Direct market access (DMA) lets you send your orders straight to an exchange’s order book or to a liquidity provider, instead of having your broker decide where to execute them.
The main benefit is control: you see the live order book, choose the venue and place your order exactly where you want it, which matters for active strategies such as algorithmic trading, scalping and arbitrage. The trade-offs are cost and complexity, so DMA isn’t for everyone.
In this article, we review the best DMA brokers, comparing minimum deposits, the markets where DMA is available, platforms, order types and costs (checked in September 2026).
Interactive Brokers | Best overall
IBKR offers one of the industry’s broadest ranges of assets and joined the S&P 500 in 2025. It provides direct-access routing through Trader Workstation (TWS), with access to 160+ markets and its SmartRouting engine when you don’t want to pick the venue yourself.
Forex.com | Best for DMA on forex
Part of StoneX Group, Forex.com offers 80+ currency pairs and a dedicated DMA account with prices from global banks and tier-one liquidity providers, with no markup beyond the spread.
Charles Schwab | Best for DMA on US stocks
A US broker with low fees and strong research, whose thinkorswim platform lets you choose your order-routing venue, alongside routing arrangements aimed at price improvement.
IG | Best for DMA on CFDs
A UK broker founded in 1974 and listed on the London Stock Exchange, with 17,000+ markets. Its L2 Dealer platform gives DMA on share and forex CFDs, with anonymity, many order types and access to exchange auctions.
Saxo | Best for professional and institutional clients
Saxo connects clients to bank and non-bank liquidity providers, ECNs and listed FX derivatives on major exchanges, through a single account with institutional-grade post-trade services.
| Broker | DMA available on | Minimum deposit | Platform for DMA | Available to |
| Interactive Brokers | Stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and warrants | $0 (DMA requires an IBKR Pro account) | Trader Workstation (desktop) | International, including the US |
| Forex.com | Forex | $100 to open (DMA account has its own eligibility rules) | Proprietary platform, MT4 and MT5 | International, varies by entity |
| Charles Schwab | US stocks, options and futures | $0 | thinkorswim | US and a few other countries |
| IG | CFDs on shares and forex | $1,000 for DMA | L2 Dealer | International, not US retail |
| Saxo | Stocks, forex and options | $0 on the Classic tier in most countries | SaxoTrader | International, not US retail |
Checked in September 2026. DMA conditions, eligibility and fees vary by entity and country, so confirm with the entity that serves you.
Below, we review each broker in more detail.
Best brokers for direct market access reviewed
Interactive Brokers at a glance
Interactive Brokers was founded in 1978, is listed on Nasdaq (ticker: IBKR) and joined the S&P 500 in 2025. It is known for its technology and covers stocks, ETFs, options, futures, forex, bonds, funds and crypto.
The IBKR SmartRouting algorithm looks for the best overall price by continuously re-routing orders as market conditions change, taking into account market depth, order size and the fees each venue charges.
On top of SmartRouting, IBKR offers direct-access routing, which is what makes it a DMA broker: you can tell it to send your order to a specific exchange or venue, which is useful for targeting a particular liquidity pool or capturing exchange rebates. This is available on Trader Workstation (TWS), the desktop platform, not on the mobile or web apps.
TWS lets you customise order settings and SmartRouting defaults. Extra fees may apply depending on the venue you direct the order to, and any rebate received from a liquidity provider is passed back to you as a lower commission, which adds up for high-volume traders. Level 2 market data is charged per exchange, and costs less if your account is classified as non-professional.
For US clients, IBKR has two account types: IBKR Lite, with $0 commissions on US stocks but no choice of routing, and IBKR Pro, with tiered or fixed commissions, full direct-access routing and better tools. DMA requires IBKR Pro. Outside the US, IBKR Pro is the standard account. IBKR also offers a well-documented API for algorithmic trading.
For a deeper look, read our Interactive Brokers review.
