Page Summary
This guide helps users to find the best trading platforms in UAE for fast order execution. There are numerous online brokers in UAE that allow fast order execution and low latency. Due to the growing number of reliable and unreliable providers, it is often hard to choose the most suitable platform for certain financial goals and needs.
With in-depth research and comparison of providers, traders can avoid selecting a platform which is lacking in order execution speed, reliability, customer support or transparency.
This guide assesses 30 online brokers in UAE with order execution speed below 40ms. To help traders find the ideal option for their trading goals, the fastest trading platforms in UAE are listed, reviewed and compared considering fees, mobile trading apps, customer support, platforms, tradable assets, deposits & withdrawals, regulation, research & education and trade execution speed.
Fastest Trading Platforms UAE
- Interactive Brokers – Best For Stock and ETFs
- TradeStation – Ideal for active traders
- Charles Schwab – Optimal for mutual funds
- Lightspeed – Best For Options and Futures
- ETX Capital – Top For Forex and CFD
Fastest Trading Platforms in UAE Reviewed
Online brokers with the fastest trading platforms in UAE are reviewed below.
1. Interactive Brokers – Best For Stock and ETF Trading
Min Deposit: $0
Fees: 4.9
Assets available: 4.9
Total Fees:
All trading involves risk. More than 80% of investors lose in spread bet and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
Interactive Brokers finishes at number one as the fastest trading platform for stocks and ETFs. It is a highly trusted global broker with a well-rounded offer of different shares, stocks and ETFs, great educational content and sophisticated order type configuration. Compared to the best UAE stock brokers, they have a lower entry level and a proprietary platform which is intuitive and easy to use for trading stocks and ETFs. Professional and seasoned traders will appreciate the great selection of advanced trading tools and order type configurations available on their proprietary Trader Workstation desktop platform (TWS).
Their offer of 16,500 shares, 8,000 stock CFDs and 2,300 penny stocks in addition to a great execution speed makes this brokers the best choice for traders looking for a fast executing trading platform.
Pros
- Fast and reliable trade execution in multiple global markets
- Wide choice of trading instruments
- Professional trading platforms for both active traders and investors
- Competitive trading fees
Cons
- IBKR Lite users have slower trade execution
- Few deposit and withdrawal options
Key features
- Margin loan rates on stocks of 1.3%
- Access to 135+ global markets
- Advanced order types, tools and features
- Access to frictional shares
- Lowest commissions in the industry
All trading involves risk. More than 80% of investors lose in spread bet and CFD trading. As these complex instruments allow for the use of leverage, there is a high risk of losing more money than you have deposited. Before attempting to participate in spread bets and CFDs, consider how well you understand them and if you can afford to lose your money.
2. TradeStation – Best for active traders
Min Deposit: $0 ($2000 – Margin account; $25000 – Day Trading account; $5000 – Futures account)
Fees: 4.8
Assets available: 5.0
Total Fees:
Tradestation is a reputable online broker known for its technology-leading trading platforms, great selection of tools and zero commission stock and ETF trading. Their industry leading trading platform suite combines a desktop, web and mobile version which are all performing above industry average. Tradestation offers a great selection of most popular asset classes including stocks, cryptos, options, futures, ETFs and IRAs.
Their trading fees vary based on account selection. Pricing is below industry average on the most used accounts (select and GO). Minimum deposit is $2000 and there are no monthly charges.
Pros
- Fastest trade execution on zero commissioned stocks
- Wide choice of trading instruments
- Great mobile trading platform
- Professional trading platform that works for different types of traders
Cons
- Research and education section lacking resources
Key features
- Access to over 20,000 stocks, ETFs, options, futures, mutual funds, bonds, and other financial instruments.
- Early-access to newly listed securities via TradeStation’s IPO trading platform
- Broad range of research and analysis tools for advanced traders like FuturesPlus, TSCrypto, Discover, and Insights
- Fully paid stock lending and margin trading available
- Low floating spreads, commissions, and other trading fees
- Perfect for both beginner and advanced traders
3. Charles Schwab – Best for mutual fund and for investors
Charles Schwab is a US-based FINRA and SEC-regulated broker that has been in business since 1971 at which users can trade stocks and ETFs without paying any commissions. Charles Schwab offers high-quality trading tools like stock research and detailed fundamental data to help you generate trading ideas.
Charles Schwab offers traders and investors the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios service, which is a robo-advisory service to help you optimize your portfolio and the StreetSmart Edge advanced desktop trading platform which includes a wide range of tools and features.
Pros
- Fast trade execution
- Choice of different tradable assets
- Competitive trading fees
- Deep research and education
Cons
- Not the best broker for beginners
Key features
- Access to over 3,000 US stocks and thousands of other financial instruments
- Multiple advanced order types
- Provides own equity ratings and reports from Morningstar and Credit Suisse
- Integrated with Google Assistant – Ask Google any stock price or market update
- Commissionless stock trading
- Suitable for both beginners and advanced traders
- Robo-advisor and financial advisors available
4. Lightspeed – Best For Options and Futures
Lightspeed is a globally operating FINRA-regulated broker that offers stocks, options, and futures trading to both professional and institutional traders. It has multiple trading platforms available like LightSpeed Trader, LightSpeed Web & Mobile, and Sterling Trader Pro, which features level 2 trading and dynamic charting functionality. They also offer advanced options and futures trading platforms like LiveVolX and Eze EMS.
