ECN, Standard and Cent Accounts for Expert Advisors: Costs, Execution and Which Fits Your EA

The common account types

Names are not standard, and a broker's Standard account may price like another broker's Raw. Read the spread, commission and execution terms for the symbol your EA trades, not the label. If you are in the EU, the leverage limits and protections in our European rules guide apply to retail accounts of any type.

A cost example in euros

Take a EURUSD scalper that opens a 0.10 lot trade with a 4 pip target. One pip on 0.10 lots is about 0.87 euros at an exchange rate of 1.15, so the target is about 3.50 euros. Compare two account types with illustrative prices.

The raw account is cheaper here, but not by as much as the spread alone suggests, because commission adds back a part. For a bigger target, say 30 pips, both costs become small shares and the choice matters much less. The lesson: the shorter the EA's average trade, the more the account type matters. Our guide to spread, slippage and swap explains each cost.

Execution: more than price

• Execution type. Market execution fills at the available price; instant execution fills at your price within a deviation. See filling modes.
• Speed and slippage. ECN-style accounts often route orders to liquidity providers. Fill quality varies by broker, so look at actual fills, not marketing.
• Rules on scalping and EAs. Some brokers set a minimum holding time or limit order frequency. Read our research on scalping broker rules.
• Hedging or netting. Account type interacts with the position mode. See hedging versus netting.
• Stop level and freeze level. The minimum distance for stops can differ by account. See invalid stops errors.

Cent and micro accounts for small balances

On a cent account the balance is shown in cents, and the lot unit is small, so 1.00 lot may equal 0.01 of a standard lot. You can then trade tiny sizes with a small deposit, which makes a risk percentage possible on a few hundred euros. The trade-offs are practical. Some brokers limit the symbols or EAs on cent accounts, spreads can be wider, and the account may not be eligible for every promotion or product. Confirm that your EA works properly, because lot calculations, minimum lot and lot step are different.

1. 1

   Step 1: Read the specification of the EA's symbol

   Check minimum lot, lot step, contract size and stops level on the account you plan to use.

2. 2

   Step 2: Open a demo of the same type

   A demo of the exact account type shows real spreads, commission and fills.

3. 3

   Step 3: Backtest with those costs

   Enter the same spread and commission in the tester. See the tester settings guide.

4. 4

   Step 4: Compare costs with the EA's average trade

   If the total cost is a large share of the average profit, change account type or EA.

5. 5

   Step 5: Go live small and compare

   Check real fills against the demo and the test.

Which type should you pick?

Before you commit, use the broker checklist and the MT5 Expert Advisors guide.

How to measure your real cost per trade

Do not trust advertised spreads. Measure what your account actually costs on the symbol your EA trades. Add the spread you paid at entry, the commission for the round trip, the slippage on the fill and, for trades held overnight, the swap. Express the total in pips or dollars per trade and compare it with the EA's average profit per trade from the backtest.

1. Run the EA on a demo account of the exact type for at least a week.
2. For each trade, note the spread at entry from the history or the tick data.
3. Add the commission shown in the deal list for the open and the close.
4. Compare the fill price with the price at the moment the EA decided to trade.
5. Divide the total cost by the lot size to get a cost per lot, then compare account types on that figure.
6. Compare the cost with the backtest's average profit. If it is more than a third of it, the edge is thin.

Hidden costs matter too. Some accounts have higher minimum deposits, some charge inactivity or withdrawal fees, and some bundle costs into a wider spread during news. Read the account terms, not just the pricing page.