Forex.com at a glance
76% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Forex.com is a global broker regulated by several top-tier authorities, including the NFA and CFTC in the US, the FCA in the UK, CIRO in Canada, the FSA in Japan and ASIC in Australia. It is part of StoneX Group (Nasdaq: SNEX), a listed company, which brings the disclosure requirements that come with being public. You can trade forex, plus CFDs on shares, indices, commodities and crypto.
Its Direct Market Access account is aimed at professional traders who want deep liquidity. You get prices from global banks and tier-one liquidity providers with no markup, can see several levels of the order book, and can place orders inside the top-of-book spread. The DMA account also comes with interest on your average daily margin balance, a dedicated relationship manager and waived bank fees.
Forex.com offers MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 alongside its own platform on desktop, web and mobile.
You can fund the account by bank transfer, card or e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill, with no deposit or withdrawal fees. On the DMA account, the minimum trade size is one standard lot (100,000 units), which is the practical barrier for smaller traders.
Commissions are tiered by volume: the more you trade in a month, the lower the rate the following month. On the downside, Forex.com charges a $15 monthly inactivity fee after 12 months without trading. DMA terms and eligibility differ by entity (StoneX Financial Inc. in the US, StoneX Financial Ltd in the UK, and so on), so check with the entity that serves your country.
Charles Schwab at a glance
Charles Schwab has been operating since 1971 and, after absorbing TD Ameritrade, held $12.2 trillion in total client assets in early 2026, making it one of the largest brokers in the world. It offers brokerage and retirement accounts, funds, fixed income and banking, with the thinkorswim platform inherited from TD Ameritrade. It serves mainly US clients, plus a few other countries through Schwab International.
Schwab’s direct routing lets you choose where your order goes, including Schwab Pre-Market, SmartEx, Schwab Post-Market, NSDQ and ARCA. Orders sent without a venue instruction are routed to unaffiliated market makers and venues.
Schwab also has routing arrangements aimed at price improvement, and you can see the improvement obtained on each eligible equity order on the “Order Status” page. According to Schwab’s published execution statistics, orders of 500 to 1,999 shares in S&P 500 stocks have achieved price improvement more than 96% of the time.
IG at a glance
67% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
IG Group is a London broker founded in 1974 and listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: IGG). It offers 17,000+ markets across shares, indices, forex, commodities, bonds, options and crypto, and owns Freetrade, the UK investing app it bought in 2025. Its offering varies by country: in the US, for example, IG clients can only trade forex, through a separate CFTC and NFA regulated entity.
L2 Dealer is IG’s DMA platform, giving professional traders direct access to the order books of major exchanges, with anonymity, a wide range of order types and the ability to take part in exchange auctions. It is not a platform for beginners: it assumes you understand how an order book works.
With L2 Dealer you trade CFDs on shares or forex with both Level 1 and Level 2 market data. Level 1 gives you exchange prices, while Level 2 shows the full order book, so you can see market depth and where the liquidity sits. The platform also includes news, alerts and real-time charts.
Pricing is straightforward: a commission per trade depending on the instrument, plus any exchange data fees. IG also passes through costs such as stock borrowing fees. On forex there is no IG spread, only a commission that varies with the volume you traded the previous month, typically between $10 and $60 per $1 million traded.
One important point: even though you trade on the real order book, L2 Dealer is still a CFD product. You never own the shares or the currency, and the tax treatment is the same as IG’s normal CFD account.
Saxo at a glance
62% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Saxo brings institutional-grade trading to individual and institutional clients. Founded in 1992 in Copenhagen, it holds more than €100 billion in client assets, and since 2026 the Swiss private bank J. Safra Sarasin owns about 71% of it, with founder Kim Fournais keeping roughly 28% and chairing the board. Saxo continues to operate under its own brand.
With DMA, you can connect to the relevant liquidity venues through Saxo’s infrastructure, including bank and non-bank liquidity providers, ECNs and listed FX derivatives on exchanges such as CME, HKEX and ICE. Saxo also aggregates liquidity from more than 25 providers in the NY4, LD4 and TY3 data centres, the hubs where most forex liquidity sits.