Lightspeed mainly aims at professional high-volume traders with their low per-share and per-contract fees and fast order execution speeds. The minimum balance required to open an account is either $10,000 or $25,000, which may deter beginners from trading with them.
The Lightspeed mobile app has the same functionalities as their desktop trading platforms, but futures trading isn’t possible through mobile devices. In total, traders can trade over 6,000 stocks, futures, options, commodities and T-bills with Lightspeed using multiple advanced order types like OCO and FIFO.
Lightspeed offers 24/7 support by email, live chat and phone in English and offers a paper trading account to test out their platform.
Pros
- Excellent performance and speed
- Choice of different trading platforms
- Wide choice of tradable assets
- Good customer support
Cons
- High minimum deposit
Key features
- Access to over 10,000 different stocks, ETFs, options, and futures
- Trading fee discounts for active stock and ETF traders
- Broad range of risk management tools and third party software
- Extensive education section with live webinars, trading courses, and an active trader blog
- Specifically catered to professional and institutional traders
- Fully customizable trading platforms with Level 2 order book information and dynamic charting features
5. ETX Capital – Best For Forex and CFD
Min Deposit: $100
Fees: 4.9
Assets available: 3.0
Total Fees:
ETX Capital, recently rebranded to OvalX, is a top-tier brokerage firm that has been in business since 1965. It offers traders access to over 6000 tradable symbols via their OvalX Trader Pro platform. ETX Capital is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, offers single stock CFD trading, and is compatible with MetaTrader 4. Despite the fact that you can open an account with them from just $100, they do not have any crypto CFDs available nor do they offer social trading.
ETX Capital charges low, fixed spreads and has multiple advanced order types available like GTC, GSLO, and OCO. Apart from many different order types they offer over 60 indicators and 14 drawing tools, providing traders with the technical analysis tools they need to successfully trade the markets.
ETX Capital has two trading apps available, the OvalX Trader Pro and the MetaTrader 4 trading app. The OvalX app is designed very intuitively and traders can even place orders by phone by calling to ETX Capital’s dealing desk.
The ETX Capital customer service can be contacted 24/7 by email, live chat, and phone and is of excellent quality as can be concluded from their 4,5/5 star rating of over 247 reviews on TrustPilot.
If you are looking to trade with a reliable, regulated broker, we highly recommend trading on ETX Capital’s new OvalX trading platform.
Pros
- Choice trading platforms (desktop and mobile)
- Competitive trading fees
- Good Research and Education material
Cons
- Choice of trading instrument could be better
Key features
- Access over a thousand CFDs on forex, indices, shares, commodities, and cryptocurrencies
- Compatible with MetaTrader 4
- Wide range of educational material in the form of trading guides, analysis, and webinars
- Low, floating spreads
- Advanced order types available like GTC, GSLO, and OCO
- Free unlimited demo paper trading account
73.85% of retail CFD accounts lose money
How To Find The Fastest Trading Platform in UAE?
Criteria to consider for finding the ideal fast trading platforms in UAE are listed below.
- Fees: Look for a 0% commission broker so you make as much as possible on your trades, additionally, be sure to check the spreads between the brokers you like.
- Trading platforms: You need a trading platform that will keep up with your high speed trades. Also look for a platform that offers access to breaking news, historical data, and portfolio tracking. High speed trading tools need an API, so make sure your broker supports that.
- Mobile Trading: The Fastest Trading Platforms in UAE have mobile trading, so you can trade from anywhere with internet access. Look to ensure that the platform includes the trading features you need.
- Deposit & Withdrawal: You shouldn’t pay to make deposits or withdrawals with a high speed broker in UAE. Payment methods vary, so make sure the broker you like supports your payment platform.
- Assets: You need to have access to a range of assets for a high speed trading operation. Traders in the UAE can invest in forex, commodities, bonds, indices, mutual funds, options, swaps, ETFs futures, indexes, and cryptos.
- Regulation: Don’t waste your time or money with brokers that operate in unregulated markets, make sure the broker you use complies with the FCA, CySEC, and the ASIC.
- Research & Education: Anyone that is new to trading should look for a platform that offers educational resources. Your high speed trading tools need special access to the markets, so make sure the broker will tell you how to make the tools operate with the trading platform.
- Customer support: Expect great customer support from any trading platform. In addition to speaking your language, customer support should have a deep technical knowledge of the platform.
- Trade execution speed: It is an important success factor especially if you are trading volatile markets. Day traders and scalpers should be aware of how fast the trade execution happens and should not settle for anything over 100 milliseconds.
