Orders & ExecutionRequest ExecutionDealing Desk Execution
Instant Execution
An execution model in which the trader requests a specific displayed price and the broker fills or requotes.
What Instant Execution means
Instant execution treats the click as a request to deal at a named price. If the broker can still honour that price it fills the order exactly there, with no slippage; if the market has moved beyond its tolerance it returns a requote, and the trader chooses whether to accept the new level. The trader therefore never receives a price they did not approve, at the cost of no longer being certain of getting filled when the market is moving fast.
The model belongs to the dealing-desk tradition, where the broker quotes its own price and internalises much of the flow rather than passing every order to a liquidity pool. It pairs naturally with fixed spreads, since a broker that commits to a price also needs a mechanism to decline stale requests. Some platforms allow a maximum deviation setting that lets the broker fill within a stated number of points instead of requoting, which is a hybrid of the two models.
Neither model is inherently superior. Instant execution suits traders who value price certainty on ordinary entries and who trade away from data releases; market execution suits those who need to be filled and can absorb slippage. What matters is that the two behave very differently in stress: instant execution converts volatility into rejections, market execution converts it into worse prices.
Worked example
A trader requests a buy on EUR/USD at the displayed 1.08515; if the price still stands the fill is exactly 1.08515, and if it has moved to 1.08530 the platform returns a requote rather than filling.
Related terms
- Market ExecutionAn execution model in which orders are always filled at the best available price, with no requotes.
- RequoteA broker's response offering a new price when the price the trader clicked is no longer available.
- Fixed SpreadA spread the broker holds constant under normal conditions regardless of underlying market liquidity.
- Market MakerA firm that quotes both a bid and an ask and takes the opposite side of client trades from its own book.
- SlippageThe difference between the price a trader expected on an order and the price at which it was actually executed.
Frequently asked questions
What does Instant Execution mean in forex trading?
An execution model in which the trader requests a specific displayed price and the broker fills or requotes.
How does Instant Execution work in practice?
The model belongs to the dealing-desk tradition, where the broker quotes its own price and internalises much of the flow rather than passing every order to a liquidity pool. It pairs naturally with fixed spreads, since a broker that commits to a price also needs a mechanism to decline stale requests. Some platforms allow a maximum deviation setting that lets the broker fill within a stated number of points instead of requoting, which is a hybrid of the two models.
What is an example of Instant Execution?
A trader requests a buy on EUR/USD at the displayed 1.08515; if the price still stands the fill is exactly 1.08515, and if it has moved to 1.08530 the platform returns a requote rather than filling.
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