Saxo’s offering includes post-trade and back-office services, such as real-time position keeping, straight-through processing and account management APIs.
Its two platforms are:
- SaxoInvestor: a simple web and mobile platform for long-term investors in stocks, ETFs, funds and bonds.
- SaxoTrader: the advanced platform for active traders, on web, mobile and desktop, with the full product range, complex order types, Depth Trader, the Level 2 order book, time-and-sales data and workspaces of up to six screens.
You can hold an account in several currencies, including USD, EUR and GBP. Since Saxo’s 2024 account changes, the Classic tier has no minimum funding requirement in most countries, while the Platinum and VIP tiers require larger balances and give lower commissions and priority support. Minimums can still apply depending on your country and the entity you are onboarded to.
Is DMA worth it for retail traders?
For most investors, no. If you buy shares or ETFs to hold for years, the broker’s smart routing will usually get you a price as good as anything you would choose yourself, and DMA adds data fees, platform requirements and complexity you don’t need.
DMA starts to pay off when:
- You trade often and in size, so small execution improvements and exchange rebates add up.
- You need the order book, for example to place orders inside the spread, work large orders or take part in auctions.
- You run automated strategies through an API, where venue choice and latency matter.
One thing to check first: DMA accounts often require professional client classification, which reduces your regulatory protections, such as compensation scheme cover and negative balance protection. Make sure you know which classification you will be onboarded under.
What to look for in a DMA broker
- Execution speed and reliability: look for published execution speeds and uptime, especially for volatile markets.
- Markets covered: which exchanges and asset classes you can reach directly, not just how many products the broker lists.
- Transparent pricing: per-share commissions, exchange fees, market data fees and whether ECN rebates are passed on to you or kept by the broker.
- Order control: support for limit, stop, iceberg, hidden and conditional orders, plus venue selection and routing rules.
- Tools and data: Level 2 depth, time-and-sales data, advanced charting and research.
- API access: a documented API (such as IBKR’s TWS API or Saxo’s OpenAPI) if you plan to automate.
- Regulation and protections: which entity you contract with, and what protection applies to your classification.
Bottom line
Direct market access gives active traders control over where and how their orders are executed, which can mean better prices and lower costs for the right strategies. For everyone else, a good broker with strong smart routing does the job at lower cost and with less complexity.
Here is our list of the best DMA brokers again:
Interactive Brokers
Best overallForex.com
Best for DMA on forexCharles Schwab
Best for DMA on US stocksIG
Best for DMA on CFDsSaxo
Best for professional and institutional clients
Before choosing, compare the minimum deposit, the markets where DMA is actually available, the platform, the total cost including data fees and the regulation of the entity that will hold your account. As always, do your own research and pick the broker that fits how you trade.
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. A large proportion of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested.
FAQs
What is a DMA broker?
A direct market access broker lets you send your orders straight to an exchange’s order book or to a liquidity provider, instead of deciding the routing for you. You see market depth and choose where your order goes.
What are the benefits of using a DMA broker?
More control over execution, the ability to place orders inside the spread or in auctions, a full view of market depth, and, at some brokers, exchange rebates passed back to you. For high-volume traders, this can mean better prices.
What is the difference between a DMA broker and a traditional broker?
A traditional broker routes your order where it chooses, often through internalised flow or a market maker. With DMA, you choose the venue yourself and interact directly with the order book.
Is DMA better than smart routing?
Not always. Smart routing systems scan several venues and often get very good prices automatically. DMA is better when you want to control where the order goes, for example to capture rebates or work a large order, but it costs more in data and platform requirements.
Do I need to be a professional client to use DMA?
Often, yes. Several brokers only offer DMA to clients classified as professional, or to accounts above a certain size. Professional classification reduces some regulatory protections, so check what you give up before opting in.
Do DMA brokers charge more?
The commission is usually low, but you also pay exchange and market data fees, which retail accounts normally avoid. DMA tends to be cheaper for high-volume traders and more expensive for occasional ones.