Fastest Brokers in UAE Compared
Trading execution speed of the highest rated brokers are compared in the table below.
| Broker | Assets | Trade Execution Speed | Platforms | Third-party Integrations | Minimum Deposit | Customer Support | Regulation | Deposits & Withdrawal Options |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Brokers | Equities, options, futures, forex, bonds, funds, commodities, stocks, ETFs | Under 40 milliseconds | Trader Workstation, Client Portal, IBKR Mobile | Extensive API offering | $0 for cash accounts, $2,000 for margin accounts | Phone, chat, and email support | Regulated by SEC, FINRA, FCA, and others | Bank transfer, check, direct deposit |
| TradeStation | Equities, options, futures, forex, stocks, commodities | Under 30 milliseconds | TradeStation 10, Web Trading, TradeStation Mobile | EasyLanguage scripting language, API offering | $500 | 24/7 Phone support, live chat, email | Regulated by SEC, FINRA, CFTC | Wire, check, ACH, Online Bill Payment |
| Charles Schwab | Equities, options, futures, forex, bonds, funds, stocks | Under 35 milliseconds | StreetSmart Edge, StreetSmart.com, Schwab Mobile | Limited, integration with Schwab’s other services | $0 | 24/7 Phone support, live chat, email | Regulated by SEC, FINRA | Wire, check, ACH, Schwab MoneyLink |
| Lightspeed | Equities, options, futures | Under 30 milliseconds | Lightspeed Trader, Sterling Trader, RealTick Pro, Livevol X, Web/Mobile Trader | Extensive API offering | $25,000 for pattern day traders, $10,000 for non-pattern day traders | Phone, email support | Regulated by SEC, FINRA | Wire, check, ACH |
| ETX Capital | CFDs, forex, indices, commodities, equities, ETFs, bonds | Under 35 milliseconds | ETX TraderPro, ETX MT4 | Limited, mainly MT4 integration | £100 or currency equivalent | Phone, email, live chat support | Regulated by FCA | Debit/credit card, wire transfer, e-wallets |
Why is Fast Execution of Trades Important?
Day traders in the UAE need to choose a broker that offers fast trade execution, regardless of the assets they trade. Instead of taking on long term positions, day traders make money over short periods of time. Because of the time frame involved, trade execution by the broker needs to be instant.
For example, if a trader takes on a position in the EUR/USD currency pair, the trade execution is instant with the right broker. The market moves fast, especially when there is a major news event, and a delay in execution can impact the profit a trader makes.
Choosing a broker that is also a market maker is important for day traders, as the execution time with a market making broker is fast. Brokers who aren’t market makers won’t have access to the same level of liquidity. If you need to have your trades executed in 100ms or less, choose the correct broker for the trades.
Which assets allow fast trading / which assets are best for day trading?
Day traders need to choose assets that have liquid markets and are widely traded. For example, a small cap stock, or exotic forex pair, would be the wrong asset. Instead, large stocks like AAPL, or major forex pairs, like the EUR/USD pair, would be correct.
Here are factors for day traders to consider when choosing an asset:
- Liquidity: Any day trading asset should have a liquid market so opening and closing positions is instantaneous.
- Transaction Cost: Day traders make many transactions every day, so the costs to trade must be low.
- Volatility: Traders must be on the correct side of market volatility to make money, any day trading assets should be volatile.
- Margin and Leverage: Using a margin account, or leverage, will amplify the gains or losses from a position. Day traders use this to their advantage and make returns that are larger than the underlying asset’s price action.
Conclusion
The increasing number of online brokers in UAE offering different services and conditions, makes it hard to find the ideal option for individual needs. Proper research and analysis can be stressful and requires time and knowledge.
This guide does the hard work for you by comparing and evaluating the top choices for traders looking for fast trade execution. The results of our analysis of the fastest trading platform in UAE are wrapped up in the table below.
| RANK | BROKER | OVERALL SCORE | BEST FOR | WEBSITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Interactive Brokers | 4,9/5 | Stock and ETFs | Official website |
| #2 | TradeStation | 4,9/5 | Active traders | Official website |
| #3 | Charles Schwab | 4,9/5 | Mutual funds | Official website |
| #4 | Lightspeed | 4,5/5 | Options and Futures | Official website |
| #5 | ETX Capital | 4,9/5 | Forex and CFDs | Official website |
FAQ
What trading strategies require fast trade execution?
Trading strategies that require fast trade execution include day trading, scalping, high frequency trading, momentum trading, news trading and arbitrage.
What effects brokers order execution speed?
Factors that have the biggest impact on trade execution speed include VPS server (to reduce latency), no dealing desk intervention, high liquidity and platform architecture.
When are trading platforms labeled as fast?
Trading platforms with trade execution speed below 40ms are labeled as fast.
Disclaimer
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money
This communication is intended for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or investment recommendation. Past performance is not an indication of future results.
Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
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eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.
Stefan Grasic is the owner of Business24-7 and has considerable experience in the financial and investment niche, but also enjoys writing articles for the general readership. Stefan is an active stock, CFD, crypto and general investment researcher, advising blockchain companies such as Blockbird, GoCrypto, Hive Terminal at their start up level.