remains. Hosting your trading platform on a forex VPS close to your broker’s server is the best way to minimize delays.

• A VPS can reduce latency to 0.1–0.2ms, making it virtually negligible.
• Many brokers offer free VPS hosting with higher-tier accounts. For example:
  • $1,000 deposit → VPS with 500MB RAM, 25GB storage, and 1-core CPU
  • $5,000 deposit → VPS with 2GB RAM, 50GB storage, and 2-core CPU
• If your broker doesn’t provide one, you can choose from the best VPS for forex trading, where I’ve reviewed and compared the top VPS providers for traders.

Optimize Your Device Setup

Your hardware and internet connection also play a role in execution speed.

• Internet Speed: A fast, stable internet connection reduces order delays. If your home internet is slow, a VPS can bypass this issue entirely.
• CPU (Processor): For PCs, a quad-core CPU is ideal. For VPS setups, a dual-core CPU is usually sufficient unless running multiple EAs.
• RAM (Memory): 4–8GB for PCs is recommended. For VPS, 2–4GB is enough; even 1GB can work in lighter setups.
• Hard Drive: Keep at least 100GB free to avoid slowdowns. SSD storage is preferable for VPS and local setups.

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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Forex Brokers Execution Speed Comparison Table

In the table below, you can compare brokers based on their MT4 and MT5 market and limit order execution speeds. Simply click on the headers to sort brokers by the fastest to slowest execution speeds and vice versa.

Brokers	MT4 limit order execution speed	MT4 market order execution speed	MT5 limit order execution speed	MT5 market order execution speed	broker website
FXPro	50	50	50	2	Visit Website
HYCM	55	50	8	6	Visit Website
IFC Markets	60	55	6	5	Visit Website
Pepperstone	70	65	10	9	Visit Website
IC Markets	90	75	260	260	Visit Website
XChief	160	160	55	2	Visit Website
Alpari	-	-	35	8	Visit Website
AMarkets	160	140	80	100	Visit Website
Fibo Group	130	100	240	3	Visit Website
FX Open	125	150			Visit Website

The Bottom Line